Nehemiah's mission was to rebuild the wall and gates of Jerusalem, not the temple.
Les Feldick makes clear that the temple had already been rebuilt by Ezra. Nehemiah's return, under King Artaxerxes, was specifically to restore the city wall and gates because a city would not last without the protection of a wall.
Nehemiah 2:17 — Nehemiah's own call to build up the wall of Jerusalem directly states the mission he carried out.
Daniel 9:25 — Daniel's prophecy speaks of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, the starting point Les uses for Nehemiah's return.
Nehemiah saw the city in distress and said, “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” (Nehemiah 2:17). Scripture also records the king’s decree and Nehemiah’s request to be sent to Judah. Daniel 9 declares that “seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city” and that the starting point is “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:24-25). These passages place Nehemiah’s work on the city wall at the center of his mission.
Les Feldick teaches that Nehemiah came about ninety years after Ezra under a decree from King Artaxerxes. The temple had already been rebuilt by Ezra, so Nehemiah’s assignment was not temple construction. Instead, he was to rebuild the city wall and the gates, which Les calls the city’s main line of defense and safety. Les also connects this decree to Daniel 9, explaining that the 490-year prophecy for Israel begins at that point and that 483 years ran until the crucifixion. As for Nehemiah’s personal response, Les highlights that when the king noticed his sadness Nehemiah was “sore afraid” but prayed without needing a formal prayer place; God heard that prayer.
No. Les Feldick is explicit: “they were to go back and rebuild the city wall and the gates,” because the temple had already been rebuilt by Ezra and those who returned with him. He describes Ezra’s temple as a makeshift structure, which further shows the temple project was separate and already under way before Nehemiah’s later return.
Les teaches that Daniel 9, beginning at verse 24, sets 490 years from the time Nehemiah was instructed to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. He says the actual time from that decree to the crucifixion was 483 years, not 490, and that this prophetic clock concerned God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.
Les explains that kings in that day had absolute power and could have someone annihilated for a small offense. When Artaxerxes noticed Nehemiah’s sadness, Nehemiah was “sore afraid,” but instead of running to a formal prayer room, he prayed silently right then—something Les points to as proof that prayer is not confined to a place.
Nehemiah's Silent Prayer
Les describes Nehemiah’s fear before Artaxerxes and shows that his silent prayer demonstrates God can be prayed to anywhere—no prayer closet is necessary.
Decree to Rebuild the Wall
Les teaches that after Ezra built the temple, Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the commandment to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall, and he links that decree to Daniel’s 490-year prophecy with 483 years to the crucifixion.
Ezra's Earlier Temple Mission
Les sets the background: God used Cyrus to send Ezra back to rebuild the temple after the Babylonian captivity, showing that the temple work preceded Nehemiah.
Wall and Gates, Not the Temple
Les emphasizes that the decree about ninety years after Ezra was not to rebuild the temple but to rebuild the city wall and gates because those were the city’s defense.
Daniel 9 Timeline
Les explicitly connects Daniel 9, beginning at verse 24, to the day Nehemiah was instructed to rebuild the wall and gates.
Ezra's Temple Already Built
Les describes Ezra’s rebuilt second temple as makeshift, which helps distinguish the completed temple project from Nehemiah’s later wall project.
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Once they got inside the city wall, they devastated the city, and Josephus has it, and it's not Scripture but it certainly makes sense that the Roman soldiers had heard it rumored that between the very building stones of Herod's temple there was immense amount of gold and other kinds of wealth.
Chronological Context
Les places Ezra’s return at about 526 B.C. after the 70-year captivity, showing the order: temple first, then Nehemiah’s wall.
Nehemiah 2:1: 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.
This verse records the incident Les describes when King Artaxerxes noticed Nehemiah’s sadness.
Nehemiah 2:17: 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.
This is Nehemiah’s direct statement of his mission to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Les refers to Daniel 9 beginning at verse 24 as the opening of the 490-year prophecy connected to Nehemiah’s return.
Daniel 9:25: Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
This verse describes the command to restore and build Jerusalem, which Les identifies with the decree for Nehemiah’s wall-building mission.
Nehemiah was commissioned by King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall and gates. The temple had already been rebuilt under Ezra, so the wall was the remaining work.
No. Les Feldick is clear that the temple had already been rebuilt by Ezra and those who returned with him. Nehemiah's assignment was the city wall and gates.
Les teaches that the 490-year clock in Daniel 9 starts from the decree for Nehemiah to rebuild the walls. From that decree to Christ's crucifixion was 483 years.
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