Nehemiah was a faithful Jewish man who had grown up in Persia. His parents were apparently part of one of the three Babylonian deportation of Jews from the land of Judah in the years 605 B.C., 597 B.C., then 586 B.C., who served in the Royal Persian Court of Shushan. Nehemiah had the high-ranking position of cupbearer for King Artaxerxes.1Neh. 1:11,2Artaxerxes was the fifth King of the Medio-Persian Empire. See Persian Kings. The main history contained in the book of Nehemiah covers about twelve years, namely, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes I (Longimanus), that is, from B.C. 445 to 433.3Persian Kings The book of Nehemiah opens by describing the events that took place about 12 years after those recorded in the book of Ezra (see Chronology of the Restoration Period and Chronology of Ezra 1-6 ). The book is divided into 13 chapters in our modern Bibles. The first twelve chapters of Nehemiah focus on what took place just within the first year the events in chapters 1 & 2 began to take place near the end of 456 B.C. men from Jerusalem told Nehemiah about the deplorable condition of the city’s walls and gates Nehemiah prayed to God for direction in answer to Nehemiah’s prayer the Persian kings sent him to Jerusalem as governor and granted him permission to rebuild the walls upon arrival Nehemiah inspected the city walls he then gathered the people and announced his mission with the words let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem the mission to rebuild Jerusalem marked the beginning of the 70 weeks of years mentioned in Daniels prophecy at the end of 69 weeks of years a messiah would appear chapters three to six recount the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and gates despite enemy opposition did you know a large workforce of men and women repaired the estimated 8530 feet of walls with its gates in just 52 days chapters 7 to 12 show how Nehemiah and Ezra took the lead in helping the people return to true worship the people gathered to hear the law being read and explained next the 8 day festival of booze was held after this the walls of Jerusalem were inaugurated Nehemiah continued as governor of Jerusalem for 12 years before returning to his duties under king Artaxerxes chapter 13 tells us that Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem a second time only to find that the Jews had not kept their promises to Jehovah. He then took decisive action to correct the situation. As we read this stirring account we will notice how Jehovah used a Persian king to accomplish His will. We observe how Nehemiah’s zeal for and knowledge of God’s law led to blessings. And we note how the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls became a key to understanding an important prophecy in Daniel that pointed to the appearance of the Messiah. The events of Nehemiah take place in the mid to late 5th century BC4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanballat_the_Horonite in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes , king of Persia.5Neh. 1:11
Nehemiah parents had probably been of Jewish nobility or high rank in Judah when they were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar. This may help explain how Nehemiah had come to hold an honored and influential position as cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1.). As cupbearer, Nehemiah often came into close and confidential contact with the king. Nehemiah 2:2 suggests that Artaxerxes looked upon Nehemiah with some degree of respect and amiability. Nehemiah was able to explain to the king that the Jews living in Jerusalem were, “in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire” (Neh. 1:3.). After hearing Nehemiah’s account of the situation in Judah, Artaxerxes gave him permission to go to Jerusalem for the purposes of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The king also provided Nehemiah with an escort and letters to the governors of the provinces through which he would pass. In the letters, the king commanded that the governors provide Nehemiah with any needed supplies. The king also commissioned Nehemiah to act as governor of Judah. (See Neh. 2:6-9; 5:14.)
Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah found the city was in a defenseless state, open to attack by enemies, among whom were the Moabites, Ammonites, Arabians and Ashdodites. These groups had fought among themselves but were united as a common enemy against the Jews. When Nehemiah gathered his people to work on rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, their enemies became malicious. For protection, Nehemiah instructed each worker to labor “with one of his hands…and with the other hand (to hold) a weapon.” (Neh. 4:17-18.)
While the book of Nehemiah focuses on how Nehemiah exercised great leadership skills in bringing about the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem, there is a side story involving the leaders of the three nations of Samaria, Ammon and Arabia. These three nations surrounded Judea at the time and were ruled by Sanballat the Horonite of Samaria, and Geshem the Arabian and Tobiah the Ammonite. 
And when Nehemiah and his escort6provided to him by King Artaxerxes, Neh. 2:9 arrived in Jerusalem, their return aroused the enmity of Sanballat and his allies, Geshem and Tobiah. They were indignant that the welfare of the Jews was to be promoted. When Nehemiah revealed his intentions to restore the walls of Jerusalem they made fun and ridiculed him, and said, “Will ye rebel against the king?” (Neh. 2:19) Undeterred, Nehemiah forged ahead, trusting in God, repairing and rebuilding the gates, the towers, and the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:1-32) and further enraging the Jew’s enemies so that they conspired against the them, to hinder them by force of arms (Neh. 4:7-8). Tobiah appeased him by saying that a fox (or a jackal) climbing on the wall they were building would break it down. Nehemiah and his builders, the Jews, vigorously hurried the work, while Sanballat and his associates organized their forces to fight against Jerusalem. Nehemiah prepared to meet the opposition and continued the work on the walls. Five different times Sanballat and his confederates challenged Nehemiah and the Jews to meet them for a parley in the plain of Ono. Nehemiah was equal to the emergency and attended strictly to his work. Then Sanballat, with Jews in Jerusalem who were his confederates, attempted to entrap Nehemiah in the Temple; but the scheme failed. Sanballat’s Jewish allies, however, kept Sanballat and Tobiah informed as to the progress of the work in Jerusalem. With the hand of the Lord upon Nehemiah along with Nehemiah’s far-sighted policy and his shrewdness, he was kept out of the hands of these neighbor-foes. In his reforms, so effectively carried out, he discovered that one of the grandsons of the current high priest Eliashib had married a daughter of this Sanballat, and was thus son-in-law of the chief enemy of the Jews. Nehemiah also found that Eliashib had leased the storerooms of the temple to Tobiah, thus depriving the Levites of their share of the offerings in Nehemiah’s absence. The high priest (and/or possibly his son Jehoida and the unnamed grandson) was driven out of Jerusalem on the ground that he had defiled the priesthood (Nehemiah 13:28).
Although Jerusalem covered a large area, not many people lived there (Neh 7:4 ), so Nehemiah took measures to increase the number of inhabitants of living in the city (Neh. 7:4-73 , 11:1-2). He also endeavored to fashion domestic and civil life according to the precepts of the law (Neh. 8-10), and, on the occasion of the solemn dedication of the wall, to set in order the services of the Levites (Neh. 12).
Nehemiah trusted in God completely and sought Him for aide frequently.7Neh. 1:4, 2:4, 4:4-5, 5:19, 6:9, 6:14, 9:5-38 When Nehemiah faced threats, false accusations, and slander from his enemies, he chose to trust in the Lord rather than acting hastily out of fear. In Nehemiah 6:1-14, Nehemiah actually saved his life by obeying God and remaining in the place of danger rather than following man’s wisdom and seeking his own comfort and safety.
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