New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-12-07
INTERNATIONAL
SUNMSQ100L
LESSON
(By z. O. SELLERS. Acting Director OF
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute, Shicago.)
Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union
LESSON FOR DECEMBER 8
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH TEACH
THE LAW.

LESSON TEXT-Nehemiah 81. 4. 8, 6.
e-12. Read entire chapter.
GOLDEN TEXT-Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet. and a light unto my path
Ps. 119 :16.
The first day of the seventh month
(8:2) was about October 444 b. q.
Seven days feast wv. 1919 was the
feast of the Tabernacles beginning
the 18th of the seventh month (Octo-
ber) and continuing for seven or
eight days (Lev. 23). Nehemiah was
the governor; Ezra the scribe. chief
priest; and Artaxerxes, king of Per-
STA, ruler we Palestine. 1t would be
interesting to look up the sudden in
terjectiOn of Ezra's name into this
discourse; also the special reasons for
teaching the Bible. There is In this
chapter a record of n full week and
of the daily events of that week.
l.. 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 1t 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 hath
commanded unto Moses" (See v. l
CT. v. 14.) This. of course. would in
clude Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter-
onomy, an indication as to the Mosaic
authorship of the Pentateuch, which Is
in line with the statement that Jesus
Christ made that It was God who had
written 1t as he had commanded
Moses. 1t was not a mob; there was
organization and equipment. (See v.
3 and ~ The Bible was also read so
that the people could understand 1t
". 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."
II. 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 Il worship of the book.
The Bible is not a fetish or n 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 a 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
10 :12-15; | John 2:2O-2O. This
method of beginning the study of the
word and its continuance as presented
in these verses is n good suggestion
for modern Sunday school workers.
There is blessing in being n teacher
and Joy in being a nearer.
~. The Hearing of the Word. wv.
Old. As Ezra and Nehemiah and
their associates and Levites taught
the people, there was a 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
wept ". 81. When men hear the
words of the law there will he con-
viction Of sin. (See Eph. go; Heb.
APP Weeping may not, however, be
conviction e Cor. 7:1O). Weeping
weakens, but that was not designed,
rather the exhilaration of joy. More
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 exhOrted
the people to hold their peace, that
the day was holy and that they should
be grieved. To this the people re-
sponded ". 12), and made great mirth,
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.
1t is a great thing for any people when
their civil rulers are genuine. intelli-
gent, and spiritual leaders. The peO-
pie were instructed to show their graft
tude as well as their piety by remem-
bering "those for whom nothing had
been prepared" ". 1O). The fourth
result was peace ". 11)-the peace
of right relation with God (Rom. 5:
4; Phil. 40. Mourning can 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 scrv-
ice ". l2). Notice that their thanks
giving portions and their service were
based upon an intelligent knowledge
Of Gods word. II there is anything
that p~resent-day social service needs.
1t is the Illumination which comes
from a knowledge of Gods word. Last
of all. worship wv. 1919. Worship
is a compound of "worth" and "ship."
What is God worth to me7 Worship
is the answer At its best 1t is the
spontaneous exercise of the joy of the
Lord In a redeemed soul. 1t is not
spectacular, but quiet, reverent and
strong. 1t ascends to God; he alone
is the object. however EXPRESSED.