Nehemiah

Nehemiah served as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes when he learned that Jerusalem's walls remained broken and its gates burned. After prayer and fasting, he obtained royal permission to return and rebuild. He secretly inspected the walls, organized families and guilds into work sections, and resisted mockery, threats, conspiracy, and intimidation from Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and others. The builders worked with weapons ready, and the wall was completed in fifty-two days. Nehemiah also confronted economic exploitation among the Jews, cooperated with Ezra in covenant renewal, organized the repopulation and dedication of Jerusalem, and later corrected abuses involving the Temple, Sabbath, and intermarriage.