The easiest explanation is that Israel was located on a major trade route. It was an area that was conquered over and over again. Donald Redford, in Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, gives an excellent overview of all of this. Since the Levant area, or Canaanite, was a major trade route, it was a desirable chunk of land to control. And we see the largest nations in the area vying for control of the region throughout the early years of Israel.
For the beginning part of Israel’s existence, Egypt was the big player. During this time period, Canaan was somewhat of a colony of Egypt. With Israel rising in power, at least a little bit, Egypt would put its foot down. 1 Kings 14:26 gives us the first instance in the Bible of a definite link between the historic Israel, and Egypt, and in it, it tells us how Egypt basically put Israel in its place. From what we can gather, Israel was never a super-strong nation. They focused largely on the Philistines, which was an advantage to Egypt, but if they stepped out of line, Egypt was quick to put them back in their place. The Middle East area was simply too important to allow a lot of turmoil.
Quick note. During this time period, Israel was composed of two kingdoms. There was the Kingdom of Israel in the north, and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. While they were united in the sense that they shared a culture, they were separate nations.
To understand the power struggle though, you have to realize that the Levant, or Canaan, was between Egypt and Mesopotamia. These are areas with large civilizations. Egypt wanted to keep those trade routes open, but others wanted to take them as well. In Mesopotamia, Assyria would be one of the large players. And their big entrance in this case is around 745 BC. The country was entering a civil war, and a new leader popped up, who was a lot more adept at military organization and strategy. This man was Tiglath-pileser III. In just a few years, he would encompass and destroy Israel, forcing mass deportations. Specifically, we’re talking about the northern kingdom of Israel.
Assyria became so powerful that it really threatened Egypt. Assyria really dominated, but around 704 BC, Hezekiah of Judah organized the Phoenician and Philistine cities against Assyria (possibly with the support of Babylonia), and it’s likely that they found good support from Egypt. This would end up with Assyria being forced to leave Canaan.
Egypt would continue fighting Assyria, but the Ancient Israelites kind of withdrew into the background. The Kingdom of Israel was gone. The Assyrians destroyed it. But the Kingdom of Judah still remained.
627 BC is another turning point. In Judah, Josiah was engaging in a cultural purification. In Babylon, Kandalanu dies, who was the regent appointed to Babylon by Assyria. The Babylonian rebellion broke out in full force against the Assyrians, and by 623 BC, Babylon was free and growing in power, while Assyria was decreasing. Josiah, of Judah, took advantage of this and annexed some Assyrian land, and throughout the Levant, Assyrian garrisons and influence were being removed.
In a weird flip, Egypt, which was an enemy of Assyria, decided to support Assyria (mainly because the alternative was much worse). Egypt showed that it was still a force, and Babylonia and Assyria were split. But in 612 BC, Babylon and its allies from Media and the Scythians defeated Assyria, and Babylon was now the force to reckon with in Mesopotamia. This all began setting up the fall of Judah, the final remnant of the Ancient Israelites. Babylonia began pushing towards the Levant and Egypt, and they appeared to be an unstoppable tide.
Josiah, or Judah, saw this and, not seeing the big picture, took on the Egyptian forces at Megiddo in 609 BC. Most likely, he saw himself as an ally on the right side of history and part of the final destruction of Assyria. It was a mess though. Josiah lost his life, and Judah was in a state of shock. Revolution broke out, and Jehoahaz, a younger son of Josiah, was placed on the throne. Egypt came back, dethroned Jehoahaz, sent him in chains to Egypt, and then placed Eliakim on the throne, who was the eldest child of Josiah. Judah was split between pro-Egyptian and pro-Babylonia forces, and the nation didn’t really rebound. Around them, they were being squashed between a warring Egypt and Babylonia.
Judah was really stuck between the two, and they eventually swung over to Egypt’s side, which did not impress Nebuchadrezzar. He wanted to punish Judah for their desertion, and in 598 BC, everything was in place for the fall of Judah. A new king, Jehoiachin, was put into power in Judah, just in time to have Jerusalem besieged. In March of 597 BC, Jehoiachin surrendered himself, and Judah was at its end.
There was still some hope Egypt would come to their relief, but the current pharoah, Necho II, was tied up elsewhere and would pass away in 595 BC. Egypt had other threats, and Jerusalem and Judah weren’t priorities. There was a bit of mustering up in Judah, as there were deliberations with the surrounding states, but it wouldn’t amount to much. Things could have been much different though, as Babylon was in a weakened state, and if Judah had had a strong ally with Egypt, Babylon would have been pushed back. But with the death of Necho II, it just didn’t happen.
Babylon would move back to a siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC, and they were pushed away for a short while by the Egyptians, but it wasn’t of much use. In 586 BC, the siege was renewed, and there was very little optimism in Judah. Babylon would eventually break through. They captured the royal family, blinded the king, and killed his family. And then a month later, Jerusalem went up in flames, and its population and wealth were carried away. Ancient Israel had completely fallen.