Nehemiah 1:1-2. The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
This good man was, of course, one of the banished Jews, but he had greatly prospered. He had risen in the empire of Ahasucrus until he had come to be great-even to be one of the chamberlains of the empire; but his heart was towards his poor people-his brethren-that were in poverty. Now, whenever God exalts a Christian man in temporal position, he ought not to disown his poor brethren, but his heart should go out towards them to see what he can do for them. It is a shame for any man to forget his country. Does not the Pole still say, "No, Poland, thou shalt never perish"? And we admire such patriotism. But the like feeling should be in every Christian breast. We should love the church of God even as Nehemiah loved the chosen race, from which he had sprung. So when he met with Hanani, the conversation was all about the poor brethren that remained at Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1:1-2. The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
This good man was, of course, one of the banished Jews, but he had greatly prospered. He had risen in the empire of Ahasucrus until he had come to be great-even to be one of the chamberlains of the empire; but his heart was towards his poor people-his brethren-that were in poverty. Now, whenever God exalts a Christian man in temporal position, he ought not to disown his poor brethren, but his heart should go out towards them to see what he can do for them. It is a shame for any man to forget his country. Does not the Pole still say, "No, Poland, thou shalt never perish"? And we admire such patriotism. But the like feeling should be in every Christian breast. We should love the church of God even as Nehemiah loved the chosen race, from which he had sprung. So when he met with Hanani, the conversation was all about the poor brethren that remained at Jerusalem.