Old Testament: Neh 13.15–16

To read the Bible in a year, read Nehemiah 12–13 on June 20, In the year of our Lord Christ 2022

By Don Ruhl 

It seemed that the work of Nehemiah never ended. Either it was the nations giving him trouble or even his own brethren. In the following, it was both: 

In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

– Nehemiah 13.15–16 

The people of Judah did work on the Sabbath that they should not have done, and men from Tyre came to Jerusalem to do business on the Sabbath, and of course, that meant that Jews were buying from them. 

Therefore, Nehemiah had to take a stand against these people, for they were violating the law of the land, which in this case meant that they violated the law of God, because he had commanded that they were to rest and do no work on the Sabbath. 

This is what good leaders do. They know what is right and wrong, and they work to make sure that the people under their leadership follow the law. 

Questions: 

• Why had the Jews been in Babylonian captivity? 
• Where was Tyre located? 

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Don preaches with the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. 

Listen to his sermons here: GrantsPassChurchOfChrist.com