King Artaxerxes and Nehemiah:
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.-Nehemiah 2:1-10***Joshua was an Israelite from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and Rachel, Joseph and Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. Over 400 years after Joshua led his fellow Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, Solomon, the 2nd child born to King David and Bathsheba, became the 3rd king to reign over all of the Israelites in the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to reign. 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. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city, and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city, and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites to Assyria. During the 11th year of 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 to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Less than 140 years after Samaria was conquered, Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) became the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Banylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. During the 11th year of 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 looted and burned the temple, destroyed many other buildings, and destroyed the walls around Jerusalem. After King Cyrus, ruler of the Persian Empire, defeated the Babylonians, Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and build a temple, according to the will of the Lord God. Decades thereafter, King Artaxerxes was ruling the Persian Empire. Nehemiah, an Israelite, was the cupbearer for Artaxerxes. After Nehemiah learned of the circumstances in Jerusalem, and the state of the wall and gates, Nehemiah cried, and was mournful, and fasted, and prayed to the Lord God. Artaxerxes questioned Nehemiah and allowed Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, despite enemy conspiracies, Nehemiah led the Israelites to a 52-day wall building accomplishment, and Nehemiah served as governor in Jerusalem for 12 years. Over 400 years after the wall and temple were built, 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 in Bethlehem, approximately 6 miles from Jerusalem, into tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 33 1/2 years after he was born, the Roman Empire was ruling the land whereupon the kingdoms of the Israelites previously stood.-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, 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, Jeremiah 39:1-18, 52:1-34, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26