Who’s Who in Persia & Jerusalem
This first king of Persia captured Babylon and issued a decree charging the Jews to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Who is King Cyrus?
Before they laid the full foundation of the temple, this was the very first structure Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuilt in Jerusalem to resume sacrifices.
What is the altar?
Before Nehemiah ever made his difficult request to King Artaxerxes to travel to Jerusalem, he did this vital spiritual step.
What is prayed (fasted and prayed)?
Before Persia took control, this empire had destroyed Jerusalem, burned Solomon's temple, and carried the Jews away into captivity.
What is the Babylonian Empire (Babylon)?
In Ezra 1, Jews who chose not to return to Jerusalem still supported the gathering efforts by contributing these two things.
What are money and supplies (goods/gold/animals)?
He served as the governor of Jerusalem alongside the priest Jeshua while construction on the rebuilt temple began.
Who is Zerubbabel?
When the foundation of the new temple was laid, younger people celebrated with loud joy, while older people did this.
What is wept (wept with joy/remembering the original temple)?
Nehemiah famous quote: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot..." finish the phrase.
"...come down."
These two Old Testament books were originally considered two parts of the exact same book.
What are Ezra and Nehemiah?
In Nehemiah 8, Ezra stood before all the people in Jerusalem to read, expound, and translate these sacred writings.
What is the Law of Moses (the scriptures)?
This priest and scribe living in Persia was given permission by King Artaxerxes to lead a second group back to Jerusalem and teach the people.
Who is Ezra?
These two prophets are mentioned by name in Ezra 5 for encouraging the people to resume building despite ongoing opposition.
Who are Haggai and Zechariah?
Sanballat tried to lure Nehemiah away from his work to meet with him this exact number of times.
What is 5 times?
The group living to the north of Jerusalem who offered to help rebuild the temple—and then opposed the Jews when rejected—were the residents of this region.
Who are the Samaritans (Samaria)?
After Ezra read and explained the scriptures to the people, they celebrated this ancient holy week accurately for the first time since Joshua.
What is the Feast of Tabernacles?
As the royal cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, he felt deeply inspired to travel to Jerusalem to help fortify its broken walls.
Who is Nehemiah?
The rebuilt temple was finally completed and dedicated during the reign of this Persian king, who searched royal archives to confirm Cyrus's original decree.
Who is King Darius?
Because of outside threats, the builders working on the walls held tools with one hand and held this in the other.
What is a weapon (sword/spear)?
This "prince of Judah" led the very first group of exiled Jews out of Babylon and returned sacred items previously stolen from Solomon's temple.
Who is Sheshbazzar?
Nehemiah stopped rich Jewish nobles from doing this unrighteous practice to their impoverished brethren.
What is enslaving them (taking them into bondage due to debts)?
This governor of Samaria constantly tried to trick, blackmail, or distract Nehemiah to stop the city walls from being completed.
Who is Sanballat?
Approximately how many years passed between the temple's rededication at the end of Ezra 6 and Ezra’s actual journey to Jerusalem in Ezra 7?
What is 67 years?
Against all odds and severe enemy opposition, the fortification of Jerusalem’s wall was completed in this remarkably short number of days.
What is 52 days?
This prophet, whose book comes last in the Old Testament, served contemporaneously with the very end of the Book of Nehemiah.
Who is Malachi?
In Ezra 7:10, Ezra provides a pattern for personal study by preparing his heart to do three things with the law of the Lord: Seek it, Do it, and this.
What is Teach it?