Jeremiah 17:19-27

19 Thus the LORD said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the LORD, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the lowland, from the mountains and from the South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of the LORD.
27 “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.”’”
Jeremiah 17:19-27 NKJV


The importance of the Sabbath as a sign between God and His people is expressed in this passage. The fathers of the Jews of Jeremiah’s day had refused to listen to God and had not obeyed His voice in matters of the law. They did not want to receive instruction and had closed their ears to the words God spoke to them. The Lord through Jeremiah now renews the promise of national sovereignty if Judah keeps the Sabbath. The keeping of the Sabbath would show where the hearts of the people were. If they were willing to obey God in the Sabbath then god would be able to bless them with blessings of prosperity and peace. The prosperity would be shown by the offerings that the people would willingly bring to show God their love at His temple. The peace would be shown by the rulers who lead the people in worship and praise of God’s love and goodness from day to day. By keeping the Sabbath the people would show that they were keeping the covenant established between themselves and the Lord. They would obey the Lord’s instructions not only because of the blessings they gained by obeying, but also because of their love of God and their desire to please Him and recognize His rulership.
Should the people not desire to keep the covenant that God had made with them, then this would also be shown by their failure to honor the Sabbath Day. Instead of blessings, they would receive curses and instead of peace they would have war leading to slavery. This would be the inevitable result of the Jews cutting off the relationship with the God who wanted to bring goodness into their lives instead of evil. As always, the Lord gave them a choice and made the results of the choice plain to all. The choices made by their fathers would not determine their fate, but they could choose for themselves that they would love and serve God. Today we have the same choices. What do we want to be important in our lives and what do we choose to do about the things we consider important?

Lord,
Help me today to choose to obey You because I love You. Help me to open my ears and my heart to Your voice and to Your words. Take away the stiff necked attitude I sometimes have and replace it with a wise attitude of willingness to listen, learn, and obey Your leading.