The Makers and Teachers of Judaism by Charles Foster Kent

C >> Charles Foster Kent >> The Makers and Teachers of Judaism

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The prophet's aim was to present so vividly the task and methods of the
true servant of Jehovah that all would recognize a personal call to duty.
He emphasizes three distinct yet related elements in the mission of the
servant. They were: (1) To free the prisoners from their captivity,
whether imprisoned by walls of stone or brick or under the tyranny of
fears and false ideas. (2) To restore the scattered tribes of Israel and
thus to lay the foundations for a renewed national life that would furnish
concrete evidence to all the world of Jehovah's power to deliver. (3) To
go beyond the narrow bounds of their race and to bring to the nations that
were groping in the darkness of heathenism the knowledge and truth that
had been imparted to Israel. Thus the unknown prophet laid the foundations
for that Kingdom of God, that dominion of God in nature and in the minds
of men that was the guide and inspiration of all later prophets and the
goal for whose realization the Great Teacher and Prophet of Nazareth
labored and died.

The prophet places great emphasis upon the training of Jehovah's servant.
He declares that from birth Jehovah formed him to be his servant. In
[50:4-7] he is spoken of as a trained disciple attentively listening to
the words of his divine teacher, never rebelling at the bitterness of the
needful discipline, but ever seeking to prepare himself to give to the
fainting a word of help. The steadfastness with which he endures shame and
bitter wrongs is the evidence of his ability as a disciple and an
essential part in his preparation for his exalted mission.

V. Methods of Jehovah's Servant. In accomplishing his task the servant
is to use definite instruction, but his teaching is to be illustrated by
his own character and attitude. By the voluntary, uncomplaining endurance
of ignominy and suffering he is to do Jehovah's work and win the grateful
recognition, not only of his divine Master, but of all succeeding
generations. Through a keen analysis of life the prophet had attained to a
clear appreciation of the inestimable value of voluntary self-sacrifice.
He saw that it was the most effective means of uplifting the race and
leading mankind to accept God's mastery over their minds and lives. The
truth here presented is illustrated in human experience as clearly to-day
as in the past. The self-denying service of parents is absolutely
essential if their children are to attain to the noblest manhood and
womanhood. Only through the self-sacrificing labors of those who love
their fellow-men can social evils be removed and society attain its
highest development. The low standards in the business and professional
world can be raised only as certain men, with the spirit and courage of
the ancient prophets, make their own personal interests and popularity
subservient to the rigorous demands of justice. It is the law of life that
he who would elevate the standards of his associates and thus lead men to
the fullest realization of the divine ideals must ordinarily do it in the
face of opposition, ignominy, and seeming failure. It is this quiet,
heroic self-sacrifice--the heroism of the commonplace--that the great
prophet proclaims is the absolutely essential characteristic of Jehovah's
servant. Despised by his contemporaries, the victim of persecution and
calamity, he must do his task, leaving the reward and the appreciation to
Jehovah and to the enlightened sense of later generations.

VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. The portrait is so concrete
that the question naturally arises, Who was the servant of whom the
prophet was speaking? Undoubtedly the tragic experiences of such prophets
as Jeremiah suggested many elements in the picture. For half a century
that faithful servant of Jehovah suffered, often shrinkingly, yet
voluntarily, a constant martyrdom. Upon him fell the persecutions of his
countrymen. Yet in the life of later Judaism those principles for which he
lived and died gained acceptance and application. Of him it may be truly
said:

He was numbered with trangressors,
And himself bore the sins of many,
And interposed for transgressors.

The unknown author of these immortal poems spoke out of the depth of his
own painful experience and doubtless in a large degree realized the
ideals of service which he thus effectively set forth. Those of his
contemporaries who, amidst persecution and insults, in their lives
embodied the ideals of the earlier prophets were crushed like Jeremiah
because of the iniquities of others; but by thus pouring out their
life-blood they brought healing to their race. Nehemiah, in responding to
the call of service and in turning his back upon the allurements of the
Persian court in order to rebuild the city of his fathers, proved himself
a faithful servant of Jehovah. With true insight the Christian Church
has always recognized that in the character and life of Jesus is found
the only complete realization of this ancient ideal of service. With the
immortal chapters of the II Isaiah he was clearly familiar, and from
them he doubtless received many suggestions regarding his divine mission
and the methods by which it was to be accomplished. Their author was
clearly speaking to his contemporaries; but in portraying the way in
which Jehovah's purpose in human history could alone be realized he
presented an ideal which has a permanent significance in the thought of
the human race, Paul rightly recognized that the same responsibility to
make this ideal a reality rested upon him, and all who would serve God,
when he quoted the words of 49:6 (cf. Acts 13:47):

"I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles
That thou shouldst be for salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth."

Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM

[Sidenote: Neh. 1:1-3]
Now in the month of Chislev [November-December, 446 B.C.], I was in
Shushan the royal palace, when Hanani, one of my kinsmen came, together
with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had
escaped, who were left from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And
they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity there in
the provinces are in great misfortune and reproach, and the wall of
Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire.

[Sidenote: Neh. 1:4-11b]
Now when I heard these statements I sat down and wept, and mourned certain
days; and I fasted and made supplication before the God of heaven, and I
said, 'I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and
terrible God, who keepeth the covenant and showeth kindness to them who
love and keep his commands; let thine ears now be attentive and thine eyes
open, to hear the supplication of thy servant, which I am now making
before thee, day and night, for the Israelites thy servants, while I
confess the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against thee, as
I also and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very wickedly
against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor
the ordinances, which thou didst command thy servant Moses. Remember, I
beseech thee, the word which thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying,
"If ye trespass I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; but if ye
return to me, and keep my commands and do them, then, though your outcasts
were at the ends of the earth, yet will I gather them thence and will
bring them to the place that I have chosen, there to cause my name to
dwell." Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed
by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let
thine ear be attentive to the supplication of thy servant, and to the
supplications of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and give
success to thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this
man.

[Sidenote: Neh. 1:11c-2:8]
Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month of
Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when I had charge of
the wine, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king, and I had not
beforetime been sad. And the king said to me, 'Why is your countenance
sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.'
Then I was greatly afraid, and I said to the king, 'Let the king live
forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of
my fathers' sepulchres, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed
by fire?' And then the king said to me, 'For what do you make request? So
I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it please the
king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would
send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may
rebuild it.' And the king said to me (and the queen was also sitting by
him), 'For how long will your journey be? And when will you return?' Then
it pleased the king to send me; for I set him a time. Moreover I said to
the king, 'If it please the king, let official letters be given me to the
governors of the province beyond the River, that they may let me pass
through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the
king's park, that he may give me the timber to make beams for the gates of
the castle, which belongs to the temple, and for the wall of the city, and
for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me this, according
to the hand of my God which kindly cared for me.

[Sidenote: Neh. 2:9-16]
Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the River, and gave
them the king's official letters. Now the king had sent with me military
officers and horsemen. And when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the
Ammonite slave, heard of it, it troubled them exceedingly, that one had
come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. So I came to Jerusalem and was
there three days. And I arose in the night, together with a few of my
followers, and I told no man what my God had put into my heart to do for
Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, except the beast upon
which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate, toward the
Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate, and investigated carefully the walls
of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and where its gates had been
destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's
Pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then
I went up in the night by the Brook Kidron and investigated carefully the
wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.
And the rulers did not know where 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 who did the work.

[Sidenote: Neh. 2:17-20]
Then I said to them, 'You see the bad condition in which we are, how
Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come and let
us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more an object of
reproach.' And I told them of the hand of my God, which had kindly cared
for me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they
said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the
good work. But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite
slave, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they jeered at us and despised us,
and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against
the king?' Then I answered and said to them, 'The God of heaven, he will
give us success, for we his servants will proceed to build; but you shall
have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.'

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:1, 2]
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his kinsmen the priests and
built the Sheep Gate; they laid its beams and set up the doors, even to
the Tower of the Hundred, and to the Tower of Hananel. And next to him the
men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:3-5]
And the Fish Gate the sons of Hassenaah built; they laid its beams, and
set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Meremoth and
Meshullam and Zadok and the Tekoites repaired the wall; but their nobles
did not bend their necks in the service of their lord.

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:6-12]
And the Old Gate Joida repaired; they laid its beams, and set up its
doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite
and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, which belongs
to the jurisdiction of the governor of the province beyond the River,
repaired. Next to him Uzziel, one of the goldsmiths, repaired. And next to
him Hananiah, one of those who prepare sweet ointments, repaired. And they
fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall. And next to them Rephaiah,
the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. And next to them
Jedaiah repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush and Malchijah
and Hasshub repaired another section, even to the Tower of the Furnaces.
And next to him Shallum, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem,
together with its dependencies, repaired.

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:13, 14]
The Valley Gate Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired; they built
it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and also built a
thousand cubits of the wall to the Dung Gate. And the Dung Gate Malchijah,
the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, together with his sons,
repaired.

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:15-27]
And the Fountain Gate Shallun, the ruler of the district of Mizpah,
repaired; and he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its
bolts, and its bars, and he also built the wall of the Pool of Siloam by
the King's Garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.
After him Nehemiah, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, repaired to
the place opposite the Sepulchres of David, even to the pool that was made
and to the House of the Warriors. After him Rehum the son of Bani
repaired. Next to him Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah,
repaired for his district. After him their kinsmen Bennui, the ruler of
half the district of Keilah, repaired. And next to him Ezer, the ruler of
Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the
bend in the wall. After him Baruch repaired from the bend in the wall to
the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth
repaired another section, from the entrance to the house of Eliashib even
to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after him the priests, the men of
the Plain of the Jordan, repaired. After them Benjamin and Hasshub
repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah repaired beside his own
house. After him Binnui repaired another section, from the house of
Azariah to the bend in the wall and to the corner. After him Palal
repaired opposite the bend and the upper tower that stands out from the
royal palace of the king, which is toward the court of the guard. After
him Pedaiah repaired, to the place opposite the Water Gate toward the east
and the tower that stands out. After him the Tekoites repaired another
section, opposite the great tower that stands out and to the wall of
Ophel. And the temple servants dwelt in Ophel.

[Sidenote: Neh. 3:28-32]

Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own
house. After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house.
After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate,
repaired. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanum the sixth son
of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of
Berschiah repaired opposite his chamber. After him Malchijah, one of the
goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the
merchants, opposite the Gate of the Watch Tower and to the ascent of the
corner. And between the ascent of the corner and the Sheep Gate the
goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

[Sidenote: Neh. 4:1-5]
Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, his anger was
aroused and he was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke
before his kinsmen and the army of Samaria and said, 'What are these
feeble Jews doing? Will they leave it to God? Will they sacrifice?
Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the
heaps of rubbish, although they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was
with him, and he said, 'Even that which they are building, if a fox should
go up on it, he would break down their stone wall!' Hear, O our God--for
we are despised--and turn back their reproach upon their own head and give
them up as an object of spoil in a land of captivity, and cover not their
iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight, for they
have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

[Sidenote: Neh. 4:6-8]
So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its
height, for the people were eager to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah
and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, heard that the
restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing, so that the
breaches began to be stopped, they were very angry. And they all conspired
together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to produce a panic
therein.

[Sidenote: Neh. 4:9-14]
But we made supplication to our God, and set a watch as a protection
against them day and night. Then the Judean community said, 'The strength
of the burden-bearers is broken, for there is much rubbish; so that we
shall not be able to rebuild the wall. And our adversaries have said,
"They shall neither know nor see, until we come into their midst and slay
them and bring the work to a standstill."' And it came to pass that when
the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times, 'From all the
places where they dwell they will come up against us.' Therefore I
stationed in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the
protected places, I set there the people by their families with their
swords, their spears, and their bows. And when I saw their fear, I rose up
and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people,
'Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and
fight for your kinsmen, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your
homes.'

[Sidenote: Neh. 4:15-23]
And when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us and God had
brought it to nought, we all of us returned to the wall, each to his own
work. And from that time on, while half of my servants were engaged in the
work, half of them held the lances, the shields, the bows, and the coats
of mail; and the rulers stood behind all the house of Judah. Those who
built the wall and those who bore burdens were also armed, each with one
of his hands engaged in the work, and with the other was ready to grasp
his spear; and each of the builders had his sword girded by his side, and
so builded. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said to the
nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'The work is great
and extensive, and we are separated upon the wall far from each other. In
whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us; our
God will fight for us.' So we were active in the work, while half of them
held the lances from the gray of morning until the stars came out. Also I
said at that time to the people, Let each man with his servant lodge in
Jerusalem, that they may be a guard to us by night and may labor by day.
So neither I, nor my kinsmen, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard
who accompanied me, not one of us took off our clothes, each had his spear
in his hand.

[Sidenote: Neh. 6:1-9]
Now when it was reported to Sanballat and to Tobiah and to Geshem the
Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and
that there was no breach was left in it--though even to that time I had
not set up the doors in the gates--Sanballat and Geshem sent to me,
saying, 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of
Ono.' But they planned to do me injury. So I sent messengers to them,
saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should
the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?' And they sent to
me in this way four times, and I gave them the same answer. Then Sanballat
sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter
in his hand, in which was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and
Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel, and that this is
the reason you are building the wall, and that you would be their king,
and that you also have appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem,
saying, "There is a king in Judah." And now it will be reported to the
king to this effect. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel
together.' Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things have been done as
you say, but you have devised them in your own mind.' For they all would
have made us afraid, thinking, 'Their hands shall be weakened from the
work, that it may not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands.

[Sidenote: Neh. 6:10-14]
And when I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of
Mehetabel, who was shut up at home, he said, 'Let us meet together in the
house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple:
for they are coming to slay you in the night; yes, in the night they are
coming to slay you!' And I said, 'Should such a man as I flee? And how
could anyone like me [a layman] enter the chief room of the temple and
still live? I will not enter.' Then I perceived and it was clear that God
had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me, because
Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, that I should be alarmed and act
accordingly and sin; and it would have given them occasion for an evil
report, that they might reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and
Sanballat according to these their acts, and also the prophetess Noadiah
and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

[Sidenote: Neh. 6:15, 16]
So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in
fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard, all the surrounding
nations feared and fell in their own esteem, for they perceived that this
work had been done by our God.

[Sidenote: Neh. 6:17-19]
Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah,
and those of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah had taken oath to him,
because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah and his son
Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, as
wife. Also they praised his good deeds before me and reported my words to
him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

[Sidenote: Neh. 7:1-3]
Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the
porters and the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I placed my
brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the castle in charge of
Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and more God-fearing than many. And
I said to them, 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is
hot; and while watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and
bar them. Also appoint watches consisting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
every one in his watch and each opposite his own house.'

[Sidenote: Neh. 7:4, 5a]
Now the city was wide and large; but there were few people in it, and the
households were not large. Therefore my God put it into my mind to gather
together the nobles and the rulers and the people.

[Sidenote: Neh. 12: 31, 32, 37-40]
Then I had the rulers of Judah take their position upon the wall, and I
appointed two great companies that gave thanks, and the first went to the
right hand upon the wall toward the Dung Gate. And behind them went
Hoshaiah and half of the nobles of Judah. And by the Fountain Gate, they
went straight up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the
wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate on the east. And
the other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, and I after
them, with the half of the nobles of the people, upon the wall, above the
Tower of the Furnaces, even to the broad wall, and above the Gate of
Ephraim and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel
and the Tower of the Hundred, even to the Sheep Gate; and they stood in
the Gate of the Guard. So the two companies of those who gave thanks in
the house of God took their position, and I, and the half of the rulers
with me.

I. Nehemiah's Memoirs. Fortunately the author of the books of Ezra and
Nehemiah has quoted at length in the opening chapters of Nehemiah from the
personal memoirs of the noble patriot through whose activity the walls of
Jerusalem were restored. They are the best historical records in the Old
Testament and they shed clear, contemporary light upon this most important
period in the evolution of Judaism. The narrative is straightforward and
vivid. It lights up the otherwise dark period that precedes Nehemiah and
enables the historian to bridge with assurance the century that intervened
before the apocryphal book of I Maccabees throws its light upon the course
of Israel's troubled history. The detailed description of the rebuilding
of the walls in Nehemiah 3 is probably from the Chronicler, but it reveals
an intimate acquaintance with the topography and the later history of
Judah's capital.

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