Page 273 - Daniel

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5. Nehemiah 2:1–6. In 444 B.C. King Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to
Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked permission to go because he had heard that
“the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by

fire” (Neh. 1:3). Nehemiah specifically asked permission to go to “Judah,
to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it” (2:5). This is the
first and only royal decree granting permission to “restore and build
Jerusalem” (Dan. 9:25).

The amillennial interpretation of this passage, however, has usually
considered the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. as the decree to rebuild the city
and the wall. While acknowledging that 2 Chronicles and Ezra do not
specifically mention a command to rebuild the city, they note what God

predicted in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:13, remarkable prophecies given
concerning Cyrus 150 years before he came on the scene. According to
Isaiah 44:28, God said of Cyrus, “‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill
all my purpose’; even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built;’ and of the
temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” In 45:13 God said of Cyrus,

“[He] shall build my city and set my exiles free.”
Although Cyrus is not specifically identified in 45:13, God identified
him by name as his “anointed” in verse 1. Young believes these verses
indicate Cyrus did authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and he finds

confirmation of this in the statement in Ezra 4:12, where the enemies of
Israel accuse the Jews of “rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city.
They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.” Young,
accordingly, concludes, “It is not justifiable to distinguish too sharply
between the building of the city and the building of the temple.

Certainly, if the people had received permission to return to Jerusalem
to rebuild the temple, there was also implied in this permission to build
for themselves homes in which to dwell. There is no doubt whatever but
that the people thus understood the decree (cf. Haggai 1:2–4).” 53

The question whether Jerusalem was rebuilt is answered in the
graphic description of Nehemiah, which Young does not mention, that
pictures the city in utter ruins (Neh. 2:12–15). He describes the walls as
broken down, the gates burned, and the streets so full of debris that his
mount could not get through. In his challenge to the people, Nehemiah

said, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its
gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no