Late Night Theology & Politics

I was (and apparently still am) having difficulty falling asleep tonight, so I began reading my Bible. I encountered this passage from II Kings 15:

18 And he [Menahem] did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
19 And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

So to summarize, we have a wicked king who taxes the wealthy in order to accomplish a political payoff. I wonder how much you had to make a year to be considered "wealthy" back then?

There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9)!