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After the Babylonian captivity and the Persian conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus II of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple. He became Governor of Judah somewhere after. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. Suffice to say there is hardly any archaeological evidence of a large population growth as a result of immigration. on The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Nehemiah 2:11-20, https://brewsterbaptistchurch.org/audio/08032014.mp3. During this time, observant Jews refrain from certain joyful activities and commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other historical tragedies. The Persian king even gives Nehemiah an armed escort and resources to fulfll the project of the walls. The high priest Eliashib, for example, rebuilds the Sheep Gate together with his fellow priests, while the sons of Hassenaah tackle the Fish Gate. It contains three elements: identification with the people, an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation, & a call to action. The many Yehud stamp impressions indicate inclusion in an economic network, the exact nature of which still eludes us. King Solomon might have added to the defensive fortifications, OnSite: Bethlehems Church of the Nativity. God provided me with safe passage, timber, & the authority & permission to build. The General got off his horse and entered through the gate on foot, to show respect for the city. How desolate Jerusalem really was, is a matter of interpretation. He can see that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is a restoration job on several levels. He was able to rebuild . Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace. Nehemiah is one of them. An accurate analysis of the finds I made shows, however, that the tower and the wall date from the Late Hellenistic period and are part of the fortifications described above (for an extensive analysis see Steiner 2011). King Darius is mentioned by name in the Bible in the books Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. If our plans are not based on reality or the facts its highly unlikely our plans will be successful. The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Bible is more than an account of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah is not a professional builder or contractor. Even today, numerous sections of Hezekiahs wall remain visible. Due to this dearth of material, interpretations are becoming increasingly important. For the next three centuries, the city remained without protective walls, the Temple Mount/Haram ash-Sharif and the citadel then being the only well-fortified areas. In this map the walls surround the southeastern hill and the Temple Mount only; it is assumed that other parts of the Late Iron Age city were not reconstructed. Supporting his case, every non-biblical mention of Jerusalem found in the ancient Near East refers to the city as 'Jerusalem'. So I went up by way of the valley by night & inspected the wall. Many Jewish people were disappointed in the second Temple because it didn't even begin to compare with the splendor of Solomon's Temple. According to Oded Lipschits (2009) Jerusalem was a temple city. King David's son, Solomon, enlarged the city northward to include the area of the Temple Mount. I. Finkelstein, `Jerusalem in the Persian (and Early Hellenistic) Period and the Wall of Nehemiah. Only since the end of the 19th century do we know that the town from the Bronze and Iron Ages, roughly the period from 3200 - 600 BC, was built near the only natural spring in the area, the Gichon spring at the foot of the eastern slope of the southeastern hill (Steiner 2014). In an individual life, then, the rebuilding of the walls would be a picture of re-establishing the strength of that life. Agrippa I began the construction of an additional wall of the city which was completed just at the beginning of the First JewishRoman War in 66 AD. And Jerusalem is a symbol of the city of God, God's dwelling place and the center of life for the world. Agrippa I (r. 4144 CE) later began the construction of the Third Wall, which was completed just at the beginning of the First JewishRoman War. Josephus, Ant. Many paint a dark situation, with only some 'people of the land' living in the collapsed houses and making sacrifices in the ruins of the temple. Some people might think, our church is fine the way it is, why worry about ten years from now? During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 15201566), the city of Jerusalem regained its splendor and recovered from centuries of neglect. Who first built the walls of Jerusalem? 1 The words of a Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.. Now it happened in the month of b Chislev, c in the twentieth year, as I was in d Susa the citadel, 2 that e Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. Source: Chronological Reference Points,Middle East Insight, January-February 1999. Its about restoring a wall, rebuilding a sense of community, & constructing a sense of identity for the people. Nebuchadnezzar The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Fatigue (Pagkapagod) Fortifying the town would certainly not have been tolerated by the Persian authorities, and the story as told in the biblical book of Nehemiah would be a much later construction. I have been to Jerusalem but did not walk the walls. This is not the last time that happened on a construction job. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. This was some 47 years after the temple was finished. Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies Info@splgroup.co.in Info@splgroup.co.in Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, The Unexpected History Behind Jerusalems Street Names, Richard the Lionheart Accepts Saladin's Peace, British Mark Capture of Jerusalem from Turks, Supreme Moslem Council Recognizes Jewish Temple Mount, Jerusalem's Military Government Abolished, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 1800 BCE - Construction of First City Wall, 586 BCE - Babylonian Forces Destroy Jerusalem and Demolish. 4th March Saturday <br>Nehemiah. "The survivors there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire" (Neh 1:3; cf. But when Sanballat the Horonite & Tobiah the Ammonite official, & Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked & ridiculed us, saying, What is this that you are doing? DepartmentBldg Tucson, AZ 85721 TEL 520-621-6897 FAX 520-626-9014. Archaeologist have not been silent either. According to the Book of Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins until the fifth century B.C.E., when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem as the provincial governor and completed the repairs of the walls that had begun under Ezra. In 1202 to 1212 Saladin's nephew, Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam 'Isa, ordered the reconstruction of the city walls, but later on, in 1219, he reconsidered the situation after most of the watchtowers had been built and had the walls torn down, mainly because he feared that the Crusaders would benefit of the fortifications if they managed to reconquer the city. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. Submitted by Martin Hughes on Mon, 10/25/2021 - 01:00. ), The Summit of the City Of David Excavations 20052008; Final Reports Volume I, Area G, Jerusalem 2015, 525-538. Despite evidence of permanent settlement dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age (c. 33002300 B.C.E. The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates open for traffic, with two minor gates reopened by archaeologists. Take a video tour atop the walls of the Old City. 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. Other than the Tower of David, the city of Jerusalem would remain an open city until its conquest by the Ottoman empire in 1517. M. L. Steiner, `The Persian Period City Wall of Jerusalem, in I. Finkelstein, I and N. Na`aman (eds. The Old City is home to three major shrines of the world\\'s religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ALSO, I LIKE THE WRITE-UPS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND. Returning Exiles Rebuild the Walls444 BC - 442 BC. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. These walls were largely destroyed in 1033, however, when a major earthquake struck the city. Later, he built stronger and additional walls to fortify the city, and it would become known as the City of David. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0). May the joy of the Lord be your strength. Early September, after just 52 days, the wall was completed. What Nehemiah lacked in technical knowledge, he more than makes up for with his ability to motivate and unite people to share in the challenge of rebuilding the walls. Were literally rebuilding our oldest walls which were built over 150 years ago as well as the roof of the chapel and installing a new steeple. As Hezekiah began to prepare for what he knew would be a terrible siege by a merciless Assyrian war machine, he had to figure out how to protect his people. How long did it take Nehemiah to rebuild the wall? The walls surrounding the Old City encompass an area of barely a third of a square mile (1 sq. The archaeology of the Temple Mount today confirms this enlargement. Virtually any citizen of the ancient world could tick off three reasons why a wall was far more than just a pile of rocks. 2:3). In 586 BC the Babylonians left behind a town largely destroyed. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. Since then, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. Herod the Great added what Josephus called the Second Wall somewhere in the area between today's Jaffa Gate and Temple Mount. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward. [1] [2] The walls are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. The Persian kings allowed exiles from many countries to return to their lands, and some made use of that, others did not; many Judeans continued to live in Babylonia. 2 Samuel 5:610: And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you offthinking, David cannot come in here. 7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. During the Second Temple period, especially during the Hasmonean period, the city walls were expanded and renovated, constituting what Josephus calls the First Wall. Further north on the hill Kenyon found a smaller tower with part of a wall that according to her originated from the Persian era. Israel Finkelstein (2008), for example, sees Jerusalem of Persian and Early Hellenistic times as a small village without walls, with at most a few hundred inhabitants. During the time of Hezekiah, Jerusalems urban population had grown far outside the old walls of the city and were unprotected. G. Barkay, Excavations at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem, in: In: H. Geva, (ed. Nehemiah 6:1516: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) Temple Of Jerusalem - Description, History, Of major importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, king (37 bce -4 ce) of Judaea. Though the temple has been rebuilt, the city walls were as they had been for the last 130 years, with the result that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had no way of defending themselves against their enemies (see Nehemiah 4:11). Did archaeologists actually find the Persian city walls? In 1981, the Jerusalem walls were added, along with the Old City of Jerusalem, to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. The most famous cemetery is that of Ketef Hinnom, in the southwest part of the present-day city, where a number of tombs have been excavated, most of them robbed except one which was full of luxury material from the Late Iron Age, the Babylonian and the Persian periods (Barkay 1994). Nehemiah Report from Jerusalem. Then they said, Let us start building! So they committed themselves to the common good. Around 130 C.E., the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian as a Roman settlement and renamed Aelia Capitolina. INTRODUCTION: Nehemiah means "The Lord Comforts". He took the expansion of the Hasmonean Temple Mount and extended it on three sides, to the north, west, and south. This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 19:52. In the foreground the wall that she dated to the Persian period with behind it the small tower. In 701 BC, the Assyrians, headed by Sennacherib invaded Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, because of their disobedience to God. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was important because it revealed God's blessing, served as a sign to Israel's enemies, and showed God was with His people. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace . And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 2006. Whoever wandered around the old city walls had to climb over a mass of stone and sometimes could not continue at all; large piles of rubble blocked the way. See, e,g,, Holman Bible Dictionary, op. In some places it is impossible to continue because of the amount of debris on the slope. The walls surrounding the Old City encompass an area of barely a third of a square mile (1 sq. Ready to walk around Jerusalems incredible walls yourself? He sees not only the reality of what is, but what can be. Were seeking to build our community and to impact many more lives as we add two new full-time pastors. The Titanic was built by professionals. Solomon, David's son, built the First Temple on the hilltop rising right above the city he had inherited, the Temple Mount, and then extended the city walls in order to protect the temple. Who destroyed the walls of Jerusalem that Nehemiah rebuilt? But perhaps there is more factuality in the picture the book of Nehemiah sketches than is sometimes suggested. The answer was given during the July 20th the television program 60 Minutes which included a fascinating segment on the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. A History of Excavations in the Holy Land Inspired by the Photographs and Accounts of Leo Boer. A portion of the wall was discovered in the 1970s by Israeli archaeologist Nahman Avigad and dated to the reign of King Hezekiah (716-687 BC). Many of us dont lack the information we need to make positive changes in our lives or to live more like Jesus, what we need is the proper motivation. In 19 BC, the master-builder, King Herod the Great, began his life's most ambitious building project. Villages still supplied grain and other products, governors were appointed, residing first in Mizpa and later in Jerusalem, and for many people life will have taken its traditional course. But did he do it? It seems obvious that Nehemiah wanted to restore the walls to make the city habitable again. An analysis of the pottery from the Persian period found during excavations in Jerusalem shows that there were several potteries that supplied the inhabitants with vessels, including Greek-style vases and thin-walled bowls, both luxury materials (Steiner 2011). G. Barkay, Excavations at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem, in: In: H. Geva, (ed.). However, God sovereignly moved in the heart of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, to allow Nehemiah to rebuild the walls. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king's permission to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. However, the walls of the city remained in ruins until the end of the third century. Nehemiah 3 is even more specific. Stepping out in faith means looking squarely at the problems, knowing the facts, & understanding what has taken place previously, then we look to God & use our God given gifts to come up with solutions & we work for success. The call to action is the third element of Nehemiahs speech & in it Nehemiahs confidence is contagious. D. Ussishkin,. Then they said, Let us start building! So they committed themselves to the common good.. They had to be rebuilt by the Fatimids, who left out the southernmost parts that had been previously included: Mount Zion with its churches, and the southeastern hill (the City of David) with the Jewish neighborhoods which stood south of the Temple Mount. Not every section was completed, however, and many towers were left unfinished. that Jerusalem was the seat of a Persian governor then we also know that it wasnt a complete desolation or the sort of place for which Donald Trump would have had a pungent name. The church faces a similar challenge. In a famous speech, he promised the British nothing but blood, toil, tears, & sweat. Perhaps no speech has ever united a nation more. For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. Unfortunately, the Bible texts remain vague on the exact location of these structures. I. Finkelstein, `Jerusalem in the Persian (and Early Hellenistic) Period and the Wall of Nehemiah, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32 (2008), 501-520. It was King Artaxerxes I who would have moved the capital of the province from Mitzpa to Jerusalem because the later site was more strategically located and had a better water supply. These walls were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, roughly following the course of the walls built by the Romans to encircle Jerusalem in the second century. In 722 B.C., Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, then in 605 B.C. Nehemiah believed in the power of prayer & perseverance in solving problems. Whether the biblical stories faithfully represent this return is a problem we will pass over here. Nehemiah's brother came from Judah with bad news: 'The people who returned to Jerusalem are not safe. ), M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op, http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml, The Persian Period City Wall of Jerusalem. She carried out excavations in Jerusalem from 1960 - 1967. ), O. Lipschits, `Persian Period Finds from Jerusalem: Facts and Interpretations.. 17 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in. At the top of the slope there was a large tower and a stretch of city wall from the Late Hellenistic period, built by the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC. The walls were expanded again under Herod the Great (r. 374 B.C.E. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, Nehemiah went to the king Artaxerxes Longinus of Persia, and received a crucial for . The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Bible is more than an account of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The curving tunnel is 583 yards (533 m.) long and has a fall of 12 inches (30 cm.) Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. 516 BCE - Cyrus Permits Jews in Babylonian Exile to Return to Jerusalem; 63 BCE - Roman General Pompey captures Jerusalem, 70 CE - Roman Forces Destroy Jerusalem and Demolish, 135 CE - Jerusalem Rebuilt as a Roman City, 1229-1244 CE - Crusaders Briefly Recapture Jerusalem Two Times, 1917 - British Capture Jerusalem in World War I. When that happens, the result is often that people like Josephs brothers try to kill the visionary. The story can speak to each of us today as we desire to rebuild communities of faith and hope in the wake of the . In the darkest days of World War Two when Great Britain stood alone against the Nazis, Winston Churchill came into leadership as Prime Minister at arguably the lowest & most difficult time in his nations history. He places this project in the context of strengthening the interests of the Persian empire vis a vis the growing threat from Greece and Egypt. The people returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall about 70 years later. The stories as recorded in Nehemiah 3 can therefore not be correct and must date from a later period. Jerusalem was, certainly in the later Persian period, more than a sparsely inhabited settlement or just a temple city without any economic or administrative significance. K. A. Ristau, Reconstructing Jerusalem: Persian Period Prophetic Perspectives, University Park, Pa, 2016. In the 16th century, Suleiman decided to rebuild the city walls on much of the remains of the ancient walls that already existed. Eventually he returns through the Valley Gate. Often times our need for faith will increase when were truly aware of the facts of a situation or crisis we are facing. He returns to Jerusalem with a group of exiles and begins rebuilding the wall, meeting opposition along the way. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. the walls in 586. The king, who had not seen me sad before,<br><br>2 He asked, "Why is there sadness on your face? [8][9] The tower as well as the entire city wall were long destroyed by the time the Ottoman Turks built theirs, possibly since 1219 when Ayyubid ruler Al-Mu'azzam Isa razed most of the city fortifications.[9]. ), Archaeology in the Land of `Tells and Ruins. Hes a leader who leads by example & calls people to follow him. . He doesnt play the visiting political official saying, You people are in a mess, & Ive come to help you. Rather he says, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. These new settlers would consist of descendants of the original exiles, but also of non-Judeans, such as retired Persian soldiers. in length. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) This would be the largest area the city walls would encompass. The construction was finished in 516 BCE or 430 BCE. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds. Ltd. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram. That could be two years later, a hundred years later or a thousand years later. Was it a walled town with a central temple, the seat of the governor, a centre of administration, religion and economy? The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem by the end of the 5th B.C. How large was Nehemiahs Jerusalem and how did it function within the Persian empire? ), who carried out lavish building activities throughout Jerusalem and the region, including the construction of the Temple Mount, the site of Herodium, and the port city of Caesarea Maritima. The walls were still in ruin 140 years later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. Archaeological and radiocarbon dating suggests to some that this was carried out as early as the 18th century B.C.E. Nehemiah has a very difficult task to accomplish: rebuilding a ruined city with opposition all around & a frightened, discouraged population, fortunately Nehemiah knows how to lead in a crisis. Herod Agrippa (r. 4144 C.E.) between its two ends. Nehemiah 1:13: Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. The Persian Empire rose to power, and they overthrew the Babylonians as the world superpower. ), Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Jerusalem 1994, 85-106. A whole series of publications on Jerusalem in the Persian period has seen the light of day. I take an intermediate position. Its walls were destroyed, houses had collapsed, the famous temple was robbed and set on fire, and a large part of the administrative elite and craftsmen were taken into exile. O. Lipschits, Y. Gadot et al., `Palace and Village, Paradise and Oblivion: Unraveling the Riddles of Ramat Rael, Near Eastern Archaeology 74 (2011), 1-49. Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem -These are the people who helped rebuild the wall and gates of Jerusalem:The high priest Eliashib and the other priests rebuilt Sheep Gate and hung its doors. Hezekiah also built a water tunnel in order to keep the water from the Gihon Spring inside the city walls so the Assyrians couldnt cut off the water supply (2 Chron. A rare inscription bearing the name of the Persian King Darius the Great, a powerful monarch who ruled over much of the Near East from 522 to 486 BC, was found at Tel Lachish in central Israel this week. IF WE GET THIS BIBLE HISTORY DAILY, DO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT? 7We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses. If Persian pottery was found underneath the tower, this means that the tower itself was built later. Or was it an unimportant, undefended settlement, in which only the local temple still had any meaning? Being built in circa 15371541, they are the walls that exist today. It also included the reconstruction of the temple and the restoration of the walls. They appointed a governor over Judah, who sat in Mizpa, not Jerusalem. when it was destroyed by the Babylonians who conquered Jerusalem and took much of the population into exile (2 Kings 25:10). But hes motivated by Gods vision for Jerusalem & his love for his people. Ironically, rather than raising peoples feelings of fear & anxiety; facing the brutal facts can have a remarkable impact on peoples confidence & motivation. Looking out over the walls of Jerusalem. ), M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. My interpretation (and that of others) was that there had been a building on top of the hill in those periods, of which the remains, together with the pottery, had been swept down the slope when a fortification was built on that spot. This, however, is a methodological error. King Hezekiah fortified the existing walls of the city and built a new wall in a rapid manner to protect those living outside the city walls. The Jews gained their independence from the Seleucid Empire in 164 BC, led by the Maccabees and Hasmoneans. According to Jewish tradition, as expressed in the Tanakh, Jerusalem remained a Jebusite city until the rise of David, who conquered Jebus, renamed it City of David and started expanding it. The wall of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians about 586 BC. it is all small letters. Several tombs have been found here with finds from the Iron Age unto the Hellenistic period. This meant building new defenses. He can see that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is a restoration job on several levels. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.". km.). The narrow cobbled streets, majestic walls, Roman columns, and ancient buildings hold memories of the numerous legendary events. In an interview General Manager Peter Gelb said his challenge was to convince those who love opera that it has to change with the times or it will die with them. 1km2). Every important building he burned down. Why is a broken-down wall such a big deal? in length. cit. The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah (ha-kee-luh). Nehemiah 2:11-20, The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Effective leadership in a time of adversity requires the wisdom & courage that result from dependence upon God, identifying with others, acknowledging the seriousness of a situation, & committing ourselves to the common good. in Esther 3:7, 'in the first month, which is the month Nisan,' cf. The Broad Wall constructed by King Hezekiah (late eighth-century B.C.E.). Your email address will not be published. M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml (2009). Whether as individuals, families, a church, a nation, or globally difficulties must be faced fully & directly. It took the water from the Gihon Spring under the mountain to the Pool of Siloam below the city. It was called Hezekiahs Broad Wall by archaeologists because of its width. This fortress housed the governor of Yehud together with a garrison of soldiers and their families, as well as local service personnel and merchants. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem like so many challenges we face in life, including growing a church, is a two sided problem. ), Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Jerusalem 1994, 111-118. Only when Nehemiah knew all the facts did he make his final plans. Blessing: Now may you go from this time of worship to serve the God who is ready to forgive, gracious & merciful, slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love. Sometimes its not seeing the difficulties that prevent our taking action; its a failure to see the resources & means to a creative solution. In this map the walls surround the southeastern hill and the Temple Mount only; it is assumed that other parts of the Late Iron Age city were not reconstructed. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you offthinking, David cannot come in here. 7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. Nisan] See note on Nehemiah 1:1.This name only occurs elsewhere in the O.T. 32:34). 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.