Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-11-30

vOund-A Learned and Concise ke-
view Of the Same.
The lesson for Dec. II taken from
Nehemiah 10: 1922; its title is keeping
the Sabbath" 1t should be preceded by
some review of the history Of the He
brew Sabbath. Instituted early in the
national life, this weekly holy day was
often neglected. The two chief charac-
teristics Of the Sabbath according to MO
sale law were abstinence from all ordi-
nary labor and an increased service OF
worship. The later Judaism overlaid it
with q multitude of minute restrictions
touching every possible act and state
which might be regarded as contrary to
the Sabbath law. But in the days OF
the kingdom not only were no such de-
tails observed by the great majority of
the people, but the larger meaning Of the
day itself was neglected. Thus Jeremiah
sternly rebuked the wholesale Sabbath
breaking OF his day. See Jer. IT: 1927.
The prophet found traf1c going on in
Jerusalem on the Sabbath, porters carry
ing goods through the gates Of the city
for delivery. What this meant only
jew could appreciate, for this was a bold
defiance Of a sacred law. Yet after
few years of neglect such law might
become as obsolete as did the commands
against worship in high places The
dissertation of the Sabbath was one of
the chief causes of the rapid disintegra-
ton of Judah at the last. Ezekiel 20
1921 is the prophets history of Sabbath
breaking running parallel with the de-
cline of the nation down to the exile.
Isaiah SO: 1-8 gives warnings against this
evil, also at a late date. During the
exile, along with other reforms and re-
ligious revivals, better observance Of
the Sabbath may have been attempted.
But the long interval that elapsed be-
tween the end of the exile and the be-
ginning of the real life of the new ma
ton under Nehemiah had brought the
people practically back to the old care
less state. The law that Ezra had pro-
mulgated had not suficed to cure the dis
ease.
Nehemiah had been away from Jeru-
salem for some years, and when he re-
turned, by permission OF Artaxerxes, he
found that much of his former work had
been undone. The very first thing he
had to do was to expel from the temple
the heather enemy of judah, Tebiah,
who happened to be related by marriage
to the high priest Eliashib The amazing
fact that he, not only layman but u
pagan and foe Of the nation, had estab-
lished his residence in the sacred rooms
of the temple shows how far from COM
plete the reformation was at this stage.
The next task of Nehemiah was to
enforce obedience to the law which pro-
vided for the support of the Levites, who
ministered in the temple. The people
had refused to pay the tithes or taxes
for this purpose, and the Levites had
been obliged to leave Jerusalem and take
up farming in order to make a living.
Nehemiah summoned them all to their
posts of duty, and then proceeded to col
lect the tithes The record runs. with a
suggestive brevity, 'Then brought all
Judah the 1.-THE of the corn and the wine
and the oil unto the treasures" (Neh.
IS: 12). 1t is not stated how or why
they brought the tithes; probably not
without some energetic measures. How
ever that may be, the money, or rather
the food which took its place, poured in
SO rapidly that treasurers had to be APP
pointed to look out for its distribution;
and the Levites had no more trouble get
ting their salaries after that.
After the Sabbath reform, which came
next, was the separation Of pagan wives
Of Jews from their husbands (Neh. -:
23-31), a step whose severity is to be ex-
planned by the fact that the inter-mar-
riage which had become so common
struck at the very root of Jewish nation
al health, and heroic measures had to be
used.
Explanatory.
he Co hat hot
agricultural and commercial. There was
no excuse for it. These farmers did not
live in climate where a rain was likely
to come on any night in harvest season.
1t was simply the desire to get seven
days work in week and seven days
profits that impelled the land owners to
break the law.
Men of Tyre" being foreigners and
heather, naturally did not hesitate to dis
regard Jewish holy day which the
Jews themselves despised. The ''men of
Tyre" in our American cties-the for
eign-born population who are out of
touch with evangelical religion-are not
in the least to blame, from one point of
view, il they pay little respect to Sun
day which orthodox church members
hold so lightly.
peal to history is one of the most telling
in this Sabbath question, for it proves
more than almost any a priori argument
can. Look at the Sunday of France,
Italy, Austria, compared with that of
Scotland. Which pays, in the end?
The Sabbath began at sunset ON Fri
day and lasted until sunset on Saturday.
At the former hour Nehemiah closed the
city gates and directed that they be
kept closed during the Sabbath. Natur-
ally this was surprise to the merchants
and portcrs who were there ready to be-
gin their usual traffic, but after they
had been shut out of the city once or
twice for twenty-four hours they began
to see that there was a new man at the
head Of affairs whose commands could
not be easily evaded.
Notice that Nehemiah always set 9TH
er men to carry out the reforms as soon
as he could trust them. That is a good
point for rcformers. Don't try to hold
the reins yourself all the time. Your
supporters may not do it quite so well,
but 1t is better to have them do it, never
theless. Let the Levites guard the gates.
Set the children to promoting Sunday
rest and more will be accomplished than
il the preacher tries to do it alone.
This is the great opportunity for teach
ing sound doctrine on the Sunday 1ucs-
ton. 1t is useless to try to prescribe any
rules for such teaching. The teacher