Wednesday: Treading the Wine Presses on Sabbath
Read Nehemiah 13:15-16. What is the issue that Nehemiah addresses here?
It is not easy to stand up for God when you are in the minority. Because God said that the Sabbath was to be a holy day on which no one was to do any work, Nehemiah intended to make sure that this command was followed in Jerusalem.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
No doubt he felt a moral obligation to take the position he did and then act upon it.
The Sabbath was created as the pinnacle of Creation week because it was a special day on which people were to be renewed and recreated by spending time with God in ways that they can’t when engaged in their occupations or other worldly pursuits.
It has been said that “More than Israel kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept Israel”. The point is that the seventh-day Sabbath was, and remains, a powerful means of helping keep faith alive in those who by God’s grace seek to observe it and enjoy the physical and spiritual benefits it offers us.
Read Nehemiah 13:17-22. What does Nehemiah do in order to stop the “buying and selling” on the Sabbath?
Because Nehemiah is the governor of Judah, he sees his role as the enforcer of the rules. Because the rules in Judah were based on the law of God, he becomes a guardian of that law, including the Sabbath. Maybe if the nobles of Judah had stood up to the corruption brought in by the High Priest, Nehemiah wouldn’t have found himself in this situation. However, the rulers and nobles perhaps already resented Nehemiah for making them give back to the poor earlier; thus, they didn’t seem to object to the changes Eliashib and Tobiah brought in, either.
Nehemiah rebukes the nobles first and then commands that the gates be shut and posts servants at the gates to guard them. When the marketplace simply moves from inside the city to the outside, he takes even more drastic measures and threatens to lay a hand on the merchants the next Sabbath. Nehemiah must have been a man of his word, because the merchants got the point and stayed away from then on.
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Unfortunately, while we can all list things we should not do on Sabbath, we are surprisingly bereft of ideas about what we can do on Sabbath. This has left us with a very legalistic view of Sabbath-keeping. Apart from attending Sabbath-school and church, going for nature walks, and visiting the sick, we simply run out of ideas of what we can do. Consequently, many of us think of Sabbath afternoon as a special time for horizontal rest, and somehow I do not think that it was God’s intention for us to make that the definition of Sabbath rest.
Sabbath was and is a celebration of God's creative power, but when it comes to celebrating Sabbath we are quite possibly the least creative we can be. I often say that all we have done is that we have moved church going from Sunday to Sabbath.
The post exilic Jews had essentially forgotten Sabbath and were carrying out commercial activity. The notion of worship and rest had been forgotten. Sounds a bit like our commercial world of today.
Doc Morris, Shalom. Our Scripture reference reports Administrative and Ministerial sleeping with the enemy, and making a bed for the enemy to sleep in the Church (where the enemy dislocates the tithe and the Ministers of God - who by necessity focus on the secular). Does this correlate with our current condition?
Are we discussing current lack of ideas for appropriate activities on Sabbath, or issues of personal and corporate transformation of the heart through the Holy Spirit?
Maurice
Do you have any suggestions as to how we can better serve and worship God, apart from those you mentioned?
Have a look at my Thursday comment for one activity that I share in on Sabbath.
I often will go through the week’s lesson and write out (by hand - it increases learning) all the scriptures mentioned in the lessons.
I also like to watch the birds and delight in God’s creation or read mission stories.
Some in my church do outreach activities.
I enjoy fellowshipping with others but it is sometimes hard to keep the conversation God oriented.
Blessings on your day
Jesus said I am also Lord of the sabbath. Holy Spirit help us today.
I believed the Sabbath can’t be a day of rest if we don’t prepare for it Physically and Spiritual.
Physical- get everything as much as possible together. Don’t wait until Sabbath to put gas in vehicle, clothing not prepared. Food not cooked/precooked. Need to clean house etc.
Spiritually- be careful what we listen to all week, it comes back to us on the sabbath. Bring our minds to a place where Christ will love to be. If we are the head of the household be like Joshua. Call our families together for open worship to begin and close the sabbath as much as possible.
I personally never ran out of ideas but many times people like to hang around to talk not spiritual things, when you suggest a study, then everyone wants to go home. Sabbath is the only day people complain about being tired. Sunday- Friday some people work and over work without complaining.
Many times I realized it is my spiritual condition that’s why I feel or react in some ways on the sabbath. Sometimes people dread going to church to hear the same old things.
Lyn, obviously you challenge our world of Seventh Day Adventists in calling for preparation for Sabbath that eliminates working on the Sabbath. It is one of the important challenges of our times, which places you in the role of Nehemiah, without having the power and influence of Nehemiah. Do you have any listeners?
God bless in faithfulness in Word, and in practice.
Yes, you have listeners!
I go to Uni, and Thursday nights I start my preparations. I rather stay up late to get it out of the way. Early Friday morning, i complete the task and run off to get to uni. We are too casual with God's law and we justify... our clothes are ready from Sunday. When we get home on Friday, we just warm and eat. Sabbath, once we not eating at a family or at church, all we do is make a salad and warm the food that was pre cooked. Sometimes it's sandwich and homemade cake.
After lunch we sometimes walk if weather permits and following that we read and discuss a chapter fr SOP. We would go back to church if there's a session. We must see with spiritual eyes and God's requirements of us.
Blessings!
Wrong relationship led the people to wrong theology, wrong theology led the people to wrong destination in worship.
Every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Do we not see that even today. Very often some would say, I don't believe in all that you believed.
It may have been applicable for you in your time but now times have changed, we need to evolve with time.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The Iaraelites have made a promise to keep the Sabbath holy.
The leadership under Eliaship takes a sharp downward turn.
Thus the people follow the leader in desecrating the Sabbath.
There is always good excuse found to what we are doing.
The grapes would rot. The merchandiser have traveled far and could not estimate their time of arrival into the city.
For being disobedient we can give many excuses; however, for being obedient all we need is Thus Saith the Lord.
When we question Thus Saith the Lord, we are questioning the authority of God to be the ruler of our life.
My suggestion for activities for Sabbath for those not inclined to physical activities (like walks etc) - ideal time to read the Word and other spiritual books or to watch inspirational videos.
Who has other suggestions?
I believe it is a day to develop your relationship with the LORD. So how do we develop our relationship with other people? Maybe this will give us some ideas.
If your church doesn't have an after church ministry with nursing homes,prison,etc.,start one. Singing and praising God with people who are unable to come out themselves is very rewarding, fulfilling, and joyful to them as well as to you. To some of them you may be the only visits they have that week. Also singing,praising God,and fellowship with others can play a vital part in healing of body,mind,and spirit.and is very rewarding.
Sabbath has to be a special day. Everyone has to study about it and fit the routine of the house to the main Law. It is also supposed to be a day of joy! A renewal, a refresh from the stressful week. A day to worship.
I learn more on Sabbaths than any other days. Reason, my mind is relax. I'm not dwelling on assignments or job to complete. I'm just glad to have a break and reset my brain. Instead of sleeping in the afternoon it's a good time to start a SOP group or Bible class group(if your church doesn't have one). The conversation are stimulating and you learn or contribute so much. Praise God for this site! I share the powerful comments I read here all the times. At times I didn't see that insightful side and when I share it someone else has the same reaction as do I.
Even the teens are involved and they asked fair and reasonable questions to get us thinking or looking from another spectrum of things. Our idea is not to force anyone or generate any conflict re SOP but we discuss in a spirit of teachable and learning atmosphere. Cause at times, there are advocates who'll present SOP in a manner to generate arguments and turn persons off.
Thanks for this forum and God bless!