The National tribune., 1893-02-09

| Artaxerxes. the Persian King Before he hat
heard of the deplorabe condition of his people
| at Jerusalem, he maintained happy state Of
| mind. From'thcn ON he carried load of sor.
row which soon began to show its marks in
! his countenancet -Four months passed after
| Nehcmiah's brother brought tho sad news
| Nehemiah was performing his duties as cup
bearer to the King His heart was heavy
| Sorrow was notceably telling on him. The
| King observed the change in Nehemiah and
wanted to know what burden Of anxiety he
was carrying! Read the beautiful. tender &C.
| count. e.: l~bJ 1Artaxerxes responded at
once to the wish of Nehemiah, Offering every
necessary official, pecuniary, and material as
| sisiance Nehemiah loses no time, but sets
ont Mt once clothed with authority bearing
| letters of influence. accompanied by royal
military guards and guidance Arriving at
Jerusalem lie rouses the people 10 action. sets
them all TO work. organizes all the labors care
fully assigns 10 every one his part. But he
met obstacles. There were secret foes within
the very capital. There was force used also
from the outside. Under Sanballat, Tobiab.
and Gersiiam as leaders. enemies 5eset the
workers Oh the walls S mariuns Annouitcs
and Arabiaus were rs one against tie Jews
Wc consider in this lesson in special the resist
ance coming irons the Samaritans under San
ballat. Nehemiah was not daunted He went
Oh IN the work. not overcome by ridicuie, not
stopped even by military opposition. Such
leadership gave general courage. Every one
partoOk of the spirit of Nehemiah All were
eager to have the walls reconstructed and
willing to labor for such result in the face of
greatest personal dagger
We find the Ammonites, led on by T0biah.
resisting the good work. We might expect this
when wc consider tho origin Of that wicked
race. They originated by incest. and were
always characterized by dcpravity and cruelty
They frequently opposed the Jews. Jephthah
Sanl. David ,Joab, jeboshaphat lothian had met
and overcome them. They seemed to have had
hereditary hatefulness toward the Jews. SO
we are not surprised to find them resisting
Nehemiah
One will get much more out of this lesson if
he read carefully the second and third chap
ters
Rev. J. Il. Miller says: Chapter three holds
in immortal record the names Of those who
aided i'll this good work, as well as Of those
who proudly stood aloof bcransc Of their rank"
The al!usion is TO the uobles of the Tekoiies
who shamefully, ignobly refused to aid. Hence
we read, III the fifth verso of chapter third,
" their mobiles put not their necks to the work
Of the Lord"
Nehemiah used various means to stimulate
the people. He told them how shameful it was
to them as nation to let their walls rcmain
lumbed down. He pointed to the unsecmIi,
ness OF such rubbish. He reminded them OF |
Ho" uabpcfouS III WAS 10 leaVe themselves I'M I
He let them know how fully he |
was countenanccd by Artaxerxes. He assured |
hem Of Gods pleasure and assistance
REBUILDING THE WALLS.
The lesson is Neh.. 4 gel One must read |
he first four chapters entire to get into the
pirit Of the work
9. Doie and Place.
b. c. AL at Jerusalem.
g. Notes.
l. We notice several discouraging circum-
tances. l. The workers became dshearlcned
hey lost their vigor and inspiration. g Tho
york was immense. First of all, great qnanti-
les OF rubbish had to be removed before they
onld begin to build g. Then there were
many enemies, !ull OF hatred and all the time
flaming mischief. a. And, further, the Jews
wing on the borders sent word repeatedly 10
imes) to their citizens directing them to come
ONE at once and leave the work of building
he walls. tSee verse r. -~Canon Cook remarks
s follows: They said unto us 10 times from
II the places from which they camel You
iust return TO us The Jews, that IS from
laces on the Samaritan border came to Jeru-
sicm and tried to withdraw their cnnfingen;s
Workmcn from the work, representing 10
hem the impending danger, and saying You
,ust return TO your homes. and so escape it,"
2. We are to remember that the wall was
eng reconstructed. For years it had been
egiected. Enemies had pulled down parts of
. 1t had not been kept in repair. The lower
laces, referred to in verse IL, were parts where
ne walls were most razed 10 the ground. The
ighcr places were parts of the wall still stand
*, and only partly reduced.
3. liabcrgeons. ". 49, The reference is
coats of mail worn by soldiers in early times
'r scif-deense We hear of them in The ninth
entnry Il. {. at Assyria. In Egypt there is
lcntion OF even earlier use of them. Thin !
Iates OF bronze or iron were scwed or other
Use fastened to each. Leather or linen thread
AS used. The plates overlapped ono another.
Lessons.
!. An important lesson taught is the need
faith and work, of prayer and activity,
owels aud swords devotion and watchfuincss.
70 notice the following as a concrete ilustra-
on:
During the American Revolutionary war ,
iere was much opposition at some points {
sainst Il @ Church of England parish chapels
the American provinces colonies. 1t was I
,casioned by the real or imagined sympathy
the parishioners with the Old Country. At |
lzabeth Gown, New Jersey, st. Johns ,
hurch building was UNFINISHED when the
ar broke out, and the com pleton of the edfce
as in the face of much opposition. o. History !
as scrap in relation to said structure, read i
* thus: 1t was necessary for the friends of |
re Church, with swords in their hands to 2
atch the walls by night in order to prevent |
re work of the preceding day from being de- i
royed-a circumstance that occurred several t
mes" ,
Read st. Mark, Is 33 81; ST. James 2: 1924;
/. Mt 26:4l. 8
2 Fighting in self-defense receives support /
Y illustrious example. {Ys. 13 16) Many I
old that such self protection is duty. ]
ONE, utterly opposed to the taking up of arms !
! war, are yet quite Of the opinion ono may i
ghtly kill An enemy who is in the very act of d
ying to murder. We must however always i
,member with much admiration the stand I
ken by Christians known as Friends in regard t
the sin Of war in general. q
j. Providence always raises up men to lead \
great turning points of history. Jameson I
ys: i
when God has important work to do He t
ever fails to raise up instruments for accom-. t
ishing it; and in the person of Nehemiah | t
no. to great natural acuteness and energy t
lded fervent piety and heroic devotion. He n
-ovided leader whose high qualities fitted {
IN for the demands Of the crisis. Nehemiah's b
GLANCE anticipated every difficulty his pru-
,nt measures defeated every obstruction. and, t
18th astonishing rapidity, Jerusalem was made 8
,ain fortified city" O
We have in mind Abraham, Moses, David, C