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Prophets and Kings
this work; but these men moved forward in unwavering confidence,
in humility of spirit, and in firm reliance upon God, believing that He
would cause His truth to triumph. Like King Hezekiah, Nehemiah
“clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His
commandments.... And the Lord was with him.”
2 Kings 18:6, 7
.
The spiritual restoration of which the work carried forward in Ne-
hemiah’s day was a symbol, is outlined in the words of Isaiah: “They
shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations,
and they shall repair the waste cities.” “They that shall be of thee shall
build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many
generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The
restorer of paths to dwell in.”
Isaiah 61:4
;
58:12
.
The prophet here describes a people who, in a time of general
departure from truth and righteousness, are seeking to restore the
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principles that are the foundation of the kingdom of God. They are
repairers of a breach that has been made in God’s law—the wall that He
has placed around His chosen ones for their protection, and obedience
to whose precepts of justice, truth, and purity is to be their perpetual
safeguard.
In words of unmistakable meaning the prophet points out the spe-
cific work of this remnant people who build the wall. “If thou turn
away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy
day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable;
and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself
in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Isaiah 58:13, 14
.
In the time of the end every divine institution is to be restored. The
breach made in the law at the time the Sabbath was changed by man,
is to be repaired. God’s remnant people, standing before the world
as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all
enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is
to stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power
of God. In clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of
obedience to all the precepts of the Decalogue. Constrained by the
love of Christ, they are to co-operate with Him in building up the waste