Guard the Gate!
19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.
22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
This whole interaction may not have seemed like a big deal to the people living in Jerusalem at the time. Days have a way of coming and going. And when you are used to doing something every day or every 'Sabbath' and the sky doesn't fall in on you.....well, then, as humans, we think that we are getting away with it and the original instruction toward that 'Sabbath' seems so very far away and so very distant in urgency.
Maybe that's what happened with the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" in the Garden of Eden. Maybe Adam and Eve 'got used' to their daily walks with God in the cool of the garden. Maybe they started taking it for granted a little bit? Like ... "Well...let's get ready....I guess it's time to get ready and walk around the garden with God"... instead of anticipating and treasuring this incredible relationship that was not a 'given' but a soon to be lost privilege. Then, after hanging around that 'tree' long enough and getting used to 'that tree' being there...and nothing happening when they 'touched it' and, oh yeah, they didn't have any consequence for getting so close......well....long story short...their familiarity with that tree and the circumstances surrounding that tree were their collective downfall. And their relationship with their God was instantly, forever changed with one decision.
So...back to Nehemiah. Buying and selling on the Sabbath must not have felt like a big deal to them....like in our society. They had been doing it for so long and the sky had not fallen in on them yet. Maybe they had even tried, in the past, to resist the temptations of buying on the Sabbath, as evidenced by the merchants hanging out all night and day long outside the gates in hopes of having someone let them in.
I just find this whole passage so typical of our human behaviour.
Lord Jesus, please forgive me for taking Your relationship so casually. The pleasure and privilege of having the potential of such a rich, intimate relationship with Your Holy Spirit is not a casual, careless gift. Please forgive me for ever seeing it that way due to my familiarity with the possibilities of that relationship. I renounce anything that stands in the way of that relationship and ask that You consume me from the inside out. Please. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Created over 1 year ago
