Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-31
EzRA'S RETURN TO JERU-
SALEM-Ezra vii.1-8:36.
Golden text.-The hand of our
GOD is upon all them that seek
him FOR good.-Ezra viii.22.

MoSlem madness threatens for the
| moment the modern Jewish colonies
that have been established by the Zion
lists in Palestine. This Arabian an
tagonism reveals bitter racial and re-
ligious antagonism that may prove to
be more serious. especially If the jealous
Mohammedans beyond Palestine should
be stirred up sufficiently to start a re-
ligious war, because of fancied griev-
ances and sufferings Of their CORE
ligionists in the Holy Land. The re-
action from this modern persecution
of the Jews will bring strength to the
zionists, for it will help all Hebrews
to feel their racial and religious unity.
1t will deepen their devotion to Juda-
ism, just as the opposition of the Sa-
maritans, that we considered in last
weeks lesson. Kindered for time the
temples rebuilding, yet at the same
time served to increase the spiritual
zeal of the Jews. who had returned from
the exile to restore the temple and re-
establish the worship of Jehovah. When
religious prosecutions makes martyrs, 1t
develops the faith. No church, COM
munity or credal association. can be
filled with the spirit of intolerance that
breeds religious and racial prosecutions
without laying dearly for that atti-
tude in their own life in the reactions
that follow it. Persecution acts like
boomerang especially in religious mat
terS.
We know nothing Of the 60 years that
followed the rebuilding of the temple,
except that it must have been period
of tragic disillusion. The happy re-
construction of the national life, to
which the people looked forward. had
not been achieved. The people had
grown duh and apathetic; even the SerV-
ices Of religion. as Malachi informs us,
had degraded into an empty and dis
graceful Journalism. The poverty, pri-
vations and peril Of the Jews i'll Jcru-
salem is not referred to in the sacred
records. A different spirit developed
toward the dWellerS in the land with
the removal of their racial and religious
antagonism. This liberal attitude was
seen in the drift away from the law by
the descendants of the Jews who had
returned from the exile. They began to
intermarry with their heather neigh
borS. The Sabbath was neglected by
many. The temple services and sacri-
fees were forgotten by great numbers
and decentralization appeared among the
Jewish masses. The civic and CONNER
cial iniquities of that period were re-
fiected in their debased religious life. 1t
was manifest that a revival was needed
to restore the worship of Jehovah and
reform the life Of the nation.
Ezra Commissioned.
That revival did not start in Jeru-
salem but in Babylon. When the hour
came to commence it, God had prepared
and developed a man who expressed in
his personality the necessary leadership
and training. Jehovah started the fires
of that revival in the heart OF Ezra,
an expert in the law of Moses. He was
descendant of Seraiah. the chief
priest during the reign of the late king
of Judah, and traced his ancestry back
to Aaron. God moved the heart OF
AriaxerXcs, the successor of Ashasuerus.
to commission Ezra to make an expedi-
ton to Jerusalem and to see to it that
the ordinances and statutes Of Jehovah
were carried out in the life of the people
and the worship Of the Temple. This
edict was secured without doubt through
the influence of Mordecai. Esther and
Ezra, who had been called of God to
teach the people in Jerusalem His
statutes and ordipances.
We do not know the motives that may
have prompted the king in giving Ezra
this commission. 1t gave the priest
and scribe full and absolute authority
in all civil and religious matters to do
whatsoever is commanded by the God
of heaven let it be done exactly for the
house of the God of heaven" Being
given the power of life, and death by
his commission and supplied with all
the necessary funds and with the priv
ilege of drawing upon the treasurers
beyond the Euphrates River for addi-
tional amounts of silver. wheat, wine,
oil and salt, he commenced to organize
his expedition. The priests, Levites,
singers, porters and the Nethinin, who
were ministers of the house of God,
were excepted from taxes, toll, tribute
or custom. Armed with such authority
that was almost unlimited, it rested
upon Ezra to organize an expedition
that would see to it that Gods law was
observed and His worship conducted in
accordance with Jehovah's require
mentS.
Expedition Organized.
The girdling of the globe by the Graf
Zepplin was preceded by thorough or
ganization, which apparently provided
for every emergency and need. Byrd
made it a work of many months to
select his men and equipment for his
expedition into Little America. Ezra's
success from human standpoint was
due to the thoroughness of his organ
ization which cared for the many thou
sands connected with his expedition
during the four months of their weary
marching and for the period when they
were reforming the religious life in
Palestine. He sounded the call and
rallied volunteers to aid him in carry
ing the law back to Jerusalem, restore
the worship of Jehovah and to instruct
the Jews in their ancient capital in the
meaning of the law. No modern
evangelist ever made any more thor
ough preparation for revival than did