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Ezra Chapter
Seven
Ezra 7
Chapter Contents
Ezra goes up to Jerusalem. (1-10) The commission to Ezra.
(11-26) Ezra blesses God for his favour. (27
28)
Commentary on Ezra 7:1-10
(Read Ezra 7:1-10)
Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem
for the good of his
country. The king was kind to him; he granted all his requests
whatever Ezra desired
to enable him to serve his country. When he went
many went with him; he
obtained favour from his king
by the Divine favour. Every creature is that to
us
which God makes it to be. We must see the hand of God in the events that
befal us
and acknowledge him with thankfulness.
Commentary on Ezra 7:11-26
(Read Ezra 7:11-26)
The liberality of heathen kings to support the worship of
God
reproached the conduct of many kings of Judah
and will rise up in
judgment against the covetousness of wealthy professed Christians
who will not
promote the cause of God. But the weapons of Christian ministers are not
carnal. Faithful preaching
holy lives
fervent prayers
and patient suffering when
called to it
are the means to bring men into obedience to Christ.
Commentary on Ezra 7:27
28
(Read Ezra 7:27
28)
Two things Ezra blessed God for: 1. For his commission.
If any good appear in our hearts
or in the hearts of others
we must own that
God put it there
and bless him; it is he that worketh in us
both to will and
to do that which is good. 2. For his encouragement: God has extended mercy to
me. Ezra was a man of courage
yet he ascribed this not to his own heart
but
to God's hand. If God give us his hand
we are bold and cheerful; if he
withdraw it
we are weak as water. Whatever we are enabled to do for God and
those around us
God must have all the glory.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezra》
Ezra 7
Verse 1
[1] Now
after these things
in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia
Ezra the son of
Seraiah
the son of Azariah
the son of Hilkiah
Artaxerxes —
The same of whom he speaks
chap. 6:14.
The son —
His grand-son. Here are divers persons omitted for brevity sake
which may be
supplied out of 1 Chronicles 6:1-11:47. Ezra was not himself the
high priest; but he was nearly related to him.
Verse 6
[6] This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of
Moses
which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his
request
according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
Went —
With the king's consent and commission.
Scribe — A
learned and expert doctor. The Jews say
he collected and collated all the
copies of the law
and published an accurate edition of it
with all the books
that were given by Divine inspiration
and so made up the canon of the Old
Testament. Moses in Egypt
and Ezra in Babylon
were wonderfully fitted for
eminent service to the church.
According
… — By
the favour of God so disposing the heart of the king.
Verse 10
[10] For
Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD
and to do it
and to
teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
To teach —
The order of things in this verse is very observable; first he endeavours to
understand God's law and word
and that not for curiosity or ostentation
but
in order to practice: next he consciously practises what he did understand
which made his doctrine much more effectual: and then he earnestly desires and
labours to instruct others
that they also might know and do it.
Verse 11
[11] Now
this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the
priest
the scribe
even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD
and of his statutes to Israel.
Words —
The phrase seems emphatical
noting that he explained both the words and the
things: for the Jews in the land of their captivity had in a great measure lost
both the language
and the knowledge of God's commands
and therefore Ezra and
his companions instructed them in both.
Verse 14
[14] Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king
and of his seven counsellors
to
enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem
according to the law of thy God which
is in thine hand;
According
… — To
make inquiry into all abuses and deviations from your law
and to redress them.
Which —
Which is now and always in thine hand
being the matter of thy daily study.
Verse 16
[16] And
all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon
with the freewill offering of the people
and of the priests
offering
willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
Find —
Procure
as that word is used
Genesis 6:8; 26:12 Psalms 84:3. Whatsoever thou canst get of my
subjects by way of free gift.
The people — Of
Israel.
Verse 25
[25] And
thou
Ezra
after the wisdom of thy God
that is in thine hand
set magistrates
and judges
which may judge all the people that are beyond the river
all such
as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
The wisdom —
Which God hath put into thy heart
and which appears in the works of thy hand.
All that professed the Jewish religion
were to be under the jurisdiction of
these judges.
Verse 26
[26] And
whosoever will not do the law of thy God
and the law of the king
let judgment
be executed speedily upon him
whether it be unto death
or to banishment
or
to confiscation of goods
or to imprisonment.
Let judgment —
What could David himself
as king
have done more
for the honour of God
and
the furtherance of religion?
Verse 27
[27]
Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers
which hath put such a thing as this in
the king's heart
to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
Blessed
… —
Ezra cannot proceed in his story
without inserting this thankful
acknowledgment of God's goodness to him and the people.
Verse 28
[28] And
hath extended mercy unto me before the king
and his counsellors
and before
all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD
my God was upon me
and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up
with me.
As the hand
… — If
God gives us his hand
we are bold and chearful: if he withdraws it
we are
weak as water. Whatever service we are enabled to do for God and our
generation
God must have all the glory of it.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezra》
Ezra the Prepared Priest (Ezra 7:1~5)
Ezra was—
a
Servant and a Master
a
Student and an Administrator of the Law
a
Supreme authority
and yet a Subordinate
He became—
1 An
Interceding Priest who had a Pedigree (Ezra 7:1~5;9)
2 An
Instructed Scribe who knew the Law (Ezra 7: 10~11; Matt. 13:52)
3 An
Inspiring Preacher who taught the people (Neh. 8:2~5)
For ‘Ezra prepared his heart’ (Ezra 7:10)
to seek the law of the Lord—he searched the Scriptures
to do
it—he regulated his life by the Scripture
and
to teach its statutes and judgments—he taught the Scriptures to the prople
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-8
Verses 1-10
Ezra the son of Seraiah.
Ezra the distinguished
Consider Ezra
as--
I. A man of
distinguished ancestry.
II. A man of
distinguished attainments.
III. A man in the
enjoyment of distinguished favours.
IV. A man of
distinguished influence.
V. A man of
distinguished success.
VI. A man of
distinguished aim. He aimed at--
1. The acquisition of the highest knowledge.
2. The practice of the highest knowledge.
3. The impartation of the highest knowledge.
VII. man of
distinguished blessing. (William Jones.)
And he was a ready scribe
in the law of Moses.
Scribism
Scribism was one of the remarkable features of the later days of
Israel. Its existence in so much prominence showed that religion had passed
into a new phase
that it had assumed a literary aspect. At first in their
religious life the Jews did not give much heed to literary documents. Priestism
was regulated by traditional usages rather than by written directions
and
justice was administered under the kings according to custom
precedent
and
equity. Quite apart from the discussion concerning the antiquity of the
Pentateuch
it is certain that its precepts were neither used nor known in the
time of Josiah
when the reading of the roll discovered in the temple was
listened to with amazement. Still less did prophetism rely on literary
resources. What need was there of a book when the Spirit of God was speaking
through the audible voice of a living man? The function of the scribes was to
collect the sayings and traditions of earlier ages
to arrange and edit the literary
fragments of more original minds. Scribism rose when prophecy declined. It was
a melancholy confession that the fountains of living water were drying up. It
was like an aqueduct laboriously constructed in order to convey stored water to
a thirsty people from distant reservoirs. Moreover
scribism degenerated into
rabbinism
the scholasticism of the Jews. We may see its counterpart in the
Catholic scholasticism which drew supplies from patristic tradition
and again
in Protestant scholasticism--which comes nearer to the source of inspiration in
the Bible
and yet which stiffened into a traditional interpretation of
Scripture
confining its waters to iron pipes of orthodoxy. (W. F. Adeney
M. A.)
According to the hand of
the Lord his God upon him.--
God’s helping hand
Ezra was wonderfully blessed in his desire and effort to restore
Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Seemingly
the power and the blessing which
served Ezra so signally was all from “the king
” but really it was all from
Ezra’s “God
” whose will disposed the king’s heart
whose providence guided
every step
and whose power and Spirit gave efficiency and success to every
plan and effort. And so it is in all human planning and effort. The success is
just in the measure of “God’s hand upon us.” If we rise up to build
and do not
first enlist His gracious approval
providential interposition
and Spirit’s
agency
our best efforts will miscarry or prove disastrous. If we plan a
revival
and put in requisition the agencies
and will the conversion of sinners
we shall be sadly disappointed
if we do not first
by prayer and preparation
array God the Lord on our side
and get hold of His “outstretched arm of
salvation.” It is easy to work
and glorious are the results--all human
agencies so readily fall into line and aid us--when the hand of the Lord our
God is upon us. The application
the lesson
is therefore obvious--
1. Prayer lies at the foundation of all wise planning and all
successful effort to advance Christ’s kingdom in the world.
2. God’s hand must be upon us--His providence must be enlisted in our
behalf--there must be co-operation between the Divine and the human.
3. The secret of declension
of abounding evil
of the lack of
converting power in the Church
of the dearth of revivals
is to be found in
the fact that God’s hand is not upon us
because of the lack of faith and
prayer. (J. M. Sherwood
D. D.)
For upon the first day of
the first month.--
New Year’s Day
(a talk with children):--The Bible attaches a great deal of
importance to first things; the first-fruits of the earth were sacred
the
first batch of bread was a consecrated batch
the first hour of the day
the
first day of the week
the first week of the month
the first month of the
year
the first year in seven years
and above all the first day of the first
month
or in other words “New Year’s Day
” were considered specially important.
It was on New Year’s Day that the waters of the deluge finally dried up; it was
on New Year’s Day that the tabernacle was set up for the first time
that the
temple was completely consecrated in the days of Hezekiah; and it was on New
Year’s Day that the captives in Babylon began their march out of captivity on
their return to Canaan under Ezra. Now if you will just remember these four
striking instances you will say that New Year’s Day has a very important
history. How monotonous life would be if there were not something new every
day! Why you know that little baby boy at home wants a fresh toy every day. The
old toys soon become uninteresting and he wants a new one constantly. Now you
used to be the same when you were a very little boy
and you are not very
different from that now. All through your little life you have been glad of any
little change that gives a novelty and freshness to it. God thinks of all that
and therefore He gives you one thing at a time that will be likely to interest
you; and when you have made use of that He gives you another and still another.
He gives you life moment by moment
hour by hour
day by day. One day is in one sense
very much like the other; and yet not two days are alike
especially when you
think of the experiences of each day. Every day has something fresh in it; and
God ordains all that in order to make you happy and to enable you to learn
constantly
from some experience which each day teaches you
something you have
not learnt before. This is specially true with regard to the first day of the
New Year. You remember when at school you had a copy book given you. When you
had it first of all it was a clean and charming copy book. When you began to
write you took a great deal of trouble
especially with the first page. There
was not a mistake or blot
or careless line on the whole page. The second page
had just one little mistake. Then the third
perhaps
had a blot
and then you
got rather careless
and hurried over some of the pages as you drew near the
end of your copy book. Your teacher was probably vexed with you because you had
not improved as you proceeded with it; then you felt ashamed of yourself
and said
“I wish I could begin again.” The day at length came when you got a new copy
book
and you were permitted to begin again. Now that is just as God deals with
you. He gave you a fine copy book last year--it had 365 pages
and clean
throughout; and you were expected to write your very best on those pages. I
know some of you tried the first day or two
and now and then you tried again;
but some of you got rather careless and restless as you advanced. Here and
there you did that which was wrong
and that in each case left a blot behind.
The Master took note of it
and there it is now in His presence. You cannot be
very proud of your last year’s history. Yet to-day the Lord says
“I know all
about it; but I will give you a new copy book; and will put that old one aside
and forget all about it. I will forgive you; but you must try to do better with
this new copy book. Do your very best. If you cannot write as you would
ask Me
to help you
and I will take your hand and guide it
and will help you to do
what is right and well-pleasing in My sight.” When I was a boy at school we
used to have in our copy books what we called a script line on the top of the
page. We used to copy that. Now the Saviour has put the script line over every
day for us. It is His own writing
and we have to copy it. (D. Davies.)
New Year’s Day
The name of Fernando de Magellan is not so well known as it should
be. ‘Tis over 350 years ago since he first discovered for us the Pacific Ocean
and to reach it he had to go through the Straits which have ever since borne
his name--straits extending hundreds of miles
sometimes narrowing to the
breadth of a broad river
and again expanding to the breadth of seas. What a
day that was when
after long windings to and fro
his ships entered the waters
of the Pacific! These were the first keels which ploughed it. His ships came
back
but their brave commander never did; the silent sea which had beckoned
him on lured him to his death. Is it much different with the boom of the clock
which tells us we have entered on the unknown stretch of a New Year? I think
not; we are all voyaging
and no ship has gone in advance into the New Year.
What lies ahead of us? No one knows
and no one needs to know. The important
thing is
that with all our tacking to and fro we are seeking to drop our
anchor at last in the good haven. If that is our aim
and we are prayerful and
earnest about it
it matters little what the year has in store for us: all will prove well
and rightly done in the end. Bend heart and head to this
and leave all else
with God. (J. Reid Howatt.)
For Ezra had prepared his
heart to seek the law of the Lord
and to do it.--
Man’s duty in relation to God’s redemptive truth
The text indicates man’s duty in relation to God’s redemptive
truth. The “law” here refers undoubtedly not to God’s truth in general
but to
that truth which He has condescended to reveal to man as a fallen being. In
relation to this he has to do three things--
I. He has to learn
it. “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.” Two things are
to be attended to in our endeavours to attain a knowledge of the truth which
God has revealed to fallen man.
1. It must be sought for where it is to be found. Truth from God may
be found written in the volume of nature
in the facts of human history
in the
constitution of the human soul:
but the truth from God which man wants as a sinner is to be found in the Bible.
It must be sought for here; it is here under the cover of facts and histories
metaphors and poetries.
2. It must be sought for in the manner in which it is to be found.
There is a right way of seeking as well as a wrong way. “Ezra had prepared his
heart to seek” it. It must be sought--
II. He has to
practise it. Ezra had not only “prepared his heart to seek the law of the
Lord
” but “to do it.” The truth that God has revealed to sinners is not a
subject for mere speculative thought or logical debate
it is a practical
system.
1. The doing of it is essential to a thorough understanding of it.
“He that doeth the will of God shall know of the doctrine.” There are some
things that a man may understand without practising. A man may understand
architecture who has never built a house
agriculture who has never cultivated
a farm
but no one can understand theology unless he has practised it.
2. The doing of it is necessary in order to be really benefited by
it. Truth as ideas in the mind is only like floating clouds
rolling
undischarged over the barren soil; but truth as deeds is like living streams so
intersecting each other
and winding in every direction
as to touch the whole
region into life
verdure
and beauty.
III. He has to
preach it. “And to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” God’s truth to
sinners is to be taught by men. But none can teach it but those who have learnt
it and practised:
the right kind of preaching is life preaching. This life preaching is--
1. The most intelligible.
2. The most incontrovertible.
3. The most constant.
4. The most Christlike.
Conclusion:
We must learn
practise
and preach the Bible. The last can only be done by
those who have accomplished the first and second. (Homilist.)
Ezra the scribe
I. His private
character.
1. I would call him a manly man. The most uncouth
ignorant country
clodhopper may be drilled into being a common soldier
who may pass muster with
his fellows in a review. But there are few men who can become great generals.
Many are able and willing to follow a leader
but there are only too few who
have the power to lead others. In the Church as well as in the State our great
want is men
manly men.
2. He was a godly man. It is not always the case that great men are
godly men also. Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord his God
and to do it; and that added to his greatness.
3. He was a man of discernment. For himself he found it was wisest
and best to seek the law of the Lord and to do it. He saw also that it was
righteousness for the nation as well as the individual.
II. Ezra in the
discharge of his public duties.
1. As the leader of the returning exiles he was scrupulously honest.
2. He showed boundless trust in the protection of God.
3. As the ruler of the people in Jerusalem he identified himself with
the people under him. (James Menzies.)
Ezra’s exemplary conduct
Contemplate its chief features.
I. The acquisition
of divine truth for himself. In aiming at this attainment he adopted--
1. The right method. He sought for it.
2. The right manner. “He had prepared”--i.e.
fixed or
set--“his heart to seek the law of the Lord.”
3. The right place.
II. The embodiment
of divine truth in his life. Knowledge misapplied is--
1. Useless (Matthew 7:21-27; James 1:25).
2. An occasion of condemnation (Luke 12:47-48).
III. The
communication of divine truth to others. He taught others both by his speech
and by his action. Merely verbal teaching will not bear comparison with that
which is also of the character and conduct. The latter is--
1. More intelligible.
2. More continuous.
3. More influential. (William Jones.)
The Christian ministry
We have here pointed out some indispensable qualifications for an
able minister of the New Testament.
I. Devotedness to
God’s word.
II. Public
instruction. (The Preacher’s Portfolio.)
Divine sequence in service
Everything in its due order is a universal law. This applies to
Sabbath-school teaching.
I. There must be
diligent searching for the law of Genesis
II. There must be a
hearty doing of the discovered will. Alas 1 for him who seeks to teach others
laws which he himself does not obey
and to enforce commands which he himself
defies.
III. Then may we
teach the law of the Lord. Let us give heed to this sequence. It is taught in
many parts of Scripture; but let Ezra’s embodiment of it make it plain. (Sunday
School Teacher.)
A mind saturated with Scripture
The late Sydney Dobell
poet and philosopher
and devout
Christian
has this remark:
“The more exquisite your sense of beauty becomes
the dearer will the Holy
Scripture become to you
the more natural and indispensable will the wisest and
grandest of its sayings become to your heart and mind--as wings to the air
as
feet to the ground
as light to the eyes; you will feel certain that the mind
was created for the saying
and the saying for the mind. I learned at one
period of my life the whole New Testament by rote
and I cannot unlearn the
beauty of those sweet old Saxon phrases in which I thought so long. Full of
‘the light that never was on sea or shore
’ I feel
in using them
to mingle a
new element with earthly speech and to relieve
in some sort
with their glory
the dreary lifelessness of words.”
Testimonies to the Bible
“In this book
” said Ewald to Dean Stanley
“is all the wisdom of
the world.” “That book
” said Andrew Jackson
as he lay on his death-bed
“is
the rock on which our republic rests.” Said the great chemist Faraday
“Why
will people go astray when they have this blessed book to guide them?” “If we
be ignorant
” say the translators of 1611
“the Scriptures will instruct us; if
out of the way
they will bring us home; if out of order
they will reform us;
if in heaviness
they will comfort us; if dull
quicken us; if cold
inflame
us.” Hooker said
“There is scarcely any part of knowledge worthy of the mind
of man but from Scripture it may have some direction and light.” Theodore
Parker said
“The literature of Greece
which goes up like incense from that
land of temples
has not half the influence of this book of a despised nation.
The sun never sets upon its gleaming pages.” Heine
the infidel
said
“What a
book! Vast and wide as the world
rooted in the abysses of creation
and
towering up behind the blue secrets of heaven. Sunrise and sunset
promise and
fulfilment
birth and death
the whole drama of humanity
all in this book.” (Sunday
School Times.)
Study of the Scriptures
The Abbe Wincklemann
a classical writer on the fine arts
after
descanting with great zeal on the perfection of sculpture
as exhibited in the
Apollo Belvedere
said to the students
“Now go and study it
and if you see no
beauty in it
go again and again
go until you feel it
for be assured it is
there.” So we say to the Bible student
“Go and study the Scripture
and if at
first you discover no beauty
go until you feel the power of its glorious
truths
for be assured it is there.” (J. Bawden Allen.)
The Scriptures a safeguard of a nation
If we wish to know what the Christian tradition has done
for us
we must examine the moral standards of nations who have differed from
us in not having it. For example
we must look at the Greeks of the fifth
century before Christ
or the Romans at or after the period of the Advent. The
Christian faith and the Holy Scriptures arm us with the means of neutralising
and repelling the assaults of evil in and from ourselves. Mist may rest upon
the surrounding landscape
but our own path is always visible. (W. E.
Gladstone.)
The inestimable value of the Scriptures
Dr. Smith
of Edinburgh
preaching recently
said the Scriptures
were an unalienable treasure of the Church
and urged his hearers to make a
more diligent use of them. He told of an Australian farmer
who for years tried
vainly to make a competence out of his soil. He transferred it at a low price
to a neighbour
who shortly discovered a priceless mine upon the property.
“So
” the preacher said
“we are apt to forget that underneath the newspapers
and novels which cumber our tables
lies a small volume which is worth
inestimably more than all of them.”
The Scriptures a winding splendour
Passing from Bonn to Coblentz
on the Rhine
the scenery is
comparatively tame. But from Coblentz to Mayence it is enchanting. You sit on
deck
and feel as if this last flash of beauty must exhaust the scene; but in a
moment there is a turn of the river
which covers up the former view with more
luxuriant vineyards
and more defiant castles
and bolder bluffs
vine-wreathed
and grapes so ripe that if the hills be touched they would bleed
their rich life away into the bowels of Bingen and Hockheimer. Here and there
there are streams of water melting into the river
like smaller joys swallowed in the
bosom of a great gladness. And when night begins to throw its black mantle over
the shoulder of the hills
and you are approaching disembarkation at Mayence
the lights along the shore fairly bewitch the scene with their beauty
giving
one a thrill that he feels but once
yet that lasts him for ever. So this river
of God’s Word is not a straight stream
but a winding splendour--at every turn
new wonders to attract
still riper vintage pressing to the brink
and crowded
castles of strength--Stolzenfels and Johannisberger as nothing compared with
the strong tower into which the righteous run and are saved--and our
disembarkation at last
in the evening
amid the lights that gleam from the
shore of heaven. The trouble is
that the vast majority of Bible voyagers stop
at Coblentz
where the chief glories begin. (Christian Age.)
Verses 1-10
Ezra the son of Seraiah.
Ezra the distinguished
Consider Ezra
as--
I. A man of
distinguished ancestry.
II. A man of
distinguished attainments.
III. A man in the
enjoyment of distinguished favours.
IV. A man of
distinguished influence.
V. A man of
distinguished success.
VI. A man of
distinguished aim. He aimed at--
1. The acquisition of the highest knowledge.
2. The practice of the highest knowledge.
3. The impartation of the highest knowledge.
VII. man of
distinguished blessing. (William Jones.)
And he was a ready scribe
in the law of Moses.
Scribism
Scribism was one of the remarkable features of the later days of
Israel. Its existence in so much prominence showed that religion had passed
into a new phase
that it had assumed a literary aspect. At first in their
religious life the Jews did not give much heed to literary documents. Priestism
was regulated by traditional usages rather than by written directions
and
justice was administered under the kings according to custom
precedent
and
equity. Quite apart from the discussion concerning the antiquity of the
Pentateuch
it is certain that its precepts were neither used nor known in the
time of Josiah
when the reading of the roll discovered in the temple was
listened to with amazement. Still less did prophetism rely on literary
resources. What need was there of a book when the Spirit of God was speaking
through the audible voice of a living man? The function of the scribes was to
collect the sayings and traditions of earlier ages
to arrange and edit the
literary fragments of more original minds. Scribism rose when prophecy
declined. It was a melancholy confession that the fountains of living water
were drying up. It was like an aqueduct laboriously constructed in order to
convey stored water to a thirsty people from distant reservoirs. Moreover
scribism degenerated into rabbinism
the scholasticism of the Jews. We may see
its counterpart in the Catholic scholasticism which drew supplies from
patristic tradition
and again in Protestant scholasticism--which comes nearer
to the source of inspiration in the Bible
and yet which stiffened into a
traditional interpretation of Scripture
confining its waters to iron pipes of
orthodoxy. (W. F. Adeney
M. A.)
According to the hand of
the Lord his God upon him.--
God’s helping hand
Ezra was wonderfully blessed in his desire and effort to restore
Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Seemingly
the power and the blessing which
served Ezra so signally was all from “the king
” but really it was all from
Ezra’s “God
” whose will disposed the king’s heart
whose providence guided
every step
and whose power and Spirit gave efficiency and success to every
plan and effort. And so it is in all human planning and effort. The success is
just in the measure of “God’s hand upon us.” If we rise up to build
and do not
first enlist His gracious approval
providential interposition
and Spirit’s
agency
our best efforts will miscarry or prove disastrous. If we plan a
revival
and put in requisition the agencies
and will the conversion of
sinners
we shall be sadly disappointed
if we do not first
by prayer and preparation
array God the Lord on our side
and get hold of His “outstretched arm of
salvation.” It is easy to work
and glorious are the results--all human
agencies so readily fall into line and aid us--when the hand of the Lord our
God is upon us. The application
the lesson
is therefore obvious--
1. Prayer lies at the foundation of all wise planning and all
successful effort to advance Christ’s kingdom in the world.
2. God’s hand must be upon us--His providence must be enlisted in our
behalf--there must be co-operation between the Divine and the human.
3. The secret of declension
of abounding evil
of the lack of
converting power in the Church
of the dearth of revivals
is to be found in
the fact that God’s hand is not upon us
because of the lack of faith and
prayer. (J. M. Sherwood
D. D.)
For upon the first day of
the first month.--
New Year’s Day
(a talk with children):--The Bible attaches a great deal of
importance to first things; the first-fruits of the earth were sacred
the
first batch of bread was a consecrated batch
the first hour of the day
the
first day of the week
the first week of the month
the first month of the
year
the first year in seven years
and above all the first day of the first
month
or in other words “New Year’s Day
” were considered specially important.
It was on New Year’s Day that the waters of the deluge finally dried up; it was
on New Year’s Day that the tabernacle was set up for the first time
that the
temple was completely consecrated in the days of Hezekiah; and it was on New
Year’s Day that the captives in Babylon began their march out of captivity on their
return to Canaan under Ezra. Now if you will just remember these four striking
instances you will say that New Year’s Day has a very important history. How
monotonous life would be if there were not something new every day! Why you
know that little baby boy at home wants a fresh toy every day. The old toys
soon become uninteresting and he wants a new one constantly. Now you used to be
the same when you were a very little boy
and you are not very different from
that now. All through your little life you have been glad of any little change
that gives a novelty and freshness to it. God thinks of all that
and therefore
He gives you one thing at a time that will be likely to interest you; and when
you have made use of that He gives you another and still another. He gives you
life moment by moment
hour by
hour
day by day. One day is in one sense very much like the other; and yet not
two days are alike
especially when you think of the experiences of each day.
Every day has something fresh in it; and God ordains all that in order to make
you happy and to enable you to learn constantly
from some experience which
each day teaches you
something you have not learnt before. This is specially
true with regard to the first day of the New Year. You remember when at school
you had a copy book given you. When you had it first of all it was a clean and
charming copy book. When you began to write you took a great deal of trouble
especially with the first page. There was not a mistake or blot
or careless
line on the whole page. The second page had just one little mistake. Then the
third
perhaps
had a blot
and then you got rather careless
and hurried over
some of the pages as you drew near the end of your copy book. Your teacher was
probably vexed with you because you had not improved as you proceeded with it;
then you felt ashamed of yourself
and said
“I wish I could begin again.” The
day at length came when you got a new copy book
and you were permitted to
begin again. Now that is just as God deals with you. He gave you a fine copy
book last year--it had 365 pages
and clean throughout; and you were expected
to write your very best on those pages. I know some of you tried the first day
or two
and now and then you tried again; but some of you got rather careless and
restless as you advanced. Here and there you did that which was wrong
and that
in each case left a blot behind. The Master took note of it
and there it is
now in His presence. You cannot be very proud of your last year’s history. Yet
to-day the Lord says
“I know all about it; but I will give you a new copy
book; and will put that old one aside and forget all about it. I will forgive
you; but you must try to do better with this new copy book. Do your very best.
If you cannot write as you would
ask Me to help you
and I will take your hand
and guide it
and will help you to do what is right and well-pleasing in My
sight.” When I was a boy at school we used to have in our copy books what we
called a script line on the top of the page. We used to copy that. Now the
Saviour has put the script line over every day for us. It is His own writing
and we have to copy it. (D. Davies.)
New Year’s Day
The name of Fernando de Magellan is not so well known as it should
be. ‘Tis over 350 years ago since he first discovered for us the Pacific Ocean
and to reach it he had to go through the Straits which have ever since borne
his name--straits extending hundreds of miles
sometimes narrowing to the
breadth of a broad river
and again expanding to the breadth of seas. What a
day that was when
after long windings to and fro
his ships entered the waters
of the Pacific! These were the first keels which ploughed it. His ships came
back
but their brave commander never did; the silent sea which had beckoned
him on lured him to his death. Is it much different with the boom of the clock
which tells us we have entered on the unknown stretch of a New Year? I think
not; we are all voyaging
and no ship has gone in advance into the New Year.
What lies ahead of us? No one knows
and no one needs to know. The important
thing is
that with all our tacking to and fro we are seeking to drop our
anchor at last in the good haven. If that is our aim
and we are prayerful and
earnest about it
it matters little what the year has in store for us: all will prove well
and rightly done in the end. Bend heart and head to this
and leave all else
with God. (J. Reid Howatt.)
For Ezra had prepared his
heart to seek the law of the Lord
and to do it.--
Man’s duty in relation to God’s redemptive truth
The text indicates man’s duty in relation to God’s redemptive
truth. The “law” here refers undoubtedly not to God’s truth in general
but to
that truth which He has condescended to reveal to man as a fallen being. In
relation to this he has to do three things--
I. He has to learn
it. “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.” Two things are
to be attended to in our endeavours to attain a knowledge of the truth which
God has revealed to fallen man.
1. It must be sought for where it is to be found. Truth from God may
be found written in the volume of nature
in the facts of human history
in the
constitution of the human soul:
but the truth from God which man wants as a sinner is to be found in the Bible.
It must be sought for here; it is here under the cover of facts and histories
metaphors and poetries.
2. It must be sought for in the manner in which it is to be found.
There is a right way of seeking as well as a wrong way. “Ezra had prepared his
heart to seek” it. It must be sought--
II. He has to
practise it. Ezra had not only “prepared his heart to seek the law of the
Lord
” but “to do it.” The truth that God has revealed to sinners is not a
subject for mere speculative thought or logical debate
it is a practical
system.
1. The doing of it is essential to a thorough understanding of it.
“He that doeth the will of God shall know of the doctrine.” There are some
things that a man may understand without practising. A man may understand
architecture who has never built a house
agriculture who has never cultivated
a farm
but no one can understand theology unless he has practised it.
2. The doing of it is necessary in order to be really benefited by
it. Truth as ideas in the mind is only like floating clouds
rolling
undischarged over the barren soil; but truth as deeds is like living streams so
intersecting each other
and winding in every direction
as to touch the whole
region into life
verdure
and beauty.
III. He has to
preach it. “And to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” God’s truth to
sinners is to be taught by men. But none can teach it but those who have learnt
it and practised:
the right kind of preaching is life preaching. This life preaching is--
1. The most intelligible.
2. The most incontrovertible.
3. The most constant.
4. The most Christlike.
Conclusion:
We must learn
practise
and preach the Bible. The last can only be done by
those who have accomplished the first and second. (Homilist.)
Ezra the scribe
I. His private
character.
1. I would call him a manly man. The most uncouth
ignorant country
clodhopper may be drilled into being a common soldier
who may pass muster with
his fellows in a review. But there are few men who can become great generals.
Many are able and willing to follow a leader
but there are only too few who
have the power to lead others. In the Church as well as in the State our great
want is men
manly men.
2. He was a godly man. It is not always the case that great men are
godly men also. Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord his God
and to do it; and that added to his greatness.
3. He was a man of discernment. For himself he found it was wisest
and best to seek the law of the Lord and to do it. He saw also that it was
righteousness for the nation as well as the individual.
II. Ezra in the discharge
of his public duties.
1. As the leader of the returning exiles he was scrupulously honest.
2. He showed boundless trust in the protection of God.
3. As the ruler of the people in Jerusalem he identified himself with
the people under him. (James Menzies.)
Ezra’s exemplary conduct
Contemplate its chief features.
I. The acquisition
of divine truth for himself. In aiming at this attainment he adopted--
1. The right method. He sought for it.
2. The right manner. “He had prepared”--i.e.
fixed or set--“his
heart to seek the law of the Lord.”
3. The right place.
II. The embodiment
of divine truth in his life. Knowledge misapplied is--
1. Useless (Matthew 7:21-27; James 1:25).
2. An occasion of condemnation (Luke 12:47-48).
III. The
communication of divine truth to others. He taught others both by his speech
and by his action. Merely verbal teaching will not bear comparison with that
which is also of the character and conduct. The latter is--
1. More intelligible.
2. More continuous.
3. More influential. (William Jones.)
The Christian ministry
We have here pointed out some indispensable qualifications for an
able minister of the New Testament.
I. Devotedness to
God’s word.
II. Public
instruction. (The Preacher’s Portfolio.)
Divine sequence in service
Everything in its due order is a universal law. This applies to
Sabbath-school teaching.
I. There must be
diligent searching for the law of Genesis
II. There must be a
hearty doing of the discovered will. Alas 1 for him who seeks to teach others
laws which he himself does not obey
and to enforce commands which he himself
defies.
III. Then may we
teach the law of the Lord. Let us give heed to this sequence. It is taught in
many parts of Scripture; but let Ezra’s embodiment of it make it plain. (Sunday
School Teacher.)
A mind saturated with Scripture
The late Sydney Dobell
poet and philosopher
and devout
Christian
has this remark:
“The more exquisite your sense of beauty becomes
the dearer will the Holy
Scripture become to you
the more natural and indispensable will the wisest and
grandest of its sayings become to your heart and mind--as wings to the air
as
feet to the ground
as light to the eyes; you will feel certain that the mind
was created for the saying
and the saying for the mind. I learned at one
period of my life the whole New Testament by rote
and I cannot unlearn the
beauty of those sweet old Saxon phrases in which I thought so long. Full of
‘the light that never was on sea or shore
’ I feel
in using them
to mingle a
new element with earthly speech and to relieve
in some sort
with their glory
the dreary lifelessness of words.”
Testimonies to the Bible
“In this book
” said Ewald to Dean Stanley
“is all the wisdom of
the world.” “That book
” said Andrew Jackson
as he lay on his death-bed
“is
the rock on which our republic rests.” Said the great chemist Faraday
“Why
will people go astray when they have this blessed book to guide them?” “If we
be ignorant
” say the translators of 1611
“the Scriptures will instruct us; if
out of the way
they will bring us home; if out of order
they will reform us;
if in heaviness
they will comfort us; if dull
quicken us; if cold
inflame
us.” Hooker said
“There is scarcely any part of knowledge worthy of the mind
of man but from Scripture it may have some direction and light.” Theodore Parker
said
“The literature of Greece
which goes up like incense from that land of
temples
has not half the influence of this book of a despised nation. The sun
never sets upon its gleaming pages.” Heine
the infidel
said
“What a book!
Vast and wide as the world
rooted in the abysses of creation
and towering up
behind the blue secrets of heaven. Sunrise and sunset
promise and fulfilment
birth and death
the whole drama of humanity
all in this book.” (Sunday
School Times.)
Study of the Scriptures
The Abbe Wincklemann
a classical writer on the fine arts
after
descanting with great zeal on the perfection of sculpture
as exhibited in the
Apollo Belvedere
said to the students
“Now go and study it
and if you see no
beauty in it
go again and again
go until you feel it
for be assured it is
there.” So we say to the Bible student
“Go and study the Scripture
and if at
first you discover no beauty
go until you feel the power of its glorious
truths
for be assured it is there.” (J. Bawden Allen.)
The Scriptures a safeguard of a nation
If we wish to know what the Christian tradition has done
for us
we must examine the moral standards of nations who have differed from
us in not having it. For example
we must look at the Greeks of the fifth
century before Christ
or the Romans at or after the period of the Advent. The
Christian faith and the Holy Scriptures arm us with the means of neutralising
and repelling the assaults of evil in and from ourselves. Mist may rest upon
the surrounding landscape
but our own path is always visible. (W. E.
Gladstone.)
The inestimable value of the Scriptures
Dr. Smith
of Edinburgh
preaching recently
said the Scriptures
were an unalienable treasure of the Church
and urged his hearers to make a
more diligent use of them. He told of an Australian farmer
who for years tried
vainly to make a competence out of his soil. He transferred it at a low price
to a neighbour
who shortly discovered a priceless mine upon the property.
“So
” the preacher said
“we are apt to forget that underneath the newspapers
and novels which cumber our tables
lies a small volume which is worth
inestimably more than all of them.”
The Scriptures a winding splendour
Passing from Bonn to Coblentz
on the Rhine
the scenery is
comparatively tame. But from Coblentz to Mayence it is enchanting. You sit on
deck
and feel as if this last flash of beauty must exhaust the scene; but in a
moment there is a turn of the river
which covers up the former view with more
luxuriant vineyards
and more defiant castles
and bolder bluffs
vine-wreathed
and grapes so ripe that if the hills be touched they would bleed
their rich life away into the bowels of Bingen and Hockheimer. Here and there
there are streams of water melting into the river
like smaller joys swallowed in the
bosom of a great gladness. And when night begins to throw its black mantle over
the shoulder of the hills
and you are approaching disembarkation at Mayence
the lights along the shore fairly bewitch the scene with their beauty
giving
one a thrill that he feels but once
yet that lasts him for ever. So this river
of God’s Word is not a straight stream
but a winding splendour--at every turn
new wonders to attract
still riper vintage pressing to the brink
and crowded
castles of strength--Stolzenfels and Johannisberger as nothing compared with
the strong tower into which the righteous run and are saved--and our
disembarkation at last
in the evening
amid the lights that gleam from the
shore of heaven. The trouble is
that the vast majority of Bible voyagers stop
at Coblentz
where the chief glories begin. (Christian Age.)
Verses 11-27
Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes.
The office and duty of the civil magistrate
It is the office of a Christian magistrate to encourage and
protect good men in the exercise of religion
Dora by his own example and
wholesome laws
and to promote true religion in his dominions. Thus far the
good magistrates among Jews
heathens
and Christians have proceeded to their
lasting honour and commendation; but those who acted on the contrary have been
branded with infamy and contempt. Joshua
the Judges
David
Solomon and Asa
Jehoshaphat
Joash
Hezekiah and others
destroyed idolatry
erected altars
ordered the courses of the priests
built and repaired the temple
collected
and disposed of money for those charges
caused the Passover and other
religious duties to be celebrated
and wrought a glorious reformation in true
religion
when the priests and Levites were negligent in their office.
Nebuchadnezzar
Cyrus
Darius
Artaxerxes
the King of Nineveh
Alexander the
Great
and Seleucus
etc.
made decrees through all their dominions to worship
the true God; they set His people at liberty
ordered them to rebuild the
temple to the Lord God of heaven
allowed timber
salt
and similar charges for
the sacrifices out of their own treasury; they required the prayers of God’s
people for themselves
their families and dominions
they protected them from
their adversaries and appointed solemn fasts
etc. Lycurgus
Numa
and Solon
made laws concerning religion in Athens
Rome
and Sparta; Timoleon
Augustus
and others rebuilt and endowed all the temples that had fallen into decay in
Crete and about Rome. Judas Maccabeus repaired the breaches
purchased holy
vessels and instruments for the service of the temple
pulled down the idols
and cleansed the sanctuary from the profanation of Antiochus Epiphanes
chose
priests of a blameless conversation
and appointed an anniversary festival in
commemoration of the reparation of the temple which our Saviour honoured with His
own presence (John 10:22). Constantine published
several edicts in favour of Christian religion
granting to all professors the
free exercise of it; he destroyed the idol temples
restored the former places
of worship to them
and built several magnificent churches and gave great gifts
to them; he also commanded fine copies of the Bible to be made. When the heresy
of Arius infected the Church
he assembled the first General Council at Nice
consisting of
318 bishops from all quarters of the empire. He banished Arius and burnt his
books
he settled the time for the keeping of Easter
and made many good laws
for the discipline and government of the Church. Theodosius
Justinian
and
others of his successors thought it their duty to enact good laws for the establishment of the
true religion. The British
Saxon
and English princes have been as active
therein as other Christian monarchs
for King Lucius sent a letter to
Eleutherins
Bishop of Rome
desiring his directions to make him a Christian;
he also turned some heathen temples into Christian churches and built and
endowed others at his own charges. Ethelbert kindly received and main tained
Augustine and his companions
Edward the Confessor built and granted great
privileges to the Abbey of Westminster
and made many excellent laws for the benefit and protection
of the Church
which were rather the laws of his predecessors than those of his
own making. William the Conqueror at his coronation took an oath that he should
defend the Church of Christ
and all our monarchs have done the like. By Act of
Parliament the sovereign is declared to be supreme Head of the Church
and has
the glory of being described as Defender of the Faith. (Philoclesius.)
The commission of Artaxerxes
It indicated a spirit of--
I. Great reverence
for God.
II. Profound
respect for the law of God.
III. Sincere regard
the worship of God.
IV. Hearty
appreciation of the character of a good man. His liberal gifts may be exhibited
as--
1. A rebuke to the parsimony of many Christians.
2. An example to all Christians. (William Jones.)
Verses 15. The Lord God of
Israel
whose habitation is in Jerusalem.
Jevoah’s habitation
I. This holy
alliance: “The
God of Israel.” We have here--
1. A description of God and His Church. The “God of Israel” includes
both. Israel His Church; and the God that claims it; a living God amidst a
living people.
2. Infinitude associated with a royal seed. Israel signifies a
prevailing prince before God.
3. A veritable portion on both sides. “The Lord’s portion is His
people’; “The Lord is my portion
saith my soul.
4. The living connection between God and His people constitutes the
stronghold of faith.
II. His habitation.
He dwells--
1. In “the Jerusalem which is above.”
2. In the living Church of God which was typified by Jerusalem.
3. In the Jerusalem of every regenerated soul. (J. Irons.)
Verse 23
Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven
let it be diligently
done.
The decree of Artaxerzes
It is remarkable that some of the richest effusions of poetry in
the whole Scriptures proceeded from heathen monarchs
e.g.
Darius and
Nebuchadnezzar. Consider these words--
I. In reference to
the Jewish church.
1. The state of the Jewish Church at this time is not unlike to that
in which it was in the days of Ezra. It is impossible to behold them in their
religious services
and not to see how thick s veil is yet upon their hearts.
Nor do they manifest any respect for their own law in its sublimer precepts. Of
real holiness of heart and life they are ignorant in the extreme.
2. But to us is given
no less than to Ezra
a command to advance
their welfare.
3. In this work we should engage with all diligence (Romans 11:30-31).
II. In reference to
the church which is amongst us.
1. We need to have God’s work advanced in our midst.
2. We ought to engage in this work with our whole hearts. Conclusion:
We ought to obey this imperial mandate--
1. In a way of personal reformation.
2. In a way of ministerial exertion. (C. Simeon
M. A.)
Christian missions
We may well sit at the feet of Artaxerxes and learn from heathen
lips the extent of our duty and the nature of our obligations. We plead for
missions.
I. To assign some
reasons for active devotedness to the cause of God in the world.
1. From the Divine authority by which it is enjoined. It “is
commanded by the God of heaven.” We love to see the estimate of Christian
duties from the men of the world. They often take a just measure of our
obligations. The law of love to the perishing heathen is clearly laid down. God
makes man the medium of His blessings to man. The same God who bids us “believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ” that we may be saved bids us “go into all the world
”
etc. We should like to see inscribed over all our missionary institutions the
law
“Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you
do ye even so to them.”
2. From the urgent necessity which exists for your exertions.
3. From the fearful consequences of the neglect of this duty. “For
why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?”
4. From the success which has attended the fulfilment of this duty.
II. To offer some
suggestions as to the spirit and mode in which this work should be carried on.
1. Earnestly
without remissness. “Let it be diligently done.”
2. Prayerfully.
3. Speedily. (Samuel Thodey.)
Verse 27-28
Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers
which hath put such a
thing as this in the king’s heart.
Kings of Persia--nursing fathers of the Church
The book of Ezra contains an interesting record of the dealings of
God in His providence towards His visible Church under the Persian Empire. That
empire performed important services for the Church--a brief consideration of
which as they are recorded in the first seven chapters of Ezra will exhibit
wonderful instances of the watchful care of Providence for the Church
and open
up the way for the following inferences:
I. The decree of
artaxerxes was right in the judgment of God as well as in the judgment of the
church. Ezra gives thanks to God for this decree and ascribes the procuring of
it to the immediate hand of God.
II. That it is of
great importance to obtain the countenance and aid of the civil power in favour
of the visible church in all ages. It is true God can preserve and increase His
Church without the aid and in spite of the opposition of kings and rulers. It
multiplied amidst the exterminating persecution in Egypt; and it was not lost
during the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon; and for three hundred years
after Christ the Church was generally persecuted by the civil powers
and yet multiplied
exceedingly. But still opposition by the civil powers
and much more
persecution
is in itself an evil; and the nursing care of the kings of the
earth is s great blessing to the Church.
III. If civil aid
and countenance be so important to the church
it is the duty of all who love
the prosperity of jerusalem to endeavour to obtain it. Ezra did so (verse 6)
“And the king granted him all his request according to the hand of the Lord his
God upon him.”
IV. We ought not to
be discouraged from seeking the adequate support of the state by the apparent
improbability of obtaining it. “Who art thou
O great mountain?” said the
prophet Zechariah
in reference to the usurping Persian king
stirred up by the
enemies of the Church
“before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain” (Zechariah 4:6-7).
V. The friends of
religion and the church ought not to be unduly concerned which party is up or
which is down. When the friends of the Church are uppermost
give thanks
like
Ezra
to God
who putteth it into the heart of the king to beautify His house.
When the enemies are uppermost
do as David did
when he encouraged himself in
the Lord his God.
VI. The friends of
the church ought not to be much moved either by the flatteries or the threats
of the enemies.
VII. The church
needs
and is entitled to
the private liberality of individuals as well as the
public support of the nation. Large and liberal as were the government grants
by Darius
Cyrus
and Artaxerxes
yet the voluntary liberality of the private
Jews was called into exercise. So it was in the time of Moses and the kings
and so it must be as it has been in the times of the gospel.
VIII. The church of
god ought not to be treated either by individuals or nations in a mean and
niggardly manner. Artaxerxes had not to build the temple--that was done
already--but he beautified it; he laid out money on it
as some would say
unnecessarily and extravagantly. But Ezra thanks God for putting such a thing
as this into the king’s heart
to beautify the house of God.
IX. As it is the
duty of all to serve and glorify God
so no one is exempted from the duty of
supporting His true church.
X. We ought not to
refuse to add to the number of ministers and buildings in the church until the
church is perfectly reformed.
XI. The aid of
government to the extension of the church is the rich giving to the poor.
XII. Let us not
think that we shall grow poor if we give much to God. (W. Mackenzie.)
Exemplary praise
I. The true
offerers of praise. Ezra exhibits in these verses--
1. Unaffected humility.
2. Sincere piety.
3. Practical religiousness.
II. The grand
object of praise.
1. The Supreme Being.
2. The Supreme Being in covenant relation with His worshippers.
3. The Supreme Being whom our fathers worshipped.
III. Good reasons
for praise.
1. God inspires the worthy purposes of men.
2. He beneficently influences the moral judgments of men.
3. He invigorates the heart and life of His servants. (William
Jones.)
To beautify the house of
the Lord which is in Jerusalem.
God’s love of the beautiful
One of the desires common to humanity is the desire for what is
beautiful. We need not go far for evidence of this universal feeling. It is
seen declaring itself in the little flower that lends a nameless grace to the
cottage window
in many a simple ornament and picture to be found in the homes
of labour and in the preference given to some spot favoured with more than
usual sweetness and charm. The desire for beauty and the expressions of it are
the creation of the Divine inbreathing. To limit human conduct to what is
strictly useful would impoverish existence and rob it of half its interest and
grace. If utility were to be the sole standard of human action
the mother
would be forbidden to kiss her child and the mourner to shed a tear at the graveside
of a friend. According to this
to admire the glowing sunset or to lift our
eyes in wonder to the star-spangled sky would be foolishness. The spires and
monuments of our cities
the ornamental facings of our buildings
the taste and
skill displayed in the laying out of our public parks and gardens
according to
this system of appraisement
would be wasteful and worthless. Man desires
beauty in the house of God because of its fittingness; we feel it to be in
harmony with God’s works above and around us to introduce something of the
beautiful into the house of prayer and praise. The feeling of hostility in the
presence of flagrant abuses of art is now passing away. There is no inevitable
alliance between artistic arrangement and idolatrous practices-superstition
need never be the offspring of the beautiful; and if good taste is desirable in
the home
there is even stronger reason to give it fitting expression in the house of God. We are
learners in the school of One who was greater than the temple
One who was
altogether lovely
whose loveliness was the loveliness of perfect deeds
and
whose beauty was the beauty of holiness. With this beauty we must adorn life’s
daily temple
taking care that no image of falsehood
uncleanness
or dishonour
mars its fairness and grieves the Holy Spirit that would dwell within. (W.
Proudfoot
M. A.)
Beauty in God’s house
So long as our streets are walled with barren brick
and our eyes
rest continually
in our daily life
on objects utterly ugly
or of
inconsistent and meaningless design
it may be a doubtful question whether the
faculties of eye and mind which are capable of perceiving beauty
having been
left without food during the whole of our active life
should suddenly be
feasted upon entering a place of worship
and colour and music and sculpture
should delight the senses and stir the curiosity of men unaccustomed to such
appeal
at the moment when they are required to compose themselves for acts of
devotion; but it cannot be a question at all
that if once familiarised with
beautiful form and colour
we shall desire to see this also in the house of
prayer; its absence will disturb instead of assisting devotion; and we shall
feel it as vain to ask whether
with our own house full of goodly
craftsmanship
we should worship God in a house destitute of it as to ask
whether a pilgrim
whose day’s journey has led him through fair woods and by
sweet waters
must at evening turn aside into some barren place to pray. (J.
Ruskin.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》