WEBVTT - Nehemiah 13:15-31 - Nehemiah's Last Reforms (Part 2) 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:12.879 Life Audio. Hello there, friends and faithful listeners, Welcome to 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:16.360 the Bible Explained Podcast. We are finishing up the Book 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:19.480 of Nehemiah today and this week we will be ending 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.800 season eleven of the podcast, and actually not next week, 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:27.160 but the week after we'll be moving into season twelve. 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.680 I decided that I'm going to take next week off, 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:33.320 if that is okay with all of you guys. There's 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.440 been a lot going on recently and I'm a little 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.839 bit burned out. I'm not gonna lie, and so I 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.120 could use a week off if you guys would be 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.760 so kind to allow that for me. But I'll be 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.320 back in two Mondays, not this coming Monday, but the 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.240 next one with Bells on to discuss the Book of 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:54.400 Esther with all of you and to move into season 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.320 twelve of the podcast. And I am very much looking 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.680 forward to the Book of Esther, and I'm even looking 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.680 ahead to the Book of Job which is right after Esther, 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.800 and very very excited to talk about that book with 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:07.959 all of you guys as well. So there are great 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.480 things happening on the Bible Explain Podcast because the Bible 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.920 is a fantastic book. There's a lot of amazing things 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.440 in it. However, today we're going to be talking about 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.000 the last portion of Namiyah thirteen. But before we get 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.920 into this, please listen to this quick message from a sponsor. 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.200 Thank you for listening to that, faithful listeners, and let's 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.160 go ahead and read Niamiah thirteen fifteen through thirty one. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:36.200 I'll be reading this from the web. In those days, 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.880 I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:43.480 in Judah, bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.039 and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.840 on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them in 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.560 the day in which they sold food. Some men of 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.440 tire also lived there, who brought in fish and all 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:56.880 kinds of wares and sold on the Sabbath to the 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.960 children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I can tell 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.640 with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, what 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.480 evil thing is this that you do and profane the 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.680 Sabbath day. Didn't your fathers do this, and didn't our 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.240 God bring all this evil on us and on the city. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.760 Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:17.600 It came to pass that. When the gates of Jerusalem 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:20.680 began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.519 the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.680 not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.239 of my servants over the gates, so that no burden 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.720 should be brought in on the Sabbath day. So the 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.880 merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.040 of Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.160 and I said to them, why do you stay around 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.359 the wall? If you do so again, I will lay 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.679 hands on you. From that time on, they didn't come 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.640 on the Sabbath. I commanded the Levites that they should 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.520 purify themselves, and they should come and to keep the 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.440 gates to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me for this also, 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:56.960 my God, and spare me according to the greatness of 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.360 your loving kindness. In those days I also saw the 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.920 Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammin and 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.919 of Moab, and their children spoke half in the speech 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.760 of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language. 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.160 But according to the language of each people. I contended 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.640 with them, cursed them struck certain of them, plucked off 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.440 their hair, and made them swear by God, you shall 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.040 not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.880 daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Didn't Solomon, King 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.040 of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.280 there was no king like him, and he was loved 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.440 by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.960 foreign women caused even him to sin. Shall we then 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.400 listen to you to do all this great evil, to 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.160 trespass against our God in marrying foreign women. One of 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.320 the sons of Joida, the son of Eliashib, the high Priest, 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.000 was son in law to sand Ballad, to the Hornite. 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.760 Therefore I chased him from me. Remember them, my God, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.800 because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.520 the priesthood and of the Levites. Thus I cleansed them 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:04.760 from all foreigners, and appointed duties for the priests and 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.440 for the Levites everyone in his work, and for the 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.440 wood offering at appointed times, and for the first fruits. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:15.520 Remember me, my God for good. So in part one 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.360 we talked about how Niamiyah unfortunately had to go back 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.920 home after thirteen years. He worked for King art Exerxes, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.080 so he was required to be in Persia as the 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.520 king's cup bearer once again. So as Niamiah travels back home, 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.440 Jerusalem that we know of is without a governor until 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.440 Niamiyah gets the chance to come back again for his 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.520 second term as governor. And when he comes back again, 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.920 he finds a lot of problems, mainly that the Levites 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.640 weren't getting paid, that the temple was in disarray, that 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:53.159 the storage units in the temple were being used as 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:57.240 private little apartments for people like Tobiah, who was an 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:59.880 insane nut case. So Niamiah had to fix all of 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.120 And so now in the passage we read today Meiamiah 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.920 seeing some other problems that has been happening since he's 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.120 been gone. In verse fifteen, it says, in those days, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.160 I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:17.960 in Judah, bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.919 and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.800 on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them in 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:27.200 the day in which they sold food. Now this is 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.360 a big problem, because two chapters ago or three chapters ago. Rather, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.359 in Niamiah ten, the people had promised they actually signed 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.160 this document, or rather put their stamp on this document, 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.760 saying that they would follow the laws of God. And 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.880 one of the laws that they promised to follow was 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.160 the Sabbath day. So let's go back to Niamiah ten 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.400 and read verses twenty eight through thirty one. It says 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.360 the rest of the people, the priests, the levites, the gatekeepers, 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.960 the singers, and the temple servants, and all those who 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.000 had separated themselves from the peoples of the land to 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.120 the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.400 Everyone who had knowledge and understanding, joined with their brothers 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.160 their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.320 oath to walk in God's law which was given by Moses, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.960 the servant of God, and to observe and do all 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.960 the commandments of Yahweh, our Lord, and his ordinances and 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.839 his statutes. And that we would not give our daughters 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.440 to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:23.880 for our sons. And if the peoples of the land 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.560 bring whares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:28.839 that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.320 or on a holy day, and that we would forego 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.400 the seventh year crops and the exaction of every debt. 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.240 So the people made this solemn promise that they would 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:40.279 not work on the Sabbath day and they would not 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.280 purchase things on the Sabbath day. It specifically mentions purchasing 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:48.239 from foreigners on the Sabbath because the foreigners didn't celebrate 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.440 the Sabbath day. They didn't care what day of the 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.760 week it was, and so they'd come into Jerusalem any 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.400 day of the week to sell their goods. They didn't care. 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.680 The Israelites said, we're not going to purchase anything from 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.920 the foreigners, which, by the way, okay, I did say 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.640 something incorrect when I talked about Niamiah ten last because 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.400 I said it seemed like the Israelites were unfairly targeting 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.440 the foreigners. But as we see from Niamiah thirteen here 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:14.160 we get a little bit more of the story where 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.120 the Israelites weren't going to purchase any goods from anybody 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:18.800 on the Sabbath day. It didn't matter if they're a 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.280 foreigner or their own countrymen. They promised, we are not 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:26.240 going to purchase anything on the Sabbath day. But that 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:30.040 is exactly what Niamiah finds here. He finds all these 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:34.800 men working on the Sabbath, specifically to bring their goods 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:39.240 into Jerusalem to trade on the Sabbath day. Now, whether 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.200 or not it was biblically wrong to purchase something on 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.280 the Sabbath day, there's no specific command in the Old 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.520 Testament law against purchasing anything. But there is Old Testament 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.960 laws against working as normal on the Sabbath day. It 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.880 was supposed to be a day of rest where you 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:01.680 just relax and remember God and take a load off 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.640 so that you don't have to constantly be working. God 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.200 commanded the Sabbath day to be done, and God did 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.640 get angry whenever the Sabbath was not followed correctly. In 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.560 Ezekiel twenty two six through eight, here's what God says 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.640 about his people. He said, behold, the princes of Israel, 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.520 everyone according to his power, have been in you to 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.880 shed blood in you. They have treated father and mother 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:29.760 with contempt among you. They have oppressed the foreigner in you. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.440 They have wronged the fatherless in the widow. You have 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:36.280 despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths, and 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.920 then a couple chapters before this. In Ezekiel twenty eight 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.280 through twenty God is furious how the Sabbath day is 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:47.600 being profaned. He says in verse eight, they rebelled against 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.480 me and wouldn't listen to me. They didn't throw away 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.800 all the abominations of their eyes. They also didn't forsake 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.640 the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.280 out my wrath on them to accomplish my anger against 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.440 them in the middle of the land of Egypt. But 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.200 I worked for my name's sake that it should not 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.680 be profaned in the sight of the nations among which 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.480 they were, in whose sight I made myself known to 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.880 them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.040 So I caused them to go out of the land 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.200 of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.160 them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, which if 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.880 a man does, he will live in them. Moreover, I 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.679 also gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.360 me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.760 who sanctifies them. But the House of Israel rebelled against 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.520 me in the wilderness. They didn't walk in my statutes, 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.560 and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.319 he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my sabbaths. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.800 Then I said I would pour out my wrath on 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.480 them in the wilderness to consume them. But I worked 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.000 for my name's sake that it should not be profaned 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.080 in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.000 brought them out. Moreover, also I swore to them in 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.640 the wilderness that I would not bring them into the 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.520 land which I had given them flowing with milk and honey, 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.240 which is it's a glory of all the lands. Because 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.559 they rejected my ordinances and didn't walk in my statutes, 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:10.640 and profaned my sabbaths for their hearts went after their idols. Nevertheless, 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.600 my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them. I 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:15.640 didn't make a full end of them in the wilderness. 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.240 I said to their children in the wilderness, don't walk 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.880 in the statutes of your fathers. Don't observe their ordinances 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.559 or defile yourselves with their idols. I am Yahweh or God. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.280 Walk in my statutes, keep my ordinances, and do them 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.319 make my sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.240 me and you, that you may know that I am 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.200 Yahweh your God. So reading through that, that's pretty clear. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.640 I mean God mentions multiple times that he is upset 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:47.119 with his people for profaning the Sabbath day. And apparently 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.640 they were doing this all the way back in Egypt 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.959 because they were constantly doing whatever they wanted to do 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.560 on the Sabbath day. They were not taking the rest 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.439 that they needed. And by the way, Sabbath was made 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.840 for man, not man. For the Sabbath. The Sabbath day, 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.600 I believe to this day is important. I've never quite 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:09.319 subscribed to the idea that Christians shouldn't celebrate a Sabbath. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.800 Even though there is no mention of a command in 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.000 the New Testament about celebrating the Sabbath day, there's a 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.480 command in the Old Testament, and we can see God's 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.400 heart in the Old Testament. So the Sabbath day there 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.960 is something to it. It was made for us and 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.760 we need it. God himself took a Sabbath day of 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:33.480 rest after he created the earth to show us that 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.839 we need a Sabbath rest. Now, in the Book of Hebrews, 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.000 specifically Hebrews chapter four, it talks about the true Sabbath. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.760 Back in the Old Testament days, the Sabbath was a sign. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.800 That's actually what God calls it. In Ezekie Old twenty 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.640 he calls it a sign between himself and his people. 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.720 So the Sabbath day was a sign. And Hebrews four 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:59.720 describes what that sign actually is, that the Sabbath day 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:05.160 looks toward eternity and the eternal Sabbath rest that we 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:09.720 are going to experience forever in God's presence. And actually 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:11.920 I'll link those two episodes that I did about the 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.080 Sabbath in Hebrews four so you guys can hear it, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.839 because I talk all about what the Sabbath is, how 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.800 it's a sign, whether or not Christians should celebrate the 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.440 Sabbath day right now, I talk about all of that, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.200 and I'm going to link those two episodes in the 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:30.280 description of this episode. But the Sabbath day, there is 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.840 something to it, hence why God commanded it in the 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.560 Old Testament law. We need it. We need to rest, 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.800 We need to take a day off from work, We 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:44.080 need to take time for our families. Even our pets 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.000 enjoy a Sabbath day of rest. And we need to 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:51.360 take time especially to reorient our hearts toward God. And 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.920 that is what the Sabbath day meant in the Old 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.920 Testament days. So God wanted his people to keep the Sabbath, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.319 and actually in Isaiah chapter fifty eight, thirteen and fourteen, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.120 here's what God says about the Sabbath day. He says, 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.760 if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.320 doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:15.400 Sabbath a delight and the holy of Yahweh honorable and 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.480 honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.640 own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you will 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.120 delight yourself in Yahweh. And I will make you to 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.560 ride on the high places of the earth. And I 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.439 will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.480 for Yahweh's mouth has spoken it. So there you go. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.040 God tells his people, if you celebrate the Sabbath day 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:37.880 the way I tell you to celebrate it, then you 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.600 will be blessed. I will give you blessings. You will 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.600 delight yourself in Me. And yet the people were never 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.720 celebrating the Sabbath the way that God commanded them to 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.600 celebrate it, not in the wilderness, and even in the 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:55.120 days of Jesus. The Sabbath was not being celebrated correctly 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.920 because it turned into such a legalism that people were 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.360 miserable on the Sabbathbbath day. You couldn't do anything on 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.720 the Sabbath day. You couldn't walk a certain amount of steps, 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.240 or you'd get excommunicated from the temple. It was crazy 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.240 what the Pharisees were doing in the days of Jesus. 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:15.560 It got so legalistic that it became unbearable. So that's 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.200 not how the Sabbath day should be celebrated either. The 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:22.440 Sabbath should be a delight, is what God says. It 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.960 should be a day that you are looking forward to 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.760 and think about it. If the Sabbath is a picture 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:32.000 of the eternal rest that we are someday going to experience, 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.040 and we look forward to that Sabbath rest, then certainly 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.800 we should look forward to the temporary Sabbath that God 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:40.640 gives us on a week to week basis. But in 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:45.240 Niemiah thirteen, the people were not celebrating the Sabbath the 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:50.160 correct way. Once again, they were working on the Sabbath day, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:56.000 specifically bearing themselves down with these burdens, and Niamiah was 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.560 furious because he's like, you guys made a promise that 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:01.880 you would not do any work on the Sabbath day, 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.760 and that you would not buy or sell anything on 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.160 the Sabbath day, but that you would take a day 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.240 of rest. You can get back to your normal work tomorrow. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.400 It is only twenty four hours that you are missing, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.640 twenty four hours of rest and relaxation. Why will you 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.840 not take it? So, it says he contended with the 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.480 nobles of Judah in verse seventeen, and he said to them, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.600 what evil thing is this that you do and profane 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.640 the Sabbath day. Didn't your fathers do this? And didn't 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.360 our God bring all this evil on us and on 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.360 this city. Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.400 profaning the Sabbath. So it came to pass verse nineteen 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:39.720 that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.520 before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.400 and commanded that they should not be opened until after 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.840 the Sabbath. And that was specifically so that traders could 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.200 not come in to Jerusalem and trade all their wares 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.880 on the Sabbath day. He says, I set some of 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.640 my servants over the gates, so that no burden should 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.720 be brought in. On the Sabbath day, the merchants and 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.080 sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside of Jerusalem 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.960 once or twice, And yet the merchants were still coming. 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.160 And it doesn't say that these merchants here were foreigners. 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:16.560 By the way, these could have been Israelite merchants camping 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:21.560 outside the city gates waiting to sell their wares. They 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:25.600 were doing exactly what Amos chapter eight four through eight 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.920 says not to do. And I talked about this verse 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.240 actually a couple chapters ago, but let's go back and 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.880 read it once again. Starting in verse four, it says, 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.480 hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.320 and cause the poor of the land to fail, saying, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.480 when will the new moon be gone? That we may 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.560 sell grain and the sabbath, that we may market wheat, 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.960 making the epha small and the shekel large, and dealing 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.800 falsely with balances of deceit, that we may buy the 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.680 poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.960 and sell the sweepings with the wheat. Yahweh has sworn 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.200 by the pride of Jacob surely, I will I ever 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.360 forget any of their works? Won't the land tremble for this? 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.479 And everyone mourn who dwells in it? That is God speaking, 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.919 and he is specifically angry over the fact that the 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.440 people couldn't wait to get back to their normal day 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.240 to day job and start selling again on the Sabbath day. 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.520 Even if they weren't necessarily selling on the Sabbath day, 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.040 their hearts were so far away from God that all 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.320 they could think about was selling on the Sabbath. They're like, oh, 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.040 my gosh, when is this miserable Sabbath day going to 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.080 be over? So that I can get back to my work, 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.439 so that I can get back to being corrupt and 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.280 selling the poor, so that I can get some silver 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.000 from them, inflating all of my prices, and just being 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.320 a grifter. When can I get back to doing all that? 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:45.760 And God was furious obviously over this kind of behavior, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.879 And that's exactly what these merchants were doing in Niamiah thirteen. 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.200 They're just waiting outside of Jerusalem. When is the Sabbath 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:56.440 day going to be over? So we can get back 0:17:56.480 --> 0:18:00.119 to selling all of our goods? Meamiah is furious and 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.520 so it says in verse twenty one that I testified 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.000 against them and said to them, why do you stay 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.480 around the wall. If you do so again, I will 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.440 lay my hands on you. From that time on, they 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:14.480 didn't come on the Sabbath, and I commanded the Levites 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.160 that they should purify themselves, and that they should come 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.440 and keep the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.360 me for this also, my God, and spare me according 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.240 to the greatness of your loving kindness. Niamiyah is asking 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:31.920 God to remember him for basically having zeal for God. 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.760 And Niamiah did certainly have zeal for God. You can 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.600 see that. So he asks God to remember him. And 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:42.639 now in verses twenty three through thirty one, Neamiyah also 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.520 finds out that some men are going back to their 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:50.119 old ways of marrying women from Amin and Moab and 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.480 Ashdod and all of these other places. And so it 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.840 says in verse twenty three and twenty four, in those days, 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.720 I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.960 of Ammon, of Moabb, and their children spoke half in 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.520 the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.400 Jews language. But according to the language of each people. Now, 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.080 this is actually a problem. This is a big problem 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.560 because the Israelites were supposed to be holy to God. 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.280 And if you guys remember what I talked about in 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:20.320 Part one, the people of Moab and Ammin specifically were 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.800 never supposed to get married to the Israelites because of 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.600 how corrupt these societies were with their idolatry, and because 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.479 they were enemies of Israel like through and through from 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.240 the very beginning, the Ammonites and the Moabites hated the 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.000 Israelites and tried to destroy them right off the bat. 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.760 But God, of course did not allow these two nations 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.120 to succeed. But now, in spite of the promise that 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:47.119 all the Israelites made in Neemiah ten, the men of 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:52.240 Israel are once again marrying women from Amin and Moab. 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.160 And on top of this, their children can't even speak Hebrew. 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.800 They're speaking the language of the Moabites and the Ashtodites 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:03.520 and the Ammonites. So their families are not even being 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:09.520 integrated well into Israelite society, showing that the mother has 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.760 a lot of control over how the family is raised. 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.080 Niamiah sees all of this, and he is very angry, 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.000 and he says, you guys made a promise that you 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:22.719 would not be unequally yoked, that you would not marry 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:27.240 women that worshiped idols other than Yahweh. And now look, 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.760 the children are growing up in the Moabite and Ammonite cult. 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.280 So here's what Neiamiah does. In verse twenty five. He 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.880 contended with them, cursed them and struck certain of them, 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.680 plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:43.440 you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.879 take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. So 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:51.200 basically he forces them to make another promise to God 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:57.560 that these children will be integrated into Israelite society and 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.960 that they will not marry people who don't work ship Yahweh. 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:03.040 Now this was not supposed to be a race thing. 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.639 It probably did become that over time, where the Israelites 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:11.200 in Jesus's day only believed that Israelites were essentially saved 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:15.360 and that every other culture was cursed. Jesus came to 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.080 destroy that thinking. But that was not what this was 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.680 supposed to be. Again, this had everything to do with 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:24.240 spiritual health, at least when God made that law in 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:28.040 the Old Testament, the spiritual health of the people comes 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:32.679 before anything else, because where your soul is going is 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:36.320 the most important thing. When we're reading through the New Testament, 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:38.360 you can see how important it is. In fact, we're 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:40.240 going through the book of James in the New Testament 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:42.920 side of stuff, and James is talking so much about 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:47.960 how worldly pleasures and wealth and money just doesn't matter. 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:51.639 Our lives are so much more than what we have 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:54.720