During the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., the prophets had foretold the approach of the Exile, predicting it ever more clearly as that catastrophe drew nearer and nearer. As early as 722 B.C. the blow had fallen in Samaria, and many of the people of the Northern Kingdom had gone into captivity, but it was not until the opening years of the sixth century that the same fate befell Jerusalem. In 597 B.C, the Babylonian forces entered the city and carried off the flower of the population, including a young Jew of priestly family—the prophet Ezekiel, who thus came to compose his prophecy in Babylonia (cf. Ezek. 3:15). Up to chapter 24 of his book, the prophet turned all his energies to preparing a message chiefly for those who still remained in Palestine, and who appear to have felt that since they had escaped the first captivity they were entirely safe (cf. Ezek. 13: 10). Ezekiel, however, announced that this preliminary deportation would be succeeded by an even more drastic one following the complete destruction of Jerusalem. His warnings fell on deaf ears, and in 586 B.C. the Holy City and its temple were razed to the ground. In the latter portion of his book (chapters 33 to 48), following a brief interlude on the sins of foreign nations, Ezekiel outlines a plan of reconstruction, to offset as best he could that catastrophe which he had been powerless to avert. The rulers of Israel had been slain or exiled, but the reign of the Messiah still awaited the people (34:24); their land, though now desolate, would become fertile (36:8f .); the national existence of the people had ended, but the nation would live again (37:11-14); while from chapter 40 to the end, Ezekiel foresees a new Jerusalem and a glorified temple.
Many scholars feel that the brief, stern book of Obadiah was also composed in the early years of the Exile. It foretells the downfall of the Edomites, who, instead of helping Judah in her distress, had taken advantage of her plight to overrun her territory (cf. Ob. 1:10-14). Yet, despite all his denunciations, Obadiah predicts the triumph of the kingdom of God (verse 21).
The third, and in some ways the most significant prophet of the Exilic period, is usually described as Second-Isaiah. His real name has passed into oblivion, but his message of comfort and consolation endures (cf. Isa. 40:1). Numerous references in his book (Isa. 40-55) presuppose the background of the Babylonian Exile, and suggest that he is to be distinguished from the author of chapters 1 to 39, who clearly wrote in Palestine before the Exile, as from the prophet who composed chapters 56 to 66, who apparently flourished almost a century after its conclusion. Living in captivity, surrounded by pagan idolaters (cf. Isa. 44:9-20), Second-Isaiah yet rises to sublime heights in his matchless description of the uniqueness, the power, the compassion of the God of Israel, who saves and redeems His people (43:11; 44:22, etc.). He foretold the coming of the "servant of the Lord," who would prevail though faced by overwhelming odds, and who is generally identified with the Messiah of prophecy.
