Transcript Slide 1

TIME TO RETURN TO THE LAND! LESSONS FOR TODAY
NEHEMIAH
HISTORY REPEATS IT SELF
From Egypt to the Promised Land
 From the Promised Land To Exile Babylon and
Assyria
 From Babylon Exile back to the Promised Land
 From The Promised Land To The Diaspora
 From The Diaspora to the Return to the Land
 The Final Great Exodus- The Reunification of
ALL of Israel-Judah and Ephraim under Messiah
Yeshua
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ISRAEL IS DIVIDED-OVERVIEW
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Israel was divided into two houses; Israel and
Judah
1
Kings 11:11-13,26,31-35
 1 Kings 12:15,24
 11 Chronicles 11:4
 Isaiah 8:14
ISRAEL IS DIVIDED-OVERVIEW
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Ephraim was later sent into captivity in Assyria
and Judah into Babylon
 11
Kings 17: 6,24
 1 Chronicles 5:26
 Ezekiel 1:1
 1 Kings 14:15
NEHEMIAH-LESSONS FOR TODAY
Crash Course Jewish History
 The Babylonians think G-d has abandoned the
Jews and celebrate. But they have a surprise
coming.
 Psalm 137:1-6
 The destruction of the Temp and the exile to
Babylon represents shock to the Jewish people.
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ISRAEL BEFORE CAPTIVITY
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In those days normative
Judaism meant living with the
constant presence of G-d,
whish was always accessible at
the Temple. Miracles occurred
there daily and could be
witnessed by anyone. For
example, whichever way the
wind was blowing, the smoke
of the sacrifices always went
straight to heaven.
DURING CAPTIVITY
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However, even in exile G-d is
looking after the Jewish
people, even if His presence
is now concealed. When the
Babylonians first attached
Israel the took away 10,000
of the best and the brightest
with them. Because of this
the Jews had an
infrastructure in place
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Yeshivas have been established
There is a Kosher butcher
And a Mikveh
Jewish life can continue and as
a result we see hardly any
assimulation during the
Babylonian exile.
Aramaic was the international
language of this time (closely
related to Hebrew)
Leviticus 26:44
BABYLONIANS “LIVE AND LET LIVE”
WRITING ON THE WALL
The last King of Babylon is Belshazzar, he is well
versed in Jewish prophecy and new that the G-d of
Israel had a reputation. He had to be reckoned with
and therefore the rulers kept up with Jewish beliefs
and took Jewish prophets, such as Jeremiah
seriously.
 Jeremiah 25:11-12
 Jeremiah 29:10
 Daniel 5:1-5 He lets his guard down thinking that
he is now safe from judgment. WRONG!
 Daniel 5:25-28
 That night the Persians and Medes attack
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PURIM IN PERSIA
Another feast celebrating G-d’s abandonment of
Israel puts in motion a plot to annihilate the Jews.
 The armies of the Medes under Darius and the
armies of Persia under Cyrus march into Babylon
and conquer it. The Babylonian Empire ceases to
exist and it is now absorbed by the new Persian
Empire
 Ezra 1:3 370 CE Cyrus issues a decree allowing all
the indigenous peoples that had been exiled by
the now-defunct Babylonian empire to go back to
the homeland.
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GOING HOME
You would think that the Jews would jump up,
pack up and go. But that’s not what happens. Of
what is probably a millions Jews living in the
empire only 42,000 go back-only about 5% of
those that went into exile 70 years earlier go back
and the remaining 95% stays put.
 The same thing happened in 1948 when the state
of Israel was declared. There were about 12
millinon Jews in the world at that time and only
600,000 or 5% settled the land. The rest of the
95% prefered to stay in exile. WHY?
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GOING HOME
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The answer is the same for 370 BCE, as it is for
1948, as it is for today. The Diaspora is nice,
its more comfortable to live in Brooklyn or Los
Angeles or Toronto the in Israel. Why move if
you have a nice big house in America and a
nice standard of living and two cars, and you
have nice schools.
THE 4TH CENTURY BCE
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Exiled to Babylon, they witness the fall of a mighty empire
before their very eyes as the Persians invade
Permitted to return to the land of Israel by the Persian
emperor Cyrus in 370 BCE, they reluctantly take up the offer,
with only 42,000 of their number actually returning.
The returnees attemps to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
are aborted early as their angry neighbors, the not so good
Samaritans complain to the emperor
In Persia, Haman, the chief minister to King Ashashverosh,
hatches a plot to annilate the Jews. But Queen Esther (who
is secretly Jewish) comes to the rescue in 355 BCE.
The next Persian monarch, Darius II, Esthers son, allows the
rebuilding of the Temple in 347 BCE
COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE!
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EZRA – Ezra 1:1-11
Scribe and Cohen
Built Alter
Temple Foundation
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NEHEMIAH
Govenor
Rebuilder of the Walls of
Jerusalem
NEHEMIAH THE BOOK
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The book of Nehemiah is not only a wonderful
record of a crucial period in the history of
Israel, but is also has amazing paraells to Israel
today and the Restoration of ALL of Israel
FOUR
CHARACTERISTICS
OF NEHEMIAH
•COMPASSION
•COURAGE
•CONFIDENCE
•COOPERATON
NEHEMIAH-NAME MEANS ”THE CONSOLATION OF GOD”
NEHEMIAH-A MAN OF GOD
Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king, a
position of influence and honor. He lived in
the palace, and his life was one of physical
ease. Yet, he was a man who maintained a
passion for the truth of God and Torah and
therefore embodied four characteristics that
made him Gods man for the hour.
 Chapter 1
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NEHEMIAH’S COMPASSION
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Nehemiah 1:2-4
Jerusalem’s condition caused him grief
In his day, the condition of a city’s walls was not only
indicative of a city’s vulnerability, but also of the
strength of its god’s. If a wall was large and fortified, it
meant that the gods of that city were powerful and well
able to protect the people from attack. But a city whose
walls were in disrepair had a god who was weak and
ineffectual, unable to repel an attacking enemy.
Nehemiah wept and fasted many days when he realized
that the Lord God of Israel’s reputation was being
defamed by the broken down walls of his own city.
THE BROKEN WALLS
NEHEMIAHS COURAGE
Nehemiah 2
 The book of Nehemiah is filled with his acts of
courageous leadership and personal bravery.
 Ancient kings were men of absolute power,
sometimes benevolent and sometimes cruel. In
Shushan, there were strict rules of etiquette that
governed when and how one appeared before the
King (i.e. Esther). If the King did not raise his
sceptor to indicate permission to enter and speak,
would be visitor could be subject to prison or
death.
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NEHEMIAHS CONFIDENCE
His confidence was not in himself but in the
God that he served!
 Prayer was the key to Nehemiahs success
 Nehemiah was able to transmit his own vision
and passion to others as he acknowledged God
as the source of all success and the only
solution to every problem
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NEHEMIAHS COOPERATION
Nehemiah was a man who understood the
necessity of cooperation in order to achieve
Gods purposes. He was a team builder
extraordinaire!
 He is a picture of
Gods rebuilding of
The House Of David
Ezekiel 37
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NEHEMIAH CHAPTER 1
Report from Jerusalem
 Nehemiahs Prayer
 Other National Confession
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 Daniel
9:5-9
 Isaiah 59:10-21
 11 Chron 7:14
NEHEMIAH 2
Nehemiah inspects the Wall
 Vs. 10- Displeases the enemy the he is
concerned for the welfare of Israel
 Scoffers
 Prov 1:22, 3:34, 13:1, 14:6, 19:29
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NEHEMIAH 3
Rebuilding the Wall. Everyone worked in unity
to rebuild the wall. Unity is the key to
accomplishing G0ds purpose and will.
 1 Cor 12
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NEHEMIAH 4
Opposition to the Work vs 1-14
 i.e. opposition against Israel today and those who
support them
 Fear Not
 Genesis 26:24
 1 Kings 17:13
 11 Kings 6:16
 Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:1-3
 Mattiyahu 10:30-31, Revelation 1:17-18
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NEHEMIAH 4 CONTINUED
Opposition we hear today from those in the
traditional Christian Church against us who are
returning to Torah and our Hebrew Roots in
Yeshua. We are walking the walk He walked!
 Lies
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Torah is a burden
 The Law is fulfilled
 The Law is not Spiritual
 Yeshua’s Law replaced the Law of Moses
 We have the Spirit who needs the letter of the law
 Your trying to be Jewish- (my answer thank you, yes
Just like Yeshua our Redeemer and Messiah)
 Etc etc. we will deal with these issues later
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