counting, weighed and paid over the full charge of their stewardship. May we ren- der as gopd an account of our own. 3. They offered the sacrifices (not as priests who are paid for "masses" they never offer). 4. They gave the commissions to the lieu- tenants and governors (vv. 33-36). Will. THE GOOD HAND OF GOD. Six times in these verses Ezra owns the HÀND OF GOD. If the king made a grant, it was from the hand of GOD (7:6); if he made a note, in his diary (7:9), it was of the HAND of thè LORD; if he read a let- ter he blessed GOD, and carried out its provisions by the HAND OF THE LORD HIS GOD (7:27, 28). And when all things were safely ended it was by the HAND OF OUR GOD upon us (8:31. For " t he GOOD HAND OF OUR GOD is upon all them for good that seek Him," 8:22; Rom. 8:28. upon it. God will give a man the desires of his heart if his heart desires to know thei Book. Second, he m u s t, ("do it") live it. Ezra preached with his life; the Word of God filtered through his being and shone out of his life. People knew that he had been with his Lord and had taken knowl- edge of him. The king recognized it' and accorded him earthly favor; he set his seal to the man that God had sealed. Third, we must teach the statute and judgment; he must i n s t r u c t - t he people in all of the counsels of God. - The Church needs more men of this character to lead the hosts of God. The weakness in Christian work is the lack of men and women who know the Word of God, who live the life of God and who give themselves to the task of teaching others the truths of God. If you are willing perhaps God would like to make you one of His Ezras. the answer (i. e., -Nov.-Dec. to Mch.-Apr.). Some keep a diari- of their prayers, when they tried the promise, and when they proved it. 6. The place. "Shushan, the palace"; the scene of Esther's story. A capital city of the Persian monarch, with a very magnifi- cent palace. It was 250 miles further from Jerusalem than Babylon, so that communi- cation was less frequent than between those cities. 6. The contents of the book. The keynote of the book is Reconstruction. (1) Nehemiah's Prayer and Mission to Jerusalem, (cc. 1-2); (2) Building and Battling, cc. 3-4; (3)Settling Social Disorders, e. v.; (4) The Wall Completed, c,i vi; (5) Taking t he Cen- sus, c. vii; (6) Revival Meetings, cc. 8-10; (7)The Citizenship, Priestly Orders, and Ded- ication, at Jerusalem, cc. 11:12; (8) Separa- tion from Forbidden Alliances, and Regula- tion of Tithing and Sabbath Keeping, e. xiii. II. NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER. 1. His earnestness. James 5:17 says t h at Elijah prayed "earnestly"; in the Greek it is "prayed praying."• There is much praying that is not praying. It fcs the earnest, "the
^ journey's end; (3) "and for all our sub- stance"; this they put last, not as most, , first of all. 3. Their guard. They had "made ^ J t h e ir boast in the LORD," Psa. 34:2; now ¿ « t h ey would show their trust in Him. They were therefore ashamed to ask a guard of the king, and asked it of the. Lord 1 of HOSTS, and " He was entreated of them," v. 23. VI. GUARDING THE TREASURE. 1. Men of God should for His sake guard their reputations as more precious than • treasures, and guard every trust with zeal- ous care (Rom. 2:24). Ezra caused the gold and silver to be weighed in presfence of wit- nesses, and, (2) put it in charge of 22 re-" sponsible men (v. 29). VII. HIS COMMISSION DISCHARGED. 1., The perilous journey was safely con- cluded. May we ail as happily reach the New Jerusalem. 2. They made their ac- EZRA. Here is a lesson oh Leadership. If yoii want to know the key to his life you will find it in the words of Chapter 7:10; "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach Israel statutes and judgments. God's men are trained in His preparatory school. It commences in the heart, not the head. God trains through His Word. Through t he law of the Lord he learned what was the will of the Lord, "and that will became the law of his life. There are. three great quali- fications for the Christian leader dominant >in the life of this' man Ezra. First, a knowledge of God's Word. No human cul- ture can ever be the substitute for a knowl- edge of the Bible. The heart must recog- nize this and seek diligently and persist- ently to know it; the heart must be set I. NEHEMIAH: THE BOOK. 1:1. Ancient writers signed at the beginning rather than at the end of their writings. 1. Its author:. " T he words of Nehemiah," (See Gen. 1:1; Rom. 1:1, etc.) 2. His name. N. means "Jehovah-comforts." He was Ne- hemiah by name, -and by experience. (See Gen. 32:28.) 3. His character. Math. Henry sàyg, "In my opinion Ezra the scribe, and Nehemiah the Tirshatha, though neither of them ever wore a, crown, or commanded an. army, or conquered a country, or .were famed for philosophy or oratory, yet both of them being pious, praying men, and very service- able in their day to the church of GOD and the causé of religion, were more honr orable than any of the Roman consuls, or dictators, or Zenophon, or Demosthenes, or Plato himself, who lived at the same time, .the bright' ornaments of Greece." 4. His of- fice. (1) The king's - cupbearer; an honor- able, confidential place. (2) The Tirshatha, or Governor; the king appointed him Tir- shatha of Judea. 5. His date, 445 B. C. "in the month Chislev*' (1:1), then he be- gan to pray; "In the month Nisan," began
PITH AND PIVOT.—T.C.H.
NEHEMIAH: HIS PRAYER; ITS ANSWER. Lesson IX. November 26. Neh. 1:1-2:8.
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