River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1922-08-31
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER 3
NEHEMIAH RE5UiLDS THE
WALLS OF JERUSALEM

1 LESSON TExT-Neh. 3:1-74
| GOLDEN TExT-our God win fight for
us.-Neh. 4:20.
/ REFERENCE MATF1rAI--Neh. $3.50;
! ! Cor 3:9-17.
/ PRIMARY TOPIC-How God helped Ne
i hemiah Build Wall.
/ JUNIOR TOPIC-How City Wall Was
| Rebuilt.
/ INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
4 Praying, Watching, Working.
i YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
| Success Through Leadership and Coz
/ operation.
! Having secured leave of absence
from the Persian court, and creden-
/ tials FROM the king, Nehemiah jour-
i neyed to Jerusalem. After resting
| three days without disclosing his pur-
4 pose to any one, he made survey
of the walls by night. Having thus OBJ
tanned first-hand information he called
/ the representatives Of the Jews to-
! gether and said LET us build the
walls OF Jerusalem" He then made
known the hand Of providence in
/ bringing him to Jerusalem with the
| authority to rebuild it's walls. He thus
showed great wisdom in finding out
for himself the real conditions and
what work would be required to re-
| store the walls. The one who Is quail
flied to lead in a great undertaking
is the one who has mastered the stu
| alton and Is thus able to remove OBJ
/ jections and show how the work can
be done.
| A.-Preparation for the Building
/ (ch 81.
The division of labor In this project
shows Nehemiah's administrative abil-
ity. wise distribution of labor makes
difficult tasks easy.
Note some outstanding features of
this great work.
l. Stress Laid Upon Indifference
$50 In. administrative tasks it is
just that unfaithfulness should be
pointed out. Such action will be a
warning to some and an encourage
ment to others by showing the in
tegrity of the director.
2. Help Rendered by the Women
/ (3:12). Perhaps Stadium had no sons
to aid him. 1t is a fine thing for
women to be able to take hold even
/ in building q wall when there are no
men to do it. Gods word carefully
/ notes such extraordinary acts.
3. Stress Laid Upon Earnestness of
Some (3:20). If one knows that his
faithfulness will be recognized he will
earnestly pursue his tasks.
4. Every One Built Over Against
His Own House e 10, %, 2S). Mans
chief concern is for his family. No in
centiye to exertion Is quite so strong
as that which concerns his own fam
lily.
/ 5. Certain Guilds of Men Undertook
Certain Work (ch. 3:8, 81, 32). Wise
| administration sometimes calls for
| such alignment of efforts. Men Of the
same class and craft will usually work
| better together.
II. Hindrances Encountered (4:1-6:
| 14).
/. Scoffing Of Sanballot and Tobiah
(4:1-6; CT. 2:19-20). The opposers OF
Gods servants usually begin by hurl-
! ing at them shafts of ridicule. They
/ called the Jews but feeble folk and
| asserted that the tread of prowling
| fox would break down their stone wall.
/ 2. Conspiracy of Sudden Attack
| (4:7-9). When the enemy saw that
| the work was actually succeeding they
/ changed from ridicule to an attempt
| to throw the workmen into a panic
/ and thus hinder the work. When the
enemy cannot succeed by scoffing then
he resorts to intimidation.
8. Conspiracy With the Jews a.:
1929. They sought by means of the
| Jews from the outside to discourage
their brethren by showing that the
| task was hopeless and that at any
time they were subject to sudden
| and secret attack.
4. Greed and Oppression of the
Rulers GLIB. The Jews of that
day. like the profiteers In the recent
| World war, took advantage of the
poor and oppressed them so that they
mortgaged their land and sold their
daughters into slavery. Nehemiah
| boldly rebuked them for their crimes
and ordered restoration to be made,
| exacting an oath of them that they
would fulfil their promises.
5. Scheme to Take Nehemiah's Life
| (6:f-14). When Sanbailat and Tobiah
failed In every other way they sought
by craft to get Nehemiah away that
they might kill him.
| ~. The Wall Completed (6:15-7 "a.
So energetically did they pursue
their tasks that In fifty-two days the
wall was completed. When the en-
emies heard that in spite of all their
schemes the work was actually COM
pleted, they were cast down, for they
perceived that the work was of God.
Find the Rock Beneath.
| Tho ctanS of faith fall or, the Sppnn-