Part 18

And he said unto the king of Israel. "Smite upon the ground." And he smote thrice, and stayed.

And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

325. Different kinds of men are needed for different times. Severe contests require vigorous men: times of trouble require patient men. When the king and all Israel were going into heathen worship, the strong, stern Elijah was the man to force them back to right conduct. But when the kingdom of Israel fell into great weakness and was beaten again and again by the Syrians, there was need of a prophet who could comfort and encourage the nation. The young man who had been trained by Elijah was fitted for this work. What was his name? He must have been a most kindly and helpful man as there are more wonderful stories gathered about his name than about any of the other heroes of Israel. We shall study four of these stories.

326 (Sec.86). This story shows us how harsh the old law of debt was. Why were the widow's two sons to be sold as slaves? She came to Elisha in her trouble, and he said that they would use whatever she had. What did she have? How was the debt paid?

327 (Sec.87A). Locate Syria on the map to the north of Israel. What is the capital? These people had been fighting against Israel and had taken many prisoners and made slaves of them. What was the name of the Syrian general? He was a great man, but he had the terrible disease of leprosy. It is a most frightful malady, slowly eating away the body. The general's wife had a little Hebrew slave. How did she get her? What did the little slave say to her mistress? Tell the story of Naaman's visit to Israel.

328 (Sec.87B). How was the king of Israel troubled, and what did Elisha say to him? Describe the grand visit of the general with all his servants to the simple home of the prophet. What message did Elisha send? Why was Naaman angry? What did his servants say to him? How did it all turn out?

329 (Sec.87C). What great change of feeling came over Naaman? What did he wish to give Elisha? The prophet did not want any present, because he wished Naaman to know that the Lord's prophet would help anyone in need without money.

330 (Sec.87D). What did Elisha's servant think of this conduct of his master? Tell the story of his greed and deceit. Notice how one sin leads to another and one lie leads to another. But the prophet understood the wicked servant. What terrible punishment came upon him?

331 (Sec.88A). How did Elisha help his people against the plans of the Syrians? What did the Syrian king think of it? It seems evident that Elisha was the counselor of Israel. Locate Dothan on the map.

332 (Sec.88B). Tell the story of the two armies, one of them visible and the other invisible. This is a beautiful way of telling of God's power and care that are always over us. How did Elisha lead the army to Samaria?

333 (Sec.88C). How did the Syrians find that they were in the capital of their enemies? What did the king want to do to them? How did Elisha say they should be treated? Do you remember that several times we have called the heroes "magnanimous"? Elisha has this character. After all, forgiveness is the best revenge.

334 (Sec.89). At last the old prophet who had been the counselor of several kings was about to die. Who visited him? Notice he used the same words of him that Elisha had used of Elijah. What did it mean? Tell the story of the bow and arrows. The king was not a strong character and he showed it in this little bit of play. Elisha meant to tell him that great things in the world can only be done by determination. In the Civil War our great generals did not give up after three endeavors. Grant said "I propose to fight it out on this line, if ..." (finish the quotation), and Lee held together his gallant army to the last limit of endurance.

WRITTEN REVIEW

Tell your parents, or some friend, what you have learned about Elisha, and explain that you are to write a short story in your notebook on "A Hero of Helpfulness." Ask them if they can tell you about some good doctor who was unselfish and kindly and gave himself for the good of others. Or perhaps they know some pastor who was always seeking to help his people and cared very little what good things he got himself. Or they may be able to tell you of a good woman who spent her life in doing good to people. She would be "A Heroine of Helpfulness." Find out some strong character who did good unselfishly like Elisha, and write the story for the next class.

PATRIOTS IN TROUBLOUS TIMES

XXXI. NEHEMIAH, THE BUILDER

XXXII. ESTHER, THE PATRIOT QUEEN

XXXIII. JUDAS, THE HAMMERER

XXXIV. DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS

XXXI. NEHEMIAH, THE BUILDER

THE STORY

=Sec.90. Nehemiah's Plans= (Neh. 1:1-4, 11. 2:1-9, 11-13, 16-18)

A. NEHEMIAH'S SORROW FOR JERUSALEM

Now it came to pass as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, "The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, "O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." (Now I was cupbearer to the king.)

B. THE KING'S PERMISSION TO REBUILD

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been before-time sad in his presence. And the king said unto me, "Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart."

Then I was very sore afraid. And I said unto the king, "Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?"

Then the king said unto me, "For what dost thou make request?"

So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, "If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it."

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) "For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?"

So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah; and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into."

And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

C. NEHEMIAH'S ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the valley gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

D. THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK

Then said I unto them, "Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach." And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also of the king's words that he had spoken unto me.

And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

=Sec.91. Nehemiah's Difficulties= (Neh. 4:1-4, 6-9, 16-20; 6:1-9)

A. SCORNFUL JEALOUSY OF THE ENEMIES

But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?"

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall."

"Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders."

So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

B. CONSPIRACY OF THE ENEMIES

But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, that they were very wroth; and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein. But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They that builded the wall and they that bore burdens laded themselves, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon; and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another: in what place soever ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God shall fight for us."

C. PLOTS OF THE ENEMIES

Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and unto the rest of our enemies, that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein (though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates); that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono."

But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

And they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; wherein was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause thou buildest the wall: and thou wouldest be their king, according to these words. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah': and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together."

Then I sent unto him, saying, "There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart." For they all would have made us afraid, saying, "Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done." But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands.

=Sec.92. Nehemiah's Success= (Neh. 6:15, 16; 7:1-3; 12:27, 31, 38, 40, 43; Ps. 122:2,3)

A. THE COMPLETION OF THE WALL

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, when all our enemies heard thereof, that all the heathen that were about us feared, and were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the castle, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. And I said unto them, "Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand on guard, let them shut the doors, and bar ye them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house."

B. THE DEDICATION OF THE WALL

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession; whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall eastward. And the other company of them that gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, upon the wall. And the two companies of them that gave thanks met in the house of God, and stood still, and the singers sang loud:

Our feet are standing Within thy gates, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that art builded As a city that is compact together.

And they offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

335. When a man has been prominent in a great undertaking it is very interesting to have his own account of it. General Grant was persuaded by friends to write a story of his own campaigns. It was called "Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant," the word "memoirs" meaning his own recollections of the events. Perhaps the first man who ever wrote such a personal story was the Governor of Judah, 2,300 years ago. The story we study here might be called "Personal Memoirs of Nehemiah."

336. Nehemiah was a great patriot. It is easy to be a patriot when it simply means shouting for a great, prosperous country. But this man had never seen his own land. His great-grandparents had been taken away as prisoners, and the family had been one hundred and fifty years in the foreign land. But they had never forgotten their own beloved country. Nehemiah was rich, and in a high office in Persia, but he loved Jerusalem and longed to be able to serve her. Read (and learn) Ps. 137:5, 6, and you will see how the patriotic Jews in the East felt about their fatherland. Let us read this personal story of the patriot and see what he did.

337 (Sec.90A). Look at the map of the Semitic world and find Persia in the East. Find Susa, which is the same as Shushan. It is a long way from Jerusalem. But one day some of the Jews came from Jerusalem to the palace of the Persian king to tell the story of the sad condition of their city. What did they tell Nehemiah? How did the story affect him? What office did he hold? Look up the description of this office that we had some time ago (62).

338 (Sec.90B). Oriental kings are very arbitrary and the courtiers have to be most careful not to offend them. Note how cleverly Nehemiah managed, so that he obtained all that he wanted from the king. What did he obtain?

339 (Sec.90C). Look again at the map. What is the river that Nehemiah mentions? Recall the first journey that we followed from the East to Palestine (Sec.Sec.3, 5). Note that the Governor traveled with a body guard. What did he do first in Jerusalem?

340 (Sec.90D). The people who had lived so long in the ruined city were discouraged. How did Nehemiah cheer them? How did they respond?

341 (Sec.91A). There were jealous enemies all around Judah, so Nehemiah soon found himself in difficulties. First they despised his efforts. How did he meet this ridicule?

342 (Sec.91B). When the enemies could not stop him by laughing at him, what did they try? How did Nehemiah plan his work so as not to be surprised?

343 (Sec.91C). What plots did the enemies devise? How did Nehemiah meet the plots?

344 (Sec.92A). In the old times, cities had to have walls all around them to prevent attacks. How long did it take this vigorous governor to repair the fortifications? How did he plan to guard the city?

345 (Sec.92B). What help did Nehemiah feel that he had in all his work? "Dedication" means an offering to God. They gave the city to God. Tell the story of this joyful patriotic service. Learn the song that they sang.

WRITTEN REVIEW

You will probably find that people to-day are opposed in their determination to do what is right in just the same three ways that Nehemiah suffered. Keep a good lookout during the week and see if you can find anyone, young or old, trying to do some right thing while somebody else laughs, or while somebody tries to stop it by force, or while somebody tells falsehoods about it. If you find any hero who goes straight on in right-doing in spite of these oppositions, give a short account of it in your notebook.

XXXII. ESTHER, THE PATRIOT QUEEN

THE STORY

=Sec.93. Esther Made Queen= (Esther 1:1, 5, 7, 9, 11-13, 15, 16, 19, 21; 2:1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 15-18, 20)

A. QUEEN VASHTI DEPOSED

King Ahasuerus made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. And they gave them in vessels of gold royal wine in abundance, according to every man's pleasure.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Then the king said to the wise men, "What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not done the bidding of the king?"

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, "If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she."

And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan.

B. THE SELECTION OF ESTHER

After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, "Let there be fair young maidens sought for the king in all his kingdom; and let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti." And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

There was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, who had brought up Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter. So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, that Esther was taken into the king's house.

Now when the turn of Esther was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what the keeper of the women appointed. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king.

Esther had not yet showed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

=Sec.94. The Plot against the Jews= (Esther 3:1, 2, 5, 6, 8-13; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 11-17)

A. THE ENMITY OF HAMAN

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed down, and did reverence to Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had showed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed."

And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman, and said, "The people is given to thee to do with them as it seemeth good to thee."

Then were the king's scribes called, and letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

B. MORDECAI'S APPEAL TO ESTHER

Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry: and he came even before the king's gate: for none might enter within the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

And Esther's maidens and her chamberlains came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she sent her chamberlain to Mordecai to know what this was, and why it was.

And Mordecai gave him a copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people.