Transcript Israel After the Exile Maps by David P. Barrett, used by permission.

Israel After the Exile
Maps by David P. Barrett, used by permission
By the rivers of
Babylon,
There we sat
down and wept,
When we
remembered
Zion.
2 Upon the
willows in the
midst of it We
hung our harps.
(Psalm 137:1-2).
For there our
captors
demanded of us
songs,
And our
tormentors
mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of
the songs of
Zion.”
How can we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land? (Psalm 137:3-4)

Ezra 1:2-3
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
“The LORD, the God of heaven, has
given me all the kingdoms of the earth
and He has appointed me to build Him
a house in Jerusalem, which is in
Judah. 3 Whoever there is among you
of all His people, may his God be with
him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which
is in Judah and rebuild the house of
the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the
God who is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:4
Cyrus
the
Great
“Every survivor,
at whatever place he
may live, let the men
of that place support
him with silver and
gold, with goods and
cattle, together with a
freewill offering for the
house of God which is
in Jerusalem.”
“I am Cyrus, King of the World, Great King,
Legitimate King, King of Babylon, King of
Kiengir and Akkad, King of the four rims of
the earth, Son of Cambyses, Great King,
King of Achamaenes…”
“When I entered Babylon as a friend and
when I established the seat of the
government in the palace of the ruler under
jubilation and rejoicing, Marduk, the great
lord, induced the magnanimous inhabitants
of Babylon to love me, and I was daily
endeavoring to worship him...”
“… Ashur and Susa, Akkad, Eshnunna, the
towns Zamban, Me-turnu, Der as well as the
region of the Gutians, I returned to these
sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the
sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long
time, the images which used to live therein and
established for them permanent sanctuaries”
“I also gathered all their
former inhabitants and
returned them to their
habitations.”
Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right hand,
To subdue nations before him,
And to loose the loins of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will
not be shut (Isaiah 45:1).
“It is I who says of Cyrus,
‘He is My shepherd!
And he will perform all My
desire.’
And he declares of Jerusalem,
‘She will be built,’
And of the temple,
‘Your foundation will be laid.’”
(Isaiah 44:28).
“For the sake of Jacob My
servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also called you by your
name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have not known Me.
(Isaiah 45:4).
Ezra 1:5-6
Then the heads of fathers’
households of Judah and Benjamin and
the priests and the Levites arose, even
everyone whose spirit God had stirred
to go up and rebuild the house of the
LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all
those about them encouraged them
with articles of silver, with gold, with
goods, with cattle, and with valuables,
aside from all that was given as a
freewill offering.
Ezra 3:1
Now when the seventh month
came, and the sons of Israel were in the
cities, the people gathered together as
one man to Jerusalem.
Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his
brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son
of Shealtiel, and his brothers arose and built
the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt
offerings on it, as it is written in the law of
Moses, the man of God. (Ezra 3:2).
Ezra 3:8
Now in the second year of their
coming to the house of God at
Jerusalem in the second month,
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and
Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest
of their brothers the priests and the
Levites, and all who came from the
captivity to Jerusalem, began the work
and appointed the Levites from twenty
years and older to oversee the work of
the house of the LORD.
Ezra 4:1-2
Now when the enemies of Judah
and Benjamin heard that the people of
the exile were building a temple to the
LORD God of Israel, 2 they approached
Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’
households, and said to them, “Let us
build with you, for we, like you, seek
your God; and we have been sacrificing
to Him since the days of Esarhaddon
king of Assyria, who brought us up
here.”
Ezra 4:3
But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and
the rest of the heads of fathers’
households of Israel said to them, “You
have nothing in common with us in
building a house to our God; but we
ourselves will together build to the
LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the
king of Persia has commanded us.”
Ezra 4:4-5
Then the people of the land
discouraged the people of Judah, and
frightened them from building, 5 and
hired counselors against them to
frustrate their counsel all the days of
Cyrus king of Persia, even until the
reign of Darius king of Persia.
Cyrus the
Great
Cambyses
Construction
halted
Permission
given to
rebuild
Haggai &
Zechariah
prophesy
and urge
construction
to begin
again
Ezra 5:1-2
When the prophets, Haggai the
prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo,
prophesied to the Jews who were in
Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of
the God of Israel, who was over them, 2
then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel
and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose
and began to rebuild the house of God
which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets
of God were with them supporting them.
Cyrus the
Great
Darius the
Great
Cambyses
Construction
halted
Permission
given to
rebuild
Permission
given to
complete
1st Return under
Zerubbabel &
rebuilding Temple
Events of Book
of Esther
Ezra 1-6
Book of
Esther
538-516 B.C.
473 B.C.
2nd Return under
Ezra
Ezra 7-10
458-457 B.C.
3rd Return under
Nehemiah &
rebuilding walls
Book of
Nehemiah
445-444 B.C.
• Ancient
capital of
Elam
• Winter
palace of
Darius
• Traditional
tomb of
Daniel


This palace which I built at
Susa, from afar its
ornamentation was
brought. Downward the
earth was dug, until I
reached rock in the earth.
When the excavation had
been made, then rubble
was packed down, some
40 cubits in depth, another
part 20 cubits in depth. On
that rubble the palace was
constructed.
And that the earth was
dug downward, and that
the rubble was packed
down, and that the sundried brick was molded,
the Babylonian people
performed these tasks.
The cedar timber, this
was brought from a
mountain named
Lebanon. The Assyrian
people brought it to
Babylon; from Babylon
the Carians and the
Yaunâ [Greeks] brought
it to Susa.
Cast of Characters
• Esther (also known as Hadassah).
• Ahasuerus: Xerxes
• Mordecai & Haman
Esther &
1:1 – 2:18 Esther becomes queen
Mordecai saves the king’s Mordecai in the
2:19-23
Persian Court
life
Haman plots against the
Trouble for the
3:1-14
Jews
Jews
Esther acts to save her people
• Esther throws a party
4:1 – 7:10
• The King reads an edict
• Esther reveals the plot
Jews allowed to defend
8:1 – 9:17
themselves
9:18-32
Jews celebrate
10:1-3
Mordecai rewarded
Victory for the
Jews
Esther &
Mordecai in the
Persian Court
Esther 9:24
For Haman the son of Hammedatha,
the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews,
had schemed against the Jews to destroy
them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to
disturb them and destroy them.
Haman
Mordecai
A descendant of Agag
(Esther 3:1), the king of
the Amalekites whose life
Saul spared in
disobedience to the
command of God.
From the tribe and family
of Saul (Esther 2:5).
The enemy of the people
of God
The savior of the people
of God
Points to Ponder
• Esther is the book of God’s
Providence
• The Success of Haman’s plot
would also exterminate the seed
through which the Messiah would
come
• This book reminds us that God
works in the lives of both the great
and the small
Ezra
Azariah (“the Lord has helped”)
Esdras (Greek form)
Ezra 7:1-5
Now after these things, in the
reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia,
there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son
of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of
Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,
3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son
of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of
Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua,
son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of
Aaron the chief priest.
Ezra 7:6
This Ezra went up from Babylon,
and he was a scribe skilled in the law
of Moses, which the LORD God of
Israel had given; and the king granted
him all he requested because the hand
of the LORD his God was upon him.
Ezra 7:9
For on the first of the first month
he began to go up from Babylon; and
on the first of the fifth month he came
to Jerusalem, because the good hand
of his God was upon him.
Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had set his heart to
study the law of the LORD, and to
practice it, and to teach His statutes
and ordinances in Israel.
Passage
Author
Purpose
Ezra 1:2-4
Cyrus
Permission for Jews to
return and build temple
Ezra 4:11-16
Rehun &
Shimsha
Report to the king against
the Jews
Cambyses
Order to halt temple
construction
Ezra 5:7-17
Tattenai
Report to the king the Jews
had resumed construction
Ezra 6:1-12
Darius
Permission to resume work
Artaxerxes
Ezra given authority to lead
group to Judah
Ezra 4:17
Ezra 7:1226
Ezra 7:27-28
Blessed be the LORD, the God of
our fathers, who has put such a thing
as this in the king's heart, to adorn the
house of the LORD which is in
Jerusalem, 28 and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his
counselors and before all the king's
mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD
my God upon me, and I gathered
leading men from Israel to go up with
me.
Ezra 9
Ezra 10
The Problem:
Intermarriage with the
people of the land
The Solution: Divorce
those wives
Prayer of repentance
Proposal of divorce
Discuss the decision that
was made to divorce the
foreign wives:
Was it
right?
Was it
wrong?
1 – 2:10
Nehemiah
talks
To
To
the
God
King
2:11 – 6
7
8 – 12
13
Nehemiah 2:1-2
And it came about in the month
Nisan, in the twentieth year of King
Artaxerxes, that wine was before him,
and I took up the wine and gave it to
the king. Now I had not been sad in his
presence. 2 So the king said to me,
“Why is your face sad though you are
not sick? This is nothing but sadness
of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
Nehemiah 2:3-4
And I said to the king, “Let the
king live forever. Why should my face
not be sad when the city, the place of
my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its
gates have been consumed by fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What
would you request?” So I prayed to the
God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:5-6
And I said to the king, “If it please
the king, and if your servant has found
favor before you, send me to Judah, to
the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may
rebuild it.” 6 Then the king said to me,
the queen sitting beside him, “How
long will your journey be, and when will
you return?” So it pleased the king to
send me, and I gave him a definite
time.
Nehemiah 2:10
And when Sanballat the Horonite
and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard
about it, it was very displeasing to
them that someone had come to seek
the welfare of the sons of Israel.
Nehemiah 2:11-12
So I came to Jerusalem and was
there three days. 12 And I arose in the
night, I and a few men with me. I did
not tell anyone what my God was
putting into my mind to do for
Jerusalem and there was no animal
with me except the animal on which I
was riding.
Nehemiah 2:13
So I went out at night by the
Valley Gate in the direction of the
Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse
Gate, inspecting the walls of
Jerusalem which were broken down
and its gates which were consumed by
fire.
http://bibleencyclopedia.com
Nehemiah 2:14-15
Then I passed on to the Fountain
Gate and the King's Pool, but there
was no place for my mount to pass.
15 So I went up at night by the ravine
and inspected the wall. Then I entered
the Valley Gate again and returned.
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Nehemiah 2:16
And the officials did not know
where I had gone or what I had done;
nor had I as yet told the Jews, the
priests, the nobles, the officials, or the
rest who did the work.
http://bibleencyclopedia.com
Nehemiah 2:17-18
Then I said to them, “You see the
bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem
is desolate and its gates burned by
fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of
Jerusalem that we may no longer be a
reproach.” 18 And I told them how the
hand of my God had been favorable to
me, and also about the king's words
which he had spoken to me. Then they
said, “Let us arise and build.” So they
put their hands to the good work.
Nehemiah 4:1
Now it came about that when
Sanballat heard that we were
rebuilding the wall, he became furious
and very angry and mocked the Jews.
Nehemiah 4:2
And he spoke in the presence of
his brothers and the wealthy men of
Samaria and said, “What are these
feeble Jews doing? Are they going to
restore it for themselves? Can they
offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a
day? Can they revive the stones from
the dusty rubble even the burned
ones?”
Nehemiah 4:3
Now Tobiah the Ammonite was
near him and he said, “Even what they
are building-- if a fox should jump on it,
he would break their stone wall down!”
Nehemiah 4:8-9
And all of them conspired
together to come and fight against
Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance
in it. 9 But we prayed to our God, and
because of them we set up a guard
against them day and night.
Nehemiah 4:16-17
And it came about from that day
on, that half of my servants carried on
the work while half of them held the
spears, the shields, the bows, and the
breastplates; and the captains were
behind the whole house of Judah.
17 Those who were rebuilding the wall
and those who carried burdens took
their load with one hand doing the
work and the other holding a weapon.
4
5
6
Threats from
without
Threats from
within
Threats from without
Enemies plot their
Rich
Enemies
schemes
foreclosing on
threaten to
the lands of
Jews
attack and
Plan to
the poor who
accused
tear down the
murder
are rebuilding
of
walls
Nehemiah
the wall
rebellion
1 – 2:10
2:11 – 6
Nehemiah
talks
The work
To
To
Plan Job
the
God
Set done
King
7
8 – 12
13
Number
Covenant Further
of the
renewal reforms
people
Work
Worship
Rebuilding the Wall
Reviving the People
Nehemiah 8:1
And all the people gathered as
one man at the square which was in
front of the Water Gate, and they
asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book
of the law of Moses which the LORD
had given to Israel.
Nehemiah 8:2-3
Then Ezra the priest brought the
law before the assembly of men,
women, and all who could listen with
understanding, on the first day of the
seventh month. 3 And he read from it
before the square which was in front of
the Water Gate from early morning
until midday, in the presence of men
and women, those who could understand; and all the people were
attentive to the book of the law.
Nehemiah 8:5-6
And Ezra opened the book in the
sight of all the people for he was
standing above all the people; and
when he opened it, all the people
stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the
LORD the great God. And all the
people answered, “Amen, Amen!”
while lifting up their hands; then they
bowed low and worshiped the LORD
with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:8
And they read from the book,
from the law of God, translating to give
the sense so that they understood the
reading.
Nehemiah 8:14
And they found written in the law
how the LORD had commanded
through Moses that the sons of Israel
should live in booths during the feast of
the seventh month.
Nehemiah 8:15
So they proclaimed and circulated
a proclamation in all their cities and in
Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills,
and bring olive branches, and wild
olive branches, myrtle branches, palm
branches, and branches of other leafy
trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
Nehemiah 8:16-17
So the people went out and
brought them and made booths for
themselves, each on his roof, and in
their courts, and in the courts of the
house of God, and in the square at the
Water Gate, and in the square at the
Gate of Ephraim. 17 And the entire
assembly of those who had returned
from the captivity made booths and
lived in them. The sons of Israel had
indeed not done so from the days of
Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And
there was great rejoicing.
Covenant Renewal
8
9
10
11-12
Feast of
Prayer of
Covenant Listing of
Tabernacles national
signed the people
observed confession
Nehemiah 13:1-2
On that day they read aloud from
the book of Moses in the hearing of the
people; and there was found written in
it that no Ammonite or Moabite should
ever enter the assembly of God, 2
because they did not meet the sons of
Israel with bread and water, but hired
Balaam against them to curse them.
However, our God turned the curse
into a blessing.
Nehemiah 13:16-17
Also men of Tyre were living there
who imported fish and all kinds of
merchandise, and sold them to the
sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in
Jerusalem. 17 Then I reprimanded the
nobles of Judah and said to them,
“What is this evil thing you are doing,
by profaning the sabbath day?”
Nehemiah 13:23-24
In those days I also saw that the
Jews had married women from
Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 As for
their children, half spoke in the
language of Ashdod, and none of them
was able to speak the language of
Judah, but the language of his own
people.
Nehemiah 13:28
Even one of the sons of Joiada,
the son of Eliashib the high priest, was
a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite,
so I drove him away from me.
Nehemiah 13:30-31
Thus I purified them from
everything foreign and appointed
duties for the priests and the Levites,
each in his task, 31 and I arranged for
the supply of wood at appointed times
and for the first fruits. Remember me,
O my God, for good.