Unit 3: Exile and Post Exile 1

Week 1: End of the Babylonian Captivity

Week 1: Ezra 1,3,4


Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Ezra 3:11

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. Who went to Jerusalem to build the House of the Lord?
  2. Give the three main points in the Cyrus Proclamation.
  3. . How did they celebrate the laying of the foundation of the temple?
  4. Why did the older Israelites weep?
  5. Why wouldn’t the Jews accept help from the inhabitants of the land?
  6. What accusations were sent to King Artaxerxes?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. Cyrus made a proclamation to build the temple because:
    a) the Lord filled his spirit b) Jeremiah ordered him to c) he was forced to
  2. The House of the Lord was to be built in:
    a) Persia b) Babylon c) Jerusalem d) Egypt
  3. Who exiled the people of Israel to Babylon?
    a) Zerubbabel b) Nebuchadnezzar c) Jeremiah d) the Nethinim
  4. What feast did the people keep?
    a) the Passover b) the Feast of Hanukah c) the Feast of Tabernacles d) Christmas
  5. Who oversaw the work of the House of the Lord?
    a) Kadmiel b) Jeshua c) the Levites d) all of these
  6. Who offered to help the Israelites build the temple?
    a) the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin b) Jerubbabel c) King Darius d) Cyrus
  7. The letter sent to Artaxerxes was written in:
    a) in English b) in Arabic c) in Aramaic d) in Hebrew

Week 2: Restoration of the Temple

Week 2: Ezra 5-7

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently. Ezra 6:12

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews.” Explain.
  2. To whom did Haggai and Zechariah prophesy?
  3. How did God punish His people when they provoked Him?
  4. Where did the expenses for building the House of God come from?
  5. The Passover lambs were slaughtered for whom?
  6. What was Ezra set to do?
  7. What kinds of punishments were set for those who would not observe the law of God and the king?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. The governor wrote a letter to:
    a) Shethar-Boznai b) Darius c) the Israelites
  2. Who issued the first decree to build the temple?
    a) Darius b) Cyrus c) Sheshbazzar d) Ezra
  3. The decree of Darius was concerning:
    a) building the House of the Lord b) keeping the Passover c) paying taxes d) going to Jerusalem
  4. At the dedication of the House of God the priests:
    a) sang b) danced c) offered sacrifices
  5. Ezra was a priest and a scribe. True or false?
  6. What was Ezra to buy with the money he recieves?
    a) bulls b) rams c) lambs d) all of these

Week 3: Service of Ezra

Week 3: Ezra 8-10

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it. Ezra 10:4

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. How did Ezra prepare the people spiritually for the journey?
  2. Why was Ezra ashamed to request an escort of soldiers?
  3. What wrong doing did the people of Israel do?
  4. What did Ezra do at the Evening Sacrifice?
  5. Who suggested making a covenant with God?
  6. Why did Ezra eat no bread and drink no water for a while?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. Who called for a fast?
    a) Darius b) Cyrus c) Ezra d) Eliezer
  2. When they camped by the river at Ahava who was missing?
    a) the priests b) the sons of Levi c) Ezra d) the king
  3. At the evening of the sacrifice, Ezra
    a) fell on his knees b) prayed c) tore his garment d) all of these
  4. Concerning the people of the lands, God asked the people of Israel not to:
    a) give your daughters to their sons b) pay them taxes c) eat with them
  5. Who took to themselves pagan wives?
    a) the priests b) the Levites c) the people d) all of these
  6. Ezra ate no bread and drank no water because:
    a) he was on a diet b) there was no food or drink c) he was mourning d) he was in prison

Week 4: Nehemiah and rebuilding the walls

Week 4: Nehemiah 1-4

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night” Nehemiah 1:6

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. What was Nehemiah’s job in the king’s palace?
  2. What did Nehemiah ask of Artaxerxes?
  3. Why did Nehemiah want a letter from the king to Asaph?
  4. How did Nehemiah encourage the people to rise and build the wall?
  5. Mention the professions of some of the people who helped repair the wall.
  6. How did Nehemiah respond to his enemies’ anger?
  7. Why did Nehemiah have a trumpeter beside him?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. Nehemiah’s job in the king’s palace was:
    a) a singer b) a cupbearer c) a priest d) a musician
  2. Nehemiah wanted timber to make:
    a) the gates of the citadel b) the city wall c) his house d) all of these
  3. When Nehemiah went to view the wall of Jerusalem he took with him:
    a) his friends b) the workers c) no one d) just the animal he rode on
  4. Which of these gates is NOT a gate in Jerusalem?
    a) the Fish Gate b) the Fountain Gate c) the Golden Gate d) the Refuse Gate
  5. Some of the people who made repairs in the wall were:
    a) priests b) goldsmith c) merchants d) all of these

Week 5: Nehemiah facing struggles

Week 4: Nehemiah 5-8

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.” Nehemiah 5:12

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. What position did Nehemiah occupy in the land of Judah?
  2. Why did Nehemiah not demand the governor’s provisions?
  3. How many days did it take to rebuild the wall?
  4. How many times did Sanballat send messages to Nehemiah?
  5. Why did Nehemiah refuse to meet with Sanballat and his allies?
  6. How did Nehemiah figure out that Shemaiah was a traitor?
  7. Who read from the Book of the Law?
  8. When was the last time the people made booths before that time?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. What position did Nehemiah occupy in the land of Judah?
    a) a priest b) a governor c) a scribe d) a singer
  2. Who was invited to Nehemiah’s table?
    a) Jews b) rulers c) people from other nations d) all of these
  3. How many times did Sanballat send messages to Nehemiah?
    a) 2 b) 3 c) 5 d) 10
  4. How many days did it take to rebuild the wall?
    a) 15 b) 35 c) 42 d) 52

Week 6: Ezra and Nehemiah lead the spiritual reformation

Week 6: Nehemiah 9-13

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.” Nehemiah 9:2

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. Three particulars are mentioned regarding the Sabbath. What are they?
  2. Men of which tribe lived in Jerusalem?
  3. What was the king’s command concerning the sons of Asaph?
  4. How did the Levites celebrate the dedication of the wall?
  5. Who lead each of the two thanksgiving choirs?
  6. Nehemiah asked God to remember him and what else?
  7. What is wrong in having children who do not speak the language of Judah?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. The people made a vow to give how much of a shekel to the service of the House of the Lord?
    a) one quarter b) one third c) one half d) one whole shekel
  2. The Levites shall bring up a ________ of the ______ to the house of our _________. 
  3. The people cast a lot to chose how many to live in Jerusalem?
    a) one third b) one fifth c) one half d) one out of ten
  4. What did the singers receive?
    a) a quota day by day b) the tithe c) the first fruit
  5. Where did the singers live?
    a) In the palace b) in Jerusalem c) in villages all around Jerusalem d) in the desert
  6. What was stored in the rooms of the storehouse?
    a) the offerings b) the first fruitsc) the tithes d) all of these
  7. The Ammonites or the Moabites should not come into the Assembly of God because they did not give the children of Israel:
    a) bread and water b) wood to build the temple c) gold and silver d) the tithes
  8. What did Eliashib prepare for Tobiah?
    a) A big feast b) a large room c) a palace d) horses and soldiers

Week 7: Queen Esther

Week 7: Esther 1-5

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins.”  Esther 2:17

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. King Ahasuerus held a great feast and he summoned his queen because he wanted:
    a) to display her beauty b) he wanted her to dance c) he wanted to deport her
  2. What happened to Queen Vashti when she refused the king's command to come to him?
    a) she was beheaded b) she was dethroned c) she was imprisoned
  3. Who raised Esther?
    a) her father, Abihail b) her maid, Dinah c) her cousin, Mordecai
  4. Who wanted to lay hand on the king?
    a) Esther b) Mordecai c) Bigthan and Teresh
  5. Haman was angry because Mordecai refused to:
    a) pay him taxes b) bow to the king c) bow to Haman
  6. Haman wanted the Jews to be destroyed. How did the king respond?
    a) granted Haman's request b) ordered Haman to make peace c) refused Haman request
  7. What did Mordecai request from Esther?
    a) have Haman poisoned b) flee with the Jews c) ask the king to spare Esther's people
  8. Esther asked the Jews to:
    a)fast for three days b) offer a sacrifice c) appear in sackcloth
  9. When Esther went before the king, what did she request?
    a) the presence of the king and Haman at a banquet b) the Jews' safe exit from the land c) the protection of the king's guard

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. Why did the king command that Queen Vashti be brought to him?
  2. What was worrying Memucan in regards to Vashti's behavior?
  3. How did Hegai treat Esther? (Esther 2:9) 2. How did the king celebrate Esther as a queen? (Esther 2:18)
  4. Show how Haman was an important man. (Esther 3:1-2)
  5. What did Haman suggest to the king concerning the Jews? (Esther 3:9)
  6. What is the law concerning who goes into the inner court of the king without invitation? (Esther 4:11
  7. Why did Esther ask the Jews to fast? (Esther 4:15)
  8. What did the king offer Esther even before knowing her request? (Esther 5:3)

Week 8: God saves his people

Week 8: Esther 6-10

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.”  Esther 10:3

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. When the king learned that Mordecai was never rewarded for saving his life he:
    a) ask Haman's advice b) held a banquet in his honor c) gave Mordecai great wealth
  2. Who is the man that the king honored?
    a) Haman b) Mordecai c) Bigthana
  3. When Esther revealed Haman's plan for destroying her people to the king, Haman:
    a) begged Esther for his life b) threatened to kill Esther c) asked God for forgiveness
  4. King Ahasuerus discovered Haman lying on Esther's bed. What happened to Haman?
    a) he took his own life b) he was hung on the gallows c) he was cast into prison
  5. Why couldn't the king change his own decrees? (Esther 8:8)
  6. Mordecai and the Jews started celebrating a new feast called:
    a) Passover b) Christmas c) Purim d) Hanukah

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. According to Haman how can the king honor the one whom he delights?
  2. What did Haman do after honoring Mordecai?
  3. What is Esther referring to when she said, “For we have been sold”?
  4. What was ironic in the way Haman died?
  5. Why did the people fear Mordecai? (Esther 9:3-4)
  6. How did the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim?

Week 9: Completion of Esther

Week 9: Esther 11-16

Objective: 

Resources:

Reading:

Key verse(s):

“And that they be children of the most high and most mighty living God, who hath ordered the kingdom both unto us and to our progenitors in the most excellent manner.”  Esther 16:16

Comments:

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

  1. Where did Mordecai serve?
    a) in the fields b) in the court of the king c) in the temple
  2. Where did the great river come from?
    a) the high mountains b) the nearby country c) the cry of the people
  3. The two eunuchs were planning to:
    a) lay hand on the king b) lay hand on Mordecai c) go to war
  4. Haman wanted Mordecai to bow down:
    a) to him b) to God c) to the king
  5. Who did Esther take with her to the king?
    a) Mordecai b) Haman c) two maids
  6. What was the king’s reaction when he saw Esther?
    a) very happy b) afraid c) angry

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

 
  1. Who brought Mordecai from Jerusalem?
  2. What was the purpose of Mordecai's dream?
  3. How did Mordecai know about the eunuchs’ plot?
  4. How did the king repay Mordecai?
  5. Did the king love Esther? Give proof.
  6. Why was Esther frozen with fear?