Duty: its Peril, its Excellency, and its Reward
W. Clarkson Nehemiah 11:1, 2 And the rulers of the people dwelled at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots… We learn from Nehemiah 7:4 that "the city was large and great, but the people were few therein." Less than 50,000 inhabitants were scattered over Judaea; but these would not have been too many to have occupied Jerusalem itself. It was a matter of the first importance that the metropolis should be well supplied with those who would worship in her courts, and with those who would guard her walls. It was therefore the aim of Nehemiah and other patriotic men to promote a migration from the outlying towns and villages to Jerusalem. "The rulers dwelt there," and they were anxious that many more should come in to swell the population. This ingathering supplies us with three lessons. I. THAT THE PLACE OF PRIVILEGE IS THE POST OF DUTY AND OF DANGER. Jerusalem was "the holy city" (ver. 1). It was "the city which God had chosen;" the place of his special manifestation; the spot where, as nowhere else, he could be approached and worshipped. Thither all who feared his name and sought his favour came with their offerings; there they presented the best they could bring on his altar, and bowed before his face. But this "holy city," where the holy people might be well pleased and be rightly proud to dwell, was (1) the place where special duty awaited the inhabitants. "The houses were not builded" (Nehemiah 7:4); the ground was waste; ruins were everywhere about; there was hard work to be done from centre to circumference. Moreover, the walls had to be guarded; probably night and day there was vigilant watching to be observed, that there might be no possible surprise. It was also (2) the post of special danger. Other places would be too insignificant to be attacked. If the enemy struck at all, Jerusalem would be his mark. So is it ever. The great city has many special privileges, but it has many peculiar perils, and some duties which are all its own. They who minister unto the Lord find even m their holy office obligations which impose the most serious responsibilities, and subtle spiritual dangers which call for unusual vigilance and prayer. It is well, indeed, to belong to those to whom God is near, with whom he dwells; but it is necessary to remember that side by side with special privilege there is always found (a) some special obligations, and (b) some peculiar perils. II. THAT DUTY MAY BE DONE WITH VARIOUS DEGREES OF WORTHINESS AND ACCEPTABLENESS. There were two ways by which Jerusalem was replenished. They "cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell" there (ver. 1); others "willingly offered themselves" (ver. 2) - they volunteered without being drawn. Looking at this procedure as a matter of morals, we should certainly estimate the action of the latter more highly than that of the former. These did well, but those did better. It was a right and an acceptable thing for men with their wives and families to leave their homes where they were doing well, and where they preferred to stay, in order to act up to their agreement with their fellows; it was a worthier and a more acceptable thing for others not to wait for this moral compulsion, but to offer themselves, and go of their own accord from the village where they were prosperous, comfortable, and out of the reach of attack, to live in the city where hardship and danger might look them in the face. With us, as with them, duty is done with different degrees of Divine approval. Secular duty, that of the business or the home, may be done faithfully but unreligiously, or it may be done conscientiously because religiously, all being done not as unto man only or chiefly, but "unto the Lord" (Ephesians 6:7). Sacred duty may be done as a matter of obligation only, or it may be discharged with willingness, even with an eager delight, because the purest and highest aims are kept well in view of the soul. The same acts, outwardly measured, are of very different weight in worthiness, tried in the balances of God. And sometimes of men, for it is true - III. THAT DISINTERESTED DEEDS WILL OFTEN DRAW DOWN THE BENEDICTION OF OUR KIND. "And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves, etc. (ver. 2). The inhabitants of Jerusalem evidently discriminated between those who were actuated by the more, and those governed by the less, generous inducements; and to the former they accorded hearty thanks - they "blessed them." Concerning popular appreciation, it is well to learn from the experience of the past, or we shall suffer injury and loss. We must (1) neither reckon upon it as certain, nor (2) despise it as worthless. We should (a) pitch our life so high that, if needful, we can do without it, "seeking the honour that cometh from God only," and satisfied with that. "Men heed thee not, men praise thee not; The Master praises; - what are men?" And yet we should (b) so live that we may fairly hope to earn the benediction of our kind. While some skilful, selfish men have reaped the honours due only to disinterestedness, more often selfishness shows its cloven foot, and is contemned. And while some generous souls have lived and died unappreciated, more often kind-heartedness and self-forgetting love win an answering affection, and draw down the blessing of those who are enriched. For good as well as evil, "with what measure ye mete," etc. (Matthew 7:1). "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure," etc. (Luke 6:38). Live a life like that of Job, and you will be able to say as he said, "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me" (Job 29:11). - C. Parallel Verses KJV: And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. WEB: The princes of the people lived in Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the [other] cities.