let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem." (Neh. ii. 16-20.) "So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God." (Neh. vi. 15, 16.)

433 years before Christ. "And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah: and he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat-offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, (which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters,) and the offerings of the priests. But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king: and I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah,

in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore; therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat-offering and the frankincense." (Neh. xiii. 4-9.) "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken ? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn, and the new wine, and the oil into the treasuries." (Neh. xiii. 11, 12.) "In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day; and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbathday? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel, by profaning the sabbath. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath; and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath-day. So the merchants, and sellers of all kind of ware, lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said

do so

unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites, that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath-day." (Neh. xiii. 15-22.) This, the fourth period in the history of the church and the world, terminates with the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the four thousandth year of the world.

CHAPTER III.

SHORTLY after the birth of our Lord, "the angel of the Lord appeareth unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son." (Math. ii. 13-15.) "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." (Matt. ii. 16.) It would appear that this event occurred more than a year after Christ's birth. "But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel." (Matt. ii. 19-21.) Herod's death occurred three years

after Christ's birth, so that from our Saviour's birth until his return from Egypt to the land of Israel, is probably three years and a-half. From this event it would appear, that God, in his providential arrangements, has caused the Christian era to be dated.

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. iii. 1, 2.) This appears to have occurred twenty-seven years after the birth of Christ. "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. iv. 17.) Jesus being then thirty years on the earth. In the thirtieth year of the christian era, and when our Lord had been upon the earth thirty-three years and a-half: "Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Then the band, and the captain, and officers of the Jews, took Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to Annas first. Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment. He (Pilate) brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took