Nehemiah told their enemies, "The God of heaven will give us success. Nehemiah asked some friends about Jerusalem. After the wall was finished, Nehemiah did much good by reading the law of the Lord. Amazing issues here. They went up on the wall by the stairs at the Fountain Gate and then marched in opposite directions around the city. 19Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him. And it could not (as Josephus says) be Khshayarsha, who only reign 20 years. 8 years of Archaeology Odyssey online, exploring the ancient roots of the Western world in a scholarly and entertaining way, The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Im very glad to look your post. As the fingers flipped through the pages of the Book I always run to when in need of comfort, I read the story of Nehemiah the non-cribber, man of action,a go-getter and also the man behind the wall. Here is where the problem develops in the chronology. Nehemiah 3 is even more specific. Will they sacrifice? Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. In Part 1 prayer was discussed and in this article we have discussed preparation and . I said, Christian chronologists have preserved this same reckoning of Ezra and Nehemiah because it is the only way to show that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9. I meant to say: Christian chronologists have preserved this same reckoning of Ezra and Nehemiah because it is the only way they can show that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9.. As the Bible describes it, he was so driven to erect that barrier to protect the Jews from their enemies that he motivated a crew to work nonstop. The al so important, yet lost and presently under known appearance and working of the Urim and Thummim (Neh 7:65), was ignored in the text of the report concerning the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. He is even given letters from the king to ensure safe passage and to obtain timber from the kings forest for the gates and walls of Jerusalem. Israel is not serving God as of now and so time is not calculated because of that. 7After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the officials; I said to them, You are all taking interest from your own people. And I called a great assembly to deal with them, 8and said to them, As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us! They were silent, and could not find a word to say. Dorothy Resig Willette is the former Managing Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review. Now, I had never been sad in his presence before. 1Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin. He gathered his people together, he equipped them, and he led them in rebuilding the city walls of Jerusalem. Interesting. If you sort through the rather scarce historical references of Messianic expectancy in the 1st century BCE you will find like Newton and Davidson that a huge portion of the Persian era was eclipsed. You too offer an interesting interpretation. One day they were reading in the book of Moses out loud to all the congregation of people. So why did chronologist place a gap in chronology between Ezra 6 &7 between Jeshua/Zerubabbel and Ezra/Nehemiah? Nehemiah encountered hostility from the (non-Jewish) local officials in neighbouring districts, but in the space of 52 days the Jews under his direction succeeded in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls. Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been challenging coaches and athletes to use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ, reaching millions worldwide. It was this last project that Nehemiah is most famed for completing. The waw would have been more accurately translated as a hendiadys where the 2nd word specifies the first. to quickly repair the breaches in the wall, Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Destruction of the Temple, http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/80353228.jpg, http://www.prophecysociety.org/books/LV2012/LV-091.html. Nehemiah 4 1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. The only animal I took was the animal I rode. The CSB E3 Discipleship Bible is full of intentionally crafted discipleship tools and resources based on the E3 discipleship methodEngage. I really like all of the points youve made. Being a representative of the king to rebuild jerusalem was such a great feat that he would not have time for a family either. 5Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord. It was now the 25th day of Elul, only five days prior to the Feast of Trumpets. The dating of the ministries of Nehemiah and Ezra have been juggled to fit both Jewish and Christian misinterpretations of Daniel 9, unfortunately, and repeated so often that they have become gospel in their respective circles. When a mother walks into our care, there is a sense of urgency: a baby is coming and I can only stay so long. Notice the context. This verse describes the commands which were instrumental in the rebuilding of the Temple and its eventual completion. Nehemiah built a spiritual wall for their covenant with God relationship presence help in time of trouble. "Nehemiah 6:15", and "The city of . Note: I would like to make a clarification to my other post. The liberal wants to revise history by dithering about dates . Daniyel 9:25 says that the first seven shavuim begin min motsa davar in Daniyels own lifetime, whenever his supplications began (naturally, when the Temple was destroyed). That decree restores Jerusalem to a messiah (anointed one)/political leader (in this case, the high priest and ethnarch Hyrcanus II), and indicates that the seventy weeks will be fulfilled AFTER the broad place and moat has been rebuilt, an event that happened between 44 BCE and 43 BCE, when Antipater, appointed by Rome to assist Hyrcanus govern the city of Jerusalem, is known to have rebuilt the wall and tower gate (with the broad place for assembling troops behind the tower) and restored the moat in front of the wall by clearing out the rubbish that had been used by Pompey in 63 BCE to fill in the moat so his Roman troops could use siege engines against the wall. ' When I heard these things, I sat down and wept" (Nehemiah 1:3-4). These walls had been down for 100 years. The 70th week does not start until the Anti Christ appears who make a covenant with many for one heptad (week) a 7 year period. Daniel 9:25 is tied to the 490 weeks of years when Nehemiah restored the walls in Jerusalem. Now he could rebuild his beloved city of Jerusalem, its walls and gates. When Daniel received the vision, the 70 years of the captivity period spoken of in Jeremiah 25 were just drawing to a close. Verse 25 states the following: Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah.. 4When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. etc., but apparently no available stock photo of a work from the Middle Ages whose artist actually recorded that his intention was to depict Nehemiah. Ok here is Nehemiah chapter 1 says, 1The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislevin the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa. Joiakim was the son of Jeshua the high priest. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. The decree signified by Daniel 9 that starts the 70 weeks is the decree issued by Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, that says: Gaius Caesar, consul the fifth time [in 44 BCE], hath decreed, That the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it in the manner he himself pleases; and that the Jews be allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every second year the land is let [in the Sabbatic period], a corus of that tribute; and that the tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same tribute. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14.10.5 (Whiston translation). Much work needed to be done, and Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah each led groups of the returned remnant in rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. 30After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. I do not see a reference to Yom Kippur in these verses. Sometime during the next 16 years (between 1st year of Cyrus & 2nd year of Darius Hystaspes) construction of the 2nd temple stopped. Your email address will not be published. Christ is clearly cut off at the determination of the 69th week. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sidesSamaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistinesand rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananeel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West. A conquered people emerge from horrific suffering to reform their nation with the sanction of the conqueror to even rebuild their walls. In that verse, the word weeks is used in the same way that, elsewhere in the Book of Daniel, Jewish calendar units were used as cryptic references to Jewish festivals. Here is a simple equation of the 1st part of that verse: I personally do not think Daniel 9 can be separated from the context of that time. They said, "We're with you. 13 But go your way till the end. 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.. Will you please drop me a mail? http://kofh2u.tripod.com/kofh/. The words of Ezra 6 lays it all out in chronological order. Defying the opposition of Judahs enemies on all sidesSamaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines, the original walls of the City of David were rebuilt by the people in 52 days, working with a trowel in one hand & a sword in the other. They knew that the command given by YHWH was in the same year as the command given by Darius, Artaxerxes, son of Hystaspes in his 2nd year. Building Jerusalem had been going on since the 1st year of Cyrus, that was never the issue. Trying to apply that prophecy to the Persian period is simply incorrect. He also provided a place where the people could wait for God's salvation. Nothing symbolically or literally even comes close to this command by YHWH, a command which was witness by both Haggai and Zechariah. Ezra went up in the 7th year of Artakhshast (Ezra 7:7-10), 13 years before Nehemyahs first documented time in Yerushalayim if they are they same Artakhshast. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall to protect the people from the enemies. 5In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. Then Nehemiah asked Ezra to read the Law of Moses to the people. In the twelfth chapter, the word days was used to indicate Day(s) of Atonement. 21So we laboured at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. Daniyel 9:23 says that at the beginning of Daniyels supplications yatsa davar.. 6In it was written, It is reported among the nationsand Geshem also says itthat you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh 26and the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. For the purpose of brevity, the word week in this chapter will hereafter represent the Day of Pentecost, although using the full fifty-day time period of the Feast of Weeks will work equally well in the interpretation offered in this chapter.. Four highly acclaimed books, published in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution: Aspects of Monotheism, Feminist Approaches to the Bible, The Rise of Ancient Israel and The Search for Jesus. He read the Book of Moses and wanted to make sure the people stayed faithful to God's ways. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised the Lord. They told me that those who had survived and were back in the homeland were in great difficulty and that the foreigners who lived . As already mentioned, most traditional expositors have interpreted the word weeks in that verse to mean a week of years. In other words, a week in Daniel is interpreted as meaning a period of seven years. After the wall was built, Nehemiah ensured that the people were read God's Law, and they understood it. In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt . and Artaxerxes comes from the waw proceeding Artaxerxes. Nehemiah brought all the Levites to Jerusalem for the inauguration. FREE ebook: Israel: An Archaeological Journey. All that was left was to rebuild the city . Each time a new Messianic zealot came along and needed a new basis for claiming a fulfillment of Daniel 9 they would conveniently associate the command given by YHWH in the 2nd year of Darius even Artaxerxes with the 2nd year of a new Artaxerxes thus eclipsing the Persian period by jumping from one to another. 15So I went up by way of the valley by night and inspected the wall. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it" ( Nehemiah 2:20 ). Nehemiah 12 identifies those chief of their fathers who went up with Jeshua and Zerubabbel in the 1st year of Cyrus. Along comes Bible History Daily, rents the picture, crops it to show just the face and upper portion of the body. YHWH was telling the people to shuwb or return and build His house that they were neglecting. In 100 years people had been trying to rebuild these walls and they couldn't get it done. Nehemiah served as the kings cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11), which evidently put him in a position to speak to the king and request favors from him. 14Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. He then rallied the people and, in the face of constant opposition from opponents, rebuilt the wall in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15)a feat that put fear into the hearts of his opponents (Nehemiah 6:16). In an individual life, then, the rebuilding of the walls would be a picture of re-establishing the strength of that life. Ezra soon noticed that contrary to the Jewish law, even Jews of high standing and the priests, had intermarried with pagan, non-Hebrew women. It was God's work and He protected His people and they completed the wall in 52 days. Chapter 4 So let's pick up the story in Nehemiah 4. Thus Artaxerxes is not another Persian ruler but a title which defines Darius son of Hystaspes. I am returned shuwb, the same word used in Daniel 9:25. How many days did it take Nehemiah and his leaders to rebuild Jerusalem's walls? This event symbolically and chronologically marked the end of the 70 years of Jerusalems desolation. So I embarked on a little detective work. These are just chronological events which take place after the first 7 sevens. See http://www.prophecysociety.org for a fuller explanation than can be provided in this forum. There is certainly a lot to learn about this subject. Nehemiah 1:2-4 & 6:15-16. Our lives are in ruin and we co-exist under the [], It is interesting reading thoughts, theories and views expressed by all posted on this page from 2012 to 2014. But afterwards, in applying the prophecy to Theudas, and Judas of Galilee, and at length to Bar Cochab, they seem to have shortened the reign of the Kingdom of Persia. (Chron. External attacks on the Church and some of the repair-workers. 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the Kings Pool; but there was no place for the animal I was riding to continue. Nehemiah Chapter 3 1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel. 27After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. Not even Michelangelo and his David! In the past 2000 years, no one else has. Tonyagonna have to chew on this for awhile! Here is Gods version of revising history. By this time, exiles who were taken at the time of the Babylonian conquest had already been allowed to return to their homeland, and the ones that did had already rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem.