The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-06-07
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared especially for The Republi-
can by Rev. U. S. Wright, D. D.
SUNDAY, JUNE 10. 1923.

can by heV. u. .. wright, u. u.
SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 1928.
NEHEMIAH, THE BOLD BUILDER
Read entire Book.
Be We not afraid of em:remember
the LOrd.-Neh. 4:1t.
THE MAN.
If there is any real he-mGn in the
whole book, Nehemiah can certainly
qualify for the title. An attendant
upon the king at the most luxurious
court in the world with all the sauvity
and grace that made him favorite
with the queen as we'll gives no hint
of the slumbering fires that broke
loose in a moment of evaporation i'll
Jerusalem when he cursed, swung his
care and gathered handsful of hair
from the heads of his law-breaking
mobiles. With a passion as strong as
that Of Washington who exploded at
Monmouth, pouring his wrath upon
the head of the luckless Lee, who had
wrecked his bate plans, there was
the same steady control of it until |
for the sake Of a great cause imper-
lied it, stormed every barrier and !
swept them all aside. He had great .
capacity for wrath even if he did not
often use it.
There came d call from wrecked /
Jerusalem where burned gates and /
toppled walls offered easy picllins" to
every wandering bandit band and F.
more and more reduced the POSSIBLE
ity Of a-rcstored state. Jewish chill /
dren in mortal terror, women imper-
lied and men dispirited was the pic /
ture presented to this high ofiiced at
tendant at the court of the world. |
Born in Persia, reaching position thru !
grit and grace, clad in silken robes |
and homed in luxury, why should he .
do more than appeal to the king for !
some relief Of the situation? Tele- /
grams and letters are reaching Sec |
rotary Hughes concerning the cap
tured Americans in China but he isn't !
rushing across seas and no one eX- |
poets him to. He is swinging all the |
power of the nation in attempts at |
relief and is counted wise. Certainly |
that is all any one would ask of Ne |
hemiah. But he was just one of those |
fool fellows who thinks of the other
fellow first and whose chivalIy can't !
abide in ease while suffering calls. |
So off went the silken robes and he
climbed into saddle for a ride across
a thousand miles of Death Valley"
territory on q quest that mates him
with Sir Galahad, or with Havelock,
or with Gordon. And he was just the
sort of person not to take any pay
for the job. He was like that engi-
neer who on the famous March to
the Sea after a particularly daring
and seryiceable act received from
General Sherman a check for $4,000.
"Taze it back" he cried; that spoils
the whole thing!" 1t would have
done the same thing for Nehemiah.
The empire hadn't money enough to
pay him for undertaking anything Of
the kind but he could do it for moth
ing ioyously and board $50 Of his
needy countrymen at the same time.
He was a fool Of course but heaven
send us some more Of the same
brand!
THE METHOD
Because he was a man himself he
could read other men and knew the
motive to which he might appeal in
order to be allowed to do what no
other man would ask. Take the king.
He might have urged the benefit to
the empire Of having a strong out
post on the border of Egypt and it
would all have been true. He might
have spoken Of the gains from the
increased stability in a disaffected
part of the state and words would not
have been too strong. He might
have urged humanitarian reasons
with tremendous energy but he pic
tured instead of any Of these bro
kenwalled cemetery and uncared-fOr
graves. Perhaps the king had passed
one as a boy and hurried bit as Ne
hemiah knew. Perhaps he had just
been adjoining the mausoleum of his
own father. But the plea worked and
the shrewd courtier had known it
would when he used it rather than
any other. When he reached Jerusa-
lem he wanted the facts before he
said anything about his own plans.
He let the other fellows talk first
always a safe rule to follow. Hav
ing seen for himself and having
heard all he needed to hear he talked
of the resources and always said,
1--WE" until they said "let US rise up
and build" Once more he had his
way. Then he portioned out the work
in wonderful organization that used
personal interest, desire for praise,
local rivalry, and family pride in
rushing the work as it had never