Christian Nation Vol. 18 1893 - Rparchives.org

Sabbath School Lesson,LESSON X,, SABBATH, MARCH 5, 1893Title: " Keeping the Sabbath," Neh. 13:15-22.GOLDEN TEXT :Remember lhe Sabbaih day, io keep it holy, Ex.20.-8.15 In those days saw I in Judah some treadingwinepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves,and lading asses ; as also wine, grapes, and figs,andall »nan«er o/burdens, which they brought into Jerusalemon the sabbath day : and 1 testified againstthem in the day wherein they sold victuals.16 Tnere dwelt men of 'Tyre also therein, whichbrought fish,and all manner of ware, and sold on theBabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, audsaid unto them. What evil thing is this that ye do, andprofane the sabbath day?18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our Godbring evil upon us, and npon this city? yet ye bringmore wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalembegan to be dark before the sabbatn, I commandedthat the gates should be shut, and chargedthat they should not be opened till after the sabbath:and some of my servants set I at the gates, that thereshould no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.^20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of warelodged without Jerusalem once or twice.21 Then I testified against them, and said untothem. Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again,I will lay hands on you. Prom that time forth camethey no more on tbe sahbath.22 And I commanded the Levites, that they shouldcleanse themselves, By the and Eev. ihat T. they P. Robb. should come andkeep A period the gates, of to probably sanctify tbe about sabbath eighteen day. Remembeadivides me, O the my present God, concerning from the this foregoing also, and lesson. spareyearsmeTh©accordinggreatertopartth«ofgreatnessthis timeof thyNehemiahmercy.was atJerusalem, and faithfully discharging the importantduties devolvent upon the governor ofso important a section as that was. For somecause not known to us, he left Judea, and returnedto Susa, He was not absent very long ;some writers think he was absent about sixyears ; reliable authorities place the limit ofhis absence at one year. A single year's absencewas enough to allow of all the sad destructionthat took place. It do3B not take designingmen long to do a world of mischiefwhen they once have the restraints removedfrom them. We are living in the midst of effortson every haud for the removing of restraints.Marriage laws are being set aside,and divorce made easy ; temperance laws arebeing evaded, or modified in favor of the saloon; the orthodoxy of the church is beinglowered, by the constant effort to set aside discipline; and the sanctity of the Sabbath is fastCHEISTIAN NATION. Volume 18,Zadok is named as scribe. Eliashib is in thepriesthood, and allied to Tobiah, probably bymarriage. His grandson was married to thedaughter of Sanballat. This in itself was amost offensive thing, and the source of muchtrouble to Israel, both before and i fter the captivity.Eliashib had diverted an apartment ofthe temple, from its sacred to a profane use.It was intended as a store house for the tithes.As there was a scarcity of these the high priestthought a pity to see the room unoccupied, sohe rid it out, and Tobiah, the enemy of all truereligion moves in, takes possession, pays norent, but does live in an apartment, that hemay undermine the main building of the houseof God. He was as valuable a tenant as a rat—no more so. Another of the evils was intermarriagewith the heathea, vs. 23, 24. Thiswas a most grievous fault; the children couldnot be instructed in the law, for they talked amixed language. This led to neglect of ordinances.The worship of the temple was neglected.Children were rot circumcised. 'T'hBtithes were not paid. The Levites forsook thetemple, and went to farming their lots. Thepriests were fast becoming corrupt. As a necessaryresult all classes of sins prevailed. Letus look now at the second division of our lesson.II. The Eefokmation, It will not be necessaryto notice any of these at length, exceptthat of Sabbath keeping. Nehemiah began atthe root of tho matter. He found Tobiah inthe suit of rooms intended for sacred uses, andhe evicedhim. He did right. He next beganto inquire what had come of the tithes and offerings.Here the people of the Jews were atfault. The rulers did not see the need for it,and they kept the one tenth along with thenine tenths that were theirs by right, and letstatute law ; binding law ; and law that wiU beenforced. The law of the Sabbath ia bindingthe Levites labor for a living. They were the today. " The Sabbath was made for man."first and the deepest in the fault. Nehemiah 4. He issues a proclamation to the transgressingmerchants. They came as usual onbegan with them. I would we had some Nehemiahtoday, to contemd with the rulers andthe Sabbath, and expected the order wculd notbe carried out. The gates were kept closed,make it possible for the Levites to return to and they camped outside the gates. Probablytheir duty. Eeader, have you paid little ornothing to the Lord's work the past year,so that some pastor, or some professor, orsome missionary is in need, because you havekept back the tithe? Let me spesk softlyin your ear. You had better defraud yourneighbor, or cheat your merchant, or steal penniesfrom a child. God takes notice to yourdishonesty, and some day he will evict you-After Nehemiah had tjathered the Levites andput them into their places, he began to lookabout the country. He found the farmers atwork, treading wine presses on Sabbath, anddoing other unnecessary farm work, and theyhad turned the day. into a market day, for theydisappearing both in church aud state. Weare repeating the history of the days of Nehemiah,The Sabbath is observed by many ; itis rememhered and kept holy by very few. In brought wine, grapes, figs, and other burdensthe study of the lesson notice :I. The Defection.into Jerusalem on Sabbath.the work of reform.Now here begunII. The Eeformation.L The Defection. To reach the full measure1. Nehemiah testified. His testimony wastwo-fold—positive—he testified in favor of theof this we must begin prior to the lesson Sabbath. It was a day holy to the Lord, anditsef. 1, There was the absence of efficient they owed it to the law that it be kept sacred.rulers. Nehemiah was away in Susa. ProbablyMuch of our work lies in this direction. A goodEzra was dead, for in the 18th verse man remarked one day, " When we havetestifiedwe have done our part; God will see to itthat our testimony is efficient," In the testimonyof Nehemiah, he is bold. He testifiedin respect to the day on which they sold.When he made his testimony negative—it wasagainst the transgressors. Many professeiChristians hold stock in railroads, street-cai;lines, and other secular affairs which operateseven days in the week, Does the chnrch testifyagainst this? Some people buy meat andmilk and vegetables on Sabbath, because theygel theia fresh, and others sell them on Sabbath,and they profess to be Christians. Whereis the church's testimony? We need a wakingup along these times. The secular wave is uponus, like a cold wave from the north. The rulersare as fault. There were foreigners in Jerusalem,and they sold fish and other desirablethings on Sabbatb, and the nobles were amongthe firstto begin to patronize them.2. Nehemiah contended with these. Thisseems to have been a step in advance of bisformer effort. He here seems to have reasonedwith them, and when that was not sufficient,he put himself in antagonism with them, usinglanguage of authority and probably threatening.0 for a Nehf miah in the mayor's chairof our large.cities! He cites these transgressorsto the history of Israel in the past, v. 18.But he takes heroic measures.3. He issues an order to the authorities.He says, shut the gates of Jerusalem, and keepthem shut until the Sabbath is over. He setshis own trusty servants to keep the gates untilsuch time as he can put sanctified Levites todo the same duty. He has the Levites cleansedfor this service, before he puts them into it.It is very little use to force men into the executionof good laws until you can firstsecurethem as converts to the law, and in sympathywith it. And yet no one should fail to urgethose in power to do their duty. A higher regardfor law is the need of today. Men shouldbe made to feel that the law of the Sabbath isthey hoped to establish a little trade outside,aud iuduce some of the inhabitants to comethrough the small opening for foot passengers,and buy ; or if this did not occur, they wouldhe ready for an early market ou the next morning.Here the order met them : " You cannotdo this any longer. You can go your waythis time, but if you come back again to loiterabout the wall and gates on Sabbath, I will arrestyou." Nobly spoken! Brave man! Thiswas earnest work. It was woT-k for God ; andhe was the victor. They did not come backagain. Nothing is so effectnal in commandingthe respect of the law, as the certainty that thepenalty is soon to follow its violation. Nehe^miah, as well as Paul, knew how to persuade^men " by the terrors of the law." If the civilrulers of today would follow Nehemiah's example,and put men who are cleansed (v, 22 i tokeep the gates of our cities, to sanctify the day,we would soon have no need for congressionalaction regarding the running of trains,issuing of papers, opening of places of amusements,and all that class of thing on the Sabbath.How is the Sabbath desecrated, 1. Bymaking it gloomy. Of all days in the weekthe Sabbath should be the most joyful. Thereis nothing more contrary to the idea of the day,than sour, morose stupidity. It should be the