The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-30
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
BY w. T. ELLIS
BY w. 7. ELLIS

For December Is nehemiah Re
builds the Walls of jerusalem
Nehemiah 4.
Measuring a Man by His Troubles.
If theVisitor to Jerusalem just prior
to the war could escape the clutches
of the professional guide, and get into
the hands of someone who really knew
the city. and what archaeological in
vestigation has done there, he natur-
ally became interested in the question
of the walls of Jerusalem. Many
problems hinge on the location of the
walls. Thus, the site of Calvary is
partly determined thereby.
At several points about Jerusalem
and in Jerusalem, the old walls may
be seen, but they must be looked for
under ground. Taken down into the
cellar of a French Catholic school one
day, 1 was shown a long stretch of
wall. This said my friend. sis
Nehemiah's wall You notice how
different it is from Herod's wall The
latter had well-dressed stones, where
as these, as you see, while square at
the edges, are rough and unfinished
on the sides. The reason 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 chara cteristic of
poverty and haste wherever we find
it,
The wonder of the wall to me was
the immensely of the blocks. Nehe-
miah employed stones fully as large
as those of the wall of Solomon'S
Temple. The blocks were from three
to five feet long and two to three feet
thick. The labor of preparing and
placing them must have been i'm
mense. The best light 1 have had on
character of the wall that Nehemiah
built. Naturally, as l stood beside
this stonework, had tender and adj
miring thoughts for the old Jews and
their magnificent leader who, in n
period of distress and persecution, yet
wrought on nobly for the defense of
their holy city.
A Man as Wall
Great as was this work, still great
at the building of a new wall out of
the rubbish heap of the old city. with
the perilous work of quarrying out
where enemies were most dangerous,
and the slow, toilsome task of haul
ing the stones into position. Our
greatest admiration, however, is re-
served for Nehemiah, the master
builder who meant more to Jerusa-
lem than all the stones that he had
put into place. A city's best defense
is not in brick and mortar and stone
and timber, but in its men. A COM
munity that possesses a Nehemiah has
stouter walls than those of old Jerusa-
lem. This Nehemiah had a heart,
head and hand for building His
soul caught a vision; his hands turned
the vision into solid masonry.
It is easy to understand the devo-
ton of man who is building to pro-
tect his own family from death and
disaster. Self-preServation is the law
which then works. We must rise to
higher levels, however, to find the
explanation for such a man as Nehe-
H1iah. who deserted luxury and afflu-
encer in an orient court, where he
stood in the presence of the great
king, for the sake of casting in his
lot with his own fellow-patriots in
their poverty and danger. Nehemiah
was greater in the act of renouncing
the court of Persia than when he
stood, taskmaster and general, upon
the rising walls of Jerusalem. His
patriotism was equal to self-renun-
citation. 1t was splendidly selfless. In
the words honor roll of the heroes of
patriotism, Nehemiah's name stands
high.
What Is Your Trouble?
After the news of the plight of
Jerusalem had been borne to him by
travellers from Palestine, Nehemiah
went about the court of Shushan
with a woe-begone face. Anybody
who saw him could read at once that
he was in trouble. Now, everybody
more troubles than others. One man
wears a glum face because he lost a
collar button when he was dressing
in the morning; another is sour Of
visage because his breakfast was not
well cooked; still another looks tTOu-
bIed because financial difficulties
have oVertaken him. The newspapers
report entire communities as appear
ing dismal because their home team
has lost the big game.
The kind of trouble that troubles
man is a fairly good index of his
character. Nehemiah's sad counte-
nance was because of his nations
pitiable plight. He was above NOV
ing among his race with a melan-
choly face on account of his own
petty difficulties. lis 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
crisis he was free from self-con-
scfousness-but the very SORROW of
Nehemiah was proof of his bigness
nations woe rested heavily upon
his heart. He wept for the same rea-
son that a greater Son of Israel was
to weep few centuries later We
should link Nehemiah, sorrowing over
Jerusalem's plight, with that other
supreme patriot, who also wept over
the need of the same city
Since everybody must have some
sort of trouble. let us have the big
troubles, troubles that come to men
of full stature, the troubles that are
an index of chivaIry, of spirit and
Christliness, of sympathy If we
weep, let it not be for our own petty
trials, but for, our nations need and
the worlds woe
When the Boss Notices.
{ Id Artaxerxes must have been a
good king to work under. When his
cup-bearer appeared sad of counte-
nance, the king was not so engrossed
in affairs of state that he had no
time for kindly interest in the well
fare of his retainers. He inquired
solicitously for the cause of Nehe-
miah's sorrow. That is the. kind of