STORY 83

The Walls of Jerusalem

LOOK at all the work going on here. The Israelites are busy building the
walls of Jerusalem. When King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar destroyed Jerusalem
152 years before, he knocked down the walls and burned the city’s
gates. The Israelites did not build the walls again when they first came
home from Babylon.

How do you think the people have felt living here all these years without
walls around their city? They have not felt safe. Their enemies could
easily come in and attack them. But now this man Ne·he·miʹah is finally
helping the people to build the walls again. Do you know who
Ne·he·miʹah is?

Ne·he·miʹah is an Israelite who comes from the city of Shuʹshan, where

Morʹde·cai and Esther live. Ne·he·miʹah worked in the king’s palace, so
he may have been a good friend of Morʹde·cai and Queen Esther. But
the Bible does not say that Ne·he·miʹah worked for Esther’s husband,
King A·has·u·eʹrus. He worked for the next king, King Ar·ta·xerxʹes.

Remember, Ar·ta·xerxʹes is the good king who gave Ezʹra all that money
to take back to Jerusalem to fix up Jehovah’s temple. But Ezʹra did not
build the broken-down walls of the city. Let’s see how it came about that
Ne·he·miʹah did this work.

It has been 13 years since Ar·ta·xerxʹes gave Ezʹra the money to fix up
the temple. Ne·he·miʹah is now the chief cupbearer for King
Ar·ta·xerxʹes. This means that he serves the king his wine, and makes
sure that no one tries to poison the king. It is a very important job.

Well, one day Ne·he·miʹah’s brother Ha·naʹni and other men from the
land of Israel come to visit Ne·he·miʹah. They tell him about the trouble
the Israelites are having, and how the walls of Jerusalem are still broken
down. This makes Ne·he·miʹah very sad, and he prays to Jehovah about
it.

One day the king notices that Ne·he·miʹah is sad, and asks: ‘Why are
you looking so sad?’ Ne·he·miʹah tells him that it is because Jerusalem
is in such a bad condition and the walls are broken down. ‘What is it that
you want?’ the king asks.

‘Let me go to Jerusalem,’ Ne·he·miʹah says, ‘so that I may rebuild the

walls.’ King Ar·ta·xerxʹes is very kind. He says that Ne·he·miʹah may go,
and he helps him to get wood for doing some of the building. Soon after
Ne·he·miʹah comes to Jerusalem, he tells the people about his plans.
They like the idea, and say: ‘Let’s start building.’
When the enemies of the Israelites see the wall going up, they say: ‘We
will go up and kill them, and stop the building work.’ But Ne·he·miʹah
hears about this, and he gives the workers swords and spears. And he
says: ‘Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Fight for your brothers, for your
children, for your wives, and for your homes.’

The people are very brave. They keep their weapons ready day and
night, and they keep building. So in just 52 days the walls are finished.
Now the people can feel safe inside the city. Ne·he·miʹah and Ezʹra
teach the people God’s law, and the people are happy.

But things are still not the same as they were before the Israelites were
taken as prisoners to Babylon. The people are ruled by the king of
Persia and they must serve him. But Jehovah has promised that he will
send a new king, and that this king will bring peace to the people. Who is
this king? How will he bring peace to the earth? About 450 years pass
before any more is learned about this. Then there is a most important
birth of a baby. But that is another story.

Nehemiah chapters 1 to 6.

Questions:

The Walls of Jerusalem

Who is Nehemiah?

What is Nehemiah’s job, and why is it important?

What news makes Nehemiah sad, and what does he do?

How does King Artaxerxes show kindness to Nehemiah?

How does Nehemiah arrange the building work so that the Israelites’ enemies cannot stop it?

Memory Verse: Nehemiah 6:16 “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.”