Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-02-24
READING THE LAW.
LESSON TX, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FEB. &c.

1. "And they spake unto Ezra, the scribe,
10 bring the book of the Law of Moses,
which the Lord had commanded to Israel"
The temple had been finished, and also
the building of the wall, and though the
city was large and houses and people few,
yet they would without further delay seek
to worship the God of Israel according to
His law. The water gate was toward the
east iii, 26), and therefore near the temple,
for the temple was at the east of the city,
facing the Mount of Olives. Ezra was
ready scribe in = Law Of Noses for he
had prepared his l., 1t to seek and to do
and to teach the Law I the Lord in Israel
(Ez. vii, 6, 10y.
g And Ezra, the priest, brought the Law
before the congregation upon the first day
of the seventh month" This was the reg
ular day for the feast of trumpets QIev.
xiii, 24), to be followed on the tenth day
by the great atonement and on the fifteenth
day 10y the feast of tabernacles Lev. xiii,
81, 80. The priest was the messenger of
the Lord of Hosts, keeping knowledge
that the people might seek the Law at his
mouth (Mal. ii, y, and Ezra was by his APP
plcation to the study of the Law qualified
to teach the people.
3. And he read therein from the morn
ing until midday, and the ears of all the
people were attentive unto the book of the
Law" wonder how many of an audience
he would have in our day at the end of the
second or third hour. A political speech
or a concert or something Of that sort is
all right even if it is two hours long, but Il
sermon or "A Bible reading must be within
the limits of propriety, for too much of re-
ligion las they say is uncomfortable. One
can read a novel a whole day, but a chap
ter in the Bible is often more than enough.
4. And Ezra, the SCRIBE stood upon a
pulpit of wood which they had made for
the purpose" Elevated above the people
that all might see, as well as hear he is
supported by thirteen of his brethren, six
on his right and seven on his left hand,
but have no doubt that the Unseen One
who said to Moses, Certainly | will be
with thee" and to Joshua, "As was with
Moses, so will be with thee" and to Gid
con, Surely will be with thee" (Ex. iii,
H. Josh. i, 5, Judg. vi, 16), was far more to
Ezra than the brethren who were by his
side.
5. And Ezra opened the book in the sight
of all the people for he was above all the
people,, and when he opened it all the peo-
pie stood up" With great reverence he un
rolled the scroll of the Law, and with rev
erence the people stood up to hear what the
Lord, their God, would say to them. We dc
not worship the Bible, but we worship Him
who is therein revealed to us as our God
and Saviour, and when we open our Bibles
to read the words of the living God we
should do so with great humility.
6. "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great
Cod mud fbav hound THAN mud
worshiped the Lord with their faces &c
the ground" If they all meant it in Their
hearts, then it was true worship; but il
any bowed the body only without bowling
the heart before God, then He did not re-
gard it, for, though His eyes run to and fro
throughout the whole earth to show Him
self strong on behalf of those whose hearts
are perfect toward Him Gil Chron. xvi, 81
He loOketh on the heart and not on the
outward appearance Il Sam. xvi, y.
Z. "And the Levites caused the people
to understand the law" Another thirteeI
are here mentioned who with the Levte.
caused the people to understand. To reat
is good; to understand is better. Aftel
one of his discourses, in which Jesus haC
said that if one does not understand tn,
word the wicked one catcheth it away, He
asked the disciples, "Have We understood
all these things?" (Math. xiii, 10, 5l.) Wher
Philip drew near to the the chariot of the
Ethiopian eunuch his first question was
"Understandest thou what thou readest?'
! (Acts viii, 30) If one should ask "How car
l understand" | should reply, "Througl
faith we understand" QHeb. XII, 81 iv, y
Receive it unquestioningly, and thus un
derstand.
g. so they read in the book, in the Law
of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, anC
caused them to understand the reading.
This is the best rule for good reading tina
i have ever seen. Legible writing and dis
tinct reading are two very helpful things
Moses and Habakkuk were told to writ,
very plainly Oeut. xvii, 8; Hab. ii, q
and | believe the whole Bible to be plail
book for plain people who are willing t,
let the Holy Spirit be their teacher
8. "This day is holy unto the Lord, you
God; mourn not nor weep" The Law
which is holy and just and good, convince
us of sin and gives occasion to weep, bu
Jesus, who is the end of the law for right
eousness to every one that believeth
teaches us when we receive Him not t,
weep, as well we might, because of gu
sin, but to rejoice in lin who became
curse for us, and is now our righteousness
!
section of this chapter which follows gu
lesson brings before us the feast of taber
nacles, and as atonement came between
trumpets and tabernacles we seem face T.
face here with atonement and its results
TO- The joy of the Lord is your strength.
How passing wonderful is the grace of God
which not only takes away our sins, bu
gives us His joy to be our strength II
becomes our salvation, our strength an,
our song lisa. xii, p, so that it becomes IL
to say, Il will greatly rejoice in the Lord
Ny soul shall be joyful in my God, for II
hath clothed me with the garments of sal
walton; He hath covered me with the rob
of righteousness" lisa. Xxi, lO.
IL. $50 the Levites stilled all the people
saying, Hold your peace, for the day
holy; neither be ye grieved." Stiffness
peace, holiness, joy, all because of til
love of God to us in the gift of His dea
Son. Whether it be passover or pent,
cost or atonement, whatever the feast O
the sacrifice. each and all speak of Hin
Apart from Him all is death, but in Hin
all is life and peace Il John V, IL; EpL
ii, 14).
12. Great mirth because they had III
! l. - l,nt L