In those days I saw men of Judah treading out their winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, and bringing their wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath. So I rebuked them for selling their produce on that day. Some men from Tyre, who lived in Jerusalem, were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise. They were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah—and in Jerusalem at that! So I confronted the nobles of Judah. “Why are you profaning the Sabbath in this evil way?” I asked. “Wasn’t it just this sort of thing that your ancestors did that caused our God to bring all this trouble upon us and our city? Now you are bringing even more wrath upon Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way!” Then I commanded that the gates of Jerusalem should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended. I sent some of my own servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day. The merchants and tradesmen with a variety of wares camped outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you!” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the holiness of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed also, O my God! Have compassion on me according to your great and unfailing love. [Nehemiah 13.15-22]
As was illuminated by Jesus, there is more to the Sabbath than "just a day." In fact, the Sabbath represents the rest that all who belong to God through Christ enjoy.
The opposite of "rest" is "work." One might also accurately associate the words "ease" and "toil" with "rest" and "work" respectively. Understanding these words is critical to understanding how a believer enters into God's rest through Jesus.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. [Ephesians 2.8-9]
All our "doing" - our toil - our work - is of no use to our salvation - our rest in Christ.
So, what does this have to do with Nehemiah 13.15-22? It has much to do with it!
When a child is told to not touch something and yet he crawls or walks up to it putting his little hand as close to it as he possibly can without actually touching it, has he really complied? No, but instead, he is pushing the boundaries. This is exactly what the merchants were doing by camping outside the city gates: they were pushing the boundaries. They had no respect for the Sabbath laws and God Who gave them. They had missed the point.
What could these merchants have done differently? They could have honored the Sabbath for themselves. Obviously, in camping at the city gates, they had worked on the Sabbath to prepare to be right there when the gates first opened. Again, they had no respect for the Sabbath.
How does this apply to us today?
When God says, "I am Your Healer, Provider, or Peace" should we not rest in His proclamation? But what do we do? We employ every ounce of knowledge and human intellect to devise methods and better methods to do for ourselves what God has promised. And yet! We comply with the letter of the law by saying God gave us these things. We push the boundaries right up to the point of full-blown non-compliance stopping just short spouting our cheap words, "God gave us debt, insurance, medicine and technology." Instead of resting in Christ from our own toil, we "work ahead" thinking our cheap words make it okay. No, we don't deny God per se, but our actions speak louder than our words.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest. The significance of this is seen throughout the Old Testament writings that place so much emphasis on compliance and respect of the Sabbath. Jesus necessarily had to appear to break the Sabbath code so that people might re-think the Sabbath in terms of Messiah (Whom the Law pointed to anyway).
Look at the Hebrews discussion about rest.
Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. [Hebrews 4,8-16]
Two very famous and often-quoted passages are contained in this context, but we must be careful that we have not taken these passages out of their context!
Regarding rest, God's Word cuts between soul and spirit and joint and marrow. In other words, it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. And this is precisely what is seen when we provide for ourselves that which God said He would do. We don't genuinely believe God is Healer but we "say it" to make it okay that we worked our own solution. God's Word exposes our real motivation to keep working instead of resting in Christ.
Further regarding rest, it is a bold move to retire from our own efforts that we might rest only in God for His mercy and grace that supply every need we have: provision, security, healing and tools. A bold move to God is a bold move away from ourselves and the devices of man (idols).
The true context of Hebrews 4.12 and Hebrews 4.16 can only truly be seen as they relate to entering God's Sabbath rest in Christ. Rest, not works of man: not pushing the boundaries by doing it ourselves, thinking we are okay because we 'say' God gave us the benefit we ourselves devised.
Father, thank You for illuminating the context of Hebrews 4.12 and 5.16 today. Thank you for further clarification of Ephesians 2.8-9. Thank You for revealing the significance of Sabbath rest in Christ Jesus! Thank You for revealing how we literally push the boundaries with our continued work to provide for ourselves that which You said You would provide. Forgive us for pushing the boundaries - for looking just like the world while hypocritically declaring otherwise. Your Word is exposing our hypocrisy. May we have the boldness to be "all in" with You, boldly denying the world any sway or control on our lives. So be it!
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