Nehemiah 2:1-8 “And it 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. (2) Therefore 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, (3) and 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?" (4) Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. (5) And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." (6) Then 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. (7) Furthermore 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.”
We have established in the previous section that three separate edicts were issued dealing specifically with the Second Temple. The first edict was issued by King Cyrus in the year 539 BC. The second edict was issued by King Darius in the year 520 BC. The third and final edict was issued by King Artaxerxes in the year 458 BC. And so in a similar manner, there were two edicts issued dealing specifically with the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. The first edict, which we have already discussed, was issued by King Cyrus in the year 539 BC. In the above-quoted passage of scripture, we have an account of the second and final edict issued by Artaxerxes King of Persia, for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah tells us in this passage that this edict was issued in the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes. Historical records reveal to us that the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes took place in the year 445 BC[1]. There is a problem with this date, however; because as we have already mentioned, the dates of these edicts are very important because they are linked to prophetic scriptures dealing with the coming Messiah. The importance of these dates will become clear when we discuss the Messiah's first coming in a later section. Suffice it to say for now that the year 445 BC does not tie in with prophetic scripture. So how do we solve the problem? In that regard, it is important to note that Nehemiah informed us that he began to pray for favour with King Artaxerxes, specifically in the month of Chislev in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1-4). Nehemiah then tells us in the above passage, that in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes that he finally issued the edict. The specific months mentioned by Nehemiah are important because they highlight how Jewish calendar dates can impact Gregorian calendar dates. So what do I mean by that statement? The Jewish New Year takes place in the month of Tishrei, which roughly equates to the Gregorian calendar month of September. The month of Chislev roughly equates to the Gregorian calendar month of November, and the month of Nisan roughly equates to the Gregorian calendar month of March. And so if we follow Nehemiah's timeline according to the Jewish calendar, King Artaxerxes' twentieth year began in September, Nehemiah prayed for favour in November and the edict was finally issued in March. Both November and March still fell within the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, according to the Jewish calendar. Nevertheless, if we follow Nehemiah's timeline according to the Gregorian calendar, we see that Nehemiah prayed for favour in November of the twentieth of King Artaxerxes, and his edict was issued in March of the following year, i.e. the twenty-first year of King Artaxerxes. Historical records reveal to us that the twenty-first year of the reign of King Artaxerxes took place in the year 444 BC[2]. And so as we will see in a later section, the date of 444 BC ties in precisely with prophetic scripture of the coming Messiah. As an aside, in the vision that the Lord gave Ezekiel in the year 573 BC[3], He also showed Ezekiel the design of the city of Jerusalem that the Jews were instructed to build (Ezekiel 45-48). And so just like the Second Temple, we would have assumed that when Jerusalem was eventually rebuilt, it would have been built according to the design given to Ezekiel. That is not the case however; for historical records reveal to us that Jerusalem’s rebuild did not match the design given to the prophet Ezekiel[4]. This implies that the design shown to Ezekiel pertains to a rebuilding of Jerusalem that has yet to take place.
Hosea 3:4-5 “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. (5) Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”
We have seen thus far that God allowed Judah's exiles to return, He allowed the Second Temple to be built, and He allowed the city of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah to be rebuilt. And so the question is asked, what about Judah's sovereignty? The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of Hosea's prophecy delivered to the children of Israel in approximately the year 753 BC[5]. The context of this prophecy is that it was addressed to the whole nation of Israel, i.e. both the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). In this prophecy, we see that the Lord informed the nation of Israel that a time would arise in their future, in which Israel would be without a king, without a temple, and the accompanying Levitical priesthood. The Lord specifically mentioned in this prophecy, that Israel would be without a king and temple, for many days. And so in fulfilment of Hosea's prophecy, we have seen that God judged the Northern Kingdom (Israel) first and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) second. We have seen that God’s judgement for both kingdoms was identical; both kingdoms lost their sovereignty, both kingdoms lost their temples (Israel lost the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and Judah lost the First Temple in Jerusalem), and both kingdoms were taken into exile. Nevertheless, we also saw that after the judgement of both kingdoms, God treated Judah differently to Israel, for God allowed Judah’s exiles to return but did not allow Israel’s exiles to return. God also allowed Judah to rebuild the Second Temple but did not allow Israel to reconstruct the Tabernacle in Shiloh. We explained the reason why God allowed Judah’s exiles to return and rebuild the Second Temple; it was to prepare the way for the first coming of the Messiah. Nevertheless, even though God returned Judah’s exiles and allowed them to rebuild the Second Temple, He never restored Judah’s sovereignty. So why is that? The reason is that Israel’s true King was about to appear, i.e. Jesus the Messiah. And so God would not allow a carnal king to be reigning over the nation of Israel, at the same time that their true King was present on the earth. After the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus however, it opened the way for Israel’s carnal kings to be restored once again. As an aside, in the vision that the Lord gave Ezekiel in the year 573 BC[6], He gave specific instructions on how Israel’s kings were to conduct themselves after Israel’s borders were restored and the new Temple had been built (Ezekiel 45-46). And so based on the Lord's instructions given to Ezekiel, we would have assumed that when the Lord returned Judah's exiles, He would have restored their sovereignty as well. In other words, He would have restored their kings. That is not the case however; for historical records reveal to us that Judah’s kings were never restored[7]. This implies that the restoration of Israel’s leadership (sovereignty) shown to Ezekiel, pertained to a future event. That event, which we will discuss in a later section, took place in the year 1948. In other words, as per Hosea’s prophecy; Israel remained without a king for many days.
Michael E.B. Maher
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