Nehemiah 13:15-22

Nehemiah 13:15–22 KJV (WS)

15 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. 16 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. 17 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? 18 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. 19 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. 20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. 21 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. 22 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.

Introduction

Can you think back to a time when you were closer to God than you are right now?

At one point in your life were you most evidently experiencing revival?

Perhaps, for some that time is right now.

Now I want you to think about why that time didn’t last.

Circumstances changed.

You grew lax in your spiritual decisions.

Whatever it was, I assume that most of us know what it feels like to experience ups and downs in our spiritual life.

We know what it feels like to live a life that is super dedicated to God.

We know what it feels like to live a life that is distant and cold towards God.

Every life needs to make a course correction from time to time.

We find the children of Israel in that condition this morning.

The period of revival has waned.

They are drifting further and further back into their old ways.

Nehemiah confronts them with their sin.

As we study this passage this morning, I hope we can all be helped if we are in need of confrontation too.

Just because you have drifted in your spiritual life, it doesn’t mean you have to stay there.

Nehemiah sees that people were working on the Sabbath day. 15-16

The Jews were working on the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath day was a gift from God to his people.

It represented God giving man permission to rest.

It was supposed to be a holy day.

It was also a test of obedience and trust.

Can you trust God to provide for your family on just 6 days of labor.

The answer for a lot of Jews throughout history was no.

We see that issue rearing its head in Jerusalem here in our passage this morning.

In addition to an Ammonite living in the Temple, Nehemiah quickly discovers that the Jews are working on the Sabbath day.

Notice that none of these jobs are being done in secret.

There is no doubt that Jerusalem was open for business on the Sabbath day.

Business must have been good because the men of Tyre were also working on the Sabbath day.

Nehemiah tells us that Tyrians were importing and selling all manner of goods to the citizens of Jerusalem.

This tells us that not only are the Jews working on the Sabbath, but they are also shopping on the Sabbath.

There is a progression at work here.

You know it wouldn’t be right, but you could almost understand Jews working on the Sabbath day if conditions were dire.

They have moved beyond desperation and are now conducting business on the Sabbath day out of convenience.

Nehemiah argues with the nobles about this.17-18

He reminds them of the sins and consequences of the past.

This is not some new path that they have discovered.

This is an old path that their forefathers had traveled before.

They didn’t have to wonder about where this path would lead.

It leads to judgment.

Nehemiah’s whole political career had been taken up with repairing the city from God’s judgment on the people.

A judgment that had been precipitated by the Jews disobedience in the past.

One of the areas that they had disobeyed God in was the matter of the Sabbath.

Remember, resting on the Sabbath is not the point.

Trusting and obeying God was the point.

The pharisees never could quite get this.

He gives directions regarding the gates of the city during the Sabbath day.

In order to help the people obey God, Nehemiah was going to make some changes.

Here, we see a good example of governmental leadership.

They say you can’t legislate morality.

That may be true.

Government should strive to foster an environment where righteousness is encouraged.

Nehemiah does this by ordering the gates to be closed from the beginning to the end of the Sabbath.

This way there will be a limitation on the coming and going of traders into the city.

In order to facilitate this, Nehemiah places some his servants to guard the doors.

These are probably some of his Persian servants that do not observe the Sabbath and so would be free to guard the gates while the Jews kept the Sabbath.

As with anything, this situation requires some follow-up. 19-22

For the first few weeks, there were merchants and sellers camping out by the gates.

They were probably there to take advantage of the Persian guards having nowhere else to spend there money.

They are out all day guarding the gates.

All the Jewish businesses were closed, so these merchants spent the day trading with the Persian guards.

There was an unfortunate side effect though.

The lingering merchants served as a major distraction for the Jews who were already struggling to remain faithful to God’s law.

The noise of trade going on could be heard across the mostly quiet city.

The houses on the wall would have a clear view of people who were still conducting business on the Sabbath day.

This is all a needless distraction.

Nehemiah deals with it by threatening them with violence if they don’t vacate the area.

You may not like it, but Nehemiah was serious.

He tells them if they don’t stop gathering at the gates, he will lay hands on them and it won’t be for prayer.

Now, maybe your tender heart protests that this isn’t fair to the Persians.

Nehemiah is a heartless boss.

Leaving his men out there all day.

Driving away all the food trucks.

Well, don’t worry.

Nehemiah addresses this issue by once again deputizing the levites to keep the gates.

This is something that has already happened before.

Remember, right after the walls and gates were completed, Nehemiah had ordered the Levites to keep/protect the gates.

Back then, they had had no expereince in this particular job, now they do.

The levites will be the ones to make sure the Sabbath day is not profaned by Jews doing work or foreigners trying to get them to buy things.

Nehemiah closes this passage by praying once again that God will remember his efforts to protect the Sabbath day.

Interpretation

Would it be appropriate for us to take this passage and apply it to Christian observance of Sunday as the Lord’s Day?

I don’t think so.

Would it be appropriate to approach this passage as a case study on the battle with sin and for obedience to God?

Yes, definitely.

We can see clear patterns that every believer needs to identify in their life.

Did the Israelites have a clear and specific law directing them to observe the Sabbath day?

Yes they did.

For awhile after their return from exile they observed it faithfully.

Obedience’s real challenge is repetition.

It’s like driving, if we don’t make little corrections, we will, over time, tend to drift out of our lane.

The Israelites had done this, not just in their Sabbath observance, but really in their obedience to God’s law.

The reasons don’t really matter.

It may have started out of a real need to provide for their families in a time of need.

It had turned into a matter of convenience.

Changes needed to be implemented, a course correction was required, in order for people to get back to where they were supposed to be.

Nehemiah helped to implement this.

Even after the change was instituted and the people started obeying God again, there was still the matter of lingering temptation.

Not every temptation can be avoided.

Nehemiah knew that.

Nehemiah also knew that if it is in your power to avoid temptation, you should definitely leverage that power.

That’s why he commanded the merchants to get away from the city altogether during the Sabbath day.

Application

When we break down this passage it becomes very simple to understand the process we must go through if we hope to live obedient lives.

If we are going to live obedient lives, we are going to have to commit to regular adjustments.

This means living honest lives with ourselves.

It is way too easy to deceive ourselves.

Remember, confession is agreeing with God that our sin is sin.

We need to keep an eye out for two of sins greatest weapons.

Convincing us that sin is an unfortunate necessity.

Convincing us that sin is really a matter of convenience.

Sin would love to get you to say…

I wish it didn’t have to be like this, but for now I just have to…

If it wasn’t so difficult, I would…

This morning, if the Holy Spirit is pointing out some sin in your life that has weaseled it’s way in, then I tell you again, you need a Nehemiah to help you.

Jesus wants to cleanse your life.

He will confront you, just as Nehemiah confronted the people.

He will recruit you to participate in keeping your life clean, just as Nehemiah recruited the Levites to keep the gates of the city.

But, if you are going to commit to living a life of obedience, there is one other piece you need to remember.

Don’t let the temptation to go back to your sin linger.

Remove it, avoid it, don’t let it hang around where you can see and hear it.

Why allow temptation to remain if it is in your power to remove it.

Conclusion

Sin can easily infiltrate our lives.

We don’t have to let it linger.

It doesn’t matter why you allowed sin in.

Jesus is offering to help you conquer it this morning.

Do you need to make a course correction?

Maybe you already have but you’re letting the temptation linger.

This morning, I believe, every believer can take a step towards dealing with the sins in our life.

Will you?