Here's a little bit of history that I'm sure most of us are unaware of. In 586 BC, Jerusalem and its gates
were burned and destroyed by fire. Jeremiah 17:27 gives the reason for why it happened:
Thus says the Lord, "But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."
A little later on around 432 BC, Nehemiah has gone back to Jerusalem to help rebuild it. After rebuilding the walls, the people made a covenant in Neh. 10:31 "... if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day;" Sometime after this, Nehemiah returned to Babylon for a short time. However, when he came back to Jerusalem (in Neh. 13:15-19) this is what he had to say:
"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. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, 'What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.' So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day."
In verse 18 when Nehemiah referred to "didn't our fathers do thus, and didn't our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city?" - he was referring to the burning of Jerusalem and its gates by fire, back in Jeremiah 17:27! To put it in our language today, Nehemiah was "freaking out" that the people were buying and selling on the Sabbath day, not keeping it a holy and set-apart day to the Lord, and not keeping the gates of Jerusalem shut on that holy day. He was fearful that God would again burn it with fire because of them not honoring the Sabbath Day!
What does this have to do with us today? Take a look at what Christians are doing on the 7th day of the week - the Sabbath day to the Lord our God. It's one of the first 4 commandments that have to do with "Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength". Are we "buying and selling" on God's holy day? Are we working and/or making others work that day by serving us? Maybe some of us should be getting a little bit more "freaked out" about the natural disasters God is allowing to come on the U.S. when it's obvious we continue to "cast His law behind our backs" (Neh. 9:26) by being a disobedient and rebellious people when it comes to God and His Word. If God can burn Jerusalem with fire because the people called by His Name would not keep His Sabbath day holy - what makes us think it won't happen to us as well?
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