383
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
June 1924
The chief aim of E zra was to reorganize the worship of God, to in stru ct the people in the law and to re-establish th e ancient customs. His influence was very g reat and he has always been highly revered among th e Jews. In th e ir estim ation he ranks w ith Moses and David. He is called a ready scribe in th e law of Moses, E zra 7:6. This means th a t he was a careful copyist and a sound in te rp re ter of th e law. He is probably responsible fo r th e canon of th e Old Testament. Chief among the social reform s which he brought about was th e pu tting away of heathen wives. A hundred and twelve cases of mixed m arriages were dis covered and dissolved under th e law of Moses. He was ably seconded by Nehemiah. Ezra was the religious reforme* and Nehemiah was the civil reform er. Each one labored earnestly to re-establish Judaism , th e form er reorganized th e priesthood and th e la tte r society. E zra publicly expounded the law to the people. Invari ably where th e tru th is proclaimed the resu lts follow of penitence," sorrow for sin and reform ation. Nehem iah en forced th é observance of the Sabbath and th e annual tax for th e temple; service. He added to th e population of Je ru sa lem by bringing many in from the outlying country dis tricts. He redeemed large numbers of the Jews who had been sold into slavery among th e heathen and brought them back to th e ir native land. He pu t an end to an oppressive system of borrow ing money. He discovered th a t Tobiah, th e Ammonite, was living in one of th e chambers of God’s house w ith the consent of th e guardian of the temple and on his own initiative he p u t all the fu rn itu re into th e street. Nehem iah’s adm inistration continued for about th e space of th ree years and was characterized by energy, promptness and thoroughness. The intense monotheism of th e Jewish national sp irit is seen in the fact th a t th e Jews would have nothing to do w ith the Samaritans. Nehem iah gives a graphic picture of th e condition of th e Jews a t th is time. They were few in num ber and w ithout resources. The scornful je st of Sanballat th a t if a fox ra n over th e ir wall it would break down is very suggestive. The weakness of the congregation is seen in Neh. 7:66 when th is number is compared w ith the time when th e fighting men of Judah alone Were four hundred and seventy thousand strong, 1 Chron. 21:5. The work which E zra and Nehemiah accomplished, il lu strates the effect th a t the Word of God will have on th e inward and outward life of a nation w hen given its rig h t ful place.' The principles of th e Mosaic legislation have stood the test of time. Their history confirms th e ir Divine origin. The Old Testament may be archaic b u t it is not obsolete.' Bound up w ith the New Testam ent it is an in separable p art of God’s holy Word which liveth and abideth forever. V. 1. The occasion was the celebration of th e feast of the seventh month (chap. 7 :7 3 ). The beginning of every month was ushered in as a sacred festival; bu t this, the commencement of th e seventh month was kep t w ith dis tinguished honour as “ th e feast of COMMENTS trum p ets” which extended over two FROM THE days. I t was the first day of the sev- COMMENTARIES enth ecclesiastical year, and the new V. V. Morgan y ear’s day of th e civil year, the journey, and for getting a sta rt in the home land. King Cyrus got the golden and silver dishes of th e temple, which had been carried away from th e temple in Jerusalem before it was destroyed. Now boys and girls w hat do you th ink was th e first th ing th e people wanted to do when they got back? Yes, to build th e house of God, which was called th é temple. It would take a long tim e to rebuild the tem ple, so they bu ilt an altar, where b u rn t offerings were a t once offered upon the new altar. The Jews set to work digging stone out of the hill, and gathering ùp lumber and all th a t was needed to build a new temple. It was all a work of love, and the people worked hard building a new temple on th e same spot where th e old temple th a t was burned down, had stood. Now when th e foundation for th e temple was laid, th e people were very happy, and the priests in th e ir priestly robes gathered around w ith th e Lé vites, and w ith trum pets and other musical instrum ents, held a service of praise and thanksgiving, to praise the Lord. And they sang tog eth er praising and giving th ank s unto th e Lord; becáuse He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all th e people shouted w ith a g reat shout, when they praised th e Lord, because the foundation of the house of th e Lord was laid. Now our memory verse is one we all know, for we say it every morning in Sunday School. “ I was glad when they said unto me, le t us go into th e house of th é Lord.” Do we love the church, and are we glad to go to th e house of th e Lord? W hat a re we doing to show our love for God’s house? One way we can show our love and reverence for God’s house, is by listening to our teachers, and th e preachers and giving our money too to help in God’s work. Another way is by bringing unsaved people to th e church, th a t they m ight hear about Jesus, who died to save them. Dear Heavenly F ath er, we th ank thee for the church, and help us to be faith fu l and loyal to its services. JUNE 22, 1924 REFORMS UNDER EZRA AND NEHEMIAH Golden Text: “R etu rn unto me, and I will re tu rn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:7. Lesson Text: ..Neh. 8:1-3, 8-12. (Read Ezra, chapters 7 to 10; N ehem iah,, chapters 5, 8 and 13 ). Devotional R eading: Hosea 14:1-8. Fw.ir RETURN - T h e w a y o f r e tu r n t o G od is fo u n d in G o d ’s W o rd There was ano th er re tu rn of th e Jews from captivity un der th e direction of Ezra, fifty-seven years a fte r th e build ing and dedication of th e temple. This was possible through a decree of Artaxerxes in th e seventh year of his reign. This decree gave Ezra command of LESSON the en tire district “ beyond th e river” and EXPOSITION exempted the Levites from taxation. I t F . W. Fan* is estim ated th a t about nine thousand re tu rned a t this time. Probably many of th e ten tribes came back w ith them , Ezra 6:17. This shows th a t they were no t lost and explains Jam es 1:1. The Jews th a t remained in Babylon established schools from which in tim e came the Talmud.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker