At that time I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.
I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”
Nehemiah 13:15-18
“In those days, I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath…”
Saw is raah – to see, show self, sight of others, view, behold, enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, be near, perceive, present, provide, regard. And we have seen Sabbath before; it is shabbath or shabath – to cease, desist, rest, celebrate, desist from exertion, put away.
While back in Jerusalem, I had the experience of seeing people treading the winepresses on a day they were to cease exertion and rest.
“And bringing in sheaves and loading them on donkeys…”
Sheaves is aremah – a heap, heap of grain, rubble, sacks of grain; from aram – heap (of corn), sheaf.
“And with wine, grapes, and figs, and with all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath…”
Burdens is massa‘ – load, lifting, prophecy, song. It was the same word we saw for Malachi’s prophetic burden, song. Now it identifies the loads the people were putting on their animals.
This seems strange to be focused so much on the donkeys, but God was very specific when talking about Sabbath.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:
You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
Exodus 20: 8-11
Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.
Deuteronomy 5:12 – 14
What a tender God making sure even animals and land get a break. All His creation is good, and all is commanded to trust and obey and rest.
“And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions…”
Warned here is uwd – admonish; to return, go about, repeat, do again; to duplicate, by implication, to protest, testify (as by reiteration); intensively, to encompass, restore, charge, earnestly, lift up, rob, solemnly, stand upright, give warning, call to witness. And provisions is tsayid – catch, hunting, game, food, hunter, venison, victuals; from a form of tsuwd and meaning the same; the chase; generally lunch (especially for a journey).
I protested intensely, calling witness about the day on which they were selling their food.
“And the men of Tyre who dwelt there brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah in Jerusalem…”
Goods is meker – merchandise, value, price, worth, ware. And sold is makar – to sell away; literally (as merchandise, a daughter in marriage, into slavery), or figuratively (to surrender).
So the men of Tyre makar the meker. They sold their wares to the sons of Judah on a day which was to be set apart as holy rest.
Not that long ago, once the wall was finished and the gates were being set, Nehemiah made sure the city and its people were protected by having guards at every gate. Their job was to wait until the sun was fully up before opening, and closing them before the sun had set. And I can only imagine, as the people were learning the ways to honor Yahweh after a generation of exile, these gates were not open for trade on the Sabbath. So somewhere in there, things had changed. Duties were left undone and compromise had set in.
How about us? Something He’s taught us experientially about obedience, but somewhere compromise set in? I can think of several places in my heart I need to make sure the gates are protected.
And I just can’t pass up how sold can mean literally (including human beings. Gasp.) and figuratively – as in surrender.
Doesn’t all this talk of Sabbath rest, of ceasing our striving, hit right at the heart of surrender? Just letting it go and trusting in Him? Putting away the need to control, get ahead, and attempt to provide for ourselves?
“And I contented with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, ‘What is this evil thing that you do by which you profane the day of Sabbath?'”
Contended is rib to strive, argue, complain, dispute, plead, quarrel, reprimanded, to defend. Nobles is chor, meaning noble; from charar – white or pure (from the cleansing or shining power of fire). Evil is ra’ – adversity, bad, evil; affliction, calamity, displeasure, distress; from ra’a’ – adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, grievous, harm, heavy, hurtful, mark, mischievous, misery, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked, wretchedness, wrong. Profane is chalal – to pierce.
And I reprimanded the nobles, ones who are to be cleansed and pure by fire, saying they have done evil, a grievous harm, by piercing the Sabbath.
Direct disobedience tends to set my parent (and teacher) heart on edge. The willful defiance, in spite of loads of attempts to offer options, speak calmly of consequences, can ignite my anger instantly.
While God is infinitely more perfect and patient than I, can you just imagine how He felt watching this newly-reconvened people to represent Him deliberately disobey His commands? This is the direction Nehemiah takes his thoughts.
“Did your fathers not do the same thing and did not God bring all the disaster on us and this city?”
Bring on us is al – hover over; this is zoth – hereby in it, such deed; disaster is ra’ again; And city is iyr (excitement).
Didn’t your fathers do the same thing? And didn’t Elohim allow all this adversity and disaster hover over us and our city because of it?
“And yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
Here wrath is charon – burning of anger; fierce, fierceness, fury, wrath; and profaning is chalal – to pierce again.
Yet you bring added fury to hover over Israel by piercing the Sabbath.
Nehemiah reminds them disobeying God was the reason for the exile, then charges them with adding to God’s fury by profaning the Sabbath. Actually, there’s something about that literal translation of profane – chalal, to pierce – that paints a poignant picture. Sabbath was a gift to God’s people, allowing them rest, an opportunity to see Him as Jehovah-Jireh, their Provider, and their common creatureliness. All humanity, no matter their station in life, was given the luxury of taking a day off.
From an old post:
“In modern America, we take the five-day work week so much for granted that we forget what a radical concept a day of rest was in ancient times. The weekly day of rest has no parallel in any other ancient civilization. In ancient times, leisure was for the wealthy and the ruling classes only, never for the serving or laboring classes. In addition, the very idea of rest each week was unimaginable. The Greeks thought Jews were lazy because [they] insisted on having a ‘holiday’ every seventh day.”
And yet, they refused the gift, piercing rather than receiving it.
By the time the God-Man Jesus walked on earth, the leaders were observing Sabbath, but had turned the gift into a reason to police others and halt mercy. The funny thing is, they didn’t realize the Sabbath Rest and High Sabbath Atonement were standing in front of them. The rest they received weekly as a gift was just a shadow of the Gift Himself.
May we lean into the opportunities He offers for rest and trust, to cease striving and cooperate with His rhythms of grace. But may we throw ourselves on the only One Who can put our souls at rest for eternity.