Nehemiah 13:18 “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.”
A few chapters earlier, the people of Israel confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
They were walking away from the foreign gods and foreign religious customs they adopted in captivity.
The law of the Lord was again spoken in Jerusalem and there was an appetite among the people to obey. That is why their activities on the sabbath were such a concern.
God’s command was clear: they were not to work on the sabbath and were to set it aside for the Lord.
The people disobeyed, conducting all manner of commerce on this day, treating it as though it were the same as every other work day.
God’s judgement had come upon the people for their disobedience and they had faced many troubles.
Now things were just beginning to look up for Israel: the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, their defenses restored, they again looked to God’s law for instruction.
God gave them this day of rest for a reason. They would be better off taking it and setting it aside for Him.
Nehemiah 13:18 “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.”