1. THE TEMPLE SOLOMON’S TEMPLE SOLOMON FINISHED THE TEMPLE(959 BC)? DESTROYED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR(586 BC)? ZERUBBABEL’S TEMPLE RECONSTRUCTION UNDER CYRUS(536 BC)? BUILDING CEASES UNDER ARTAXERXES(17 YEARS)? BUILDING CONTINUES UNDER DARIUS (519 BC)? TEMPLE COMPLETED UNDER DARIUS(516 BC)? (516-458 BC)? HEROD’S TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION BEGAN(20 BC)? COMPLETED 46 YEARS (JOHN 2:20)(64 AD)?

2. PEOPLE TO REMEMBER ARTAXERXES - KING OF PERSIA465-425 BC? LONGIMANUS- SON OF XERXES NEHEMIAH - COMFORTED OF YAHWEH SON OF HACHALIAH - BROTHER OF HANANI445-433 BC? ADVERSARIES OF NEHEMIAH SANBALLAT THE HORONITE - GOVERNOR OF SAMARIA TOBIAH THE AMMONITE - JOINT GOVERNOR WITH SANBALLAT GESHEM THE ARAB - CHIEF OF THE ARABS IN SAMARIA

3. OUTLINE NEHEMIAH CHAPTER TWO ARTAXERXES ASKS NEHEMIAH OF HIS SORROW:V. 1-2 NEHEMIAH ASKS PERMISSION TO REBUILD JERUSALEM:V. 3-6 ARTAXERXES GIVES HIM LETTERS OF APPROVAL:V. 7-8 SANBALLAT AND TOBIAH ARE NOT PLEASED WITH THE KINGS APPROVAL TO REBUILD JERUSALEM:V. 9-10 NEHEMIAH SURVEYS THE CITY OF JERUSALEM:V. 11-16 NEHEMIAH INFORMS EVERYONE OF HIS PLANS:V. 17-18 HIS PLANS UPSET SANBALLAT AND TOBIAH:V. 19 NEHEMIAH TELLS THEM OF THE KING’S APPROVAL:V. 20

4. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:1-3 1It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid, 3And I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"

5. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:1-3 1It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. WHAT YEAR IS THIS? ‘THE 20TH YEAR OF ARTAXERXES’(445 BC)? WHO GAVE THE WINE TO THE KING? WHAT IS SAID OF NEHEMIAH’S COUNTENANCE?

6. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:1-3 2Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid, WHAT DID THE KING ASK NEHEMIAH? WHAT DID THE KING RECOGNIZE THIS TO BE? WHY WAS NEHEMIAH AFRAID?

7. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:1-3 3And I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?“ WHY DID HE SAY ‘MAY THE KING LIVE FOREVER’? HOW DID NEHEMIAH EXPLAIN HIS SADNESS?

8. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:4-6 4Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." 6Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

9. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:4-6 4Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. WHAT DID THE KING ASK NEHEMIAH? WHY PRAY TO GOD BEFORE ANSWERING THE KING?

10. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:4-6 5And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." HOW DID HE REPLY TO THE KING? WHAT DID HE ASK PERMISSION TO DO?

11. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:4-6 6Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. WHO WAS SITTING BESIDE THE KING? WHAT DID THE KING ASK NEHEMIAH? WAS THE KING PLEASED TO DO THIS FOR NEHEMIAH? DID NEHEMIAH SET A TIME FOR THE KING?

12. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:7-8 7Furthermore I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8“And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy." And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

13. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:7-8 7Furthermore I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, WHAT ELSE DID HE REQUEST FROM THE KING? WHY DID HE REQUEST LETTERS OF APPROVAL?

14. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:7-8 8“And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy." And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. WHY A LETTER TO ASAPH?WHO IS ASAPH? WHAT DID HE NEED FROM THE KING’S FOREST? WHY DID THE KING GRANT THESE TO NEHEMIAH?

15. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:9-11 9I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. 11I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

16. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:9-11 9I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. WHO DID NEHEMIAH GIVE THE LETTERS TO? WHO HAD THE KING SENT WITH NEHEMIAH? WAS THIS AN ‘HONOR GUARD’?

17. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:9-11 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. 11I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. WHO IS SANBALLAT THE HORONITE? (Native of Horonaim, a Moabite by birth, Governor of the Samaritans under the king of Persia) WHO IS TOBIAH THE AMMONITE? (Joint governor with Sanballat) WHAT WERE THEY DISTURBED ABOUT? WHAT DID NEHEMIAH DO FOR THREE DAYS?

18. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:12-15 12I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. 13I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 14I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. 15I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

19. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:12-15 12I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. WHAT DID HE NOT TELL ANYONE? WHO WAS WITH HIM DURING THIS TIME?

20. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:12-15 13I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 14I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. 15I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. WHAT DID NEHEMIAH DO BY NIGHT? WHY AT NIGHT? WHAT WAS NEHEMIAH LOOKING FOR?

21. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:16-18 16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. 17I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach." 18I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work.

22. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:16-18 16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. WHY DID HE NOT TELL ANYONE OF HIS PLANS? WHY NOT THE JEWS, PRIESTS, NOBLES, ECT.?

23. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:16-18 17I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach." 18I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work. WHAT DID NEHEMIAH SAY TO THE JEWS? WHY WOULD THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM BE A REPROACH TO THEM? HOW DID THE JEWS RESPOND TO THIS? WHY WAS THIS ‘A GOOD WORK’?

24. READ:NEHEMIAH 2:19-20 19When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?" 20I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.“(NKJ)

25. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:19-20 19When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?" HOW DID HIS ADVERSARIES RESPOND TO THIS? WHAT DID THEY ASK NEHEMIAH?

26. QUESTIONS:NEHEMIAH 2:19-20 20I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.“(NKJ) HOW DID NEHEMIAH ANSWER THEM? WHY WOULD THEIR WORK PROSPER? WHAT DID HE TELL THEM THEY HAD NO PART OF?