Ezra and Nehemiah
Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-2; 4:1-5; 5:1-2. 6:13-22.  Nehemiah 1:1-11; 2:1-8; 4:1, 4-23; 6:15-16.

The Story in a Nutshell

The Israelites are held captive in Persia, and the temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed.  However, the Lord stirred the heart of King Cyrus of Persia and he issued a proclamation allowing the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders to the tribes of Benjamin and Judah so they wanted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  Over 40,000 exiles returned bringing along with many precious gifts and materials given for the construction. As construction began, enemies of Judah and Benjamin offered to help, but the Israelite leaders would have no part of it. When that ploy didn’t work, the local residents tried to scare and frighten the Israelites from doing their work.  This continued for the entire reign of King Cyrus, but it didn’t work either.  However, when Artaxerxes became king he stopped work on the temple, and that lasted for years.  Later, when Darius became king the work resumed, and when the temple was finished there was a great celebration with many sacrifices and the Passover feast. 
There is another part to the story.  During the latter years of King Artaxerxe’s reign Nehemiah, one of the Jewish exiles, found out that those that had returned to Judah were in great trouble.  Jerusalem was in shambles – the defensive wall had been torn down and the protective gates of the city burned.  Nehemiah was so grieved that he asked permission from King Artaxerxes to return to the city and rebuild the walls and gates; the king gave his permission.  As with the temple, there were those that opposed the rebuilding, and they tried to stop it.    But the Israelites came up with a great plan to defend themselves and still rebuild the wall.  It took only 52 days to rebuild the wall, and when it was done, the enemies were frightened and humiliated.  They realize that the work had been accomplished with the help of the Israelite’s God. 

Review Questions

How did the Lord stir the heart of King Cyrus?

After the Lord stirred the heart of King Cryus, what did the Lord do?

What happened when the Israelites refused the help of their enemies?

What happened when the rebuilding of the temple was completed?

How did Nehemiah feel about the condition of the city of Jerusalem?

What was his plan?

What happened when the Israelites started to rebuild the wall?

How long did it take to rebuild the walls and gates?

When the project was finished, how did Israel’s enemies feel?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

Would you like to know more about God and his plan of salvation? Then Click Here.