But the new Israel failed, and it became a failure. During the first Temple period, Israel was disobedient, but during the second Temple period, Israel decided what obedience was. Not only did the people distance themselves from G-d, they also pretended their words were the Word of G-d. And to make things worse, they weren't sure what even their own laws were, and thus had many different ideas about what is right. In short, they turned G-d into gods, and prostrated themselves before falsehoods, while claiming to have only One True G-d. So they did what their ancestors had done, but then they went so far as to say, this is G-d. However, not all were bad, and not all were this foolish. And like before, there were good amongst the bad, and Israel was still a special nation, and a light unto the nations. But it wasn't exactly a nation of G-d.
My interpretation of the events of this period is very simple: If Israel is to be ruled by men and the thoughts of man, then what difference does it make which men will rule Israel? Of course, some thoughts are better than others, and some men are better fit to rule, but in the case of Israel, this doesn't matter. Look, if any other nation has a good ruler and good people in power, yet the people refuse to obey these good laws, and they rebel against their government, then they will achieve only harm for themselves...they'll get a bad leader with bad ideas. Israel was Led by G-d. There is no leader better than G-d, and there is no justice better than G-d's Justice. When Israel rebelled against G-d, chose to follow falsehoods, and be led by injustice, then that's exactly what it got. It doesn't matter how unjust the new leadership was, because Israel knew there are no laws more Just than G-d's Laws, and no man is better than G-d. Like the other nations, Israel foolishly fought amongst itself and against foreigners in order to find "truth and justice," while Israel's purpose is to teach the world what Truth and Justice are--and thus teach the Word of G-d to mankind.
To repeat myself once more, Israel distanced itself from G-d and invented gods, and thus it got lost. It was ruled by the Persians and then the Greeks. Then the Jews rebelled against Greece, as any other nation would rebel against foreign rule, and it won, as any other nation might win. It is said that this was a miraculous victory, but it was only as miraculous as were the results. The Jewish leadership was no better than that of foreigners. Jews fought amongst themselves, and their leadership split into two factions of power, allying themselves with foreign powers. Rome was brought in to mediate, and so the Romans took control. And Roman rule was intolerable. Israel rebelled on many occasions, and lost countless men. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were nailed along the roads on crosses.
During the rule of king Herod, who was empowered as the governor of "palestine," (as the Romans liked to call Israel), the Temple was expanded. (The Romans called Israel palestine in order to disgrace the children of Israel. The word palestine comes from the philistines, one of Israel's foremost enemies. During this time the philistines had already assimilated and lost their identity, but the Romans preserved their name in order to ridicule Israel.) Anyhow, Herod was a great builder. He built the fortress on Matzada, as well as many other sites and cities, and he also remodeled the Temple. Herod destroyed the Temple for a short period of time, in order to build a large platform at its base, and then rebuild the Temple more splendid than it was before. Of course, at this time, the Temple wasn't exactly a Holy Temple. The Romans did what they liked with the Temple and controlled the Temple's priests, high priest, and the Temple itself. They didn't exactly care about G-d's Laws, but they did allow a certain amount of autonomy on the part of the Jews, in order to prevent insurrection.
But the Jews were rebellious anyway. Israel couldn't stand the Roman occupation. The people were horrified by the Roman presence, and they couldn't understand why G-d would let these infidels so disgrace His people, Israel. The Jews of Israel fought the Romans in every way possible, and they were also massacred, tortured, enslaved, and humiliated in every way imaginable, as a consequence of their defiance. Israel was the hardest "province" for Rome to deal with. And the rebelliousness of Israel was an inspiration for other nations to rebel against Rome. Therefore Israel was a hotbed for insurrection, that earned itself the wrath of rome. And many Jews of that time awaited the end. They were sure things had reached the boiling point and the time had come for G-d to Save them. They prayed for the moshiach with all their hearts and told themselves, their redemption was near. Jesus was one of those people that was convinced he would save Israel. But after he died, it was certain to everyone that he was not the one. And of course, Rome did everything it could to stop this concept of moshiach, a king of the Jews, from reappearing. To Rome this was the worst thing possible. It was this type of thinking that was at the source of Israel's rebelliousness.
Israel fought with all its heart, but when Israel is not with G-d, G-d is not with Israel. Israel threw itself into the flames of war, and it was burnt to the ground, and nearly wiped out. The end was near. This marked the end of Israel, in its Land, until today, of course, when Israel has been reborn. Rome's response to Israel's rebelliousness was decisive and harsh. The insurrection was brutally crushed. Israel's fighting men were massacred, with nearly no survivors, and the people of Israel, the women, children, and civilian men, were also dealt a great blow. Out of about three million Jews in Israel, more than one million lay dead. And of the Jews of other provinces that had joined with Israel in revolt against rome, many died as well. Such brutality was unknown before, for never before had people been massacred in such enormous numbers. The Temple was destroyed, and Jerusalem was burnt to the ground. Rome carried away the wealth of Israel and took slaves from amongst the survivors, in large numbers. The Land was laid waste, and Israel became a wasteland. The people of Israel either lay dead by the sword, starvation, or plague, the survivors were carried off as slaves, and few remained in Israel, as the Land had become a desolate place. This doesn't mean Israel was completely wiped out, for there were still Jews in Israel, and they were enough to rebel again; especially while rome turned Jerusalem into a roman city and built a temple for its gods above the ruins of the Temple of G-d. However, the Jewish presence in Israel was small and its influence was minimal, and so, in essence, Israel ceased to exist.