Overview of the Book of Nehemiah

The overview of the week for this Sunday is the book of Nehemiah. The theme of this book is the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah may have been the author, or Ezra perhaps, we're not exactly sure.

The book was written in the 5th century BC, and it records the last historical events in the

Old Testament. Malachi is the final Old Testament book that was likely written a few years later.

As we said last week when we covered the book of Ezra, many believe that these two books,

Ezra and Nehemiah, were originally one volume. So Ezra was the priest,

Nehemiah was the governor, and both men worked together to help restore the

Jewish nation. So the Jews had been taken captive to Babylon for a period of 70 years.

During that time, the empire of Babylon was conquered and was now under the control of the

Persian king, Artaxerxes. Nehemiah was his cut -bearer and was a trusted servant, so when

Nehemiah requested to be sent back to his homeland, the king allows this and sends him to Judah as governor of the province with this mission to rebuild.

Nehemiah along the way faced a lot of opposition, and people tried to discourage him from finishing the work, but he persevered.

Then starting in chapter 8, all of the people, the children of Israel, they gathered together as Ezra read from the book of the law, it says, from morning until midday.

After hearing God's word, the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, they confessed their sins, the covenant of the law is then renewed, and the nation experiences revival.

So in conclusion, based on scripture, we believe an even greater revival is coming because we always try to find

Christ in each book of the Old Testament and every book of the Bible. So we believe an even greater revival is coming just as the temple and the city walls were restored under Ezra and Nehemiah.

We believe the Jewish nation will once again experience another rebirth and revival under their