(a) Give an account of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians during the reign of king Zedekiah. (b) Identify four causes of social unrest today in...

Answer Details

(a) An account of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians during the reign of King Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:1-21; Jeremiah 39; 52).

1. Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made king, rebelled against the king of Babylon.
2. In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army against Jerusalem, laid siege to it and built siegeworks all around it.
3. The city was besieged until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and a severe famine gripped the city so that there was no food for the people of the land.
4. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, while the Chaldeans were around the city, and they went toward the Arabah.
5. The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.
6. They captured Zedekiah and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where sentence was passed on him.
7. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; then they put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with bronze fetters and took him to Babylon.
8. In the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, came to Jerusalem and burned the house of the Lord, the king's house and all the houses of the city; every great house he burned down.
9. The Chaldean army broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
10. Nebuzaradan carried into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters and the rest of the multitude, leaving only the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.
11. The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars, the stands and the bronze sea of the temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon; they also took the pots, shovels, snuffers, dishes and all the vessels of bronze and gold used in the temple service.
12. The chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and other officials and leading men were taken to the king at Riblah and put to death. So Judah was carried away captive out of its land.

(b) Four causes of social unrest today in Africa.

1. Bad governance, corruption and misrule by leaders.
2. Poverty, unemployment and unequal distribution of wealth.
3. Ethnic, religious and tribal intolerance and discrimination.
4. Injustice, oppression and abuse of human rights.
5. Electoral malpractice and struggle for political power.
6. Marginalisation and neglect of certain regions or groups.