The Elbert County tribune., 1917-12-14
LESSON FOR DECEMBER le
NEHEMIAH ENFoRcEs THE LAW
OF THE SABBATH.

GOLDEN TExT-Remember tho Sab
bath Day to keep It hoiy.-Exoc. ao:s.
Nehemiah remained in Jerusalem
twelve years, from b. @. 444 to b. O.
432. He was then recalled and was
in Persia some years, perhaps five or
seven, but returned about b. @. 425.
the year Artaxerxes died. for we know
that he returned by permissi,n 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 18 years following last Sundays
lesson.
In the section. Wv. 1914, 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 md its service OF worship is
neglected. we may expect that the Sab
bath day and the worship OF God viii
also soon fall into contempt Ezra has
dropped out OF our history without
him as to his end.
!. "Remember" ". 14) the Neglect
Of Gods House. (vv. 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 NV. 4. 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.
II. "Remember" w. f2) tho Sab
bath Day. (vv. 1929. Nehemiah's
next and most difficult reform was re-
garding the fourth commandment. He
at once set about to learn the facts;
then relates what he saw ". 15). The
record also tells how he testified
against them In that they we're selling
merchandise on the Sabbath day. He
contended with the mobiles that they
had done evil on the Sabbath day. ".
17. He testified against them thnt
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 its outward form on the
exact day of the week is not binding
upon Gentle Christians (Col. 2 10, 17),
| 1t was given to Israel as people.
| (Deut. Il, 2), as n memorial Of their
dellverance out of the land of Egypt
and the house of bondage. (Deut. 8: :6)s
The Christian, by the death OF Christ,
Is made dead to the letter of the law
of Moses. (Deut. ~. 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 and
not to the Christian order. Christ, who
rose from the dead (Rom. 7:4). rose
on the first day Of the week, and we.
as Joined to Christ, are not under OBJ
legations to the Mosaic law. but to
Christ. Therefore. the Lords day. the
resurrection day. the first day Of the
week, (Rev. 10: John 81 20; 10
90; Acts 27), Is the day Of privilege.
not of obligation md is more sacred
to us than the Sabbath day Of these
Jews. The Jews in Nehemiah's time
showed their contempt Of the Lords
day by making 1t a day Of profit hence
this exhortation which we see set forth
in this section. This should be warn
ing and an exhortation to us In these
days of secularized Sabbath.
III. "Remember" ". 2e) the Holy
Priesthood. (vv. 23-31). In this section
we see that the priesthood had even
defiled themselves with women. and
again this Nehemiah entered upon
cleansing process, Wv. 30-31). The use
of this word remember" In verses IA,
% and 20 gives strong emphasis to the
three cardinal sins against which Ne
hemIsh was battling.
~. Summary: AS in NehemIah's
time. so now, Sabbath desecration Is
the surest road to national ruin, and a
large proportion Of our present calan-
lty Can Se traced to growing irrever
ence for the Lords day. Jesus swept
away the cobwebs of Sabbath irrever-
ence. hut did not tear down the house
He kept the principle, but removed the
barnacles rith which the Pharisees
and Jews had encumbered 1t. Jesus
taught that the Sabbath was made for
man and not man for the Sabbath.
tsinrk 2 :27. 2s). and he set himself as
an example In this regard, for he is
Lord of that day as well as the other
days of the week.
The Sabbath is day Of rest and il
observed. workmen without exception
will produce more than is possible II 1t
Is not observed.
The chief value of the Sabbath how
ever. is in connection with the wor-
ship Of God. The feeding Of the spir-
ltual nature; the rest which is to be