The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Genesis 49:10

Like the prophets in Israel (north) the prophets in Judah (south) spoke of repentance, judgment, and the promised Deliverer. The prophets in Judah spoke even more about the Deliverer than the prophets to Israel in the north. This is likely because the Deliverer was to come from Judah.

ISAIAH is filled with prophecies of Jesus. Isaiah 53 tells of the sacrificial death of the Messiah for His people like no other OT passage.

But alas, after 345 years (136 years longer than Israel lasted), Judah finally sank into idolatry and sin to the extent that God pulled the plug on them as well. In 586 BC, the Babylonians conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and Solomon’s magnificent temple. The Babylonians also carried many of the Judeans into captivity in Babylon. They left only the poorest and least likely to rebel in Judah.

Because God had promised that the Deliverer would come from Judah, and David in particular, God preserved Judah even while in captivity in Babylon. This is in stark contrast with the fact that Israel (north) was never reconstituted as a nation after their fall to the Assyrians. Again, the reason? The promised Deliverer was to come from Judah/David, not from any of the northern tribes in Israel.

God sent the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel to the Judeans in captivity in Babylon to remind them of the Lord and that He would restore them to their land. But at the risk of being redundant, God did not restore only Judah because they were any more deserving of such grace than Israel. They were restored because of God’s promises regarding the Deliverer who was to come from Judah. That Deliverer is none other than Jesus.

Then after 70 years (through the prophet Jeremiah, God had promised that the exile would only be 70 years long before God would bring them back), God miraculously brought them back.

The returning exiles came back under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. God sent additional prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to the returning exiles to encourage them as they resettled and rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple. The stage was being set for the Messiah to appear, though it would be yet 400 years in the future.