452 – The Rebuilding of the Walls of Jerusalem

SEMESTER 4

452 – The Rebuilding of the Walls of Jerusalem

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE

COURSE: BIBLE SURVEY IV LESSON # 52

THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM

Read Neh. 1:1-2:20, Neh. 4:1-23 and Neh. 13:1-31.

INTRODUCTION:

1. The rebuilding of the walls is a source of some confusion to a good many Bible students, especially in the area of eschatology.
2. They confuse it with the building of the temple and thus find much difficulty with the seventy weeks of Daniel.
3. While some improvement may have been done upon the city at the time of the temple rebuilding, Dan. 9:25 should be seen as applying to Neh. 1:1 through Neh. 6:15 rather than Ezra chapter one.
4. The rebuilding of these walls was a statement against the heathenism outside, and was a significant victory for the Hebrew remnant.

I. THE TIME OF THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS

1. The first of the remnant returned to rebuild the temple in about 536 B.C., about 70 years after Daniel’s captivity.
2. The temple construction was soon halted by adversity, (Ezra 4:23-24) but resumed in about 520 B.C. and was completed in about 516.
3. Reconstruction of the walls under the direction of Nehemiah, began in about 445 B.C. approximately 71 years after the temple was complete.
4. Ezra the scribe, who wrote of the rebuilding of the temple and so much of the disorder, actually came to Jerusalem in about 558 B.C., only 13 years before Nehemiah.

II. THE PURPOSE OF THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS

1. The absence of the walls subjected the worship in the temple, and the Jewish ordinances, to much reproach. (Neh. 1:3)
2. Such people as Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian were using the city for unholy commerce and profit.
3. They did business on the Sabbaths, profiteered on temple sacrifices, and in general, made merchandise of holy things.
4. All this greatly promoted things that were hurtful to the whole purpose of the returned remanent’s return:

i. The same idolatry that had them carried away. (Ezra 9:5-11)
ii. The neglect of divine ordinances. (Neh. 13:4-18)
iii. Intermarriage with the Gentiles. (Ezra 9:1-2, Ezra 10:10-19)

III. OPPOSITION TO THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS

1. It was well known by the intruding Gentiles, such as Sanballat and Tobiah, that the existence of the walls would hurt their commerce.
2. They thus sought to halt the work by several avenues of endeavor:

i. By ridicule. (Neh. 2:19, Neh. 4:1-3)
ii. By conspiracy to fight against them. (Neh. 4:7-12)
iii. By seeking to join them to destroy from within. (Neh. 6:1-7)

3. The world always objects to our efforts for God when they involve proper separation.

IV. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE REBUIL­DING OF THE WALLS

1. The building of the wall was quite an accomplishment, consider­ing the circumstances:

i. The man who led in it was in slavery when he was called.
ii. He was dependent upon his captors for permission and substance.
iii. He had opposition from the enemies of the work.

2. God moved upon the King of Persia to send the man and furnish the money and material. (Neh. 2:7-9)
3. God overruled and overpowered all the obstacles and opposition, whether resistance, (Neh. 4:7-8) or ridicule. (Neh. 4:1-3)
4. These walls were built in only 52 days, in spite of the “troublous times.”
5. During this time there was a great deal of other reform which took place. (Neh. 5:1-19)
6. Nehemiah governed Judah for twelve years after the walls were complete, then returned to Shushan the palace, according to his agreement with the king. (Neh. 2:1, Neh. 5:14, Neh. 13:6)
7. Nehemiah later returned to Jerusalem to find the same misera­ble conditions that their evil hearts had created in the former times. (Neh. 13:6-31)