The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-28
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TIE International Sunday SchOoi Les
son for December 3 is nehemiah
Rcbuilds the Walls OF Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 4.
(Ey William T.. EliiS.p

hands of some one who really knows
the city, and h Archaeological IN
yestigation has done there, he VIII
naturally grow interested IN the ques-
problems hinge IN the location or the
walls. Thus, the site OF Calvary IS
partly determined thereby.
At several points about Jerusalem
and in Jerusalem the old walls may
DE seen, but they must be looked ZOE
under ground. Taken down down in
to the cellar Of q French Catholic
school one day, / was shown q long
stretch Of wall. This said my
friends. "is Nehemiah's wall. You
notice how different it is from Herod's
wall. The latter had we'll dressed
stones, whereas these, as o see,
while square at the edges, are rough
and unfinished or the sides. The rea-
son Is plain. Nehemiah was building
in haste. He was limited in time, in
labor and in tools, SO his work, while
great and strong, bears this charac-
~teristic Of poverty and haste wherever
we find it,
the immensely Of the blocks. Nehe-
miah employed stones fully as large
as those Of the wall Of Solomon's
Temple. h blocks were from three
to nve feet long n two to three feet
thick. The Of preparing and
P1dC1Al6 1IuS@ 1A3fC OOCIA III
mense The best light l have had on
this lesson is my recollection Of the
character of the wall that Nehemiah
built Naturally, as I stood beside
this stone-Work, l had tender and ad-
miring thoughts for the old Jews and
their magnificent leader who. in a pc
riod of distress and prosecutions, yet
wrought SO nobly for the defense Of
their Holy City.
A Man as a Wall.
Great as was this work, still great
Ell was the worker. We may marvel
at the building of a new wall out of
the rubbish heap Of the cid city, with
the perilous work Of q~uarrying out
where enemies were most dangerous,
n the slow, toilsome task Of haul
ing the stone into position. Our great
est admiration, however, is reserved
for Nehemiah, the master builder,
who meant more to Jerusalem than
all the stones, that he had put into
place. A city's best defense is not in
brick and mortar and stone and TIM
ber, out In it's men. A community
that possesses a Nehemiah has stouter
walls than old Jerusalem. This Ne
hemiah had a heart, q head and a
handfor building. His soul caught a
vision; his hand turned the vision into
solid masonry.
1t is easy to understand the devo-
ton of a man who is building to pro-
tect his own family from death and
disaster. Self-preseryation is the law
which then works. We must rise to
higher levels, however, to find the ex-
PLANTATION for such a man as Nehe-
miah, who deserted luxury and afflu-
ence in an Orienta court, where he
stood in the presence of the great
king for the sake Of casting in his lot
with his W fellow-patriots in their
poverty n danger. Nehemiah was
greater in the act Of renouncing the
court of Persia han when he stood
taskmaster II general, upon the ris-
ing walls Of Jerusalem. His patriot
Ism was equal to self-renunciation. It
was s~plendidly selfless, In the worlds
honor roll Of the heroes of patriot
ism, Nehemiah's name stands high.
What Is Your Trouble.
After h news Of the plight of Je-
rusalem had been borne to him by
travellers from Palestine, Nehemiah
y woe-begone face. Anybody who
saw him could read at once that he
was in trouble. Now, everybody has
trouble, but some are troubled by
more troubles than others. One man
wears &. glum face ecaus he lost @
the morning; another is sour Of
visage because his breakfast Yves not
we'll cooked; still another looks trou-
bled financial difficulties have
o'ot edheh MIN. Inc re-
port entire communities as appearing
dismal because their home team has
lost the big game.
The kind OF trouble that troubles
a man is a fairly good index of his
character. Nehemiah's said counte-
nance was because Of his nations pit
liable plight. He was above moving
among his race with a melancholy
face simply on recount Of his own
petty difficulties. His passion for his
people was rooted so deeply in his
soul that it bore the fruit Of sorrow
on his features. He did not think
about it-like all truly great men in
q crisis he was free from s~elf-con-
sc1ousness-but the very sorrow OF
Nehemiah was proof of his bigneSs A
nations woe rested heavily upon his
heart. He wept for the same reason
that q greater Son OF Israel was to
weep a few centuries later. we
should link Nehemiah, SOrrOWlng