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Punishment from God
Their land conquered, their leaders exiled, their Temple in ruins,
the Israelites had a choice - whether to view the disaster as a
sign that their god was weak, ill able to defend them, or as a sign
that they were being punished by their god. Many decided that it
had to be punishment.
This passage from Kings has God speaking to Solomon, foretelling
the disaster that will befall Israel. Many scholars think it was
written after the destruction of Jerusalem. It gave a reason for
the suffering of Israel, and it gave hope - that if they returned
to their god he would return to them.
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"If
you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and
do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set
before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given
them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I
will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb
and a taunt among all peoples. This house will become a heap
of ruins; everyone passing by it will be astonished, and will
hiss; and they will say, 'Why has YHWH
done such a thing to this land and to this house?' Then
they will say, 'Because they have forsaken YHWH their God,
who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and
embraced other gods,
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