The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-12-08

0uoS anu SeptemO Der.
PLACEJerusalem and vicinity.
There were enemies within the Jew.
tsh church. Some of the mobiles and
richer men had been depressing their
poorer brethren who were working at
great sacrifice in rebuilding the walls.
No wages were paid for this work, SO
that many were thus reduced to the
direst straits to support themselves
and their families. and pay the taxes
exacted by the Persian government.
Their misfortunes were brought to q
climax by the condition of hostilities,
which put an end to trade. and threat
ened town and country with ruin. 1t
was impossible to obtain regular en-
ployment, and prices had gone up.
Those who had a little property mort
gagged their homes; and In this way a
considerable portion of the property
OF the poorer classes. their grain
fields vineyards, and dwellings, passed
into the hands of wealthy money
lenders. who demanded high usury.
Some, having no means to pay their
creditors, sold their children as slaves.
Inc hungry ones were threatening, II
the grain was not given to keep them
1ro mstarvatfon, they would take it by
violence, or surrender the city to its
enemies. The taxes for the Persian
government were very heavy and ex-
acting. The chief officers farmed out
the collection of the taxes, both in
money n in the fruits of the land.
These under officers were the same as
those called publicans in the New
Testament. They were required to
a over to their superiors the exorbi-
tant sum fixed by law, and depended
for their profit on what they could
make by fraud and extortion. They
overcharged, brought false charges Of
smuggling to extort hush-money,
seized upon property in case of dis
pute and held 1t until their levy was
paid, forbade the farmer to reap his
standing crops until they had wrung
from him all that his perjury could
produce. They were universally fear
ed, hated, and despised. No money
known to have come from them was
received for religious uses.
Now these, who %professed religion
and lived heathenism, were the great
est injury to the Cause for which
Nehemiah had come. It was against
such as these that Jesus launched the
sharpest lightning OF his 'Woeunto
you,h ypocrttes." They are traitors to
their country, their church and their
God. The church stands for the high
est expression of mans life. A church
represents the permanent spiritual
ideals. 1t embodies the Hottest human
aspirations; q nations best express
sion of its religious sentiment repre-
sents that nation at its best. Now
whosoever In the name OF the church,
as { member of 1t, does actions con-
trary to it's whole spirit, is the great
est enemy of the kingdom Of God.
Nehemiah overcame these enemies.
He changed them from enemies to
friends. He rebuked them with burn
ing indignation. He told them to their
fac the wrong they were doing. He
persuaded them to repent and undo
the wrongs they had done: Il pray
you, let us leave of this usury. Re
store, l pray you, to them, even this
day, their lands, their vineyards, their
o~liveyards, and their houses, also the
hundredth part Of the money, and of
the corn, the wine, and the oil, that
We exact of them" Then said they.
We Will restore them, and will re-
quire nothing of them; so will we do
as thou sayest." He set them a good
example. He refused to take the usual
salary OF the governor. He bore all
the expenses of his retinue. His noble
conduct made the names of these op-
pressors show black as the smoke OF
the pit.
One OF h greatest powers for re-
forming abuses Is publicity. Let every
man name be on his deed, on the
work he does, on everything he says.
on all that he owns. Let the saloon
keepers name be IN the drunkard he
made. On all the adulterated food,
the dishonest work, the ~sweat-shop
ruins Of health, the unhealthy tene-
ments-let the name of the doors OF
these evils be written in blazing let
tiers, like the fiery letters that famed
from the barrels Of rum on which the
demons had written the evils it would
cost, and few would dare face this
publicity cure. Nehemiah shamed
these false hearted leaders into re-
pentance and virtue.
There is a continual temptation to-
day for Christian workers to give up
their time and strength to discussing
the many theories and unsettled ques-
tons which are continually confront.
ing them. All sorts of men say all
sorts of things till 1t seems as If these
clouds were %obscuring the whole con-
tfnent of Truth. This Is true of many
other things besides religion. Now
the way to escape from these snares
is to attend to our duties. to go to
work for the Cause of Christ with all
our hearts, to give ourselves to help
ing a v our fellow men. both body
and soul. For then we will use the