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THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH
Lesson 1
Introduction and Chapter 1
Nehemiah Accepts the Mission to Rebuild the Walls of Jerusalem

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Holy Lord,
The return from Babylon to rebuild the Temple and reestablish their covenant commitment to Yahweh were almost as difficult as the journey that took the citizens of Judah into exile. Their hearts were both broken and encouraged: broken because of the lost magnificence of Solomon's Temple and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant but encouraged because they had returned to their ancestral land and their covenant relationship with the God of Israel. Our journey through this life is often just as difficult as we experience both loss and blessings. However, we know that the success of the journey is not determined by the monthly paycheck or the praise of our peers but by what we will find at the end of our journey if we remain faithful, the Promised Land of Heaven. Beloved Holy Spirit, as You guided Nehemiah in his mission, guide us in our study and give us the wisdom and insight to apply the lessons from the struggles the Old Testament covenant people to our lives. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

+ + +

Come back, disloyal children, Yahweh declares, for I alone am your Master, and I will take you, one from a town, two from a family, and bring you to Zion. I shall give you shepherds after my own heart, who will pasture you wisely and discreetly. Then, when you have increased and grown numerous in the country, Yahweh declares, no one will ever again say: The Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh! It will not enter their minds, they will not remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made. When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called: The Throne of Yahweh, and all the nations will converge on her, on Yahweh's name, on Jerusalem, and will no longer follow their own stubborn and wicked inclinations.
Jeremiah 3:14-17

INTRODUCTION

In the Christian canon of Sacred Scripture, the Book of Nehemiah is part of the Historical Writings, coming after the Book of Ezra. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are closely related to each other and similar in style to the Books of Chronicles. Originally, 1 and 2 Chronicles formed one book as did Ezra and Nehemiah. The division into two books for Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah first appeared in Church Father Origen's AD 254 translation. The division was adopted by Jerome into the Latin Vulgate in the 4^th century AD and later by the Jews into the re-translation of the Hebrew Bible in 1448. Many modern scholars, recognizing the similarity in style between 1 and 2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, believe the books formed a single historical work authored by a person they identify as "the Chronicler." Other scholars identify Ezra as the author of all four books.

The Book of Ezra is the continuation of 2 Chronicles and relates the crucial period of the reestablishment of the Jewish community in Jerusalem after Persian King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians in 539 BC and his Edict of Return allowing all peoples captured and exiled by the Babylonians to return to their homelands in 539/8 BC. The Book of Nehemiah takes place fourteen years after Ezra's return to Judah (458 BC) in 445 BC. Nehemiah's mission began in the 20^th year of the reign of Persian King Artaxerxes I. The missions of Ezra and Nehemiah to the returned exiles were to reestablish Jerusalem and the people's covenant commitment to Yahweh and His Law. These events were of the utmost importance for the future of the covenant people and were necessary to prepare the way for God's divine plan for humanity's salvation in the Advent of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

Historical Background

In 772 BC, Yahweh used the Assyrians as His instruments of justice to punish the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom of Israel for their apostasy from their covenant with Him. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was spared because good Davidic kings led the people to destroy images of false gods and repent their failures in obedience to Yahweh's covenant. However, with the death of good King Josiah in 609 BC, his sons and grandsons became complicit in the people's sins. Yahweh continually warned the people of the Southern Kingdom that continued apostasy would result in conquest and exile, but they ignored the warnings.

In the late seventh century BC, the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians and took possession of the Assyrian vassal kingdoms including Judah. In 605 BC when the Babylonians asserted their dominance over Judah as a vassal state, the Babylonians took the first captives into exile in Babylon. The prophet Daniel was one of those captives along with other boys from royal and noble families. It was the first of three groups of exiles transported to Babylon (also in 598 and 586 BC). However, despite the continued warning to submit to God's punishment for their apostasy and the call to repent their sins and return to God in covenant obedience, the kings and citizens of Judah ignored the warnings.

In 587 BC, the Babylonians, as God's instrument of judgment, conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple (2 Kngs 25:1-21; 2 Chron 36:14-20; Jer 52:1-30). They took Jews who survived the destruction of Jerusalem and other towns in Judah as captives back to Babylon to begin the prophesied seventy years in exile (Jer 25:8-13; 2 Chr 36:21). It was the third wave of captured citizens of Judah. However, those who remained faithful to Yahweh place their hopes in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel who foretold Yahweh's promise not to abandon His people. The exiles would spend seventy years in captivity in atonement for their collective sins, and then God would rouse the spirit of a Gentile king to free them from captivity in Babylon, and, acting as God's divinely appointed "shepherd," return them to their homeland (Is 44:28-45:7; 48:20-21; Jer 28:10-14).

The Persian ruler who conquered Babylon in 539 BC bore the throne name Kores in Hebrew, Kyros in Greek, and Kurash in Persian. His name in English translations is Cyrus, meaning "shepherd," and he fulfilled Isaiah's 8^th century BC prophecy in Isaiah 44:28-45:4, I say of Cyrus: My shepherd, who fulfills my every wish; he shall say of Jerusalem, "Let her be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid" (Is 44:28). King Cyrus immediately issued an official decree magnanimously authorizing the return from exile and extended certain privileges to all peoples displaced from their homelands by the Babylonians, including the citizens of Judah. Led by Sheshbazzar, a descendant of King David and a prince of Judah (Ezra 1:8), the remnant of God's covenant people returned to their native land. The Persian rulers who succeeded Cyrus allowed and even encouraged the return of the Jews to their homeland, generously offering their financial support and political protection. However, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin that formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah did not return as a free and independent people. They returned under Persian rule as citizens of the Persian Province of Judah.

Persian Kings of the Achaemenid Dynasty who ruled Judah:

1. Cyrus II the Great ruled from 559-530 BC and conquered Babylon in 539 BC
2. Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, ruled from 530-522 BC
3. Bardiya, son of Cyrus the Great or imposter, ruled 522 BC but assassinated by Persian nobles
4. Darius I, son of Hystaspes (a kinsman of Cyrus), ruled 522-486 BC
5. Xerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 486-465 BC (husband of Esther)
6. Artaxerxes I, son of Darius I, ruled 465-424 BC
7. Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes I, assassinated in 424 BC by Sogdianus
8. Sogdianus, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 424-423 BC and assassinated by Darius II
9. Darius II, son of Artaxerxes I, ruled 423-404 BC
10. Artaxerxes II, son of Darius II, ruled 404-358 BC
11. Artaxerxes III, son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 358-338 BC
12. Artaxerxes IV, son of Artaxerxes III, ruled 338-336
13. Darius III, descendant of Darius II?, ruled 336-330 BC, killed by Artaxerxes V
14. Artaxerxes V, probably a son of Artaxerxes II, ruled 330-329 BC and killed by Greek King Alexander the Great

Bardiya and Sogdianus are personal names; neither man ruled long enough to assume a throne/regnal name like the other Persian kings in the list.¹ The dates in the lesson may vary according to different sources.

Some passages in the Book of Nehemiah suggest that Ezra and Nehemiah were present in Jerusalem at the same time (Neh 8:9 and 12:36). It is one of several discrepancies between the two books. The Book of Ezra records his arrival in Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes in 458 BC (Ezra 7:8) while Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the 20^th year of Artaxerxes in 445 BC (Neh 2:1). One explanation could be that Nehemiah returned to King Artaxerxes in Susa in 432 BC after the successful conclusion of his first mission. Then, about two years later, he made a second mission to Jerusalem at the same time Ezra also returned to to the city when they began working together on the necessary religious reforms discussed in Part II of the Book of Nehemiah.

Structure and Themes of the Book of Nehemiah

The first part of the Book of Ezra records the experiences of the returning exiles (Ezra 1:1-6:22). In 538/7 BC, King Cyrus commissioned Sheshbazzar to lead the first group of Jewish refugees back to their homeland and to serve as the first Persian governor of the Persian province of Judah. The second half of the book records the experiences of Ezra, a priestly scribe commissioned by Persian King Artaxerxes to lead the second group of exiles back to their homeland and to re-establish obedience to the Law and right worship (Ezra 7:1-26). Nehemiah 12:1 and 13 identify Ezra as a priestly teacher of the Law, and Nehemiah 12:26, 33, and 36 also mention Ezra.

The Book of Ezra also recounts the efforts of Judah's Samaritan neighbors to frustrate the attempts of the Jewish settlers to return to normality. In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and banished its twelve tribes into exile in the Assyrian controlled territories. They then imported five different Gentile peoples to occupy what became the Assyrian Province of Samaria. These groups adopted Yahweh as their local deity, established a separate non-Aaronic priesthood and form of worship, adopted only the first five books of Moses as their sacred texts, and built a temple on Mt. Gerizim. They did not welcome the return of a central authority for the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem and their efforts to undermine the reestablishment of civil and religious order in Judah and Jerusalem continues into the Book of Nehemiah.

Fourteen years after Ezra's return from the Babylonian exile (548 BC), King Artaxerxes I of Persia sent another royal official to assist the people of Judah. Nehemiah, whose Hebrew name means "Yahweh comforts," held the important office of royal cupbearer to the king at the Persian capital of Susa. However, when he heard that without a wall to protect the city of Jerusalem that its citizens were at the mercy of marauders, he requested permission to travel to Judah to rebuild the holy city's walls. Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in 445 BC with the king's authority to gather whatever supplies he needed and immediately organized the people to defend Jerusalem and rebuild its walls.

The events in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther took place during the rule of the Medo-Persian Empire located in northeast Mesopotamia which is present-day Iran. These Bible books return to the Biblical theme of the preservation of the faithful remnant of the covenant people of Israel who are the "holy seed" promised in Genesis 3:15 from which the Messiah was destined to come to redeem humanity.

Some of the prophecies fulfilled by the return of the covenant people of Judah from exile:

Question: What are two lessons for us on this side of salvation history concerning the fulfillment of these events that were prophesied centuries in advance?
Answer:

1. God may seem to allow evil to go unpunished, but the consequences for sin are inevitable.
2. We cannot escape God's divine judgment; it is inevitable, and the result will be either punishment or salvation. God is patient, however, in allowing us the time and freedom to repent and seek His forgiveness.

The Book of Nehemiah divides into two parts:

1. The deeds of Nehemiah in the restoration of Jerusalem.
2. The restoration of the people of Judah and Jerusalem through obedience to Mosaic Law.

Yahweh established the Sinai Covenant with the children of Israel based on blessings for obedience to His Law and divine judgments for disobedience (Lev 26; Dt 28). The Davidic Covenant, however, was an unconditional royal-grant covenant promising an eternal Davidic heir and an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam 7:12-17; 23:5; 2 Chron 13:5; Ps 89:2-5, 28-29; Sir 45:25; 47:11/13).

Scripture in the lesson is from the New Jerusalem Bible version of Sacred Scripture. Other Bible versions used in the study will include the New American Bible (NAB), the Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English and Greek-English (ILB Hebrew-English or Greek-English vol. I-IV), and the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (LXX). CCC signifies citations from the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Book of Nehemiah is sometimes called "The Memoires of Nehemiah" since the account of events in the book is in the first person. Nehemiah assists in the physical, civil, and spiritual renewal of Jerusalem and will serve as the Persian government's royal governor over the province (Neh 5:14). The themes of the Book of Nehemiah:

1. The commitment to the physical renewal of the structures of Jerusalem as a sign of the covenant people's recommitment to Yahweh and Mosaic Law.
2. Maintaining the distinctive identity of the covenant people during the years of restoration under Persian rule.

Part One of the Book of Nehemiah divides into two main parts:

1. Preparation to Reconstruct Jerusalem's Wall (1:1-2:20)
   1. Condition of the ruined walls (1:1-3)
   2. Nehemiah's prayer for God's intercession (1:4-11)
   3. King Artaxerxes gives his permission for Nehemiah's mission (2:1-10)
   4. Arrival of Nehemiah in Jerusalem and preparation to reconstruct the wall (2:11-20)
2. Reconstruction of the Wall (3:1-7:5)
   1. Record of the builders (3:1-32)
   2. Opposition to the reconstruction (3:33-38/4:1-6:14)*
   3. Completion of the reconstruction (6:15-19)
   4. Reorganization of Jerusalem (7:1-5)

*Some versions number the chapter and verses differently.

The Book of Ezra recounted the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon, the rebuilding of the altar and the Temple (Ezra 1:1-6:22) and the spiritual revival led by Ezra the priestly scribe (Ezra 7:1-10:44). The narrative in the Book of Nehemiah continues the story by telling us about the reconstruction and resettlement of Jerusalem and the civil and spiritual rebuilding of the covenant people through the deeds of Nehemiah. The focus of Part One of Nehemiah's first mission concerns rebuilding Jerusalem's walls (Neh 1:1-2:20), the restoration of the city that was still in ruins (Neh 3:1-6:19), and the measures he took to repopulate it (Neh 7:1-72).

Nehemiah 1:1-3 ~ Nehemiah Received News Concerning Conditions in Jerusalem
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. It happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews, those who had escaped and those who survived from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They replied, "The survivors remaining there in the province since the captivity are in a very bad and demoralized condition: the walls of Jerusalem are in ruins and its gates have been burnt down."

Notice that the narrative is a first-person singular account of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In ancient times, the name of one's father served as a surname. The narrative begins in November/December of the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia (see Israel's civil and liturgical calendar on the Agape Bible Study).Artaxerxes was a son of King Darius I whose generosity to the citizens of Judah is recorded in the Book of Ezra and the grandson of Xerxes I, the husband of Jewish Queen Esther. King Artaxerxes I ruled from 465-424 BC. As the Persian kings counted the years of their reigns, 465 BC was his accession year and year #1 was 464; therefore, the 20^th year of his reign was 445 BC.

Susa was an ancient city dating back to the Proto-Elamite period and located in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km east of the Tigris River on the Karun River. Susa was one of three royal Persian cities (Dan 8:2; Neh 1:1); it became the principal residence of the Persian kings after Darius I constructed a palace there. The palace at Susa is the setting for the Book of Esther (Esth 1:2, 5; 2:3; 3:15).

2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews, those who had escaped and those who survived from the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

Men arriving from Jerusalem bring news of an attack on the city. The event may be the same military force deployed against Jerusalem reported in Ezra 4:23. That these men shared information concerning the sad state of affairs in Jerusalem with Nehemiah was not an accident. Their conversation with Nehemiah is evidence of God's action in the affairs of human beings; He used certain men to stir Nehemiah's concern for Jerusalem and his people, motivating him to ask the Persian king for permission to go to Jerusalem and provide the leadership to rebuild the city.

In Hebrew, the word "brother" can refer to one's sibling, half-brother, step-brother, cousin/clansman, or countryman. In this case, there is the suggestion that there is a family relationship since Nehemiah doesn't refer to all the men from Judah as his "brothers," and he mentioins his "brother" Hanani again in 7:2²

3 They replied, "The survivors remaining there in the province since the captivity are in a very bad and demoralized condition: the walls of Jerusalem are in ruins and its gates have been burnt down."
When the first group of returning exiles arrived in Judah and Jerusalem in 538/7 BC, they immediately rebuilt Yahweh's Altar of Burnt Offerings from Solomon's destroyed Temple on its old foundations and reinstituted the twice-daily Tamid sacrifice and liturgical worship services. However, when they began to rebuild the Temple, the Samaritans and other neighboring states threatened them and were successful in ending their rebuilding efforts. In 458 BC, Ezra the priest and scribe, who was an expert on the Law, led the second group of exiles back to Judah. He arrived in Jerusalem to teach the Law to the people and to instill in them the resolve to put the Law into practice.

However, the people of Jerusalem did not renew their rebuilding efforts until God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to admonish them for their failures in rebuilding the Temple and living righteous lives according to the Law (Ezra 5:1-2). Haggai told them their inability to prosper in the land was because of their spiritual shortcomings of which the ruined Temple was a sign (Hag 1:1-11; 2:11-14). They began rebuilding the Temple in 520 BC and completed the work in 517/16 BC, seventy years after the Babylonians had destroyed Solomon's Temple in 587/6 BC. Despite several attempts by the first returned exiles to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians, the walls and gates remained in ruins, leaving the citizens vulnerable to their numerous enemies. It is about 72 years later, and the walls and gates of the holy city are still in ruins, and the people of Jerusalem are at the mercy of brigands and marauders.³

Nehemiah 1:4-11 ~ Nehemiah's Prayer
4 On hearing this I sat down and wept; for some days I mourned, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, "Yahweh, God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps a covenant of faithful love with those who love him and obey his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to listen to your servant's prayer, which I now offer to you day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I admit the sins of the Israelites, which we have committed against you. Both I and my father's House have sinned; 7 we have acted very wickedly towards you by not keeping the commandments, laws and rulings which you enjoined on your servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beg you, the promise which you solemnly made to your servant Moses, If you are unfaithful, I shall scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you come back to me and keep my commandments and practice them, even though those who have been banished are at the very sky's end, I shall gather them from there and bring them back to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling-place for my name.' 10 Since they are your servants, your people, whom you have redeemed with your mighty power and strong hand, 11 O Lord, let your ear now be attentive to your servant's prayer and to the prayer of your servants who want to revere your name. I beg you let your servant be successful today and win this man's compassion." At the time I was cupbearer to the king.

The news the Jews bring from Jerusalem is disturbing, and Nehemiah has a profoundly religious reaction to what he hears.
Question: What is Nehemiah's reaction?
Answer: He mourns, fasts, and prays to God because he realizes that the situation in Jerusalem is a result of infidelity to Yahweh and His covenant.

That Nehemiah "sat down" was a customary posture in mourning and fasting (see Job 2:8, 13). His behavior is consistent with mourning and supplication practices during the exile and Second Temple period. His response is similar to Ezra's grief filled response in Ezra 9:3-15 where he offers mourning rituals, fasts, and confession of sins followed by prayer and also like the actions of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:3-20 who prays while wearing sackcloth and ashes, fasts, and confesses the sins of his people followed by a petionary prayer to the Lord God.

Nehemiah begins his prayer with an unusually long invocation in verses 5-6a. Petionary prayers usually begin with an invocation, often simply with just "Lord" or "God." His long invocation is intended to remind Yahweh of both His power over human events and His obligations to His covenant people to address situations like the citizens of Jerusalem are experiencing.

Question: Nehemiah's prayer in verses 6b-11a includes what three parts?
Answer: Nehemiah's prayer includes:

1. Trust in God who listens to those who make appeals to Him
2. Acknowledgment of his sins, his family's sins, and the collective sins of the covenant people
3. The conviction that God can change the course of human events

.Nehemiah uses a formula of confession similar to the priest making expiation for himself, his family, and the whole community on the Feast of Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16:17. The Jewish Mishnah records the priestly confession: "Confessing the sins that we Israelites have committed against You, sins that I and my father's house have committed" (Mishnah Yoma, 6.2).

.In verses 7-11, by recalling the history of Israel, Nehemiah reminds God of the promises He made to the covenant people and of His compassion in the times when the Israelites failed to keep to the path of obedience. Much of his prayer in these verses paraphrase Moses' last homilies to the new generation of Israel on the east side of the Jordan River in the Book of Deuteronomy concerning the blessings for covenant obedience, judgment for disobedience, and restoration for those who repented and returned to a covenant relationship with Yahweh (cf., Dt 5:31; 7:8, 9, 21; 9:29; 12:11; 30:1-5).
Question: What was the judgment warning for covenant disobedience in Leviticus 26:33, 39 and what was the promise of covenant renewal in Deuteronomy 30:1-5?
Answer: Apostasy from the covenant would result in God lifting His hand of protection so the covenant people would experience war, defeat, and exile from the land Yahweh gave them. But God also promised, if they turn to Him in repentance, He would forgive them and take them back as His covenant people.

Nehemiah's fear was probably that without walls to protect the city and its citizens, the rebuilt Temple (completed in 517/16 BC) was threatened with destruction like Solomon's Temple by the Babylonians in 587/6 BC (2 Kng 25:8-12).

In verses 8-9, Nehemiah gives a summary from Deuteronomy 30:1-5 of the promised restoration for the covenant people who confessed, repented by atoning for their sins, and returned to a covenant relationship with Yahweh. In Moses' last homily, God told the new generation of Israelites: And when all these words have come true for you, the blessing and the curse, which I have offered you, if you meditate on them in your heart wherever among the nations Yahweh your God has driven you, if you return to Yahweh your God, if with all your heart and with all your soul you obey his voice, you and your children, in everything that I am laying down for you today, then Yahweh your God will bring back your captives, he will have pity on you and gather you back from all the peoples among whom Yahweh your God has scattered you. Should you have been banished to the very sky's ends, Yahweh your God will gather you again even from there, will come there to reclaim you and bring you back to the country which belonged to your ancestors, so that you may possess it in your turn, and be made prosperous there and more numerous than your ancestors (Dt 30:1-5).

11 O Lord, let your ear now be attentive to your servant's prayer and to the prayer of your servants who want to revere your name. I beg you let your servant be successful today and win this man's compassion."
Nehemiah petitions Yahweh to remember His promise and to protect the citizens of Judah from their enemies. He also prays for God to allow him to "win this man's compassion," a reference to King Artaxerxes, to permit Nehemiah to go to the aid of his suffering people who lack the leadership to make the necessary changes in their condition. That Nehemiah calls the Persian king "this man" suggests he regards Artaxerxes as a mere man, but Yahweh is his divine sovereign.

At the time I was cupbearer to the king.
A royal cupbearer was a trusted official in the royal court, serving in a role that we might refer to as a "butler" or "chamberlain" to the king and his family. It was a position that resulted in continual access to the royal family and a personal relationship not afforded to other royal servants. The duties of a king's cupbearer including personally choosing and serving the king's wine, tasting it first to make sure it was not poisoned.⁴Nehemiah hopes that his position and personal relationship with the king will make Artaxerxes agreeable to allowing Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to help his people.

St. Bede made a comparison between the Old Covenant Church under siege by enemies in the time of Nehemiah and the Church of Jesus Christ under attack by forces trying to suppress God's Divine Plan at every stage of salvation history. He wrote: "so too, the Church is under siege; and those who reflect on their own lives and situation experience a saving a sadness when they recognize that it is as a consequence of past sins, the vices of others and the negligence of those who could have made things better by correcting the faults of many people, that the devil has found it so easy to gain access to the Church as into a city whose walls are in ruins" (In Esdrum et Nehemiam, 3, 15). In every generation of the Church, we need righteous and able leaders like Nehemiah to help us to turn away from sin and lead us back to God so we can continue to renew and build up the Kingdom of Jesus Christ that is His Church on earth.

Questions for discussion or reflection:
In God's Divine Plan, it was vitally important for the Israelites/Judahites to maintain their unique identity as Yahweh's covenant people. Why is it also necessary for Christians to retain their unique identity as citizens of the New Covenant Kingdom of the Church of Jesus Christ? What would have happened if the Israelites/Judahites lost their identity as Yahweh's people? What will happen if Christians lose their identity and become indistinguishable from secular society? Jesus asked a question in Luke 18:8; how is that question pertinent to today's Christian? See CCC 675.

Endnotes:
1. History does not record the personal name of King Cyrus the Great. It may have been Darius (a popular name for other Persian kings), and he may be the Darius the Mede who the Book of Daniel credits with conquering Babylon (5:30-6:1) and who Daniel served (Dan Chapters 6 and 9). History credits Cyrus the Great with capturing Babylon at the age of 62, as the ancients counted (see Dan 6:1 that records Daniel's Darius was 62 when he conquered Babylon). Cyrus' maternal grandfather was Astyagus, the king of the Medes. Cyrus conquered the Medes and succeeded his grandfather as king of the Medes; it was his first step in forming the Medo-Persian Empire.

2. Hanani's full Jewish name was probably Hananiah which means "Yahweh is gracious." The Elephantine Papyri, consisting of 175 documents from the Elephantine and Syene fortresses in Egypt, had a letter dating to the period of Nehemiah that named a Hananiah who was a leader of Jewish affairs in Jerusalem. Some scholars believe he was Nehemiah's brother who may have held a leadership position in Jerusalem between Nehemiah's first and second missions to the city.

3. Archaeological excavations in Jerusalem revealed that the absence of a wall on the eastern slopes of the city during the period when there was no wall in the late 6^th to early 5^th centuries BC led to the erosion and disintegration of the terraces on that side of the city.

4. Assassination was a constant fear; Artaxerxes' father, King Xerxes, was murdered in his bedchamber by a royal courtier.

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Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates Scripture is either quoted or paraphrased in the citation):

Nehemiah 1:4-11 (CCC 2584-85*, 2598)

Covenant blessings: Leviticus 26:3-13 (CCC 2550) and Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (CCC 2116*)

Covenant judgments are in Leviticus 26:14-46 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68