The walls had been set up on the old sites, and were about four miles in circ.u.mference. It was a large s.p.a.ce to fill, and, as Nehemiah looked round, he saw that whilst the city was imposing from without, it was a bare, miserable place inside.
"The city was large and great; but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded."
Not only so, not only was the city unsightly, but there were not enough inhabitants to protect the walls. In case of an attack, what would be done? Four miles of wall was a long s.p.a.ce to guard and defend, how could more hands be secured? It was absolutely necessary that Jerusalem should have a larger population.
Yet Nehemiah found that no one wished to move from the country places round, and to come into Jerusalem. Every town, every village in Judea was more popular than the capital. They had rather live in sultry Jericho than on the mountain heights of Jerusalem; they preferred stony Bethel to the vine-clad hills of the City of G.o.d; they had rather live in the tiny insignificant village of Anathoth than in the capital itself.
Why was this? Why had the Jews of Nehemiah"s day such an objection to living in Jerusalem? Why, after longing for Jerusalem all the time of the captivity, did they shrink from it on their return?
The reason was this. Jerusalem had become the point of danger. All round the returned captives were enemies. The Samaritans, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, and a host of others were ready at any moment to pounce down upon the Jews. In case of an attack from their united forces, what would be the mark at which all these enemies would aim?
What place would have to bear the whole force of the attack? Jerusalem itself. They would pa.s.s by Jericho, Bethel, and Anathoth, as places beneath their notice, but they would all make for Jerusalem. To live in the capital was consequently to live in constant danger and in constant fear. So it is not to be wondered at that they avoided it, and that they settled down in the villages and left the capital to take care of itself.
Nehemiah sees that steps must be taken to put a stop to this state of things. In order to bring about the end he had in view, he first took a census of the whole nation, and then he required each town and district to send a tenth of its people to live in Jerusalem.
But of whom was the tenth to consist? How should the number of those who were to migrate to the capital be chosen? It was done by lot; they drew lots who were to go and who were to stay. This was probably done in the usual Jewish way, by means of pebbles. The people of a village would be divided into tens, then a bag would be brought out containing nine dark-coloured pebbles and one white one. The ten men would all draw from the bag, and the man who drew the white pebble would be the one who was to remove to Jerusalem. By this means the capital would be provided with about 20,000 inhabitants, and would be in a condition to defend itself from attack.
No doubt there was much grumbling, and there were many groans and complaints when the lots were drawn, and those who drew the white stone found they must give up their little farms, their pretty country houses, the homes they had learnt to love so well and which they had built for themselves and their children, the vineyards which their own hands had planted, the olive yards and fig groves of which they had been so proud, and which had been so profitable to them, that they must give up all these which had been so dear to them and move at once into the city in which they would be in constant danger.
But there were certain brave volunteers. Besides those on whom the lot fell, a certain number came forward and offered to go of their own free will and choice to live in the capital. They would break up their country homes, and for love of their country and love of Jerusalem would move into the Holy City. The post of danger was the post which most needed them, and they were not afraid to go to it. Brave, n.o.ble men and women, no wonder that we read that blessings were called down upon them by the rest of their countrymen. "And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem," Neh. xi. 2.
But those brave Jews, who are mentioned here with so much honour, are not the only ones who of their own free will and choice have gone with open eyes to the point of danger.
Fourteen thousand pounds arrived in the course of a few days at a certain house in London, the office of the Church Missionary Society.
One person sent 5,000 with no name, only a day or two afterwards another sent a second 5,000, whilst 4,000 was contributed in smaller sums.
For what purpose was this immense sum of money sent? It was forwarded to the Society in consequence of a very famous letter which appeared in the _Daily Telegraph_ of November 15, 1876. This letter was written by Dr.
Stanley, the great African traveller. It told of a new country he had discovered in the heart of Africa, a country inhabited by a nation clothed and living in houses, and reigned over by a king of some intelligence named Mtesa. Dr. Stanley had talked to this man, he had shown him his Bible, and told him something of Christianity, and in this letter in the _Daily Telegraph_ Dr. Stanley stated that King Mtesa was ready and willing to receive Christian teachers, if any were prepared to go out to his kingdom of Uganda.
The result of that letter was, that in a few days no less than 14,000 was sent to the Church Missionary Society, in order that they might have the means to establish a mission by the sh.o.r.es of the Victoria Nyanza. A committee meeting was accordingly held, and the Society declared themselves ready to take up the work.
The money was forthcoming, but a great difficulty stared them in the face. Where were the men? Who would be found willing to go to such a place as the heart of Africa? The climate was most trying and dangerous for Europeans, the food was bad and scanty, and, worst of all, the country was so unsafe that all who went must go with their life in their hands, feeling that at any moment they might be attacked and murdered by the natives.
Would any offer for such a post of danger? Would any be found willing to volunteer for the work, would any be ready to leave their safe, comfortable homes in England to take up their abode in Uganda?
Yes, men were found who willingly offered themselves for the work. Eight n.o.ble men at once came forward. A young naval officer, Lieutenant Smith; a clergyman from Manchester, Mr. Wilson; an Irish architect, Mr.
O"Neill; a Scotch engineer, Mr. Mackay; a doctor from Edinburgh, Dr.
Smith; a railway contractor"s engineer, Mr. Clark, and two working men, a blacksmith and a builder.
"And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell" in Uganda.
A meeting was held in the Church Missionary Society"s house, to bid them farewell and to pray for a blessing on their work. Then each of the eight volunteers was asked to say a few words to the friends who were taking leave of them. Mr. Mackay, the young engineer, was the last to speak. Looking round on those who were sending him out, he said:
"There is one thing which my brethren have not said, and which I want to say. I want to remind the Committee that within six months they will probably hear that one of us is dead."
There was a great silence in the room as he spoke these startling words.
"Yes," he went on, "is it at all likely that eight Englishmen should start for Central Africa and all be alive six months after? One of us at least--it may be I--will surely fall before that. But what I want to say is this, when the news comes do not be cast down, but send some one else immediately to take the vacant place."
Mr. Mackay was not wrong. One of the eight, the builder, died as soon as he landed in Africa. The seven others set off for the interior to find the country of King Mtesa. Two of these, Mackay the engineer, and Robertson the blacksmith, were taken so ill with fever that they were compelled to go back to the coast.
It was a long wearisome journey, of from four to five months, from the coast to Victoria Nyanza; for a little way they were able to go in a boat which they had brought with them from England, but after a short distance they were obliged to leave the river, and, taking their boat to pieces, to carry it with them through the tangled forest. When they arrived at a place named Mpwapwa, it seemed such a good field for missionary labour that one of their number, Mr. Clark, was left to begin missionary work there, whilst the rest pressed forward to Uganda.
The great lake at last came in sight, and they were cheered by the sight of its blue waters. But, when they arrived on its sh.o.r.es, the naval officer and the doctor were both very ill; for thirty-one days they had been carried by the porters, being quite unable to walk, and only a few months after their arrival at the south end of the lake the young doctor died. He was worn to a skeleton, and suffered terribly. The three who remained buried him by the side of the lake, and put a heap of stones over his grave. On a slab of limestone they carved--
"JOHN SMITH, M.B. EDN., C.M.S.
DIED MAY 11, 1877, AGED 25 YEARS."
Now, only the clergyman, the architect, and the naval officer were left to carry on the work. But that very same year, in December, a quarrel broke out between two tribes living at the south of the lake. A man named Songoro, who had been friendly to the missionaries, fled to them for protection. They were at once surrounded by a party of the natives, and, on refusing to give up Songoro to his enemies, Lieutenant Smith and Mr. O"Neill, together with all the men who were with them, were murdered on December 7.
Only two days before, Lieutenant Smith had written a letter to a friend in England, in which were these words:
"One feels very near to heaven here, for who knows what a day may bring forth?"
Only one of the five who had arrived at the lake was now left, Mr.
Wilson, the clergyman. But, thank G.o.d, man after man has offered himself to fill up the vacant places. Some have fallen, some still remain, labouring on.
The people blessed the men who willingly offered themselves for the post of danger. Should we not bless them too? Should we not day by day call down blessings on the brave n.o.ble missionaries? Should we not pray for them, that strength and courage may be given them? Should we not help them all we can? Let our daily prayer be:
"Lord, bless them all!
Thy workers in the field, Where"er they be; Prosper them, Lord, and bless Their work for Thee-- Lord, bless them all.
Lord, bless them all!
Give them Thy smile to-day, Cheer each faint heart, More of Thy grace, more strength, Saviour, impart; Lord, bless them all!"
The post of danger is the post of honour, and at that post of honour Mr.
Mackay, the engineer, died, February 8, 1890. For thirteen years he had bravely held on to his work. He had never had a holiday, he had never come home to see his friends. The Secretary of the Church Missionary Society wrote at last, urging him to come to England for rest and change. His answer to this letter arrived ten days after the sorrowful telegram which told of his death. He said, "But what is this you write; come home? Surely now, in our terrible dearth of workers, it is not the time for any one to desert his post. Send us only our first twenty men, and I may be tempted to come to help you to find the second twenty."
So he was faithful unto death.
The _people_ blessed the men who willingly offered themselves, and surely _G.o.d_ blessed them too, for "G.o.d loveth a cheerful giver." He who gives to G.o.d grudgingly, or because he feels obliged to do so, had better never give at all, for G.o.d will not receive the offering. The money must be willingly given, the service must be cheerfully rendered, the post of danger must be readily occupied, or G.o.d will have nothing to do with it.
The only giver whose gifts He can receive is the cheerful giver, the one who willingly offers himself.
To be comfortable is the great aim of our lives and our hearts by nature. But sometimes G.o.d calls us to be uncomfortable, to leave the cosy home, the bright fireside, the comparative luxury, and to go forth to the post of danger, or difficulty, or trial.
G.o.d grant that we may be amongst the number of those who go forth with a smiling face amongst the people who willingly offer themselves!
CHAPTER XII.
The Holy City.
In the time of the terrible siege of Jerusalem, when the Roman armies surrounded the city, when famine was killing the Jews by hundreds, and when every day the enemy seemed more likely to take the city, a strange thing happened. Some priests were watching, as was their custom, in the temple courts at dead of night. They had pa.s.sed through the Beautiful Gate, crossed the Court of the Women, and had ascended the steps leading into the inner court, which was close to the Temple itself. Suddenly they stopped, for the earth shook beneath them, whilst overhead came a noise as of the rushing of many wings, and a mult.i.tude of voices was heard saying, again and again, the solemn words, "Let us depart, let us depart."
The angels of G.o.d were leaving the doomed city to its fate.