Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
http://youtu.be/NK8VWcw8BOM “The Science is in!”
(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Nehemiah 13:15–22, “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 sabbath day? 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 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. 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.”
Even though there were a large number of rules and regulations from the Lord, (630) the their foundation was found in the Ten Commandments. They were the barest minimum requirements for honouring the Lord. Included in the Ten Commandments was the obligation to respect the Sabbath. This showed that the people understood and respected the fact that the Lord God is Sovereign in His creation. The Lord took six days to create the heavens and the earth and then the Lord rested to celebrate the fact that everything was perfect and He had nothing left to do. The returnees were not respecting the Sabbath. They wanted to conduct their business on the Sabbath rather than respect the fact that the Lord is God. Nehemiah made sure that the people understood that their obligations to the Lord came before everything else, even business.
No comments:
Post a Comment