The sages taught that the Land of Israel was not destroyed until seven royal courts had turned to idolatry. They counted them by name: Jeroboam son of Nebat, Baasha son of Ahijah, Ahab son of Omri, Jehu son of Nimshi, Pekah son of Remaliah, Menahem son of Gadi, and Hoshea son of Elah.
Seven kings, seven courts, seven chances to return — and each one closed its ears. The prophet Jeremiah foresaw this accounting (Jeremiah 15:9): She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it is yet day; she hath been ashamed and confounded. The number seven in the verse is not an accident of poetry, said the rabbis. It is a ledger.
The Talmud (Gittin 88a) uses this count to teach that exile is not a punishment that falls from the sky in a single blow. It accumulates. Each king who worshipped calves, each court that winked at idolatry, tilted the land a little further from its moorings — until at last the land tilted off and galut began.