The new priest Melchizidek presages a universal priesthood that is not limited to the nation of Israel, but like Jonah is preached to and is available to all of humanity if they repent and accept it. As we see in Gen.14, Ps.110, Heb.7, Jesus the new Melchizedek, like Jonah, takes this message of peace to all of the nations to offer them the chance to repent and not be destroyed. 3.

In the case of the two suite-mates engaged in the heated debate about their ethical topic, the impasse of "the Bible is full of contradictions" vs. "there are no contradictions in the Bible" argument cn be settled by looking in Goldingay and the diverse views of marriage to foreign women in Ruth, Deuteronomy and Ezra-Nehemiah. Using this, we can certainly offer a carefully reasoned and well supported intervention into this dispute over character of the Old Testament and Hebrew Bible. Many of the seeming contradictions that we see are simply due to a lack of understanding of the language and the context of the Hebrew Bible. By immersing themselves in the concept of the Hebrew Bible, we will then understand the seeming different principles as expressed in the opinions about foreign wives.

Intermarriage threatens the peoples' identity by compromising their exclusive relationship with the God of Israel. Like any spouse, he demands a monogamous relationship and there are consequences and punishments for the transgressions of that exclusive relationship via the infidelity with foreign wives....

Foreign wives lead to the worship of foreign gods that compete with the God of Israel. In Deut. 7:1-4, Moses lays out the principles of this exclusive marriage contract for the Jewish people. If they converted like the war captives did (Deut.: 20-10-18), then such a marriage is obviously permitted.
The women in Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 13 were not interested in converting and were spurring discontent and lack of observance of the Mosaic law. Therefore, clearly these wives had to be divorced to preserve the pure character of the Jewish commitment toward monotheism. The abominations of idolatry that they brought in were intolerable and had to be purged. This does not contradict seeking out converts who come in willingly and purge themselves of their pagan beliefs to become one of God's people in good standing. The same is in Christianity where once must adopt a moral lifestyle to prove fidelity to the exclusiveness of the Gospel relationship with God through the universal priest who is Jesus.

Works Cited

Avodah zarah. (2011, November 11). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avodah_Zarah.

Cox, W. (2011). The sign of jonah and the history of the reconstruction of the temple. Retrieved from http://www.ccg.org/english/s/p013.html.

Goldingay, J. (2003). Old testament theology: Israel's gospel (vol. 1) . Downer's Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.

Rich, T.R. (2007). Shema. Retrieved from http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/shema.htm.