Nehemiah’s Mission
What was Nehemiah’s job in the Persian court before he returned to Jerusalem?
What is a cupbearer?
Nehemiah 1:11 – "I was cupbearer to the king."
Who was the priest that read the Law to the people of Israel in Nehemiah’s time?
Who is Ezra?
Nehemiah 8:1-3 – "They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses... He read it aloud from daybreak till noon."
What was the first gate Nehemiah mentioned as being rebuilt?
What is the Sheep Gate?
Nehemiah 3:1 – "Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate."
Which of Nehemiah’s enemies mocked the Jews by saying, “Even a fox climbing on the wall would break it down”?
Who is Tobiah?
Nehemiah 4:3 – "Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, 'What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!'"
When Nehemiah first heard about the state of Jerusalem, what did he do before approaching the king?
What is pray and fast?
Nehemiah 1:4 – "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven."
What was the main task Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to accomplish?
What is rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem?
Nehemiah 2:5 – "Send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it."
Who was Nehemiah’s main opponent, a Samaritan leader, who tried to stop the wall from being rebuilt?
Who is Sanballat?
Nehemiah 4:1 – "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed."
Which gate is associated with rubbish or refuse in the city?
What is the Dung Gate?
Nehemiah 3:14 – "The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem."
What did Nehemiah and the workers do to protect themselves from attacks while building the wall?
What is they worked with one hand and carried a weapon in the other?
Nehemiah 4:17 – "Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other."
Nehemiah asked God to “remember me” for what?
What is all the good I have done for the people?
Nehemiah 13:31 – "Remember me with favor, my God."
Which Persian king allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall?
Who is King Artaxerxes?
Nehemiah 2:1 – "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes..."
Who were the two other men who frequently opposed Nehemiah? (Not the main man, but the additional men)
Who are Tobiah and Geshem?
Nehemiah 2:19 – "But when .... the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us."
What part of the city wall did Nehemiah inspect at night when he first arrived in Jerusalem?
What is the Valley Gate?
Nehemiah 2:13 – "By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem."
What did Nehemiah refuse to do, even when his enemies invited him to the plain of Ono to discuss the wall?
What is meet with them (he refused to leave the work)?
Nehemiah 6:2-3 – "They were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: 'I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.'"
Nehemiah reestablished a practice that the people had neglected, which caused a public reading of the Law. What was that practice?
What is observing the Sabbath?
Nehemiah 13:15-22 – "In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys..."
How long did it take Nehemiah and the people to complete the rebuilding of the wall?
What is 52 days?
Nehemiah 6:15 – "So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days."
Who was the high priest who led the rebuilding of the Sheep Gate?
Who is Eliashib?
Nehemiah 3:1 – "Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate."
What is the significance of the Water Gate mentioned in Nehemiah, where the people gathered for Ezra’s public reading of the Law?
What is the location where the people assembled for Ezra’s reading of the Law?
Nehemiah 8:1-3 – "They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law... He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate."
Which enemy of Nehemiah attempted to intimidate the Jews by plotting a surprise attack to disrupt the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall?
Who are the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites?
Nehemiah 4:7-8 – "But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead... they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem."
One of Nehemiah’s reforms was to separate Israel from who?
What is the marrying of foreign wives?
Nehemiah 13:23-27 – "Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ash.."
Nehemiah asked the king for letters for safe passage through provinces and for resources. Name one of the specific resources Nehemiah requested.
What is timber/wood from the king’s forest?
Nehemiah 2:8 – "And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he may give me timber..."
Name one of the daughters mentioned in Nehemiah who helped rebuild the wall.
Who are Shallum’s daughters?
Nehemiah 3:12 – "Shallum... repaired the next section with the help of his daughters."
Which specific section of the wall did the people repair that was near the Tower of the Ovens, mentioned for its proximity to the marketplace?
What is the Broad Wall?
Nehemiah 3:11 – "Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens."
Nehemiah confronted and rebuked Jewish nobles for taking advantage of others. What specific practice were they guilty of?
What is charging interest or usury?
Nehemiah 5:7 – "I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, 'You are charging your own people interest!'"
What action did Nehemiah take against the son of Joiada, the high priest, who had married the daughter of Sanballat, Nehemiah's enemy?
What is he banished him (drove him away)?
Nehemiah 13:28 – "One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me."