The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-11-09

mentary on the Days Lesson.
1. A fast proclaimed Tvs. 21-23). 81.
proclaimed fast" Ezra entered
upon his work with fasting and\prayer.
, The journey was dangerous one, es-
pecially with all the treasure he car
ried. Ezra realized the danger, but he
| went forward in faith. His chief con-
| Germ was to have God with him. He
had procured Levites to go with him
! Tvs. 1920. but even that would be Of
| no avail If Jehovah did not direct their
steps. "Affiict ourselves" Humble
ourselves" (R. W and repent Of our
sins. ITO seek Him." Era wanted the
| people to commit themselves to the
| guidance and protection Of divine prov
| idence and implore God to give them
Il prosperous journey. Their journey
lay chiefly through'the desert. and the
ArabianS and Samaritans were likely
to attack them.
22. II was ashamed" etc. Ezra lad
preached trust in God before the
heather rulers and he would not dis
honor God by asking the usual military
escort. He had represented God, the
| object OF his worship, as supremely
powerful, and as having the strongest
affection for His true followers. Thus
we see that this good man had more
| anxiety for the glory of God than for
his own personal safety.
%. $50 we tasted" The people aid
| as Ezra commanded. God heard and
| answered their prayers. and they were
kept in safety during the difficult and
dangerous journey.
ii. Ezra'S charge to the priests Tvs.
24-3O). "a. II separated twelve There
| is q difference of opinion here as to the
| number of persons Ezra selected as
| custodians of the treasure and sacred
vessels. There were probably twelve
| priests and twelve Levites; but some
| think there We're twelve priests and
| only ten Levites. Sherebiah and Hash
abiah were two Of the Levites. %.
Weighed" We may gather from this
! that the gold and silver were in bars or
| ingots, and not in coined money. 26.
Unto their hand" We have here the
particular care Ezra took Of the treas
ure of Gods sanctuary. Having COM
mitted the keeping Of it to God, he COM
mitted the care of it to proper men.
though without God they would have
| watched in vain. Our prayers should
| always be seconded with our endeav-
ors. Do we expect God should by His
/ providence keep that which belongs to
us? Then ought we by His grace to
| care for that which belongs to Him; let
| Gods honor and interest be our care.
! The prophet in foretelling the return OF
] Gods people and ministers out Of Baby
| lon gave the solemn charge lisa. 52.1D.
BE We clean that bear the vessels of
the Lord" In Zerubbabel's time the
vessels were delivered by number;
here by weight, that it might easily
appear II any were missing. This init
mates that such as are intrusted with
holy things are concerned to remember,
| both in receiving their trust and in dis
charging it, that they must shortly give
very particular account Of 1t. that
they may be faithful to it and so give
up their account with JOY. Silver. -.
gold" The whole treasure has been
| estimated at from four to six million
dollars. A talent of silver was about
$1,000; gold is usually worth sixteen
| times as much as silver.
| 81. DtSUllS. uidiuS. AhS "NA~
translated dram" appears to be In the
Hebrew representative Of the Persian
word which the Greek rendered by
| "darlc." This was a gold coin, stamped
with the figure of the Persian king,
wearing his crown and armed will:
bow and arrow. According to the most
| exact computation each such coin con-
/ tanned somewhat more pure gold than
an English guinea, and was worth hVe
dollars of our money. The basins
would be worth about two hundred and
seventy-fiye dollars each. "Vessels of
fine copper" Probably some fcti,: o%s
metal made there that took the ia,ish
and assumed the brightness Of gold,
and because Of Its hardness was more
durable. There Is still q metal Of this
kind made among the Asiatics. 2S.
"Freewill Offering" The silver and
gold were a present to the house Of God
that the king and his counselors had
set apart.
III. The journey to Jerusalem Tvs.
81, 32). 81. I'VE departed. .on the
twelfth day" The company began to
form and arrange for the journey upon
the first day of the month Nisan. Upon
review Of his company Ezra observed
the lack of Levites. and the time used
in securing their union with the return
ing exiles, and in weighing the treas
ure, etc, took up the time until the
| twelfth day. Ahava is the name both
of a small town and stream, not far
from the river Euphrates. This would
be q natural course to pursue from
Shushan. This account Of Ezra's prep.
aration and journey is beautiful ex-
ample of method and thoroughness
which Is of great value in the work of
God. Ezra sought first the prosperity
of Gods cause, but he did not count it
lost time to spend twelve days in prep.
aration for the journey. Time used
for prayer is never lost time. Time
consumed in perfecting plans for Gods
work is not misSpent time. Always
take time to do a thing right. Things
done by half are never done WE'LL
So. I'VE came to Jerusalem" The
dangerous journey was completed with
safety at the end Of four months.
Abode. .. three days That is. they
rested that long. On the fourth day
the treasures Were weighed and hand.
ed over to the custody Of the officiating
priests of the temple. The returned
/ exiles offered burnt offerings. and Ezra
delivered the royal commission to the
magistrates. while the Levitical portion
Of the company assisted in performing
| the additional work which the arrival