#Question 1
During his reign, Solomon married numerous foreign wives who lured him into worshipping their gods. Solomon's practice of idolatry displeased God. As a result, God punished him by splitting his Kingdom. Apart from practicing idolatry, Solomon oppressed the Israelites during his rule by overtaxing and introducing them to forced labor to support his many wives and to build his palace and the temple of God, respectively (Scurlock, 2020). The over-taxation and forced labor caused the Israelites to be dissatisfied with Solomon's rule. Upon Solomon's demise, his son Rehoboam succeeded him as the King of Israel. The wise elders, led by Jeroboam, advised Rehoboam to rule Israel less harshly than his father, while the youth counseled him to rule Israel more harshly than his father (Scurlock, 2020). Rehoboam chose to heed to the foolish counsel provided to him by the young men. The longstanding disputes in David's house coupled with Rehoboam's decision to be a harsher ruler than Solomon angered most Israelites, caused Israel to split into two kingdoms; the Northern and the Southern Kingdom (Scurlock, 2020). The Northern Kingdom consisted of ten tribes who rejected Rehoboam's rule and instead preferred to have Jeroboam as their King. Rehoboam only found favor with two tribes of Israel who, under his rule, formed the Southern Kingdom.
Modern people learn several invaluable lessons from the division of Israel. For instance, they learn that the split of Israel occurred because Solomon chose to disobey God by practicing idolatry. Secondly, Israel split into two Kingdoms because Rehoboam was too proud and arrogant to heed to the wise men's counsel as he considered being kind and merciful to his people a sign of weakness. Had Rehoboam ignored his peers' advice and heeded the elders' wise counsel, he would have united his people and healed his land by leading his people with humility and practicing servant leadership. Like the division in Israel, most churches and marriages today split because people listen to their peers instead of seeking wise counsel from Biblical teachings and church elders. Moreover, spouses and church leaders are too proud and arrogant to be humble, kind, and merciful towards one another.
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#Question 4
Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, played the role of being an instrument used by God to punish Judah for engaging in apostasy and being unfaithful to God for several decades. Nebuchadnezzar punished Zedekiah by making him watch his sons' slaughter, after which his eyes were scorched out, and he was held captive and taken to Babylon (Scurlock, 2020). Judah is punished by God when He allows Nebuchadnezzar to return and take away its' most skilled men, including Zephaniah, the priest, and portions of the temple's structure and furniture behind only the poor and unskilled men.
On the other hand, Sennacherib is destroyed by God for disregarding His existence and power; therefore, he plays the role of illustrating God's great power. The first time Sennacherib attacks and captures Judah's cities, Hezekiah gives all his demands to have Judah's capital freed. The second time around, Sennacherib gives Hezekiah verbal ultimatums, and he responds by seeking Isaiah's guidance (Kahn, 2020). The third time, Sennacherib writes a letter threatening to capture Judah's capital, to which Hezekiah responds by showing complete trust in God's ability to save (Kahn, 2020). God shows His faithfulness by sending his angels to strike Assyria's army and allowing Sennacherib to be slain by his sons.
The Bible portrays Nebuchadnezzar as an agent of God who served to inflict punishment on Judah for its apostasy because if the people in Judah had obeyed God, Judah would not have been destroyed, and David's descendant would have remained on its throne. Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib was not an agent of God but rather an ambitious and ruthless man serving his self-interest (Kahn, 2020). Sennacherib's attacks give verbal ultimatums, and he writes threatening letters to Judah aiming to prove that he was a strong King who would take down any Kingdom regardless of its God (Kahn, 2020). But God frustrated his ambitions and destroyed his pride by facilitating his defeat.
#Question 7
Ezra was concerned that Israelites, including their priests and Levites, had not separated themselves with the abominations engaged by the people of the land such as Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites, Ammonites, and Perizzites, among others. He was more disturbed that the Israelites, led by their leaders, were marrying the people of the land's daughters, and in turn, they were mixing their holy seed with that of the pagan communities (Scurlock, 2020). Apart from being worried that intermarriage would cause Israelites' holy seed to be mixed with pagan gods, Ezra was bothered that the intermarriage that the Israelites were engaging in would affect their government, businesses, and social lives as the pagan communities were idolaters who would compromise their ethics. Ezra was particularly more scornful of the leaders who were leading the people in the wrong direction.
Ezra considered addressing the issue of Israelites intermarrying with pagan communities significant because he feared that the practice was endangering Israelites lives since it put them in the serious vulnerability of being punished by God. Ezra's worry and concern for his people led him to pray and confess their sins to God, after which; the people agreed to turn away from their evil ways and obey God's laws (Scurlock, 2020). Ezra's prohibition does not strike me as close-minded or outdated because even in the New Testament the Paul warns believers against being equally yoked with non-believers saying that light has nothing to do with darkness. As such, I believe that there is no substantial case, supported by the Bible, which can be made for marrying someone who does not belong to one's faith.
References
Kahn, D. (2020). Sennacherib's campaign against Judah. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108856416
Scurlock, J. A. (2020). Assyria and Babylon in the Oracles against the Nations Tradition: The Death of a King (Isa. 14: 5–20; Isa. 30: 27–33). Journal of the American Oriental Society , 140 (2), 395-413.
