Nehemiah Rebuilds The Wall : A Story Of Leadership And Bravery?

Religious spaces, characterized by Thomas Tweed, are “differentiated,” “interrelated,” and “kinetic.” As a sacred city with spiritual significance in three major religions, Jerusalem is depicted thoroughly in the Hebrew Bible and illustrated as one of the spaces Tweed defines. The Bible emphasizes that Jerusalem was chosen by God and honored by Israelites, which differentiates it as a special, singular space; the description of Solomon’s Temple shows that the Holy City was interrelated to economic power and involved in the judgment of civil cases. Moreover, the conquest, development and destruction of Jerusalem illustrate the city as a kinetic space, reflecting the unsettled history of the Iron Age. These characteristics all make Jerusalem a religious and political center from the ancient Near East time to present day, guiding the footsteps of believers around the world.

Because he had done right thing, Hezekiah felt no need to request permission from the people to act. If he had, his adversaries would have approved a compromise that discouraged the worship of Nehushtan without completely ending the idolatrous practices the Israelites had fallen into. Surely the people would have deemed destroying an object through which God had performed a powerful saving miracle as an assault on the unique history and heritage of the Hebrews; yet, Hezekiah, to his credit, ignored the people's faulty religious conditioning and proceeded decisively in accordance with God's will.

6. Review the discussion on pp. 243-244 of Heaven. What is the significance of the gates of the New Jerusalem?

When Hezekiah took the throne of Judah he began reforming the religious practices in Judah. He started by destroying all pagan altars built by his father and destroying all shrines where Baal worship went on. We believe this religious reform happened because the remains of a pagan altar were found at Beersheba, where the stone had been reused as building material (cite book pg. 177). Hezekiah even destroyed the bronze serpent made by Moses kept in the Temple as a reminder of Israel’s days in the wilderness. The serpent was destroyed because people had started burning incense around it, thus it had become an object of

The construction of the Second Temple was the second main contribute to the history of Judaism. Following the Persian conquest that overtook the Babylonian Empire, groups of Jews exiled were returning. This represented a restart of the religious life for Judaism. Many of the Jews now lived within the Persian Empire that once was the kingdom of Judah. As the Second Temple was being rebuilt, there was a focus on the collection and editing of sacred scriptures used. The focused on sacred scriptures about divine promise, judgement, recurrent patterns of teaching, and insight from earlier prophets. This is important to the history of Judaism because this was a restoration attempt after the horrendous attack by the Babylonian Empire. In addition,

Moreover, Hezekiah collaborated with his military commanders to fortify Jerusalem’s defenses in several other ways. To begin with, he eliminated easy access to water outside the

The people of God during The Book of Haggai are avoiding rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. The first temple was built by Solomon, the son of David. David initially wanted to build the temple, but God gave the task to Solomon. The Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar marched into Jerusalem and destroyed this first temple of God. The temple was to be rebuilt, but it was being avoided largely during the time of Haggai. Consequently, God spoke to Haggai and had him relay messages to his people. God started by asking the people how they live in their

Possible evidence found to confirm Hezekiah’s reform was evidenced by the Lord’s spokesman (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Isaiah reassured Hezekiah that Jerusalem would never fall to Sennacherib (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Isaiah also told Hezekiah the Sennacherib would return to his home only to be assassinated (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Hezekiah also encountered a dilemma involving his health and the face of death (Tullock & McEntire, 2012). Hezekiah pled for a longer life in which fifteen more years was granted (Tullock & McEntire, 2012).

The descendant of Sidon the firstborn of Canaan were the original inhabitants of the land of Lebanon (Judges 3:3). These same Canaanite tribe were anciently famous and remarkable in manufacturing of arts and craftsmanship and had great reputations on their trades. Their skills drawn the attention of king Solomon which led him to contract the Canaanite Sidonian to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem with the help of Hiram who was the chief architectural planner, surveyor and a builder (2 Chronicles 2:1-18; 1 Kings 5:1-9). King Hiram sent Huram-abi one of his trusted counselor whose mother was from the tribe of Dan, and father was a Canaanite Tyre, and he was well skilled in all areas of architectural buildings (2 Chronicles

Until Haggai came at them with “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate? 5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the LORD. 9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the LORD of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house."(Haggai 1:4-9 NASB) This stinging rebuke to a people that was seeking to create their own prosperity while neglecting spiritual responsibilities was just the kick in the pant that they need to obey the voice of the Lord and began rebuilding. Haggai 2:3-9 show us that there were some in Jerusalem that were quite disappointed. These people were comparing the second temple as a poor substitute, recalling the splendors of the first temple. To them, nothing would stand up to the grandeur of Solomon’s

The people of Judah had gone through much suffering during their captivity with Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. They had returned to the land, and the walls through by the governor Nehemiah, who was also known as one of the last prophets of the Old Testament Prophets, were rebuilt. The LORD used, Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites, to usher the people of Judah into a great time of repentance and revival. What I love about the LORD, is that He wasn't just concerned with rebuilding the land and walls, but His main focus was rebuilding the lives of His people. Nehemiah 8:9 says: "And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your

When Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates were burned by fire (Neh 1:3), he wept. Now it’s our turn. Stand in the midst of your city. See the rooftops and the church steeples; even in the larger cities see the skyscrapers. These are the walls of our cities. The church steeples are our town towers. Look closely. Ask for spiritual eyes. What do we see? There is death and destruction all around. There is sadness, loss and emptiness. The walls of our own cities have fallen just like Jerusalem. The city guards have deserted their posts. Our gates have also been burned – burned by the fire of hell. Satan has infiltrated our cities, causing pain, heartache and disaster. Too long we’ve turned a blind eye. Tell me

During the days of Jesus, Palestine never lacked for loyalties. It was a crossroads of culture and peoples. Its 2,000,000 or more people ruled by Rome were divided by region, religion and politics (Shelley, p. 4). Jesus was a Jew, but that did not stop them from separating everyone into the categories of different religions. The Jews, who represented only half the population, despised their foreign overlords and deeply resented the signs of pagan culture in their ancient homeland (Shelley, p. 3-5).

The display of leadership requires some great qualities that will project any individual to be highly acceptable by the follower. These qualities are good communication, honesty, appealing, wisdom, focus, delegation and faithfulness. Moreover, the book of Nehemiah described the role Nehemiah and the emperor regarding the rebuilding of Jerusalem, he displayed effective communication with the Emperor, then plan all his network and get all the material needs before embarking on the trip.

After fifty-two days of working, Nehemiah and his people had completed the wall. Nehemiah set up the doors of the wall and he was ready to arrange all the people who came up out of captivity from the land of King Nebuchadnezzar. When the people of Israel were all together in their towns, they asked to the scribe Ezra to read the Book of the Law of Moses. Public reading was a common practice in the ancient Near East, because of the lack of accessibility to written material.