דברי הימים ב, פרק ט״ו, פסוק ג׳

A prolonged era of spiritual darkness and deep disconnect from faith falls upon the nation, leaving the people without direction. Commentators debate the exact historical timeframe of this extended period. It may refer to the era right before the reign of King Asa [רש י], the turbulent days of the Judges marked by a constant cycle of sin and cries for salvation [רלב ג], or even the future reigns of idolatrous kings like Ahaz and Manasseh [מצודת דוד].

During this time, the nation experiences a profound absence of true faith. The primary approach among commentators is that the people completely abandoned their belief in God, turning instead to idol worship [מצודת דוד, רלב ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another perspective links this spiritual void to the reality of exile. Living among foreign, idol-worshipping nations is equated to living a life devoid of God. Alternatively, this absence refers to a lack of true justice; the nation finds itself subjected to the judgment of foreign powers, entirely lacking righteous judges of its own [רד ק]. From a more philosophical standpoint, the crisis is one of intellectual stagnation. The people simply failed to use their reason and intellect to seek out God, understand Him, and connect with Him [מלבי ם].

This spiritual decay deepens as the nation's religious leadership breaks down. The essential duty of the priests is to instruct the people in God's ways and laws [מצודת דוד, רלב ג, מצודת ציון]. However, this vital guidance fell completely silent. The root of this silence lay with the people themselves. Because the nation stopped approaching the priests to ask for instruction, the priests, in turn, ceased to teach [רש י]. Instead of seeking out worthy priests of God, the people chose to bring their questions to false prophets and priests of Baal [מצודת דוד]. Consequently, the crucial channel of spiritual awakening provided by proper teachers and guides was entirely lost [מלבי ם].

The final stage of this decline is the total abandonment of Torah study [מלבי ם]. The people no longer desired God's teachings, actively preferring the rules and customs of idolatrous priests [מצודת דוד]. Commentators offer two contrasting views on how these elements of spiritual collapse connect. One approach views the loss of the Torah as a direct, inevitable result of the leadership crisis; without priests to teach the way, the nation was naturally left without instruction [רלב ג]. Conversely, another perspective argues that the absence of the Torah was not the result, but rather the root cause of the entire crisis. When the Torah is studied purely for its own sake, it serves as a powerful protection, saving the individual and acting as an antidote against negative urges, thereby allowing people to remain close to God. Once the spiritual shield of the Torah was discarded, it paved the way for the total loss of faith and complete separation from God and His guidance [חומת אנך].