The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-12-06
Sunday School Column
Side Lights on Next Sundays Les
son for Teachers and Pupils
BY CHAS. K. MEYERS.

Dec. 1O-Nehemlah ana his Eli
emies.-Neh. 6.
The scene of the lesson this week is
the same as that of last. We are to
learn further about the rebuilding or
the walls of Jerusalem under the d.
rection of that wonderful man, Nehe-
miah. We remember how he came
from Babylon on purpose to help his
people, and OF the enemies he had to
contend with. We recall how he had
the men work on the wall partially
armed so as to respond quickly If in
vaders came. We shall see many
things about Nehemiah to admire as
we learn more about him.
AS showing what kind of man he
was, it might be noted that by his
friendly and fair talk to the rich VINO
had become so by gaining the prop
erty of the poor, he persuaded them
to remit the debts, and restore lands
and the vineyards to the original
owners. 1t might be further said that
the bible in no place favOrs taking ad-
vantage of the poor by the rich. In
the Old Testament times usury was
despised, the homestead could not be
parted with to secure debt, and once
in a given number of years all debtors
were released. Jesus uttered severe
warning to the rich who oppressed the
poor, and the great Apostle Paul adds
his words of condemnation on those
who deal not fair with laborers and
revel in ill-gotten gains
It would appear that the enemies OF
Nehemiah were bound to defeat his
work as the leader of the Jews and the
most desperate lying means were tax
en- to bring this about. The lesson
verses go into detail as to this. | wish
to call attention to the reply OF Nehe-
miah at time when he was asked to
leave his place and go treat with his
enemies. He said, Il am doing a great
work so that I cannot come down.
Here appears one of the great points
of the lesson this week. Nehemiah
was intent on doing the work God
wanted him to do, he recognized this
and would not be sidetracked from It,.
This very enthusiasm in right doing
proved means of safety to him. rms
will prove a safeguard to us also. The
boy or girl who is interested ana
earnest in learning his or her lessons
in school is not a mischief maker.
The farmer who is intent on having
a good farm and getting the biggest
crops possible is not tempted to spend
his time foolishly. The Christian who
is at work for Jesus and ready to be
helpful escapes host OF temptations
which befall the steps of the indiher-
ent TO Gods cause. We should recog-
nize that we are doing Gods work,
magnify IS importance and let no or
binary thing sidetrack us from it.
When other means failed to beguile
Nehemiah from his work, it was pro-
posed that he enter the temple for
talk with someone representing his
enemies and further suggestion was
made that it would be place of safe
ty, for no one would go there to kill
him. Nehemiah rose in his nobility
of spirit and said, SHOULD such man
as I flee?" He added that he would
not go to the temple to save his life.
One cannot help admiring such man
as this. He had character. self re-
spect, dignity He had no thought of
being a coward. If there was danger
he was ready to face it. 1t is we'll
when we are tempted to shirk our
Christian duty, to be led off in wrong
paths, to stop and consider what
person of our standing ought to do.
whether the proposed course of action
would bring disrepute on the bible re-
ligion and ourselves. 1t is we'll to ask
further whether { the examplet set
would be injurious to others. Nehe-
miah looked at things that way and
declared Il will not go in
On taking this stand Nehemiah dis
covered that the invitation to leave
his work was but plan of his enc
mics after all. The record says he
kept right on doing his duty and in
due time the walls of the city were up.
the gates in place and the city safe
from it's enemies. We will likewise
find that if we keep steadily at work
in Gods cause We will soon have
established a character which is not
moved and is proof against ordinary
assaults of those wishing to do us
wrong. The bible record as to Nehe-
miah says he was constantly praying
for direction from God and for
strength, and in this we can we'll fol-
low his footsteps. Study the charac-
ter of this man and try and be like
him. If we do this, the consideration