The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-11-03


1. The twentieth year refers to the
reign of Artaxerxes (chapter ii, u, and
Young in his concordance thinks that
Ezra and Nehemiah speak of three dir
ferent rulers bearing this NAME this one
being the Longimanus of profane history,
contemporary with Herodotus and Thu
cydides, great historians, both of whom
mention him. Ezra and his company
went up from Babylon in the seventh
year of Artaxerxes' reign (Ez. vii, 6,
y, IL years before the time of our les
son. Nehemiah signifies comfort of
jehovah and brings before US the Fa-
Their of Mercies and God of all comfort,
who loves to comfort His people I'll Cor.
i, 3; lisa. xl, ~. Hachaliah signifies
hidden of Jehovah" and makes us think
of all who, like Nehemiah, are safely
hidden in His hand lisa. xix, y.
2 3. When certain brethren came from
Jerusalem to Babylon, Nehemiah inquir-
ed as to the condition of affairs there
and learned that the wall and its gates
were broken down and the people in
great afflction. Even after the wall was
finished and they had kept the feast of
tabernacles with great gladness, they
were compelled to testify that they We're
only servants in the land and that it
yielded much increase to them who had
dominion over them and that they were
in great distress (Neh. tx, 81, 3S). They
were honest enough to confess that they
deserved it all because of, their sins.
A. "And it came to pass, when | heard
these words, that ! sat down and wept,
and mourned certain days and tasted
and prayed before the God of heaven"
This is the conduct of one who has a
matter very much at heart, and the mat
ter in this case was the condition of af-
fairs at Jerusalem. But Judah and Jeru-
salem were hundreds of miles distant
from Babylon, and Nehemiah had po-
sition of some honor and was we'll cared
for. Why should he care much how
matters were going at Jerusalem? The
same might be asked of Daniel dan. tx,
8; X, 2, 81 or Of Moses Heb xi, 26).
5. Il beseech Thee. 0 Lord God of
Heaven" With reverence and yet with
confidence he looks up to God in heaven.
To Him only will he look verse A and
chapter ii, 4, 20) and ON Him alone rely.
Like jeremiah in chapter xxxii II and
the apostles in Acts iv, "a, he looks to
God as the creator of heaven and earth,
the faithful covenant keeping God full
of mercy for all who truly look to Him
I'll Chron. xvi, 81. There is nothing we
need so much while here on earth for
God as to wait only upon Him FPS. xii,
81.
g. When we come to God, we can
come only as sinners pleading our guilt
and our need and His mercy in Christ.
1t is good pleading to pray as Jeremiah
did: 10 Lord, though our iniquities tes
tify against us, do Thou il for Thy
names sake. We acknowledge, o Lord,
our wickedness. Do not abhor us, for
Thy names sake. Do not disgrace the
throne of Thy glory. Remember, break
not Thy covenant with u.s. der. xiv,
Z, 21.) Gods covenant faithfulness is
always a sure resting place. David found
it so III Sam. xii, 81. In all our
Christian life it is helpful to remember,
Faithful is lie that calleth you, who
also will do it, and at is God who
worketh" Il Thess. V, "a; Phil. ii, 49,.
T. I'VE have dealt very corruptly
against thee" When we see our sinful
ness and are willing to acknowledge it.
we are on the road to blessing, for lie
that covereth his sins shall not prosper,
but who so confesseth and forsaseth
them shall have mercy" prov. xviii,
49,. In pleading with Israel through
jeremiah the Lord said: only acknowl-
edge thine iniquity, that thou hast trans
crossed against the Lord thy God. Turn.
0 backsliding children, for | am mar
ried unto you" Also through Hosea lie
said that if they would turn to Him He
would heal their baeksliding and love
them freely der. iii, 10, IA; Hos. xiv,
2, ~. Nehemiah was doubtless familiar
with these words and was acting upon
them.
s, 8. Remember, / beseech thee, the
word that thou commandest thy servant
Noses" In lisa. xii, 6, margin, the
Lords people are called His remem-
brancers and are urged to give Him no
rest until He does what He promises to
do. In lisa. xiii, 26, He says, Put me in
remembrance, let us plead together
That which God says He will do is as
good as done, for 1.-The words of God
shall be fulfilled" (Rev. xvii, I'D There
are those today who say that they yield
to no one in reverence for the Bible, and
at the same time they say that the great
body of the Messianic predictions has not
only never been fulfilled, but cannot now
be fulfilled and that some doctrinal state
ments of Scripture are not authoritative
and some of its revelations are not credi-
BILE. Such teachers would have given
Nehemiah no comfort. He believed, with
jeremiah, that there was nothing too
hard or wonderful for the Lord, who
made the heaven and the earth tJer.
xxi, 10.
TO- "Now, these are Thy servants, and
Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed
by Thy great power, and by Thy strong
hand" Thus pleaded Moses, the great
intercessor of Israel. 30 Lord God, de-
stroy not Thy people and Thine inherit
ance, which Thou hast redeemed through
Thy greatness" and confessing their
stubbornness. and wickedness. and sin.
he says, "Yet they are Thy people and
Thine Inheritance. (Deut. tx, 26-29)
Daniel also, while confessing the sins Of
his people, pleads with God that they
are His people whom He has brought
out of Egypt QDan tx, 10, 16). Our
Lord Jesus prayed, Keep through Thine
own name those whom Thou hast given
me" John xvii, ~.
IL. Having laid the case honestly and,
fully before God, he now asks for special
favor in the sight of the king whose
cupbearer he was and from whom he
was now about to ask permission to as
sist his people. Prosper, | pray Thee.
Thy servant this day. and grant him
mercy in the sight of this man" Such
was his concise and definite request from
God, and when he appeared before the
kirg and made known his request to him,
the record is "And the king granted me
acenrdiny fo the good hand of nv God