Here’s something you must understand when reading the Old Testament. After God turned Abram into a great nation (the nation of Israel) and after he brought them into the land (the Promised Land), the Israelites sinned against God, which resulted in their exile. Though initially the Israelites were one united nation, they became two separate nations within the Promised Land. The northern kingdom was referred to as Israel, while the southern kingdom was referred to as Judah.
Second Kings covers the exile of northern Israel by Assyria in 722 B.C. as well as the exile of southern Judah by Babylon in 587 B.C.
Second Kings shows how the divided kingdoms grew further and further from God. The instability of the northern kingdom is obvious from the quick succession of kings, the number of assassinations and the brevity of the reigns. Basically, 2 Kings shows how the divided kingdoms are unraveling. The climax comes in the form of their respective exiles. The reason northern Israel was exiled is clear. 2 Kings 17:7-8 says, “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.” This would be the same reason that southern Judah would be exiled about 135 years later.
ASSYRIA VS BABYLON
Why did Assyria take northern Israel and why did Babylon take southern Judah. Well, in 722 B.C. when northern Israel was exiled, Assyria was the world power. About 135 years later, when southern Judah was exiled, Babylon was the world power. Assyria’s capital city, Nineveh, fell to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. A couple years later in 587 B.C. Babylon exiled southern Judah. And Judah was allowed to return home from exile only when the Medo-Persian empire overtook the Babylonian empire.