STUDY GUIDE
© 2014 Thornydale Family Church. All rights reserved.
thornydalefamilychurch.org
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©
2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
TIMELINE
Note: While some of these dates can be determined fairly accurately from Biblical and historical
records, many are approximate only.
1040-960 BC
United kingdom under Saul, David and Solomon
Prophets: Samuel, Nathan
960 BC
Kingdom divided into 10 northern tribes (Israel) and 2 southern tribes (Judah)
Prophets to Israel: Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea
Prophets to Judah: Obadiah*, Joel*, Isaiah, Micah
Prophet to Nineveh: Jonah*
722 BC
Israel conquered by Assyria and dispersed
Prophets to Judah: Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk
605 BC
First deportation of Judah. Daniel deported to Babylon
597 BC
Second deportation of Judah
586 BC
Third and final deportation of Judah – Solomon’s Temple destroyed
Prophets to Judah: Ezekiel, Daniel
536 BC
Zerubbabel leads the first wave of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem (Ezra 1-6)
Prophets to Judah: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi*
516 BC
Rebuilding of the Temple completed
478 BC
Esther made queen
457 BC
Ezra leads the second wave of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem (Ezra 7-10)
444 BC
Nehemiah leads the third wave of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2)
424 BC
Nehemiah’s second return and final reforms (Nehemiah 13:6-7)
* Dating for these prophets is uncertain
MAPS
Due to copyright restrictions, it is not possible to publish in this study guide a map of Jerusalem at the
time of Nehemiah. However, since a good map will help you understand better the extent of the work
under Nehemiah, here are some links to some helpful maps:
http://www.prayfordetroit.com/images/jerusalem-map.jpg
http://www.christians-standing-with-israel.org/nehemiah-jerusalem-map.gif
http://www.bu.edu/mzank/Jerusalem/mp/periodic/nehemiah.jpg
AUTHOR
Although much of the book is written from the first person perspective of Nehemiah, both Jewish and
Christian tradition hold that the author was either an unknown writer referred to as the Chronicler, who
also wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles and Ezra, or Ezra. In either case the author certainly had access to
Nehemiah’s diaries and other personal writings which became part of the book.
There is good external and internal evidence that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally a
single book as reflected in both the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament also known as
the LXX), the Vulgate (4th century Latin translation of the Bible) and the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). The
two books are also linked by the predominant theme of ‘the hand of the Lord”, which permeates both
books. The vocabulary and literary style of both books are also consistent.
Nehemiah’s name means “Comfort of YHWH”. Nothing is known of his earlier life and he never appears
in Scripture outside the book that bears his name. None of the New Testament writers quote Nehemiah.
All we know about Nehemiah is that he served as the cupbearer in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I,
a position which gave him personal access to the king.
DATE
The events recorded in the book of Nehemiah occur beginning in approximately 445 BC during the
reign of the Persian king, Artaxerxes I. The first 12 chapters of the book cover a period of roughly one
year during Nehemiah’s first term as governor over Jerusalem. The events in the final chapter occur
approximately 20 years later, during his second term as governor, which began about ten years after
the end of his first term. The book was likely written during or after Nehemiah’s second term as governor,
but no later than 400 BC.
BACKGROUND
In order for us to correctly comprehend the book of Nehemiah, we must put it in its proper context in
relation to God’s covenant love for His people. The Bible begins with God’s perfect creation and it ends
with a perfectly restored creation. In between these two bookends we find the story of God’s love for
His people expressed through His work of redemption for fallen man. That work of redemption is marked
by a number of covenants that God initiates with His people. In the Bible a covenant is an agreement
initiated by God between God and His people in which God makes promise to His people and, usually,
requires certain conduct from them.
While Bible scholars differ slightly in their assessment of exactly how many covenants there are in the
Bible, those differences are almost always a function of the degree to which one attempts to
differentiate among the various aspects of the major covenants. For instance, some scholars see only
one covenant with Adam while others divide that covenant into two parts – an Edenic covenant prior
to the fall and an Adamic covenant that occurs after the fall.
It is important to note that each time God makes a new covenant, it does not supersede or invalidate
any of the previous covenants, but merely adds to earlier ones. Each covenant serves to further reveal
God’s character and His purposes, plans and ways.
The first two major covenants – with Adam (Genesis 1:26-31; 3:15) and with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17) were
general covenants that applied to all mankind. And they still apply to all mankind even today even
though God has made several additional covenants since then.
The third major covenant, the one that God makes with Abram, is particularly relevant to our study of
Nehemiah. Although God further expands on that covenant later in the book of Genesis (Genesis 17:14; 22:16-18) the basic covenant is first expressed in Genesis 12:
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to
the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make
your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:1-3)
The first thing we notice is that it is God who initiates the covenant. He promises that He is going to make
Abram into a great nation and that through that nation all the other nations of the earth will be blessed.
Later God confirms that covenant with Abram (which means “noble father”) by changing his name to
Abraham (which means “father of many”).
God’s covenant with Abraham begins to be fulfilled as the promises are passed down from his son Isaac
and then to his grandson, Jacob (who is renamed Israel by God), and then to Jacob’s 12 sons who
become the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel.
When a famine strikes, God protects His people and preserves His covenant by sheltering the people in
the land of Egypt. Eventually the nation of Israel becomes enslaved by the Egyptians and they cry out
for deliverance. And God is faithful. He calls Moses to lead His people out of the bondage of slavery in
Egypt and God miraculously allows the people of Israel to pass through the Red Sea on dry land and
engulfs their enemies in that same sea. God brings His people to the edge of the land He had promised
to Abraham and He makes his fourth major covenant with his people through Moses:
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured
possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:5-6)
God promises that if the people hold up their end of the covenant by obeying the voice of God, they
will be blessed. But rather than trust God, the people rebel against God and they are left to wander in
the wilderness for 40 years. But during that time God remains faithful and supplies their needs and
protects them. At the end of those 40 years, God brings them into the land that He had promised to
Abraham, but as the people enter the land they do not do as God had commanded and completely
take all the land and drive out the people who were living there. As a result, God’s people never
experience the prosperity and peace that God intended for them.
It’s not long until God’s people want to be like all the other nations around them. So instead of being
satisfied with the reign of God Himself, they ask for a king. And God allows them to have their wish and
He anoints a big, strong handsome man – Saul – to be king. But Saul is lacking in wisdom and grace and
is eventually rejected by God. But once again God is faithful and He gives the people a king who is a
man after God’s own heart in David. David’s reign, though flawed, is characterized by faithfulness to
God. So near the end of his reign, God makes a fifth major covenant with His people through David:
Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from
the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have
been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will
make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place
for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed
no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed
judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD
declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down
with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I
will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will
not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and
your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
(2 Samuel 7:8-16)
There are two major aspects to this covenant. First, God promises that His people will one day have a
permanent dwelling place. Second, He promises that one day one of David’s descendants will reign
permanently over His kingdom. After David dies, his son Solomon becomes king. Under his reign, the
Temple is built in Jerusalem as a place of worship for God’s people.
But after Solomon’s death the nation is torn in two. The northern kingdom, which is often referred to as
Israel after that time, consisted of 10 of the 12 tribes that had originally made up the united
commonwealth of Israel. The southern kingdom, usually referred to as Judah, consisted of the remaining
2 tribes.
Israel is ruled by wicked king after wicked king. And in spite of God continuing to send prophets to His
people to warn them of the consequences they refuse to return to God. So in 722 BC they are
conquered by Assyria and scattered into exile in the surrounding nations.
Judah fares somewhat better, at least for a while. They alternate between faithful and evil kings. When
the king was faithful and encouraged the people to return to God, the people prospered and were
kept safe. But when the evil kings led them to rebel against God, they were not nearly as prosperous
and they were constantly under attack by the surrounding nations. Beginning in 605 BC they were
conquered in three different waves by King Nebuchadnezzar and taken into exile in Babylon. In 586 BC
the final group of exiles was taken to Babylon and the Temple was destroyed.
But once again, God was faithful. At the end of 2 Chronicles we find these words of hope:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me
to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may
the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’”
(2 Chronicles 36:22-23)
The book of Ezra picks up where 2 Chronicles leaves off. By now Persia has overthrown Babylon and the
Persian king Cyrus allows the Jews to begin to return to Jerusalem. The first group is led by Zerubbabel in
536 BC and under his leadership the Temple is rebuilt. After a couple of delays due to opposition from
some Samaritan settlers, the reconstruction was completed in 516 BC.
A second group of exiles returned to Jerusalem in 457 BC, led by Ezra. As a scribe, Ezra had access to a
myriad of administrative documents from the royal archives of the Persian Empire, a number of which
are found in both Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra used those documents and the Scriptures to attest to the
sovereign hand of God and urged the people to return to God.
The third group of exiles returned under the leadership of Nehemiah in 444 BC. Under his leadership the
people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem which still lay in ruins.
The sixth and final major covenant was given through the prophet Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day
when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke,
though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on
their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one
teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from
the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more.”
(Jeremiah 31:31-34)
As Jesus observed the Passover meal with His disciples the night before His death, He confirmed that He
was the fulfillment of that covenant:
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
(Matthew 26:27-28 ESV)
Although on the surface the book of Nehemiah is about rebuilding walls, it is actually more about God’s
faithfulness to His covenant promises. It is the evidence that once again, in spite of insurmountable
odds, God had preserved His chosen people just as He had promised. And once again, this time under
Nehemiah’s leadership, He was building – and rebuilding – a people, and not just a wall.
THEMES
There are a number of themes which characterize this book. Without a doubt, it is one of the best
leadership development texts ever written and it would certainly be appropriate to use it for that
purpose. This text is also used frequently as churches engage in building projects as a blueprint for that
process and for raising funds for those projects. And that is also an appropriate way to use the text. But
as the “Background” section demonstrates, this is primarily a book that show how God builds – and
rebuilds – His people. So that is the theme on which we will focus in our study.
SERMON SCHEDULE
As always, this schedule is subject to adjustment as God leads.
Date
1/4/15
1/11/15
1/18/15
1/25/15
2/1/15
2/8/15
2/15/15
2/22/15
3/1/15
3/8/15
3/15/15
3/22/15
Passage
Theme
Introduction
Nehemiah 1:1-11
Seeking the Heart of God
Nehemiah 2:1-20
Assessing the Situation
Nehemiah 3:1-32
Working Together in Community
Nehemiah 4:1-23
Dealing with Discouragement
Nehemiah 5:1-19
Restoring Right Relationships
Nehemiah 6:1-19
Finishing Well
Nehemiah 7:1- 8:18
Gathering to Worship
Nehemiah 9:1-9:31
Responding to God’s Holiness with Repentance
Nehemiah 10:1-39
Making investments That Last
Nehemiah 11:1-12:47 Giving Thanks
Nehemiah 13:1-31
Remaining Faithful to God