Nehemiah- From Persia to Jerusalem - A personal Journal

[Music] the film that you are about to see is based on an authentic journal written 2 500 years ago and recorded in the bible the author an eminent jew is a high-ranking official in the court of the persian king [Music] for they are coming to kill you in the night they will come to kill you it all began in 538 bce when cyrus issued a proclamation that caused great elation among the jews in an imperial order circulated throughout the persian empire cyrus allowed the jews who had been exiled to babylonia with the destruction of the first temple to return to the land of israel after 70 years in exile tens of thousands of jews left their home and went up to jerusalem but soon the enthusiasm faded the stream of migrants dwindled and those who arrived in jerusalem found a city in ruins its walls broken down isolated and destitute the jews became easy prey for the surrounding nations as hostilities mounted life in jerusalem became unbearable [Music] the dream of the return to zion was on the brink of collapse on the other side of the world far from the suffering of their brethren the jews prospered and produced dignitaries such as nehemiah the son of a high-ranking official in the persian court in the month of kislev in the 20th year while i was in the capital city of shushan hanani one of my brethren came from judah with some men i asked them about the remaining jews who had been left behind from the captivity and about jerusalem and they told me the remnants were left behind from the captivity there in the province are in a terrible state and in disgrace and the wall of jerusalem is broken down and its gates burnt [Music] distressed by the words of his brethren wanders restlessly through the halls of the royal court crying and praying [Music] in the month of nisan in the 20th year of king arthur xerxes when the wine was set before him i took the wine and gave it to the king [Music] the troubled look on nehemiah's face aroused the king's suspicions the king said to me why do you look troubled since you are not ill it must be from evil intentions then i was very frightened i said to the king why should i not look troubled when the city where my ancestors are buried lies waste its gates consumed by fire musters all his courage and implores the king if it pleases the king send me to judah to the city where my ancestors are buried so i can build it the king agrees he appoints nehemiah governor of the province of yehuda and sends him to jerusalem with a military escort netanyahu leaves the pleasures of the persian empire behind he is driven by a single goal to build the wall of jerusalem but appointment as governor of yahood infuriates the leaders of the neighboring nations they are vehemently opposed to the rebuilding of the wall when sanbala knight and tobia the ammonite servant heard they were very distressed that someone had come to do good for the children of israel they refused to let jerusalem once again be the center of life of the jewish people [Music] therefore when ahmia arrives in jerusalem he slips out secretly to check on the state of the world so i came to jerusalem and was there for three days and i arose at night i and a few men with me and i told no one what my god had inspired me to do for jerusalem and i had no animal with me other than the animal i was riding but the assault was depressing the entire area around the wall was full of fallen stones and ruins he was barely able to pass through i inspected the broken walls of jerusalem and its gates that had been consumed by fire there was no room for the animal under me to pass i went through the valley gate and returned right here in the area of the ruined wall that nehemiah inspected archaeologist miguel shiloh found a massive rockfall from the wall and the houses of the city turns out that when the babylonians destroyed the wall they also destroyed the network of terraces supporting the homes of the city all the houses collapsed and the stones fell down the hill without a wall there is no security and without security it is impossible to survive but rebuilding the wall seems to near an impossible task it would involve clearing rubble heaps gathering stones and engaging in a huge amount of rigorous construction it would take a lot of hard work and time and there is no time at any moment the neighboring rulers might discover the plan and crush it appeals urgently to the people of jerusalem i said to them you see the bad state we are in how jerusalem lies waste its gates burned come let us build the wall of jerusalem so that we are no longer a disgrace [Music] [Applause] decides to leave the ruins as they are and build the new wall higher up at the top of the hill the entire plan now depends on the inhabitants of jerusalem they must drop everything and apply themselves to the work the first to volunteer the high priest and his men then eliashibe the high priest arose with his brethren the priests and they built the sheep gate they sanctified it and put up its doors and next to them the men of jericho built and next to them built zakur the son of henry the sons of hasan ah built the fish gate they laid its beams and set up its doors its bolts and its bars and next to them the son of oriya the son fortified and next to them the son of fortified and next to him and they restored jerusalem all the way to the broad wall high on the hill above the layer of the destruction of jerusalem the excavators uncovered a part of the wall and tower apparently from the persian period the archaeologist elat mazar believes this is a segment of the wall built by nehemiah for construction gaps between the stones the builders were ordinary people like us and the building materials that they gathered from the ruins were not of the best quality nevertheless the wall they built survived the entire second temple period more than 500 years the building of the wall surprises and angers the neighboring rulers but they are not concerned the entire effort seems to them pathetic and hopeless what are these feeble jews doing will they revive the stones out of the rubbish heaps even though they are burnt toby are the ammonite who was with him said even whenever they do build if a fox goes up they will break down their stone wall but the ruler's complacency turns to panic after a few days when they discover that half the wall is already standing solid [Music] shocked by the pace of the work sunballat and his friends hatch a plan to send armed men to infiltrate the builders and attack them while they're working [Music] the situation is extremely dangerous again appeals to the inhabitants this time to protect their homes and their city do not fear them remember the lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brethren your sons and your daughters your wives and your homes entire families are mobilized men women and anyone who can bear arms i arranged the people by family with their swords their spears and their bows himself takes the lead of the fighting force the shofar blower was next to me whenever you hear the sound of the shofar gather there to us amidst all the tumult the work on the wall continues the builders function simultaneously as construction workers and soldiers with one hand he does the work and with the other he holds his weapon the intimidation and threats are of no use the wall quickly nears completion despite the opposition of the enemies of judah the enemies of judah realize that having failed to stop the builders of the wall they will have to attack the driving force behind the entire venture kill nehemiah the assassins reached jerusalem in the dark of night urge him to flee to save his life [Music] for they are coming to kill you in the night they will come to kill you they are coming to kill you in the night they will come to kill you fleeing would play into the hands of the enemies of judah without a leader the entire project would collapse the wall would not be built and jerusalem would remain defenseless and i said am i the kind of man that flees am i the kind of man that flees on the 25th of elul that year the wall of jerusalem was completed it was inaugurated with great festivity and thanksgiving offerings to god 41 teams had taken part in the work which was completed in just 52 days the wall gave the inhabitants security and the hope that out of the ruins jerusalem would rise again as the center of life of the jewish people for the next 12 years nehemiah continued rebuilding jerusalem and securing its status as a jewish city his work was an inspiration to the zionist movement and the rebuilders of israel in the modern age his journal the book of nehemiah is one of the books of the bible [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Megalim Institute מכון מגלי"ם

Views: 80,513

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Id: c_zF3EyHBgc

Length: 12min 17sec (737 seconds)

Published: Wed May 12 2021