Sanctifying the Lord's Day

                                                             Sunday School Lesson
                                
Lesson: Nehemiah 13:15-22                                                                                                 
Golden Text: “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy” (Nehemiah 13:22).

INTRODUCTION.  Since the creation of the world, God had set aside the seventh day of the week, or the Sabbath Day as a needed rest for mankind and a memorial that God was their Creator and Sustainer.  Now that the Israelites were no longer captives and were free to pursue life as they desired, they were not observing the Sabbath.  They were working, buying, and selling in violation of the Sabbath rules.  Israel had gone into captivity because they did not let the land observe the Sabbaths established for it, and now the people were violating the Sabbath again.  In this week’s lesson we see how Nehemiah handled this situation while demonstrating his legendary leadership skills.

II. THE PROBLEM (Nehemiah 12:27-30).  Background for the Lesson: Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem on a temporary assignment approved by the Persian King Artaxerxes (see Nehemiah 2:5-6).  He spent twelve years as governor in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 5:14) and then went back to Persia confident that Judah was now stable and spiritually focused.  Some years later, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and couldn’t believe what he saw (see Nehemiah 13:6-8).  Most of the people had slipped into the old, sinful practices and habits that had originally led to their exile.  Nehemiah found that Eliashib the priest had converted some storage rooms in the temple into living quarters for a former enemy, Tobiah the Ammonite (see Nehemiah 13:4-7).  Furious about this situation, Nehemiah threw out Tobiah’s possessions and restored those rooms to their proper use (see Nehemiah 13:8-9).  Another problem that Nehemiah found was that the needs of the Levites were being neglected.  The Levites were supposed to be supported by the people’s tithes (Numbers 18:21, 24).  These gifts had not been given to the Levites causing them to neglect their temple service in order to farm their lands to support themselves (see Nehemiah 13:10).  Nehemiah then rebuked the leaders in Judah for allowing this to happen, and he restored the tithes and appointed men to oversee their collection and distribution (see Nehemiah 11-13).  These offenses, especially by the leaders were inexcusable considering that they had recently signed a solemn oath to obey the law and honor temple worship (see Nehemiah 10:1-39).  But their violations of that oath also included desecrating the Sabbath Day.

A. Jews working on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15).  Nehemiah writes in our first verse “ 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.”  In other words, he found the people working and doing business on the Sabbath Day as if it was any other day.  On the Sabbath Day they were “treading wine presses” meaning they were stomping on harvested grapes to make wine; they were “bringing in sheaves, and lading asses” meaning they were bringing grain into Jerusalem with their donkeys carrying heavy loads; and the loads that the animals carried included “wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens (loads).”  The people brought all of these goods and many others into Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath.  Then Nehemiah said that he “testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.”  In other words, he warned them against selling “victuals” or food on the Sabbath Day. 

III. THE REMEDY (Nehemiah 13:17-19)

A.  Rebuking the nobles of Judah (Nehemiah 13:17-18). 
1. (vs. 17).  When he saw all the business being conducted on the Sabbath, Nehemiah wrote “Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?”  Strengthened by God’s will, Nehemiah “contended with the nobles of Judah.”  In other words, he rebuked, or confronted the leaders in Judah who should’ve opposed evil, but instead they were part of it (see Ezra 10:14; Nehemiah 5:7; 13:11).  Nehemiah confronted these leaders asking “What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?”  Judah’s leaders may have thought that conducting business on the Sabbath was necessary for the nation’s economy, but Nehemiah said it was an “evil thing.”  God said the Sabbath was holy (see Exodus 20:8) but they had made it common (see Acts 10:15).
2. (vs. 18).  Here Nehemiah reminded the nobles just how sacred the Sabbath was.  He said “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.”  Nehemiah reminded these leaders that because their forefathers desecrated the Sabbath God brought “all this evil upon us, and upon this city.”  Of course, when Nehemiah spoke of “all this evil” he was referring to the Babylonian Captivity.From these passages, Nehemiah understood why the Babylonian Captivity took place, but the leaders didn’t. We don’t know if Ezra, who was the nation’s spiritual leader was still alive or not.  He probably had died by this time leaving Nehemiah, the governor to correct the disastrous direction in which God’s people were headed.  Even though neglecting the Sabbath had plenty to do with Judah’s past troubles, Nehemiah also said to the leaders “yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.”  These noblemen, along with the rest of the people were bringing more of God’s anger against Israel “by profaning the sabbath.”  The word “profaning” here means to pollute.  Yes, God had been merciful to this remnant, but they hadn’t learned anything from their history.  They were walking down a path leading to retribution from God.
B. Closing the gates on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:19).  In this verse Nehemiah writes “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.”  Being both a wise and practical leader, Nehemiah took things into his own hands.  When darkness began to fall on the city gates before the Sabbath, Nehemiah “commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath.”  As the governor of Judah, he had the authority to do this.  The Sabbath began at sundown or evening on Friday and lasted until sundown on Saturday.  So the gates were closed during that 24 hour period.  Nehemiah even went a step further to make sure no business would be conducted on the Sabbath.  He put some of his own servants at the gates so “that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.”  This refers to any loads of merchandize carried by animals into Jerusalem in order to conduct business. 
IV. THE SEQUEL (Nehemiah 13:20-22)
A. Discouraging the merchants (Nehemiah 13:20-21). 
1. (vs. 20).  This verse gives us the results of closing the gates before the Sabbath began.  Nehemiah writes “So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.”  On more than one occasion, probably on two separate Sabbaths, merchants camped outside the gates of Jerusalem.  No doubt they did this hoping that the gates to the city would be opened the following morning, or the morning of the Sabbath, and allow them to enter and conduct their business.
2. (vs. 21).  After these merchants had camped outside the gates “once or twice” as indicated  the previous verse, Nehemiah said “Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.”  These merchants had set outside the gates on two separate week-ends expecting to get in to do business on the Sabbath.  Having enough of this, Nehemiah said “I testified against them” which means that he warned them.  His warning was “Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you.”  In other words, he told them that if they continued to set up camp outside the gate on the Sabbath he would take action against them.  As governor, Nehemiah had the authority to have them removed by force if necessary.  As a good leader, Nehemiah always faced problems head on (see Nehemiah 5:6-7; 13:7-9, 10-11, 23-23) so there was no doubt that he would do just as he said.  The merchants realized that Nehemiah meant business so “From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.”  From the moment that Nehemiah gave his ultimatum and going forward, none of these merchants came to do business in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
B. Appointing Levites as guards (Nehemiah 13:22).  In our final verse, Nehemiah writes “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.”  In verse 19, Nehemiah placed some of his own servants to guard the gates on the Sabbath.  Now he went further and commanded the Levites “to keep (or guard) the gates.”  But before they could do this, Nehemiah also commanded that “they should cleanse themselves.”  Since guarding the gates would be to “sanctify the sabbath day” this was a sacred duty and it required ceremonial cleansing for the Levites just as serving in the temple did.  The word “sanctify” means “to set apart unto God.”  Nehemiah wanted the people to know that guarding the gates would keep the Sabbath set apart and holy unto God.  The presence of the Levites would confirm to the people that the Sabbath was to be kept holy.  Nehemiah ended our text with a short prayer asking the Lord to “Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.”  The phrase “concerning this also” refers to all the actions Nehemiah had taken to ensure the Sabbath would be kept holy.  He wanted the Lord to honor what he had done even though a lot of it was not popular.  But just in case he had acted out of God’s will, he appealed to the “greatness of (God’s) mercy.”  Note: Christians are not required to observe the Jewish Sabbath, primarily because everyday should be holy for us.  However, the early church set aside the first day of the week to remember Jesus’ resurrection by rest and worship (see Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2).
                   
V. Conclusion.  How far are you willing to go to honor God on the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day in Christianity?  Is gathering with God’s people important enough that you are willing to set aside other activities in order to hear from your God?  Nehemiah believed it was important, and we should too.  The Lord’s Day is a day given to us so that we might be reminded of our identity with Christ.  Furthermore, it was given for our rest, both spiritual and physical.