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S. N. HASKELL

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 25, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 26.

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S. N. HASKELL

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

Nehemiah—No. 1

S. N. HASKELL

The character of Nehemiah can be studied with profit by Christians in every walk of life. He was truly an “all-round character.” We find him presented as a business man, a contractor and a builder; an organizer, a governor, and a reformer, and with it all a God-fearing Christian and a Bible student.
The position he held as cup-bearer to the Persian king was a very important one. The artist has represented Nehemiah as a youth standing before the king; instead of that he was a man in the prime of life. The cup-bearer held in his power the life of the king, and none except the most trusted subjects were permitted to fill that office. Like Daniel, he won the respect of the king. This was shown by the king’s refusing to let him go to Jerusalem until Nehemiah set the date of his return.
Nehemiah had grasped the magnitude of the whole work in his mind; he decided it would be of no use to go up to Jerusalem unless ample provision was made for the work; and, in his first request to the king, he asked for sufficient timber to complete the work and for royal authority to carry the whole undertaking through without interruption. Neh. 2: 5-10.
His wisdom is shown also in his taking a critical survey of the whole situation before he began the work. He evidently planned the completed work in his mind before he began to build, thus he was able to make every stroke count when the work was started. Neh. 2: 12-16.
His ability as an organizer, as well as a builder, was shown in the building of the wall. No ordinary mind could have organized the whole force of Israel into one band of workers as Nehemiah did.
When we remember that he accomplished in fifty-two days a work that the various leaders in Israel had been trying to accomplish for nearly one hundred years, we have a faint conception of the magnitude of the work.
Three distinct calls had been sounded throughout Babylon, calling all Israel to leave Babylon and build up the city and walls of Jerusalem; but the mass of Israel slumbered and slept amid the luxuries of Babylon. From childhood they had heard of the broken walls of Jerusalem; but it became to them as a pleasant song, a bit of sentiment, and failed to arouse them from their lethargy.
Daniel over ninety years before had said that the street and walls of Jerusalemshould be built within the first division of the two thousand, three hundred years. The time was drawing near. Thirteen years had passed since the last portion of the famous decree had gone forth, and, judging from the fact that so many years had been consumed in doing so little, it might seem an utter impossibility to complete the work within the prophesied time. But God’s word stands sure; and wherever a man will arise in his God-given strength to fulfil any prophecy God has given, God will stand by that man and work wonderfully through his efforts.
After Nehemiah had spent three months pondering over the report of the desolate condition of Jerusalem and seeking God for wisdom, he was prepared to come into the royal presence and fearlessly request the king to send him to Jerusalem. He had no doubt in his mind; he fully expected to build the wall of Jerusalem, and requested that he be given permission to go, saying, ‘That I may build it.’ Here is simple faith, and God did not disappoint him. If human eyes could have given heavenly vision, I think they would have seen myriads of angels working to help carry out every detail of that great work. What an intensity of interest there must have been in the heavenly hosts when the enemy came up to hinder the work, and persuade Nehemiah to come aside to counsel with them, or hide in the temple for fear! How all heaven must have rejoiced over that man, who stood like an iron wall to carry out the will of God in the face of every obstacle that Satan could place in his pathway! The work that might have been done under favorable conditions was accomplished under the most adverse circumstances. ‘Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’ 1 Cor. 10: 11.
For more than sixty years the first, second, and third angels’ messages have been sounding, calling God’s people away from the fated plains of Babylon, to build up the work of the Lord in the earth. Many have heard the call and gone out to do the work of God. But history repeats itself, and, like Israel of old, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, they are mixing with the world, losing the simple faith of the early message.
Our churches, many of them, are becoming much like the nominal churches around them; some worshipers think the seats are too crowded to kneel before the Lord, their Maker, and formally bow their heads while prayer is offered; and many of the youth do not even do that.
Business cares crowd out family prayers, and few parents among the professed people of God to-day find time to spend, even one hour a week studying the Bible with their households, when they should at least spend that much time daily. As a result of this, the church is weak and the work retarded; but the Lord has sent out the word, ‘He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.’ The work will be accomplished in this generation. The Lord will lay his Spirit upon individuals of simple faith, and, like Nehemiah, they will leave their places of business and go forth with power to accomplish the work. From the workshops and from the plow workers will go forth fearlessly to proclaim the last warning message, and no hands can be laid upon them to stop them. Like Nehemiah they will have one object before them; namely, the upbuilding of God’s cause in the earth, and nothing can hinder their work.
This will be the loud cry of the message. You who think the time is too short, and the work too great, to be accomplished in this generation, study how Nehemiah in fifty-two days built the whole wall that others had been nearly a century trying to build. Judah at that time thought the work was too great and the rubbish would surely hinder the work, but Judah was in communication with the enemy of the work, instead of the God of heaven, the commander of the work.
Be sure that your connection is with the God of heaven and not with the adversary of the work, lest you are among those that fail to come up to do your part in the loud cry of the message.
Oakland, Cal.