Excuse XX
We're Not Nehemiah
Question:
How can God’s people today be expected to do what Nehemiah did, when the civil law empowered him with authority over Sabbath observance?
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Virtually every advocate of dining out on the Sabbath has a slant on Nehemiah’s prohibition against buying and selling on holy time (Neh. 10:31). Most church leaders claim that this great servant only condemned spending the entire day profaning the fourth commandment, not just an hour or two enjoying a meal prepared by paid Sabbath-breakers. In other words, according to them this sin is a matter of degrees, and in their view, anything as minor as dining out in a commercial restaurant is not worthy of being considered a violation of God’s law. Here is how the doctrinal committee of a prominent COG begins to express this argument.
When rationalizing the practice of dining out on the Sabbath, a very prominent COG association argues that the world we live in today is so radically different from the time of Nehemiah that it would be impossible for God's people to administer His law the way Nehemiah did. Therefore, they contend that because the Church is powerless to enforce Sabbath observance on everyone, it may now seek out Sabbath breakers and buy their products and services on holy time. Here is how they present their argument.
Nehemiah’s reaction to those who violated the Sabbath came in a time when the civil power controlled the keeping of the Sabbath. We do not live in such a time today. Obviously there are aspects of Nehemiah’s conduct that cannot be applied directly to our lives today.
We must be careful when extracting principles that we do not jump to conclusions in our comparisons to modern-day life when civil law is not in the hands of Sabbath keepers. One cannot transfer the events of that day to our day.
The Smokescreen Defense
What this COG has employed in this argument is nothing but a smokescreen. Simply because you cannot enforce God's Sabbath on a world dominated by a God-rejecting devil, does not mean you are powerless to obey for yourself.
Here is something this COG and its leadership should seriously consider before advancing this point. The Sabbath is HOLY! It was made so by a HOLY GOD. The Lord of the Sabbath consecrated it at the very beginning (Gen. 2:2-3). Furthermore, the law governing its observance has always prohibited God’s people from seeking out Sabbath-breakers and paying them for their labor. Simply because we live in a society dominated by such people does not mean we may now seek out their sin (Eph. 5:11) any more than it now permits us to occasionally work on the Sabbath because our employers demand that we do so.
A Lesson in Righteous Indignation
Sadly, while this COG dismisses Nehemiah’s relevance to God’s people today it omits a very important lesson from his example of righteous indignation (Neh. 13:15-21). That lesson is simple but very telling. God's people not only have the right but the moral duty to HATE what takes place in restaurants every Sabbath and holy day. This is the point Nehemiah's passion is illustrating. This wonderful servant saw what was taking place in Jerusalem as vile and a genuine threat to God's people. Our questions to this prominent COG and every other Sabbath dining advocate are these: Do you HATE what is done in restaurants every Sabbath? Do you see it as an egregious sin against God's law and a threat to His people? If not, why not? Furthermore, do you believe Nehemiah would see this sin differently if he was powerless to change it? Do you honestly believe his zeal was shaped by his authority, or was it REAL?
What takes place in a restaurant every Sabbath may appear innocent but it most assuredly is not. Satan himself is the force behind Sabbath breaking (2 Cor. 4:4, Rev. 12:9). This is a fact many of God’s people today simply refuse to accept.
Despite the clarity of God’s Sabbath law, many leaders remain defiant to Him and actually teach others to not take His word too literally. This is a tragic manifestation of this era of God’s Church—one that all too many embrace.
These COG thinkers can offer their theories all they want, but when it comes to their Sabbath conduct, God's word THUNDERS out His will. God's people are not to acquire their meals on the Sabbath. They are not to prepare them on the Sabbath. And His people are not to go outside their community of faith to obtain them (Ex. 16:29). Not only is this command alive and well today, but its enduring moral principle is alive as well. To teach otherwise is a HUGE mistake.
