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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jul. 5, 2025
Update	: Jul. 5, 2025
Parts	: 13

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part five, according to secular historical records, and as we have likewise already seen in our full Medo-Persian kings list in part four, this particular Artaxerxes was Artaxerxes I, who was also known as Artaxerxes Longimanus. He was the son and successor of Xerxes I, who had in fact halted all construction work in Jerusalem. This would make Artaxerxes I the grandson of Darius I. He ruled over the Medo-Persian Empire from 465 BC to 424 BC. What is important about Longimanus is that it was during his forty-year reign that the second part of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel -- that is to say, the "sixty-two weeks" part -- began to be fulfilled.

As we learned in part five, this began when he gave Ezra the scribe and priest permission to return to Jerusalem in order to engage in certain activities which were directly related to the temple, meaning temple sacrificial services, and his duties as a priest of Israel. As we learned before, this was in fact Artaxerxes I's primary intention, as well as Ezra's intention, as was made quite clear by the very contents of the letter of decree which the king had written for Ezra. Just as Cyrus the Great's edict was primarily focused on rebuilding the temple, and just as Darius I had also concentrated on temple-related affairs, Artaxerxes I's first letter to Ezra did the same thing.

Unless I just missed it, there was nothing in any of those three edicts which specifically and clearly addressed the issue of rebuilding Jerusalem itself, and the surrounding walls. As I thought about that, it made perfect sense to me. After all, if you were an emperor or a king, would you want your subjects -- particularly those subjects who were forcefully brought into subjugation through war -- to build walls around their cities? Wouldn't you become suspicious? Wouldn't you think that maybe those subjects were plotting behind your back, and planning to rebel against you? Well, as you will see momentarily, that is precisely the tactic which the Jews' enemies tried to use against them.

But my point is this: Aside from the fact that as Persian leaders, Cyrus II, Darius I and Artaxerxes I were much more open to religious freedoms and allowing their subjects to worship as they pleased, they were also wise rulers. That being the case, I suspect that they each intentionally did not include anything in their decrees regarding rebuilding the city, and particularly regarding rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. As we have seen, their decrees were in fact strictly limited to activities revolving around the temple construction project, and Jewish religious worship.

In contrast, when it comes to Nehemiah, it was a different story. He was not a scribe, priest or Levite. His concern and interests were related more to the broken down state of the city and the perimeter walls which protected it. This is made evident by some of the opening verses of his Book where we see him weeping after learning of the current state of his beloved city, Jerusalem:

"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,"


Not only was the state of Jerusalem Nehemiah's main concern, but when King Artaxerxes I inquired of him why he was so sad, Nehemiah was not able to hide his burden for Jerusalem from the king. Thus, he cautiously made his request known to the king. Please note the particular words I have placed in all uppercase letters. Those words reveal Nehemiah's intentions and motivations for desiring to go to Jerusalem:

"And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers sepulchres, THAT I MAY BUILD IT. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may GIVE ME TIMBER TO MAKE BEAMS FOR THE GATES OF THE PALACE which appertained to the house, and FOR THE WALL OF THE CITY, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days."


Thus, with these motivations in his heart, and bearing the king's letters giving him the right of passage, Nehemiah set out for Jerusalem. Next, after secretly surveying the walls of Jerusalem by night, Nehemiah finally made his plans known to the elders of Jerusalem, as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work."


As had occurred for years before, the enemies of the Jews became privy to their plans and immediately began to mock them, and to oppose them, and to stir up trouble. In the verses which follow, please notice again exactly who the troublemakers are. They are NOT fellow Jews. They are in fact the very same foreigners I mentioned to you earlier who were brought to Israel by the Assyrians following the Assyrian conquest, and they are led by one Sanballat:

"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."


"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it."


As a result of this opposition from their rather determined enemies, instead of surrendering to fear and intimidation, from that point and forward, Nehemiah informs his readers that the Jews began working in shifts with their weapons right next to them. They weren't going to take any chances with their hate-filled enemies watching them, and waiting for a moment to attack them. Furthermore, they didn't even take off their clothes except for washing them, as we can see by the following group of Bible verses:

"They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing."


From his own record in his Book, we know that dear Nehemiah served as governor of Judah for at the very least a total of twelve years. Considering that Artaxerxes I reigned for some forty years in Babylon, it is possible that Nehemiah remained governor for at least another eight years above what is recorded in the verses which follow. However, this is only personal conjecture. What I also find interesting regarding the verses below is how boldly Nehemiah exposes the corruption of the governors who had preceded him. In these verses the word "chargeable" is derived from a Koine Greek word which among other things means to heavy, harden, sore or to make heavy. And if we have any doubts regarding what he means, he clarifies it in the words which follow. This reminds me of God's strong rebuke of those Israelite leaders who fleeced their people in Ezekiel thirty-four:

"Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God."


On a side note, one favorite verse which has been mentioned by some Christians who have heard the Lord's call to service in their lives, and who simply won't allow themselves to be dissuaded by the lies or tricks of the enemies of the Gospel, is the following one which was spoken by Nehemiah when that troublesome fellow Sanballat, Geshem and others tried to slow them down as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem:

"Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I AM DOING A GREAT WORK, SO THAT I CANNOT COME DOWN: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner."


When that trick by Sanballat and company had failed after four attempts, that wicked man tried a different tactic. He sent one of his servants to Nehemiah with a letter in which he falsely accused the Jews of wanting to rebuild the walls because their goal was to eventually engage in a rebellion against King Artaxerxes I. Of course, Nehemiah denied the claim being made by their enemies, as we see by this group of Bible verses:

"Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together. Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart."


Despite the constant threats from Sanballat and his band of foreigners, and the mischievous tricks and deception which was practiced by those very same enemies, under Nehemiah's wise and watchful leadership and direction, the Jews finally finished repairing the wall after fifty-two days, as we see by the following group of Bible verses. This would have been in the year 445 BC. Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year, and sixth month of the religious year. In our Western calendar, this corresponds to parts of August and September:

"So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days."


Concerning the wall which we find mentioned in the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, what I find interesting is the fact that while the phrase "the walls" is only used twice in the Book of Nehemiah -- as per the verses shown below -- the phrase "the wall" is found a total of twenty-eight times. Thus we see that the construction of the perimeter wall was a major emphasis in Nehemiah. In contrast, the phrase "the wall" is not used a single time in the entire Book of Ezra. However, the phrase "the walls" or "these walls" is found just a few times in Ezra in the following verses. Furthermore, it is always spoken by the enemies of the Jews who were trying to stir up trouble:

"And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire."


"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it."


"Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river."


"They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?"


So again we see how Nehemiah's primary interest and task was in rebuilding the wall and the city. There is something else I would like to point out to you here. While the phrase "the walls" is used in both Books, I believe that it's being used to refer to the totality of all of the sides of the wall which surrounded the city. In all of the other twenty-eight verses, I am given the impression that they were working on only one wall and not multiple walls. In other words, I am wondering if at that time in Jerusalem's history, there was only one perimeter wall surrounding the city.

If you take the time to read my lengthy, twenty-five part series entitled "Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem", you will discover that by the year 70 AD when General Titus and his legions laid siege to Jerusalem, the city had in fact been encompassed by three walls, and not simply one. That is one major reason why the Jerusalemites were able to endure the siege for about four months before the city finally fell to the Romans. The Romans had to build various siege ramps and use ramming engines to breach all three of the walls in order to gain entrance into the city, and it was not an easy task. In addition to the walls, Jerusalem was surrounded by steep cliffs and ravines which proved challenging to Titus.

Returning to the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, the wall is not all that was completed, and you may find it interesting when you see how very specific the Seventy Weeks Prophecy was. Let me share part of the prophecy with you one more time:

"from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem . . . the street‭ shall be built‭‭ again‭‭, and the wall‭, even in troublous‭ times‭."


Notice that the prophecy doesn't only say that Jerusalem would be built up again, and the perimeter wall would also be raised up again, but it also mentions the street. Why is that? Well, I have an idea regarding that which I will now pass by you for your consideration. I suspect that it is one specific street that the prophecy is referring to; because as I was just reading the Book of Nehemiah, some verses popped out at me, and I thought to myself, "Oh, so that's why the prophecy specifically mentioned the street, because something very important happened on that street!" What am I talking about? Consider the following verses:

"And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law."

How about that! You will recall from part five that I told you that Ezra's primary desire in returning to Jerusalem was to serve as priest and scribe, and to teach the Jews the Laws of God, and here we see him doing exactly that! He was fulfilling part of the prophecy, just as Zerubbabel had also done, and just as Nehemiah had done as well! It amazes me to realize how God so carefully raised up and anointed specific men to fulfill specific parts of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy. In other words, Zerubbabel oversaw the rebuilding of the temple. Ezra was one of the men who was in charge of the spiritual affairs of the people. And Nehemiah oversaw the construction of the wall and the street -- and security -- which as we saw earlier, had been his intention from the very start.

Notice again that this part of the prophecy concludes with the words "even in troublous‭ times‭." As I mentioned in part five, the trouble did not end with Cyrus, or with Cambyses, or with Darius I, or with Xerxes I, or with Artaxerxes I. It just kept reoccurring during the duration of that entire period, just as the prophecy said would occur.

In part five of this same series, I explained to you how I discovered what appears to be an interesting "coincidence" with regard to how the "seven weeks" section of the Angel Gabriel's prophecy to Daniel seems to perfectly align with the forty-nine-year period which began at 534 BC when the Jewish returnees laid the foundation of the new temple, and terminated at 485 BC when Xerxes I ordered all construction work to stop. We saw that it appears to correspond to the "troublous times" of which the prophecy speaks.

So looking at it from this perspective, it would seem that maybe the first prophetic "week" of Gabriel's Seven Weeks Prophecy began with an important event, that being laying the foundation for the new temple. Then it would seem to conclude with another important event, that being Xerxes I halting the reconstruction of the temple. As I mentioned a bit earlier, I'm convinced that Artaxerxes I's decree also serves as a marker to begin the next section of the Angel Gabriel's amazing Seventy Weeks Prophecy. In other words, the "sixty-two" weeks part of the prophecy. As we learned earlier in our series, this portion of the prophecy equals a total period of 434 years.

But, then things really begin to become complex, as I'll now explain to you. As I discovered to my own disappointment, it is at this point that I've encountered an unyielding problem or two, which I have been simply unable to resolve to my own personal satisfaction. Both problems concern the time frame of the prophecy itself, as well as the approximate year when the full prophecy is supposed to conclude. Let me address the "seven weeks" problem first. From both a historical as well as a Scriptural perspective, my theory appears to have very strong merit. That is, if we are willing to accept that the Darius who is mentioned in Daniel 5 and 6 really did serve as viceroy of Babylon for two years before Cyrus the Great arrived there, upon which he was proclaimed king of Babylon. As I mentioned earlier, secular historians totally reject the existence of this king, in contradiction to the Bible.

Yet if we accept my theory regarding the "seven weeks" -- or forty-nine years -- occurring between 534 BC and 485 BC, it creates a problem all of its own. You see, by doing that, we are only left with 434 years to complete the remainder of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, and that will NOT take us even close to the first decades of the First Century AD, or even to the assumed date of Jesus' birth in 4 BC. To make this easier for you to understand, let me explain the following to you.

It seems that one of the most popular methods which has been used to make the Seventy Weeks Prophecy work, is by embracing 457 BC -- when King Artaxerxes I gave his letter of decree to Ezra -- as the starting point for Gabriel's prophecy. So if we accept 457 BC, and deduct 434 years from it -- and not 483 years from it, because we already used up the first 49 years, or "seven weeks" if we accept my theory -- that only takes us to 23 BC. That is not even close to the assumed date of Jesus' birth, much less to the year of His appearance to Israel, and even less to the assumed date of His Crucifixion.

If instead we use 445 BC as the starting date for the second part of the prophecy -- because it was in that year that King Artaxerxes I gave Nehemiah his letter of decree -- and then subtract 434 years -- meaning the "sixty-two" weeks -- from it, that still only carries us to 11 BC, which is still not even Jesus' assumed date of birth. So that is why, despite how beautifully my personal theory appears to fit the "seven weeks" part of the prophecy, it is simply a no-go, as I have already stated. I am, of course, not happy about it, but I cannot knowingly contradict God's Word just to enforce my own belief or doctrine. That would be very wrong. Sadly, I see so many modern Christians endeavoring to do this very thing with their pet theories and misguided doctrines. However, as the Apostle Peter wrote, such people wrest -- twist, distort, or pervert -- the Scriptures to their own destruction:

"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which THEY THAT ARE UNLEARNED AND UNSTABLE WREST, AS THEY DO ALSO THE OTHER SCRIPTURES, UNTO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION."


Now we come to the next issue. As I already said, 457 BC is a popular option with quite a few Bible scholars and Bible students when it comes to trying to understand the Seventy Weeks Prophecy. However, in my view, based on everything I have shared with you, in which I have clearly shown you the major differences between Artaxerxes' first decree to Ezra, and his second decree to Nehemiah, and the major differences in the motivations between Ezra and Nehemiah, and the very different tasks which each of them performed once they had arrived in Jerusalem, I remain convinced that Artaxerxes I's second decree to Nehemiah in 445 BC much better fits the fulfillment of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy.

For me personally, there exists just too much historical and Biblical support to ignore the 445 BC date. To reiterate the things I explained earlier, Nehemiah was the builder. He was the one who oversaw the rebuilding of the street and wall, and NOT Ezra. Ezra was the priest and scribe. Those are two very different offices. But even more convincing is what we are told in the prophecy itself. Let me share that portion with you again so that it really sinks in:

"from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem . . . the street‭ shall be built‭‭ again‭‭, and the wall‭, even in troublous‭ times‭."


Clearly, Nehemiah fulfilled that part of the prophecy much better than Ezra. Equally important is the fact that while the prophecy mentions the rebuilding of the street and wall, it does NOT specifically mention the reconstruction of the temple itself. Now, we can argue that it is hidden in the part of the prophecy which says "to build Jerusalem", but in my opinion, that is leaning towards Scripture-tweaking, which Peter said we're NOT supposed to do. Please know that I am NOT in any way trying to minimize the rebuilding of the temple. Of course not. But if we take a very strict, literal view of the prophecy, then again, 445 BC fits the bill much better than 457 BC.

Please go to part seven for the continuation of this series.

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