1934 Bible Studies - page 194

BIBLE STUDIES.

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Levites, and we have all Israel giving these in the days of Jerubbabel, and Nehemiah.  In chapter 13. we have the reading of the book of Moses, and a confirmation of the covenant, and it is discovered that an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not come into the congregation of the LORD for ever.

In conclusion we have Jerusalem cleansed from all strangers, and the priests and Levites all in their God-appointed order and M. Hutchison, service.

From Barrow-in-Furness. --Underlying the Apostle’s words to the Corinthian believers as recorded in 2 Corinthians 8. 11, there is an important Biblical principle : it is not sufficient to have good desires, there must be the practical expression of those desires ere any good materialises.

In the days of the judges when Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, and divers of Ephraim and Manasseh responded so nobly to the call to arms, Reuben never got any further than his " great resolves of heart," excellent though they were, and in effect did just as much (just as little would be more correct) as sundry tribes in Israel who were complacently indifferent to their nation’s needs.  Poor Reuben ! deep down in the heart of Jacob’s first-born there seemed of ten-times to exist a desire to do the right, to act in a manly way, but hesitancy, indecisiveness and lack of " backbone " often caused him to fail at the crucial moment.  He was, shall we say, good in patches ; consistency was foreign to his character and his instability never raised him above the level of mediocrity.

The Lord did not speak in vain when through the media of parables He taught men the wisdom of sitting down and counting the cost ere they essayed to follow Him.  The one who blindly avers--" Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest," will almost certainly turn back at the first obstacle encountered.  In His call to men to follow Him, Christ never left them in ignorance of what the step involved.  He would not deceive them or allow them to think that earthly gain or ease would be their recompense, their reward was in Heaven, and in the interim they must expect suffering, but He bids them be of good cheer.  The disciple pathway may be rough and thorny at times, the conflict sharp and severe, but He assures them of never-failing aid despite His imminent departure and bids them be patient.

He will be away only " a little while " and His return will mean to them unalloyed and eternal joy.

We have sought to emphasise the futility of good resolutions that never take an active form and is this not the central lesson of the chapters before us, for of what value would be the solemn vows of chapter ten apart from the deeds of the succeeding chapters ?

In this picture of Remnant-Israel that concludes this series of studies, we have much food for thought.  Labouring in weakness and under many difficulties, the people of the LORD had attained to no mean state from the point of view of conduct God-ward, albeit the picture is somewhat spoiled by their quick lapse during Nehemiah’s enforced absence ; yet even from this failure as from all other failures of those who have gone before, we may profit; for as many a wreck has served to chart the oceans thus making for safer navigation for those who sail the seas, so do the mistakes and errors committed by men of generations past, serve as warnings and enable the heavenly traveller to make E. E. C.

straight paths for his feet.