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
Desperate to escape the despotic government, many people from Judah turned to false gods and idolatry.6 Pleading to God for rescue from such an immoral, faithless place, Habakkuk learned that the situation of Judah would be rectified in time.7 God said that He had prepared a chastising rod and that Babylon would be the avenging instrument of the just Judeans.8 After the Babylonians expelled Jehoiakim from the throne, God emancipated the Judeans and relieved the heinous social situation. In the end, Habakkuk knew that the just Israelite would not perish from the calamities of the Babylonian attacks;9 he knew that righteousness and faith would prevail. Instead of rectifying the situation at once, the Chaldean empire took control and continued to treat the Judeans harshly. Furthermore, Habakkuk became angry and questioned God again. Nevertheless, he heeded to the previous words of God and kept his faith. Before humanity lost faithfulness, Habakkuk needed to spread this message throughout the empire to save the Judeans. Habakkuk had to extend the word of God to all oppressed people, so he wrote in a style the Israelites could grasp.
This is when Jonah is anointed the role of a prophet that is a persuader, as a publicizer of the Lord's mercy, and the gift of repentance. Ezra and Nehemiah believe when they returned to the promise land that the lord had returned to them must be at its utmost holiest. That means the the people of the old Israel that were left behind and married foreign wives had to leave. This is not right in the meaning that we have today and if you're a follower of the Lord. Most people conclude you are entitled to follow or not follow at your leisure. God is a God that cares for Jews and gentiles akin. This is where you could battle equally Jonah’s, Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s because both bring valid reasoning to their accustoms. Jonah’s who believes all should be given the chance and Ezra-Nehemiah’s view that this land should have foreign idols worshipped in their land. I conclude that this is presented to us in the book of the bible because we must make the choice in whether what's correct and what's not correct within our
The Book of Nehemiah is narrative that continues the history of the Israelites after they return from exile. Nehemiah prays to God about Jerusalem and God’s promises. Nehemiah is sent from Babylon to Jerusalem where he inspects Jerusalem’s walls. Different sections were rebuilt by different groups of people. Through prayer, they were able to complete the rebuilding even when there was opposition. Nehemiah helped the poor by summoning the priests to make the nobles and officials take an oath to follow God’s law. A genealogical record is listed of the exiles who returned. Ezra read The Book of the Law to the Israelites. The Israelites prayed to God and confessed their sins and signed the Law of God. The Levites were brought to
Nehemiah and Ezra were instrumental in trying to persuade the people back to the teachings of God. “God’s work demands all that we have, and sometimes challenges us to go beyond what we think we are capable of doing” (Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 266).They uplifted their spirits by providing them the covenant laws of Moses and helping them rebuild the temple. “Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the
For forty years God had miraculously provided food and water for their forefathers. The current years of blessings and protection caused the inhabitants of the lands to fear God as the nation settled it. They knew something special happened when Israel’s God showed up.
Knowing the historical context of a work is crucial to understanding both its general meaning and its deeper essence. Often times, authors use their works as outlets to freely express their personal feelings toward a social trend or issue. As such, the time in which a story is written can have a strong influence on the message the author is trying to convey to his or her reader. Their personal reflections can be asserted in many ways; among the most common being through the characters themselves and their development throughout the work, the setting, and the implied themes.
Hammurabi, King of Babylon, created 282 laws for his people for 42 years, 4,000 years ago. He had created these laws so he could make sure the strong do not hurt the weak, these set of laws are called “ Hammurabi’s Code”. He claims that he was inspired by the god of justice, Shamush, to create these laws. Shamush and Hammurabi were carved on a stele. This stele has all of Hammurabi’s Code inscribed on a seven-foot basalt on a vascular plant. The stele has three parts. Carving a, the top of the stele, is an inscribed picture of Hammurabi and Shamush who is sitting on this throne. Next, we have carving b, which is the middle of the stele with scribes of the Prologue. Finally, the last group of carvings were the 282 laws Hammurabi had written.
For week one’s assignment I have chosen to Select one famous person from Mesopotamia and discuss that person’s life.
When the Hebrew peoples lost everything and entered into captivity to Babylon, they were a lost and floundering nation. “After the days of Solomon, the history of Israel was a story of increasing apostasy and judgement” (Clowney, 2013, p. 185). Despite their breaking of the covenants, and sinning against God in the worst ways, God did not abandoned them. He was very unhappy, and sent many prophets to speak His words to try to bring them back into relationship with Him, then God sent judgements down upon them. However, through these judgements, He kept to His promise to Abraham to ultimately bless the nations of Israel. (Clowney, 2013, p. 193) When they were allowed by Cyrus to return to Jerusalem (Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 58), with permission
"Send me to the city where my fathers are buried so I can rebuild it,” Nehemiah replies. (Nehemiah 1: 5)
King Nebuchadnezzar II began with a big hole in the ground to start construction of his wonderful mountain. The knowledge for such a wonderful structure was more precious to know than for another part. If the weight of stone slabs, dirt or the plants would be too much, then too much water also could crumble this structure away easily and the whole thing could fall. So the engineers at that early time were smart enough so they dug 30 feet down to lay down strong iron pillars. Then, they started to construct the first level of the garden and move along until they reached the top of the city wall. Enough dirt was stacked to keep growing the trees' roots and then planting of other plants began. Because the area wasn't having really good amount
“Jonah, by contrast preaches a short, reluctant sermon in Nineveh (of all places!) and the entire city repents, from the greatest to the least.” (Hays,2010, P.171). “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.” (Bible.org, N.D). repentance to me is the social justice part, If God’s people repents He will heal the land. The bible says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2nd chronicles 7:14).
Nehemiah the Israelite leader displays numerous traits of a Servant Leader in the biblical book, Nehemiah. Nehemiah sets out on a quest to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the wall that surrounds his beloved home. During this time, he encounters many obstacles and will overcome all roadblocks put in front of him. This paper will provide an analysis of two significant events, building the wall around Jerusalem and organizing Jerusalem’s people to rebuild the city.
After the temple was completed, Zechariah gave several prophecies about Israel’s future. It vividly describes the first and second coming of our lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This book contains more about the person, work, and glory of Christ than any other minor prophets combined. Israel’s king would come, but his people would reject him. They would later repent and be restored to God. The king is going to come again for the Judgment, we pray that when he comes again that we have been faithful and he will find us pure in his sight. The building of the temple is important here. Our bodies are our temple and we must continue to work on them until Christ comes again to claim us, the Church the people of
The book of Nehemiah is about the physical and spiritual restoration in Jerusalem. Nehemiah is viewed as one of the great leaders in the Old Testament. He led a group of Jews to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. He shows his leadership through his prayers, sensitivity, boldness, and many other characteristics.