15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Another thing that had happened while Nehemiah had been away was that the Jews had begun to disregard the Sabbath. They were working their fields and vineyards, pressing grapes, loading their donkeys and bringing their produce into Jerusalem to sell it, all on the Sabbath. There were also foreigners who were bringing in fish and other goods to sell on the Sabbath within the city. Nehemiah confronted the leaders about their wickedness. They had broken God’s law and gone against their covenant they had made only a few years earlier (Neh 10:31). Nehemiah prays for God’s help again and then confronts the problem. He has the doors to the city closed the Friday night before the Sabbath and gave orders that they remain shut until after the Sabbath. The merchants camped hopefully outside the gates but Nehemiah chased them away and threatened to use force if necessary, so great was his conviction that this needed to stop. He then stationed the Levites to guard the gates and keep the Sabbath day holy.
We may no longer be required to keep the Sabbath but we can consider some principles from this. The Sabbath was given to the Jews to give them an opportunity to rest and to give them a dedicated time to worship God. Both of those things are still very important today. Consider if you are setting aside adequate time to rest and focus on God or are you allowing the cares of this world like homework or work crowd out your time that should be dedicated to God?