An amazing phenomenon occurred following the conquest of the southern Israelite kingdom, known as Judea. Whereas the northern ten tribes (conquered by the Assyrians in the year 722 B.C.E.) vanish from the stage of history, the remnant of the two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, uncannily survive in exile. The prophet Jeremiah had conveyed to the people a mission that gave them a reason to go on. But now it fell to a priest name Ezekiel to add flesh to bone and keep hope alive.
