Nehemiah's Zeal for the Sabbath.
By D. T. Bourdeau
AMONG the righteous acts that Nehemiah did, to which he could look back with humble and holy satisfaction, and for which he could pray God to remember him, and spare him according to the greatness of his mercy, was that of enforcing the observance of the Sabbath, at a time when the Jews, who had brought God's signal frown upon them by violating his law, but were being restored to his favor and enjoying his blessings, were adding to their guilt by profaning the holy Sabbath. An account of Nehemiah's commendable zeal for the Sabbath is found in Neh. xiii. At the 19th verse of this chapter we see how particular Nehemiah was on the time for commencing the Sabbath. In this verse he says: "And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark, before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath." The gates of Jerusalem beginning to be dark, was doubtless caused by the sun's leaving them. This is made very clear by the French translation, which reads: "Therefore as soon as the sun had withdrawn itself from the gates of Jerusalem, before the Sabbath, the gates were shut by my commandment." This passage is particularly interesting in that it shows, 1. That Nehemiah looked to the sun to regulate the time for the commencement of the Sabbath. 2. If it is borne in mind that Jerusalem was surrounded by mountains, and that the gates were placed under wide and high walls, the fact that Nehemiah caused the gates to be shut as soon as the sun left them, shows that he thought it necessary for the people to leave their secular employment some time before the Sabbath commenced. And since the Sabbath rests on the same foundation and authority that it did in Nehemiah's time, and is as obligatory now as it was then, Nehemiah's example is indeed worthy of imitation. May we be imbued with the zeal, and manifest the strictness, that this ancient servant of God evinced, that, like him, we may have the blessed assurance that we have done the will of God, and that we may be encouraged to implore his rich and great mercy to those who keep his commandments.