Why did God permit the Assyrians to take Israel captive?
The reason given is that Israel had come to the place where God simply put them out of His mind. Because of that condition, He permitted the Assyrians to come down and take them captive. The transcript presents this as the direct cause of their captivity.
Les explains that Israel had reached a point where God put them out of His mind, and so He allowed the Assyrians to come down and take them captive. In the surrounding context, Les stresses that Scripture is valid and logical, even when ridiculed, and he warns about false teaching and satanic powers in high places—meaning spiritual places, not government. He notes that people in high places ridicule God's truth under the name of scholarship. The captivity is presented as God's response to Israel's condition before Him.