Yes, the 70-year captivity was to give the land the 70 sabbatical rests Israel had withheld.
God commanded that the land rest every seventh year, but Israel ignored this for 490 years, accumulating 70 missed sabbatical years. The Babylonian captivity forced the land to lie fallow for 70 years, fulfilling this debt.
2 Chronicles 36:21 — This verse explicitly states the land enjoyed her sabbaths for 70 years to fulfill the word of the Lord by Jeremiah.
The Bible explains the 70-year captivity as a period during which the land received its neglected sabbaths. In 2 Chronicles 36:21, we read, 'To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.' This means the land rested for 70 years because the people had failed to observe the sabbatical years. The Law required that every seventh year the land be left unworked (Leviticus 25:4). Israel's neglect over centuries accumulated a debt of 70 such years, which the captivity paid.
Les Feldick explains that God had commanded the Israelites to let the land lie fallow every seventh year, but their greed led them to farm it anyway. Over 490 years they neglected these sabbatical years, totaling 70 missed rests. Therefore, God sent them into Babylonian captivity for 70 years so that the land could rest. While they were gone, the land was empty and became a habitation of wild animals. Les also notes that the captivity began with Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem in 606 B.C., and after 70 years, God used Cyrus of Persia to let a remnant return and rebuild the temple.
God commanded that every seventh year the farmland was to be left fallow—not cropped—as a sabbatical year. Israel's greed led them to disregard this commandment.
Through the Babylonian captivity, the land lay desolate and 'enjoyed her sabbaths' for 70 years. The captivity emptied the land, allowing it to lie fallow.
After 70 years, God made commandment through Cyrus, king of Persia, for the Jews to return and rebuild the temple. A remnant returned under Ezra, though many chose to stay in Babylon.
Daniel's 70 Weeks Explained — The 490-Year Prophecy Unpacked
Well, I always have to remember my old physics professor back in college days. He could have used charts, but he always wrote as he taught. Then I could follow him. Now, if he'd have had the whole board full of stuff and just taken a pointer and gone through it, I'd have lost him. And so I think the same way with teaching you folks. I'm going to take the time to put it on the board.
Land's Rest
Les explains that Israel farmed the land every seventh year, so God made the land lie fallow for 70 years, one year for each sabbatical they had ignored over 490 years.
Sabbatical Neglect
Les recounts that Israel's greed led them to farm the seventh year, violating God's command for a sabbatical year, and that this accumulated to 70 missed years.
Captivity Dates
Les notes that the Babylonian captivity ran from 606 B.C. for 70 years, and then God used Cyrus to command the return and rebuilding of the temple.
Exile and Return
Les describes how Nebuchadnezzar carried away those who escaped the sword to Babylon, where they served until the Medes and Persians took over.
What the Bible Really Says About the Times of the Gentiles
And so, the residue of the ancient kingdom of Babylon that is part and parcel of our everyday existence in this very year in which we live is banking. The whole idea of interest and usury was really begun on that kind of a scale in Babylon. And so, the Jew just embraced that, and they take it back.
Israel’s Title Deed: Understanding God's Covenant in Genesis 15
And they shall, that is the Egyptians, shall afflict them, the Israelites, how long? 400 years. How long was Israel in Egypt? 400 years. Verse 14, And God says, Also that nation, whom they shall serve, which we know was Egypt, I will judge. Now, I'll admit, if there's anything in Scripture that I have a hard time comprehending or understanding, and I don't try, but all I do is say, God is sovereig…
God’s Plan for Israel vs. Gentiles: Understanding the Abrahamic Covenant
Now granted, God over years, more than once in His sovereignty, took them out of the land, took the ten tribes of the north clear up into Assyria. Later on, He took the two tribes of the south out to Babylon for 70 years. But they came back, rebuilt the temple, and the nation of Israel was on the scene then for the coming of Christ the first time.
2 Chronicles 36:21: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
This verse directly attributes the 70 years of desolation to the land's need for sabbatical rest.
Leviticus 25:4: But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
This establishes the command for the sabbatical year, which Israel violated.
God used Babylon as His instrument of judgment because Israel had disobeyed His commandments, including the neglect of sabbatical years and idolatry. This is consistent with God's sovereign use of nations to discipline Israel.
The 70 years symbolize the 70 missed sabbatical years that the land should have rested over a 490-year period. The captivity allowed the land to rest, fulfilling God's requirement.
Watch the Teaching: Daniel's 70 Weeks Explained — The 490-Year Prophecy Unpacked