Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-15
SUNDAY. SCHOOL LESSON.
-By Webster.

pagan speech and methods of living.
The high priest had encouraged such
marriages. which were contrary to
Gods word. by sanctioning the mar
riage Of his son with the daughter of
Sanballet, the anehplotter against Ne
hemiah In his reformatory work and
efforts to preserve the peace of the ma
tons capital city. The returnin gov
ernor by vigorous action remedi ed this
evil and then tackled the more serious
one of Sabbath Dissertation.
Nehemiah considered tha.t the
prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel were
correct when they traced all the ma
tional calamities to the nations disre-
gard OF the Sabbaths with them he
believed that the destruction of yeru-
salem and their captivity as people
account of their violation Of HIS laws
concerning the Sabbath, which was one
Of the bulwarks; of the Jewish peonIe.
he believed that when it was given up
the nation would lose its separate
ness and place as people. In this
he was justified by the severe penalty
attached to Sabbath breaking in the
law. No fire eould be kfndled, no sticks
could be collected. no work OF any kind
could be done under the penalty OF
death. Va
Although the law was strict upon the
subject. Nehemiah observed that men
were busy working In the fields and
VINEYARDS and that traders from Tyre
arrived outside the city gates during
the Sabbath to enter with the opening
OF the gates SO as to do business In the
city. Nehemiah condemned the re-
Iglous leaders who Were responsible
for the coaduct Of the people for
winking at their violation Of the Sab-
bath laws. He took forceful and eff
cient methods to break up the disregard
of the Sabbath so that men might keep
1t holy.
The question as to how the Sabbath
snail De observed depends upon ones
Interpretation Of the law whether one
CONSIDERS Il Jewish or universal obli-
CATION. Whether one considers that
there Is any inherent virtue in one
day above another OF not, the fact re-
mains that man must have at least one
day in seven to worship God and re-
energy Of his life. His efficiency de-
mGnds 1t and 1t was to meet this hu
man need that the Sabbath was made
for man Whenever man or nations
day In seven as day Of rest decline
In their power Is soon noticeable. In
the early days Of the war England.
forced by the emergencies. tried to
speed up by using the toilers in vari-
learned that the speeding up process
did not pay. There has been a grow
ing la1ness among the people in this
land and in other countries in their
observance Of the Lords day. Modern
needs Of the country and Of civilization
can be best met by giving to the labor
ing man one days rest in seven
The church OF Christ owes it to the
nation and the workingman that in
this hour they shall cooperate In
serving America by insisting that as a
people we remember the Sabbath day.
to keep it holy The person "who
profanes the Sabbath desecrates his
own nature. stultifies his better self
and extinguishes that glowing spark
which marks him apart from the soul
less and inanimate world around him"
Great as Nehemiah was, he was unable
personally to do more than rouse the
nation to a righteous way of living.
The aggressive measures that he used
to purify the city and religious If.
were intended to separate the nation
from those vicious elements that
would breed idolatry and corrupt their
spiritual life. He depended upon the
systematic instruction of the people in
the word of God to make his religious
reformation and restoration effective
and permanent. The man who follows
Gods word will follow Christ in his
attitude toward the Sabbath by taking
advantage of the day Of rest for com
munfng with God and the worship of
the Lord in His temple. He who re-
members the Sabbath day in the spirit
of worship will find that it will keep
him holy.