“And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy (set apart to the worship of God), as I commanded your fathers. Yet they would not listen and obey or incline their ears; but they stiffened their necks, that they might not hear and might not receive instruction.” Jeremiah 17:22-23 [AMP] -> me: Here the Lord is telling Jeremiah to go stand in the gates of the city of Jerusalem and warn everyone as they come and go, that they must honor the Sabbath by not carrying loads in and out of the city on that day; but to keep the Sabbath day holy….as I commanded your fathers. What is crazy about this is that what is being said is that the people of Israel have never really kept the Sabbath holy. The Lord is telling Jeremiah to go tell the people of Judah to start doing this now…think about the uphill battle this would be. Generations before the current have never respected this day and now Jeremiah is being sent to tell this generation that if they don’t ‘an unquenchable fire will be sent to the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses’ Jer 17:27. Doesn’t this feel relevant to today? Application/Takeaway – just because you have not received swift consequences for disobedience, doesn’t mean the punishment won’t ever come. Additionally, it is not too late to repent and turn away from something sinful you have been doing for even a long time. Even though generation after generation has ‘stiffened’ its neck toward God’s commands, He is giving them a chance to change their hearts now. Keeping the Sabbath as a day set apart for God is a sign of Israel’s commitment to the God who entered into a covenant with them. In the context of Jeremiah, it is not ‘just’ about keeping one commandment; it is about a whole lifestyle in which God is taken seriously. Those who trust in the LORD WILL follow his commandments.
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