Isaiah's Prophecy on the Breaking of Ephraim in 65 Years
During the days of Ahaz's sole reign, Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel went up to Jerusalem to make war but could not prevail against it. But the hearts of the people in Jerusalem were moved like the trees, moving with the wind. Then Yehowah God asked Isaiah to speak to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:4-8):
Isaiah's prophecy of sixty-five years for the breaking of Ephraim is the only numerical prophecy in the book of Isaiah. If this numerical prophecy were not fulfilled, many of his other descriptive prophecies would not be trustable.
When were the remnants of Israel (Ephraim) completely removed from the land of Israel? We are looking for a date when Ephraim, the northern tribe of Israel, was completely broken so that they were no longer a people (nation). If we can pin down the time of the complete removal, we can prove or disprove the only numerical prophecy of Isaiah.
The beginning time of the 65-year prophetic period should have been after Ahaz started his sole reign in the 17th year of Pekah king of Israel (2 Kings 16:1). According to the chronology of Judah and Israel's kings we have constructed above (see Chapter 11), Ahaz started his sole reign in the fall of 733 BC. Ahaz walked in the way of the kings of Israel, even making his son pass through the fire (2 Kings 16:3). Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel went up to Jerusalem to make war against Judah. Therefore, the beginning time of the 65-year prophetic period should have been in the fall of 733 BC.
Most Biblical scholars believe that the breaking of Ephraim coincided with the fall of the city of Samaria in the fall of 721 BC. If this were true, the prophetic period would be only 12 years and this numerical prophecy would not have been fulfilled. Then Isaiah would not be the true prophet of God.
If we carefully check the Hebrew Scriptures, we find that after the fall of Samaria, Ephraim was not completely broken yet. At the end of the 9th year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried the children of Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:6). Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthan, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria (2 Kings 17:24). In the beginning of their dwelling in Samaria, they did not fear Yehowah. Therefore Yehowah sent lions among them, killing some of them (2 Kings 17:25). After this, these foreigners were afraid of the God of Israel and spoke to the Assyrian king about the lions and the reason why this terror happened (2 Kings 17:25-26). Then the king commanded one of the Israel's priests to go back to Samaria and dwell there to teach the foreigners the rituals of the God of Israel (2 Kings 17:27). So one of Israeli priests came back to Samaria, dwelt in Bethel, and taught these foreigners how they should have feared the God of Israel (2 Kings 17:28).
Because this Israeli priest, along with his family and his companions, still dwelt in Samaria to teach the foreigners the rituals of the God of Israel, Ephraim was not completely broken after the fall of Samaria. These foreigners feared the God of Israel but served their own gods according to their own rituals (2 Kings 17:33,41). In contrast, the remnants of Israel did not fear the God of Israel although they were just brought back to teach the foreigners how to fear Him (2 Kings 17:34). They continued to practice their former rituals and did not follow the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments of God (2 Kings 17:34).
These passages consistently tell us that Ephraim was not completely broken after the king of Assyria took Samaria in the fall of 721 BC. This is because God brought back some Israelites to Samaria to teach the foreigners how to fear Him.
When were all the Israelites removed from Samaria? We can get an important clue from the book of Ezra (Ezra 4:1-2,10). When some of the Judean captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the temple of God, their attempts were immediately frustrated by some Samarians (Ezra 4:1). These foreign immigrants were placed in Samaria by the two Assyrian kings, Esarhaddon (Ezra 4:2) and Asnappar (Ezra 4:10), many years after Samaria was taken by the Assyrians. This immigration process started from the fall of Samaria (721 BC) and continued until the later reign of Esarhaddon (681-669 BC) and the earlier reign of Asnappar (669-631 BC). Presumably, the foreign immigrants continued to move to Samaria until all the Israelites were completely removed from the city. Thus, the implication of Ezra 4:2,10 may be that some of the Israelites should have continued to live in Samaria till the earlier year or most likely the first year of Asnappar (Ashurbanipal), which was around 668 BC. From 733 BC to 668 BC, there were 65 years.
The exact year of the complete removal of the Israelites from the land of Israel may be hinted by the significance of the number 13 in prophecy. According to a book by Bullinger, the number 13 has a connection with "rebellion, apostasy, defection, corruption, disintegration." Both Ezekiel's 390 years and Isaiah's 65 years support his view. The 390 years (30 $\times 13$) are for the iniquity and rebellion of Israel.
Isaiah's 65 year (5$\times 13$years) prophetic period began in the fall of 733 BC when Israel-Ephraim attacked Judah. As discussed above, the period most likely ended in the fall of 668 BC, which was in the first year of Ashurbanipal, the last king of Assyria. Isaiah also prophesied that Ephraim would be completely broken by a king of Assyria counted from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah (Isaiah 7:17). This prophecy of Isaiah implies that there may be an amazing connection among the three dates of Ephraim's breaking, Ephraim's attacking Judah, and Ephraim's departure from Judah. From the chronology of Judah and Israel's kings (Chapter 11) we know that Ephraim departed from Judah in the fall of 941 BC. From the fall of 941 BC to the fall of 668 BC, there were 273 years = 21$\times 13$ years. From the fall of 941 BC to the fall of 733 BC, there were 208 years = 16$\times 13$ years. The three numbers of 273, 208, and 65 are the multiples of 13, suggesting that these events were related to the iniquity and rebellion of Ephraim-Israel.