|
Ruth
and Boaz
As Ruth enters into the land of Israel, she marks out the steps
that .we must take if we
The Cyrus Scroll
It is perhaps more appropriate to call this the “cylinder of
Cyrus” instead of “scroll.” This cylinder of adobe was found in
Persia. It is written in cuneiform scripture and the “old persian”
language. It says in part: “I am
Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of
Summer and Akkad, king of the four parts of the world, son of the great king
Cambyses, king of the city of Anzan, grandson of the great king Cyrus, king
of the city of Anzan … “When I entered peacefully into Babylon and put with majesty the
throne in the prince’s home, then Marduk opened to me the heart of
Babylonians. “In Babylon and in other cities I took care of the happiness of
inhabitants whose … “I let freedom to all men to worship their own gods and not
allowed to maltreat them or this … “I command that no house would be destroyed and no inhabitant
would be stolen …” For the complete text see The Cambridge Ancient History, p. 421.
The cylinder is now in the British Museum in London Remorse
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, Inspection
Precedes Reformation Nehemiah did not begin his work by chiding his brethren with
unfaithfulness to God or lack of enterprise, etc.; such a course would have
further discouraged them, and would have made them feel antagonistic, and
perhaps to say, “You will see how it is yourself when you are here a few
years,” and some would then have taken pleasure in his failure to do more
than they had accomplished. Neither did he begin by boastfully saying, “I
have come here to do such a work, and within an incredibly short time you
will see it accomplished; I will accomplish in days what you have failed to
accomplish in as many years.” To have taken such a course would have been
to arouse the opposition of the very ones without whose aid his mission,
humanly speaking, would be sure to fail. Many Christian people can learn a valuable lesson here: whoever
desires to be a co-worker with God should work in the Lord’s way and be
guided by the spirit of love—for love does not think unkindly or
ungenerously or slightingly of the efforts of others, nor is it boastful. On
the contrary, its trust is in the Lord, and its boast therefore must be in
him. This lesson is valuable to us also in respect to individual efforts in
our own hearts—to build up good characters acceptable in God’s sight
through Christ Jesus. We are to remember that nothing is gained, but much to
be lost, by thinking or feeling boastfully of what we hope to attain in
self-control and character-likeness to the Lord: nor is much to be gained by
mourning and weeping over misspent opportunities of the past. The proper
course is to begin work afresh with confidence, not in ourselves, but in him
who called us and who has given such exceeding great and precious promises.
This is our way to success in individual development, and also in our labors
upon the walls of Zion, as it was Nehemiah’s successful method for the
building of the natural, typical Jerusalem. —“Teaching the Law of God,” The Herald, August 1922 A
Consecrated Home
|
