So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.-Nehemiah 2:11-20***Before and after Joshua led his fellow Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, Jebus (Jerusalem) was inhabited by Jebusites. The Jebusites were descendants of Canaan, and Canaan was born to Ham, and Ham was born to Noah the ark builder. The Israelites descended from Noah's son Shem, and Shem's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and Isaac and Rebekah's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel). Over 300 years after Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, David was born into the tribe of Judah. Judah was the 4th son born to Jacob and his 1st wife Leah. Over a decade after David was born, David was anointed by Samuel, the priest, prophet and judge from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi, to reign as king, according to the command of the Lord God. When David was 30 years old, he began to reign only over the tribe of Judah in the Promised Land. When David was 37 1/2 years old, he became the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites in the Promised Land. During the battle led by David's nephew Joab, the Jebusite fort was captured and was renamed the City of David. David developed the surrounding area, and King Hiram of Tyre built a palace for David. Solomon, the 2nd son born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign over all of the Israelites. In Jerusalem, Solomon built the temple of the Lord, and built a wall around Jerusalem. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam was the 1st king to reign. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-grandson Amaziah was the 8th king to rule Judah. Amaziah instigated a fight with King Jehoash (Joash), the 12th king to rule over all of the Israelites in northern nation of Israel. Jehoash defeated Amaziah and broke down a portion of the wall around Jerusalem before robbing the temple. Throughout the following decades, several of Judah's kings made repairs to the wall. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites to Assyria. During the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. During the reign of Jehoiakim's son King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the 18th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin and his family, to Babylon. During the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. The Babylonians destroyed the walls around Jerusalem, murdered Israelites, burned Jerusalem's buildings, looted and set fire to the temple of the Lord, and forced many survivors to live in Babylon. King Cyrus, ruler of the Persian Empire, conquered Babylon and other kingdoms and allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and Judah. Years thereafter, Nehemiah spoke to King Artaxerxes, the reigning ruler of the Persian Empire, and received permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall and gates. Over 400 years after the wall was rebuilt, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
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But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.-Nehemiah 4:1-3***Sanballat was a man of importance in Jerusalem. His Babylonian name, which means "may sin give him life," attested to Sanballat's beliefs and allegiance. Tobiah, whose name means "goodness of the Lord," was an Ammonite, a descendant of Lot and Lot's youngest daughter and their son Ben-ammi. Lot was the nephew of Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai). Abraham was a friend of God. Tobiah was friends with an Israelite priest and the father-in-law of a woman whose father was part of the rebuilding team. However, Tobiah also participated in hostile actions against the Israelites.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,Acts 1:1-26 James 2:1-26
Reference Information:
Sanballat = sin-uballit = may sin give him life
Tobiah = Tobiyyah = wetowbiyah = towb + Yahh = goodness of the Lord
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