Transcript After The Fall Ezra and Nehemiah

After The Fall
Ezra and Nehemiah
Rebuilding The Walls
Nehemiah 3-4
Announcements
Nehemiah
Week
Date
Topic
1
04 Sep 13 Rebuilding the Temple: Ezra 1-3
2
11 Sep 13 Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple: Ezra 4-6
3
18 Sep 13 Ezra Arrives in Jerusalem: Ezra 7-8
4
25 Sep 13 Ezra’s Prayer: Ezra 9-10
5
02 Oct 13 Nehemiah Arrives in Jerusalem: Nehemiah 1-2
6
09 Oct 13 Rebuilding the Walls: Nehemiah 3-4
7
16 Oct 13 Nehemiah Helps the Poor: Nehemiah 5-6
8
23 Oct 13 Nehemiah Reads the Law: Nehemiah 7-8
9
30 Oct 13 Israelites Confess Their Sins: Nehemiah 9-10
10
06 Nov 13 New Residents of Jerusalem: Nehemiah 11-12
11
13 Nov 13 Nehemiah's Final Reforms: Nehemiah 13
12
20 Nov 13 Summary of Ezra and Nehemiah
13
27 Nov 13 Malachi 1-4
Today’s Objectives
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Provide an historical overview
Review last weeks lesson, Nehemiah 1-2
Learn who helped rebuild the walls and gates of
Jerusalem
Learn about those who opposed rebuilding the wall
and why
Learn about Nehemiah’s response to the opposition
Learn about the Nehemiah’s plan to defend the
builders of the wall
Next week: Nehemiah 5-6
Overview of Nehemiah
• Nehemiah’s lived in Persia; however, his ancestral
home was Jerusalem
• Judah was a province of the Persian Empire
• Nehemiah was the royal cup bearer in the palace of
Shushan
• Artaxerxes I was the Persian king during this time
• Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in 444 BC
• Nehemiah led completion of the wall around
Jerusalem over a 52-day period
• Nehemiah remained in Jerusalem for 13 years or
until 431 BC
Overview of Nehemiah
• Nehemiah supplemented and completed the work of
Ezra
• After completing his work, Nehemiah returned to
the Persian palace of Shushan
• After Nehemiah leaves, moral degradation begins to
return back to Jerusalem
• Nehemiah again returns after a two-year absence
• With vigor, Nehemiah seeks to rid the nation of the
immoral behavior – he was the last of the Persian
governors sent to Judah (it was later annexed)
• We know little of his remaining life (died 413 BC)
Royal Cup Bearer
Chapters of Nehemiah
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1 – Nehemiah’s Prayer
2 – Nehemiah’s commission and travel
3 – Building the wall
4 – Enemies try to stop work on the wall
5 – Internal problems threaten work on the wall
6 – Wall is completed
7 – Wall is guarded
8 – Revival
9 – Israel confesses their sin
10 – Israel’s covenant with God
11 – People of Jerusalem
12 – Dedication of the wall
13 – Nehemiah’s reforms
Babylonian Empire
Under Nebuchadnezzar (600 BC)
Turkey
Iran
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Achaemenid Persian Empire
Under Cyrus (530 BC)
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Azerbaijan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Syria
Iran
Tajikistan
China
Afghanistan
Iraq
Pakistan
India
Saudi Arabia
Geo-Political Atmosphere
• Egyptian revolt against Greek military presence
• This reality caused Persian to value strongholds
such as Judea – prompting a continuous build-up of
key cities
• Likewise, Persia needed stable populations
inhabiting these cities
• Therefore, it was in Persia’s strategic interest to
fortify cities like Jerusalem and to ensure that the
population was strongly governed with little to no
change of insurrection
Geopolitical Situation
• 612 BC — Fall of the Assyrian Empire
• 587 BC – Nebuchadnezzar’s third attack on Jerusalem,
remaining people carried away
• 546 BC – Cyrus becomes king of Persia
• 539 BC – Cyrus conquers Babylon
• 535 BC – Second temple reconstruction begins (approx)
• 515 BC – Second temple reconstruction completes
• 480 BC – The Battle of Thermopylae (Persians against Greeks)
• 458 BC – Ezra returns to Jerusalem
• 458 BC – Cincinnatus is named dictator of the Roman Republic
• 454 BC – Athens loses a fleet and possibly as many as 50,000
men in a failed attempt to aid an Egyptian revolt against Persia
• 445 BC – Artaxerxes I gives Nehemiah permission to rebuild
Jerusalem
Main Characters of Chapter 3-4
• Nehemiah – sent by God to rebuild the wall and reestablish the law in Jerusalem, cupbearer to the
Persian king Artaxerxes I
• Numerous others who help to rebuild the walls and
gates of Jerusalem
Gates of Chapter 3-4
Record of the Builders
(Nehemiah 3:1-12)
• Note on Chapter 3
– Shows how believers must work together
– Nehemiah was an effective coalition builder
• Builders near the Sheep Gate (3:1-2)
– Sheep Gate – where shepherds brought their flocks
– Eliashib, the Godly leader
• Builders near the Fish Gate (3:3-5)
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Near the fish market
Word “repair” used 35 times in this chapter
Read Ephesians 4:12
Nobles from Tekoa did not participate, why?
Record of the Builders
(Nehemiah 3:1-32)
• Builders near the Old Gate (3:6-12)
– Showcases the varied individuals
– Broad Wall remains behind in Jerusalem today
– Mentions several men who worked on the wall in front
of their homes (five times)
• Builders of the Valley Gate (3:13)
– Rebuilt the gate and 1000 cubits of the wall
• Builders of the Refuse Gate (3:14)
– Rebuild by the district leader
• Builders near the Fountain Gate (3:15-25)
Record of the Builders
(Nehemiah 3:1-32)
• Builders near the Water Gate (3:26-27)
– Tekoites when above and beyond to compensate for their
nobles (see 3:5)
• Builders near the Horse Gate (3:28-30)
– Again, examples of unselfish service
• East Gate (3:29) – The east gate has been set-aside
especially by God and was known by Jews for one
particular event – the coming of the Messiah!
• Builders near the Miphkad Gate (3:31-32)
Sanballat and Tobiah Ridicule the Work
(Nehemiah 4:1-6)
• Attempts to discourage workers (4:1-3)
– Sanballat was furious, spoke out against the Jews
– Along with Tobiah, criticized the construction
– One measure of a leader is to be able to measure
criticism, to not allow one to be run down by it
– Tobiah calls the stone wall “their’s” not God’s
• Nehemiah prays (4:4-5)
– Instead of attacking the two, he prays
– Ask God to intervene on behalf of the builders
• God answers Nehemiah’s prayer (4:6)
– The wall is joined together
Sanballat and Tobiah Plan a Violent Attack
(Nehemiah 4:7-9)
• The conspiracy to attack the work (4:7-8)
– Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, Ammonites, Ashdodites
– Together, they plan and attack upon Jerusalem
– To create confusion
• Attack is repelled by prayer and watch (4:9)
– They prayed to God
– Set watch day and night
Challenges from Inside and Outside
(Nehemiah 4:10-23)
• Challenges inside (4:10)
– The people are discouraged
– The job is too big to complete
• Challenges outside (4:11)
– The enemy outside plans to conduct raids inside the
walls and kill the workers
• God intervenes against the outsiders (4:12)
– Jews near the outsiders provide early warning
– Defense in depth
– Ten times they will be told
Challenges from Inside and Outside
(Nehemiah 4:10-23)
• Nehemiah organizes the defense (4:13-14)
– He has many options: nothing, panic, or trust God
– Organizes the people for a defense
– Places defenders among the families as they work
• The enemy falls back (4:15)
– God intervenes in their plot, the people return to work
• The sword and the trowel (4:16-18)
– From that day on, all carried swords, half tools to
reconstruct the wall
– Kingdom of God is built with both a sword and a trowel
Challenges from Inside and Outside
(Nehemiah 4:10-23)
• Plans are made to keep a ready defense (4:19-23)
– Rally around the sound of the trumpet when the wall is
under attack
– God will fight for us
– Each man remained in Jerusalem at night to guard
Gates of Jerusalem
Sheep Gate
Fish Gate
Old Gate
Dung Gate
Review
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Provided an historical overview
Reviewed last weeks lesson, Nehemiah 1-2
Learned who helped rebuild the walls and gates of
Jerusalem
Learned about those who opposed rebuilding the
wall and why
Learned about Nehemiah’s response to the
opposition
Learned about the Nehemiah’s plan to defend the
builders of the wall
Next week: Nehemiah 5-6