Middletown transcript., 1917-12-08

GOLDEN TEXT-Thy word Is g. lamp
unto my feet, and light unto my path
Ps. 1895.
The first day Of the seventh month
(8:2) was about October 444 B. G.
Seven days feast wv. 1879 was the
feast of the Tabsrnacles beginning
the 18th Of the seventh month (Octo-
ber) and continuing for seven or
eight days Nev. 23). Nehemiah was
the governor; Ezra the scribe, chief
priest; and Artaxerxes, king Of Per-
STA, ruler over Palestine. It would be
Interesting to look up the sudden in
terject.On Of Ezra's name into this
discovsse : also the special reasons for
teaching the Bible. There is in this
chapter a record Of full week and
Of the daily events of that week.
I. The Preparation. Go back to.
verse 20 Of the preceding chapter, and
you will find that the temple had just
been, receiving some large gifts. The
task of finishing the wall was also
completed, all of which gives point to
verse one, where it says that the peo-
pie gathered themselves together as
one man. This was an ancient open
air meeting, one we do well to study.
The people requested Ezra to "bring
the book" 1t needed no catch-penny
operations to draw the crowd togeth-
er. The writer of Nehemiah calls the
book "the law which the Lord bath
commanded unto Moses" (SeeW. !
CT. v. ~ This, of course, would in
clude Leviticus, Numbers, and Dfuter-
onomy, an indication as to the Mosaic
authorship of the Penta< ech, Vhich is
in line with the statement that Jesus
Christ made that it was God who had
written it as he had commanded
Moses. 1t was not mob; there was
organization and equipment. (See v.
3 and ~ The Bible was also read SO
that the people could understand it
". p; certainly something that is in
demand in our present day. Ezra
opened the book in the sight of all the
people, for he stood on an elevation
above them ". 81 and read "dis.
tinctly."
u. The Reading Of the Word. They
read the book, not from some COM
mentary or quarterly, though these
have value in their place. The read
ing began with reverence. Reverence
for but not worship of the book.
The Bible is not q fetish 8f a charm
against sickness or accident. The
verse caused the people to under
stand the law" ". y probably means
that is was translated into the YER
nacular, the language Of the common
people. While Gods word Is plain
book and easy to read, nevertheless
men of spiritual understanding are
needed to rightly divide it unto the
people ". y. However, the great in
terpreter of the Bible given by the Fa-
Their is the Holy Spirit himself John
16:12-15; John 2:20-27). This
method of beginning the study of the
word and it's continuance as presented
in these verses is good suggestion
for modern Sunday school workers.
III. The Hearing of the Word. wv.
9-1O. AS Ezra and Nehemiah and
their associates and Levites taught
the people, there was five-fold result.
First: There was conviction and
mourning. The word of God always
convicts of sin, but the people were
told not to mourn over the past nor
were they to weep, for all the people
hn
words of the law there will be con-
viction of sin. (See Eph. 6:7; Heb.
4:12) Weeping may not, however, be
conviction e Cor. 7:10. Weeping
weakens, but that was not designed,
rather the exhilaration of joy. Move
over, they were to- seek the refresh
ment of food and drink. - Indeed, the
joy of the Lord was to be their
strength ". 10Y. "And there was very.
great gladness" ". ~. In verse II
we are told that the Levites exhorte3.
the people to hold their peace, that
the day was holy and that they shoulS
be grieved. To this the people re-,
sponded ". 12), and made great mirth.l
because they had understood the dec;
laratiOn Of the word of the Lord. No
tice that Joy and gladness came after
obedience, also that Nehemiah, the
governor, had a part In the teaching.
It is great thing for any people wheD
their civil rulers are genuine, intelli-
gent, and spiritual leaders. The peo-
pie were instructed to show their graft
tude as we'll as their piety by remem-
herring 'those for whom nothing had
been prepared" ". 10Y. The fourth
result was peace ". 1D-the peace
CT right relation with God (Rom. s:
l Phil. 40.
Fifth Result: Service.
Mourning can very easily be con-
tinued too long, and, therefore. it was
necessary to employ the emotion of
mirth and the exercise Of work that
the people might enter into this peace.
The fifth result, therefore, was serv-
ice ". 12). Notice that their thanks
giving portions and their service were
based upon an intelligent knowledge |
Of Gods word. If there is anything
that present-day social service reeds, |
It is the illumination which comes
IRON knowledge Of Gods wnrd. Last
II all, worship wv. 1873. Worship
3 a compound of worth" aot ship"