Close by the Israelites who had set themselves to the task of rebuilding the temple, dwelt the Samaritans, a mixed race that had sprung up through the intermarriage of heathen colonists from the provinces of Assyria with the remnant of the ten tribes which had been left in Samaria and Galilee. In later years the Samaritans claimed to worship the true God, but in heart and practice they were idolaters. It is true, they held that their idols were but to remind them of the living God, the Ruler of the universe; nevertheless the people were prone to reverence graven images.
(PK 567.1)
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During the period of the restoration, these Samaritans came to be known as “the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.” Hearing that “the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel,”“they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers,” and expressed a desire to unite with them in its erection. “Let us build with you,” they proposed; “for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.” But the privilege they asked was refused them. “Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God,” the leaders of the Israelites declared; “but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.”Ezra 4:1-3.
(PK 567.2)
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Only a remnant had chosen to return from Babylon; and now, as they undertake a work seemingly beyond their strength, their nearest neighbors come with an offer of help. The Samaritans refer to their worship of the true God, and express a desire to share the privileges and blessings connected with the temple service. “We seek your God, as ye do,” they declare. “Let us build with you.”Ezra 4:2. But had the Jewish leaders accepted this offer of assistance, they would have opened a door for the entrance of idolatry. They discerned the insincerity of the Samaritans. They realized that help gained through an alliance with these men would be as nothing in comparison with the blessing they might expect to receive by following the plain commands of Jehovah.
(PK 568.1)
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Regarding the relation that Israel should sustain to surrounding peoples, the Lord had declared through Moses: “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou make marriages with them; ... for they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.”“Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.”Deuteronomy 7:2-4; 14:2.
(PK 568.2)
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The result that would follow an entrance into covenant relation with surrounding nations was plainly foretold. “The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other,” Moses had declared; “and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.”Deuteronomy 28:64-67. “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God,” the promise had been, “thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”Deuteronomy 4:29.
(PK 569.1)
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Zerubbabel and his associates were familiar with these and many like scriptures; and in the recent captivity they had evidence after evidence of their fulfillment. And now, having repented of the evils that had brought upon them and their fathers the judgments foretold so plainly through Moses; having turned with all the heart to God, and renewed their covenant relationship with Him, they had been permitted to return to Judea, that they might restore that which had been destroyed. Should they, at the very beginning of their undertaking, enter into a covenant with idolaters?
(PK 569.2)
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