Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-12-14
LESSON FOR DECEMBER 16
NEHEMIAH ENFoRcES THE LAW
OF THE SABBATH.

Nehemiah remained in Jerusalem
twelve years, from B. G. 444 to B. G.
432. He was then recalled and was
in Persia some years, perhaps five or
seven, but returned about B. G. 425,
the year Artaxerxes died, for we know
that he returned by permission of that
king. Therefore, the date of this les
son would be sometime in the summer
or early autumn Of 426 or 427 B. c.,
16 or 19 years following last Sundays
lesson.
In the section, w. 10-14 we see that
the gifts for the house of God and
the Levites, who led in worship, had
been neglected. Whenever the house
of God and it's service of worship is
neglected, we may expect that the Sab
bath day and the worship of God will
also soon fall into contempt. Ezra has
dropped out of our history without
hint as to his end. He may have re-
turned to Babylon, seeing that his
work was completed, or have been re-
called by the king. Perhaps he brought
back information TO Nehemiah at the
Persian court, of the declension which
had already started in the city of Jeru-
salem. Three times, in this chapter
the word remember" is emphasized.
Perhaps that offers suggestion as to
our outline.
I. "Remember" ". 14) the Neglect
of Gods House. wv. 1-14). The neg
lect of Gods house grew up out of the
incursion of heathenism into Jewish
life. Nehemiah realized that the pur-
ity of the race depended upon absolute
separation from the mixed multitude.
". 81. Nehemiah also confronted the
difficulty of having a priest ,(vv. A, 81,
who had defiled himself and also desc
Grated the temple, and finally the por-
ton for the support of the priest and
the temple worship had been withheld.
". 10Y. This was the state of things
with which Nehemiah had to contend.
II. "Remember" ". 12) the Sab
bath Day. wv. 15-22). Nehemiah's
next and most difficult reform was re-
garding the fourth commandment. He
at once set about to learn the facts;
record also tells how he testified
against them in that they were selling
merchandise on the Sabbath day. He
cOntended with the mobiles that they
had done evil on the Sabbath day. ".
ID. He testified against them that
the merchants and sellers Of ware had
lodged about and within Jerusalem.
wv. 20, 21). The root of the trouble
with Judah was that they forgot Gods
word and followed the devices and de-
| sires of their own hearts. The Jewish
| Sabbath in it's outward form on the
exact day of the week is not binding
upon Gentle Christians (COl. 2 :16, 11)
| It was given to Israel as a people,
Oeut. 81, y, as q memorial of their
deliverance out Of the land of Egypt
and the house of bondage. (Deut. 5 :6).
| The Christian, by the death of Christ
| is made dead to the letter of the law
of Moses, Oeut. 7:4), but the prin-
| ciple of the Sabbath is older than even
| the law of Moses and is as binding
upon the Christian believer as are the
many other principles which underlie
the Mosaic law. In its exact form, the
seventh day, the observance of the
Sabbath belongs to the old order anC
not to the Christian order. Christ, who
rose from the dead (Rom. 7:4, rost
on the first day Of the week, and we
as Joined to Christ, are not under OBJ
legations to the Mosaic law, but t.
Christ. Therefore the Lords day, tht
resurrection day, the first day of the
week, (Rev. / 10; John 81 20; 1:19
&c; Acts 27), is the day of privilege
not of obligation and is more sacred
to us than the Sabbath day of thest
Jews. The Jews in Nehemiah's tins
showed their contempt of the Lords
day by making it day of profit, hence
this exhOrtatiOn which we see set fortl
in this section. This should be warn
ing and an exhOrtatiOn to US in thes'
DAYS of q secularized Sabbath.
III. "Remember" ". 29) the HoI!
Priesthood. wv. 23-31). In this section
we see that the priesthood had ever
defiled themselves with women, ant
again this Nehemiah entered upon
cleansing process, wv. 30-31). The US
of this word remember" in verses Il
% and % gives strong emphasis to tn
three cardinal sins against which Ne
hemiah was battling.
w. Summary: AS in Nehemiah
time, so now, Sabbath desecratiOn
the surest road to national ruin, and
large proportion of our present calam
ity can be traced to growing irreveI
ence for the Lords day. Jesus swep
away the cobwebs of Sabbath irrevel
ence, but did not tear down the house
He kept the principle, but removed tn
barnacles with which the Pharisee
and Jews had encumbered it. Jesu
taught that the Sabbath was made 70
man and not man for the Sabbath
Mark 2 :27, 2S), and he set himself a
an example in this regard, for he
Lord of that day as well as the othe
days of the week.
The Sabbath is a day of rest and /
observed workmen without exceptio
will produce more than is possible if
is not observed. Recent confirmatio
of this principle can be found in tn
report of the British ministry of nun
tions. To observe the Sabbath or an
other divinely ordained principle tend
to prosperity Il Tim. 4 :S).
The chief value of the Sabbath, hov
ever, is in connection with the wo
ship of God. The feeding of the spi
I itual nature; the rest which is to /
differentiated from mere holiday {
pleasure; its need for adult and chill
life; it's educational value; it's oppO
tunity for Christian service and exa
tation Of family relations, all show
to have been created to fill Il real nee
: and to manifest the wisdom ana gOot
ness of God.