_THE HOLY CITY._
NEHEMIAH vii. 1-4; xi.
We have seen that though the two passages that deal with the sparsity
of the population of Jerusalem are separated in our Bibles by the
insertion of the section on the reading of The Law and the formation
of the covenant, they are, in fact, so closely related that, if we
skip the intermediate section, the one runs on into the other quite
smoothly, as by a continuous narrative;[246] that is to say, we may
pass from Nehemiah vii. 4 to Nehemiah xi. 1 without the slightest sign
of a junction of separate paragraphs. So naive and crude is the
chronicler's style, that he has left the raw edges of the narrative
jagged and untrimmed, and thereby he has helped us to see distinctly
how he has constructed his work. The foreign matter which he has
inserted in the great gash is quite different in style and contents
from that which precedes and follows it. This is marked with the Ezra
stamp, which indicates that in all probability it is founded on notes
left by the scribe; but the broken narrative in the midst of which it
appears is derived from Nehemiah, the first part consisting of
memoirs written by the statesman himself, and the second part being
an abbreviation of the continuation of Nehemiah's writing. The
beginning of this second part directly links it on to the first part,
for the word "and" has no sort of connection with the immediately
preceding Ezra section, while it exactly fits into the broken end of
the previous Nehemiah section; only with his characteristic
indifference to secular affairs, in comparison with matters touching
The Law and the temple worship, the chronicler abbreviates the
conclusion of Nehemiah's story. It is easy to see how he constructs
his book in this place. He has before him two documents--one written
by Nehemiah, the other written either by Ezra or by one of his close
associates. At first he follows Nehemiah, but suddenly he discovers
that he has reached the date when the Ezra record should come in.
Therefore, without any concern for the irregularity of style that he
is perpetrating, he suddenly breaks off Nehemiah's narrative to insert
the Ezra material, at the end of which he simply goes back to the
Nehemiah document, and resumes it exactly where he has left it, except
that now, after introducing it in the language of the original writer,
he compresses the fragment, so that the composition passes over into
the third person. It is not to be supposed that this is done
arbitrarily or for no good reason. The chronicler here intends to tell
his story in chronological order. He shows that the course of events
referred to at the opening of the seventh chapter really was broken by
the occurrences the record of which then follows. The interruptions in
the narrative just correspond to the real interruptions in the
historical facts. History is not a smooth-flowing river; its course is
repeatedly broken by rocks and shoals, and sometimes entirely
deflected by impassable cliffs. In the earlier part of the narrative
we read of Nehemiah's anxiety on account of the sparsity of the
population of Jerusalem; but before he was able to carry out any plans
for the increase of the number of inhabitants the time of the great
autumn festivals was upon him, and the people were eager to take
advantage of the public holidays that then fell due in order to induce
Ezra to read to them the wonderful book he had brought up from Babylon
years before, and of which he had not yet divulged the contents. This
was not waste time as regards Nehemiah's project. Though the civil
governor stood in the background during the course of the great
religious movement, he heartily seconded the clerical leaders of it in
their efforts to enlighten and encourage the people, and he was the
first to seal the covenant which was its fruit. Then the people who
had been instructed in the principles of their faith and consecrated
to its lofty requirements were fitted to take their places as citizens
of the Holy City.
[246] Pages 271-273.
The "population question" which troubled Nehemiah at this time is so
exactly opposite to that which gives concern to students of social
problems in our own day, that we need to look into the circumstances
in which it emerged in order to understand its bearings. The powerful
suction of great towns, depleting the rural districts and gorging the
urban, is a source of the greatest anxiety to all who seriously
contemplate the state of modern society; and consequently one of the
most pressing questions of the day is how to scatter the people over
the land. Even in new countries the same serious condition is
experienced--in Australia, for instance, where the crowding of the
people into Melbourne is rapidly piling up the very difficulties
sanguine men hoped the colonies would escape. If we only had these
modern facts to draw upon, we might conclude that a centripetal
movement of population was inevitable. That it is not altogether a
novelty we may learn from the venerable story of the Tower of Babel,
from which we may also gather that it is God's will that men should
spread abroad and replenish the earth.
It is one of the advantages of the study of history that it lifts us
out of our narrow grooves and reveals to us an immense variety of
modes of life, and this is not the least of the many elements of
profit that come to us from the historical embodiment of revelation as
we have it in the Bible. The width of vision that we may thus attain
to will have a double effect. It will save us from being wedded to a
fixed policy under all circumstances; and it will deliver us from the
despair into which we should settle down, if we did not see that what
looks to us like a hopeless and interminable drift in the wrong
direction is not the permanent course of human development. It is
necessary to consider that if the dangers of a growing population are
serious, those of a dwindling population are much more grave.
Nehemiah was in a position to see the positive advantages of city
life, and he regarded it as his business to make the most of them for
the benefit of his fellow-countrymen. We have seen that each of the
three great expeditions from Babylon up to Jerusalem had its separate
and distinctive purpose. The aim of the first, under Zerubbabel and
Jeshua, was the rebuilding of the temple; the object of the second,
under Ezra, was the establishment of The Law; and the end of the
third, under Nehemiah, was the fortification and strengthening of the
city. This end was before the patriotic statesman's mind from the very
first moment when he was startled and grieved at hearing the report of
the ruinous condition of the walls of Jerusalem which his brother
brought to him in the palace at Susa. We may be sure that with so
practical a man it was more than a sentimental reverence for venerated
sites that led Nehemiah to undertake the great work of fortifying the
city of his fathers' sepulchres. He had something else in view than to
construct a huge mausoleum. His aim had too much to do with the living
present to resemble that of Rizpah guarding the corpses of her sons
from the hovering vultures. Nehemiah believed in the future of
Jerusalem, and therefore he would not permit her to remain a city of
ruins, unguarded, and a prey to every chance comer. He saw that she
had a great destiny yet to fulfil, and that she must be made strong if
ever she was to accomplish it. It is to the credit of his keen
discernment that he perceived this essential condition of the firm
establishment of Israel as a distinctive people in the land of
Palestine. Ezra was too literary, too abstract, too much of an
idealist to see it, and therefore he struggled on with his teaching
and exhorting till he was simply silenced by the unlooked-for logic of
facts. Nehemiah perfectly comprehended this logic, and knew how to
turn it to the advantage of his own cause.
The fierce antagonism of the Samaritans is an indirect confirmation of
the wisdom of Nehemiah's plans. Sanballat and his associates saw
clearly enough that, if Jerusalem were to become strong again, the
metropolitan pre-eminence--which had shifted from this city to Samaria
after the Babylonian conquest--would revert to its old seat among the
hills of Judah and Benjamin. Now this pre-eminence was of vital
importance to the destinies of Israel. It was not possible for the
people in those early days to remain separate and compact, and to work
out their own peculiar mission, without a strong and safe centre. We
have seen Judaism blossoming again as a distinctive phenomenon in the
later history of the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans. But this most wonderful fact in ethnology is indirectly due to
the work of Ezra and Nehemiah. The readiness to intermarry with
foreigners shown by the contemporaries of the two great reformers
proves conclusively that, unless the most stringent measures had been
taken for the preservation of its distinctive life, Israel would have
melted away into the general mass of amalgamated races that made up
the Chaldæan and Persian empires. The military protection of Jerusalem
enabled her citizens to maintain an independent position in defiance
of the hostile criticism of her neighbours, and the civil importance
of the city helped to give moral weight to her example in the eyes of
the scattered Jewish population outside her walls. Then the worship at
the temple was a vital element in the newly modelled religious
organisation, and it was absolutely essential that this should be
placed beyond the danger of being tampered with by foreign influences,
and at the same time that it should be adequately supported by a
sufficient number of resident Jews. Something like the motive that
induces the Pope to desire the restoration of the temporal power of
the Papacy--perfectly wise and reasonable from his point of
view--would urge the leaders of Judaism to secure as far as possible
the political independence of the centre of their religion.
It is to be observed that Nehemiah desired an increase of the
population for the immediate purpose of strengthening the garrison of
Jerusalem. The city had been little better than "a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers" till her new governor had put forth stupendous efforts
which resulted in converting her into a fortress. Now the fortress
required to be manned. Everything indicates anxiety about the means of
defence. Nehemiah placed two men at the head of this vital
function--his own brother Hanani, whose concern about the city had
been evinced in his report of its condition to Nehemiah at Susa, and
Hananiah the commandant of the citadel. This Hananiah was known to be
"faithful"--a great point while traitors in the highest places were
intriguing with the enemy. He was also exceptionally God-fearing,
described as one who "feared God above many"--another point recognised
by Nehemiah as of supreme importance in a military officer. Here we
have an anticipation of the Puritan spirit which required the
Cromwellian soldiers to be men of sterling religious character.
Nehemiah would have had no hesitation if he had been placed in the
dilemma of the Athenians when they were called to choose between
Aristides the good and Themistocles the clever. With him--much as
brains were needed, and he showed this in his own sleepless
astuteness--integrity and religion were the first requisites for an
office of responsibility.
The danger of the times is further indicated by the new rule with
regard to the opening of the gates. Oriental custom would have
permitted this at dawn. Nehemiah would not allow it before the full
daytime, "until the sun be hot." Levites were to mount guard by
day--an indication of the partially ecclesiastical character of the
civil government. The city was a sort of extended temple, and its
citizens constituted a Church watched over by the clergy. At night the
citizens themselves were to guard the walls, as more watchers would be
needed during the hours of darkness to protect the city against an
assault by surprise. Now these facts point to serious danger and
arduous toil. Naturally many men would shrink from the yoke of
citizenship under such circumstances. It was so much pleasanter, so
much easier, so much quieter for people to live in the outlying towns
and villages, near to their own farms and vineyards. Therefore it was
necessary to take a tenth of the rural population in order to increase
that of the town. The chronicler expressly notes that "the rulers of
the people" were already dwelling in Jerusalem. These men realised
their responsibility. The officers were to the fore; the men who
needed to be urged to their duty were the privates. No doubt there was
more to attract the upper classes to the capital, while their
agricultural occupations would naturally draw many of the poorer
people into the country, and we must not altogether condemn the latter
as less patriotic than the former. We cannot judge the relative merits
of people who act differently till we know their several
circumstances. Still it remains true that it is often the man with the
one talent who buries his charge, because with him the sense of
personal insignificance becomes a temptation to the neglect of duty.
Hence arises one of the most serious dangers to a democracy. When this
danger is not mastered, the management of public affairs falls into
the hands of self-seeking politicians, who are ready to wreck the
state for their private advantage. It is most essential, therefore,
that a public conscience should be aroused and that people should
realise their duty to their community--to the town in which they
live, the country to which they belong.
Nehemiah's simple expedient succeeded, and praise was earned by those
Jews who yielded to the sacred decision of the lot and abandoned their
pleasant rustic retreats to take up the more trying posts of sentinels
in a garrison. According to his custom, the chronicler proceeds to
show us how the people were organised. His many names have long ceased
to convey the living interest that must have clustered round them when
the families they represented were still able to recognise their
ancestors in the roll of honour. But incidentally he imports into his
register a note about the Great King's concern for the temple worship,
from which we learn that Artaxerxes made special provision for the
support of the choristers, and that he entertained a Jewish
representative in his court to keep him informed on the condition of
the distant city. Thus we have another indication of the royal
patronage which was behind the whole movement for the restoration of
the Jews. Nevertheless the piteous plaint of the Jews on their great
fast day shows us that their servitude galled them sorely. Men who
could utter that cry would not be bribed into a state of cheerful
satisfaction by the kindness of their master in subscribing to their
choir fund, although doubtless the contribution was made in a spirit
of well-meaning generosity. The ideal City of God had not yet
appeared, and the hint of the dependence of Jerusalem on royal
patronage is a significant reminder of the sad fact. It never did
appear, even in the brightest days of the earthly Jerusalem. But God
was teaching His people through the history of that unhappy city how
high the true ideal must be, and so preparing them for the heavenly
city, the New Jerusalem.
Now we may take the high ideal that was slowly emerging throughout the
ages, and see how God intends to have it realised in the City of God
which, from the days of Saint Augustine, we have learnt to look for in
the Church of Christ. The two leading thoughts connected with the Holy
City in the phase of her history that is now passing under our notice
are singularly applicable to the Christian community.
First, _the characteristic life of the city_. Enclosed within walls
the city gained a peculiar character and performed a distinctive
mission of her own. Our Lord was not satisfied to rescue stray sheep
on the mountains only to brand them with His mark and then turn them
out again to graze in solitude. He drew them as a flock after Himself,
and His disciples gathered them into the fold of Church fellowship.
This is of as vital importance to the cause of Christianity as the
civic organisation of Jerusalem was to that of Judaism. The Christian
City of God stands out before the world on her lofty foundation, the
Rock of Ages--a beacon of separation from sin, a testimony to the
grace of God, a centre for the confession of faith, a home for social
worship, a rallying point for the forces of holy warfare, a sanctuary
for the helpless and oppressed.
Second, _the public duty of a citizenship_. The reluctance of
Christians to accept the responsibilities of Church membership may be
compared to the backwardness of the Jews to dwell in their metropolis.
Like Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah, the City of God to-day is an
outpost in the battle-field, a fortress surrounded by the enemy's
territory. It is traitorous to retire to the calm cultivation of one's
private garden-plot in the hour of stress and strain when the citadel
is threatened on all sides. It is the plain duty of the people of God
to mount guard and take their turn as watchmen on the walls of the
Holy City.
May we carry the analogy one step further? The king of Persia, though
his realm stretched from the Tigris to the Ægean, could not give much
effectual help to the true City of God. But the Divine King of kings
sends her constant supplies, and she too, like Jerusalem, has her
Representative at court, One who ever lives to make intercession for
her.