Book of Nehemiah- The Great Reset- Lesson 1: “Connecting the Dots”
The Book of Nehemiah
The Great Reset- Lesson 1:
“Connecting the Dots”
Background of the Book of
Nehemiah: The story is picked up around 444 BC. The date right now may not mean anything to
you, but it will become very important to understand the impact of the events
that are going to follow. Approximately
50 years after the destruction of the temple Cyrus allows Jews to return to
their land. 2 years later the rebuilding
of the temple begins slowly.
The book of Nehemiah begins by
letting us know the month is which this all picks up Chislev in the 12th
year in the city of Shushan (Feb/March our dates).
Time
Frame: The Jews have been in captivity for 204 yrs
Northern Tribes (Israel) /68 yrs Southern Tribes (Judah).
Important
Dates:
· Solomon Dies 931 BC- United Kingdom
of Isreal (12 Tribes) are divided.
· 10 tribes follow Solomons servant
Jeroboam as King (931-910 BC), while Solomons son Rehoboam (931-913 BC) was
given the Kings role and 2 tribes stayed with the Line of David know as Judah.
· Names of kings in lsreal:
· North Kings/ Prophets/ Southern Kings
o
Jeroboam Rehoboam
o
Nadab Abijah
o
Baasha Asa
o
Elah
o
Zimri
o
Tibni
o
Omri
o
Ahab Elijah Jehophaphat
o
Ahaziah
o
Joram Elisha Jehoram/Ahaziah
o
Jehu Queen
Athaliah/Joash
o
Jehoahaz
o
Jehoash
o
Jehoahaz Elisha Joash
o
Jeroboam
II Jonah/Amos
Isaiah Amaziah/ Uzziah
o
Zechariah Hosea
o
Shallum
o
Menahem
o
Pekahiah Micah Jotham
o
Pekah
o
Hoshea Ahaz
o
Assyrian Captivity Hezekiah
o
Assyrian Captivity Isaiah/Nahum/Jeremiah Manasseh
o
Assyrian Captivity Nahum/Jeremiah Amon
o
Assyrian Captivity Nahum/Jeremiah/Zephaniah Josiah
o
Assyrian Captivity Nahum/Jeremiah/Zephaniah/Ezekiel/Daniel
o
Jehoahaz
o
Assyrian Captivity Jeremiah/Ezekiel/Daniel/Habakkuk Jehoiakim
o
Assyrian Captivity Jeremiah/Ezekiel/Daniel/Habakkuk Jehoiachin
o
Assyrian Captivity Jeremiah/Ezekiel/Daniel/Obadiah Zedekiah
o
Assyrian Captivity Babylon
586 BC
This covers
a total of approximately 344 years of Israel’s history.
10 tribes or
Israel is in Captivity from the Assyrian Empire, then Assyrian Empire is
conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire then Persian Empire takes over. 204 yrs
2 Tribes in
the South are taken by Babylonian Empire, then Persian Empire with Cyrus the
Great now has all Israel. 68 yrs
Its during
the time of the Persian Empire in India Buddha appears in human history, while
Confucius is also in China.
Persian is
more graceful to the Jewish people and gives them some freedoms the other
nations didn’t grant them.
Jeremiah’s
prophecies are now coming to pass:
Jeremiah 25:11 NKJV
11 And this whole land shall
be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jeremiah 29:10 NKJV
10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I
will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you
to return to this place.
Along with Jeremiah chapters 30-33.
The date of importance with the destruction of Solomons
temple. So from that time we have Daniel
and for a time Ezekiel speaking the word of the Lord, Dreams, Visions to the
people in Babylon, and the words of Jeremiah are lingering fresh in the minds
Judah.
Meanwhile Haggai and Zechariah are prophesying to the
Jewish people.
Approximately 50 years after the destruction of the temple
Cyrus allows Jews to return to their land.
2 years later the rebuilding of the temple begins slowly.
Once people started going back to Isreal, they began to
rebuild there homes, and struggle to plow there fields and get back into daily
life. Haggai comes on an rebukes the
people, for thinking of themselves first and not thinking about God. Haggai
1:1-15. Telling them isn’t this what got
us in this situation in the first place.
So they begain to rebuild the Temple.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua go 16 years later to finish the
Temple process, and the new Temple is completed in 516 BC
Ezra 3:10-13 NKJV
10 When the builders laid the
foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests
stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with
cymbals, to praise the Lord,
according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And
they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”
Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they
praised the Lord, because the
foundation of the house of the Lord was
laid.
12 But many of the priests
and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who
had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this
temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so
that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise
of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the
sound was heard afar off.
They thought the Glory was in the Temple:
2 Chronicles 7 NKJV
7 When Solomon had finished
praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and
the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled
the [a]temple. 2 And
the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the
children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed
their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.”
4 Then the king and all the
people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King
Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and
twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of
God.
It was a very emotional experience that ended in a big
thud. Nothing happened like they have
imagined it.
Meanwhile Haggai see the shattered expectation of the
people when nothing happens supernaturally in the Temple, he begins to remind
the people of the Kingdom of God and what was still to come. Then reminds them
of faithfulness to the Covenant. That’s
were Zachariah comes in. Encouraging the
people and the new leaders to seek God, and that everything that comes next is
depended on there upcoming choices.
Then Ezra appears and is send by King Artaxerxes and he
begins to rebuild morale thru the Law for moral purity, and then that sputters
at the end. Ezra 4.
Ezra 4:11-16 NKJV
11 (This is a
copy of the letter that they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men of
the region beyond the River, [a]and so
forth:
12 Let it be known to the
king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are
building the rebellious and evil city, and are finishing its walls
and repairing the foundations. 13 Let it now be
known to the king that, if this city is built and the walls completed, they
will not pay tax, tribute, or custom, and the king’s treasury will be
diminished. 14 Now because we receive support from
the palace, it was not proper for us to see the king’s dishonor; therefore we
have sent and informed the king, 15 that search may
be made in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will find in the
book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious
city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition
within the city in former times, for which cause this city was destroyed.
16 We inform the king that if
this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you
will have no dominion beyond the River.
They are stopped to rebuild the city and the walls, so now
this is were Nehemiah comes in.
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