FOOLISHNESS OF THE GLOBALISM DESIRE
"The joy of
Jerusalem was heard even afar off” Neh.
12:43
In this chapter we have an account of the commencement of
the solemn dedication of the wall. It would seem as though it had been
postponed for some considerable time. Differences of opinion exist as to the
length of time. Some place this dedication ceremony in immediate relation to
that which is recorded in the following chapter, which would place it twelve
years after the first coming of Nehemiah. Others say that the account given
here has reference to what took place within a few months of the actual
completion of the work. It is difficult to decide, and really the matter is of
no vital importance. The ceremony, whenever it took place, proceeded in three
stages. First, there were two great processionals, in which the appointed
singers chanted the praises of God. This was followed by the reading of the
Law and the consequent separation of the mixed multitude from the people of
God (Ch. 13). The present chapter is
principally occupied with the rejoicing, and in this connection the statement
is made that "The joy of Jerusalem
was heard even afar off." It was a great day, greater even than these
people knew. The reformers had sought to bring the remnant, weak and small
though it was numerically, back to a recognition of the deepest truth
concerning the NATIONAL life that; namely, of its relation to God. Their joy
that day was the joy of the Lord, and that was indeed their strength. All the
pomp and pageantry and material splendor of the days of the monarchy had passed;
but in that devotion to the Law, and to the purposes of God as manifested in
the building of the wall, there was more of moral power than the old days had
ever known, since the time when in THEIR THOUGHTLESSNESS, the people had CLAMORED
FOR A KING LIKE THE NATIONS (GLOBALIZATION OF ISRAEL).
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