Jews of Palestine during this period:

It is a people spoiled and plundered,
They are all snared in holes,
And hidden in prison houses.
They have become a spoil,
With none to rescue,
An object of plunder,
With none to say, Restore.

II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism. The political horizon furnished little
to inspire the disappointed and persecuted Jews. Their eyes were still
blinded by the brilliant hopes that had stirred them at the time when the
temple was rebuilt. The quenching of these hopes had left them in deeper
darkness than before. There seemed no rift in the clouds that overshadowed
them. Even their priestly rulers were selfish and inconsiderate. For the
faithful few who rose above the discouragements and obstacles that
confronted them, however, this period of deepest gloom was lighted by a
faith that shines through and glorifies most of the later books of the Old
Testament. From the psalms and prophecies of the period it is evident that
there were a few who in the midst of these discouraging circumstances
found peace and joy. As they meditated upon the experiences of their race,
and read and pondered the writings of the earlier prophets, they began to
appreciate not only the real significance of their past history but the
meaning of the present affliction. The chief spokesman of these immortal
heroes of the faith was the prophetic author of Isaiah 40-66.

III. Evidences That Isaiah 40-66 were Written in Palestine. Only
recently have careful students of Isaiah 40-66 begun to realize that the
point of view in all of these chapters is not distant Babylon but