When God established Israel as a nation with the law of Moses, He stated a basic principle: If Israel rejected His covenant, then He would reject them (Deuteronomy 31:16-17). He repeated the principle to King Asa and the nation in this way:
The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. (2 Chronicles 15:2)
God had warned that rebellion would result in defeat for the Israelites. Other nations would invade, killing many and carrying survivors away as slaves to foreign lands (Leviticus 26:14-39; Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:58-65; 29:28). Many centuries later, after repeated attempts to correct His people, God’s fulfilled His dire warnings. The instrument in His hand was Assyria which, beginning in 734 B.C., carried the ten northern tribes of Israel into captivity and exile. Next, God used Babylon and its king Nebuchadnezzar. Beginning in 606 B.C., he conquered the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. He destroyed their temple and capital city, Jerusalem. Then he made slaves of the survivors, taking all except the poorest to Babylon (2 Kings 25).