thus saith Jehovah Take heed to your souls, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, and bring nothing in through the gates of Jerusalem;
God sends Jeremiah to the gates of Jerusalem. There he must speak to kings and ordinary people about one thing: what they carry through those gates on the Sabbath day. The command sounds small, yet the whole future of the city hangs on it. Why did one day of rest carry such weight? And what is this "burden"?
The message goes out in public, at the gates where the traffic moves. One commentator hears in it the same mercy God showed to the city of Nineveh.
Yet, as in Nineveh, so in Jerusalem, God delights in goodness and mercy. A public message goes out to prince and people at the gates of the city. If they listened to the Lord and kept His Sabbath holy, all would be well with them, in joy, prosperity and thankful praise before the Lord. But if not, He would kindle a fire to devour their palaces, and nothing would put it out. How soon and how truly it came to pass!
Why hang a city's future on one day of the week? Because that day showed Israel's true condition before God.
The Sabbath the prophet is told to speak about is the measure of Israel's spiritual condition. It is the weekly reminder of Israel's covenant relationship with the Lord. When they neglected this command from God — and they always did when they drifted away from Him — that was the outward evidence that they had broken the covenant. If they truly returned to the Lord, they would show it by keeping the solemn Sabbaths, and the Lord would bless them. But they did not obey. … The Sabbath is an institution of the law connected with Israel. The letters written to the church never mention the Sabbath once, and nowhere do they tell believers to keep it.
The offer was rest, security and a nation that lasted. They turned it down, and the reason is unflattering but familiar.
One might have thought Israel would gladly welcome the prophet's words from the Lord. Those words told them to stop carrying burdens on the Sabbath day, to be at rest, and so keep the nation prosperous and lasting (Jer. 17:19-27). But people prefer activity to setting a day apart "to the Lord." When will people see that the way of lasting blessing is to honour Him first, to give Him what is due to His Name?
One writer treats the Sabbath as a shadow of the rest Christ gives, and reads the forbidden load as something heavier than goods for market.
Now look at the desperate struggle of unbelief to carry the burden of sin. God's own command about the shadow forbids it plainly, in Jeremiah 17:21: "Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day." Does not the Spirit speak this to us now? "Take care." Is not unbelief the sin that trips up every believer?… But do not doubt the power of that "precious blood which has made peace." Beware of the unbelieving heart that would doubt God's forgiveness. Reader, is the burden of sin pressing on your soul? Take it to the blood of Christ. He Himself says, "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
In John's Gospel, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. Then He tells him to pick up the very thing this verse forbids. One writer ties that moment back to Jeremiah.
The very same Lord who said in Jeremiah 17:21, "do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day," now says, "take up your bed and walk." We see the same thing with the man born blind in John 9:6. One word would have restored his sight, but again the Lord must set the shadowy Sabbath aside.
These gates are not left in disgrace. Reading Psalm 118 alongside this chapter, one writer sees the reversal.
What a change from Jeremiah's day! In his day they did not obey; they brought burdens in through the gates on the Sabbath day. So the house became a desolation. Now kings enter in by the gates of the city and of the house, as he prophesied. Burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense and sacrifices of praise are there (Jer. 17:26), and the priests, the Levites, to offer them.
- Gate — God sends the warning to the city gates, to prince and people alike. His mercy meets Jerusalem at its busiest spot and offers joy and a lasting future if it will listen.
- Gauge — the Sabbath was the weekly reminder of the covenant. How Israel treated it showed where the nation stood with God.
- Burden — Israel chose activity over honouring God. One writer also sees in the forbidden load the burden of sin that unbelief keeps carrying.
- Rest — Christ calls the weary to come to Him. His blood has made peace, so you can lay the burden down.
- Gates again — one day kings will enter these same gates, and sacrifices of praise will come in where burdens once did.
and carry forth no burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do any work; but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers,
Jeremiah stands at the gates of Jerusalem with a message for princes and people alike. One day of the week now tests the nation. What people carry through those gates will show whether Judah still belongs to the Lord.
Why single out one day, and one small matter of carrying goods through the gates?
The Sabbath Jeremiah is commanded to speak of is the standard of Israel's spiritual condition. It is the weekly reminder of Israel's covenant relation with Jehovah. Whenever they neglected God's command, it was the outward evidence that they had broken the covenant. And they always neglected it as they turned away from the Lord. If they really returned to the Lord, they would show it by keeping the solemn Sabbaths. Then the Lord would bless them. But they did not obey.
The same writer notes that some critics have denied that Jeremiah wrote this section at all, and answers plainly that the message fits the prophet's whole burden.
The command comes with a promise attached. The threat follows only if they refuse.
Still, as in Nineveh, so in Jerusalem, God delights in goodness and mercy. A public message goes out to prince and people at the gates of the city. If they listened to the Lord and kept His sabbath holy, all would be well for them, in joy, in prosperity, and in thankful praise before the Lord. But if not, He would light a fire to devour their palaces, and it would not go out. How soon and truly it came to pass!
The terms were generous: stop hauling loads for one day, and the nation would stand. Israel would not have it.
You might have thought Israel would gladly welcome the prophet's words from the Lord: stop carrying burdens on the Sabbath day, be at rest, and so secure prosperity and a lasting future for the nation (Jer. 17:19-27). But they prefer activity to keeping a day holy "to the Lord." When will men see that the way of lasting blessing is to honour Him first, to give Him what is due to His Name?
The strictness runs through every Sabbath law, not just this verse. One writer asks what that severity teaches about works and salvation.
No command was more strict. No kind of work could be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting a fire. And nothing displeased Israel's God more than the pollution of His Sabbath. (Read Jer. 17:20-27, and Exodus 35:2-3.) Is there not something very striking in this ban on every kind of work on the Sabbath? Here the wages of works is death. The wages of sin is death. But if anyone works for salvation, for rest, for peace — any kind of work at all — the wages of such works will be everlasting death.
The word "burden" is where this verse reaches past ancient Jerusalem. One writer turns the command on the doubting heart, quoting verse 21 from an older translation.
Then there is the desperate struggle of unbelief to carry the burden of sin. See how plainly God forbids it in His express command in Jer. 17:21: "Thus says the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day." Does not the Spirit in this speak to us now? "Take heed." … Reader, do you have the burden of sin pressing on your soul? Oh, take it to the blood of Christ. He Himself says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
One more thing keeps the verse in its place. The Sabbath was tied to a particular people, and the prophets treat it that way.
The day was set apart and made holy from the beginning (Gen. 2). It came to Israel first in grace: the manna, the bread God sent them, did not fall on that day, and He gave a double portion to provide for it (Ex. 16). Secondly, it came as part of the law of Sinai, woven into every new and special dealing of Jehovah with them (Ex. 20), and it was a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt (Deut. 5:15). So the prophets expressly treat it as a sign of Israel's separation from all other nations to God, and of God's covenant with them (Ezek. 20:12-20; Isa. 56, 58; Jer. 17:21-27). But then, in the past, Israel, a sinful people, had the sabbath as a legal ordinance, and so it condemns them, as everything else does.
- Sign — The Sabbath came to Israel first in grace, then as law: the weekly reminder of their covenant with the Lord. Keeping it or dropping it showed their spiritual state.
- Test — What people carried through the city gates measured their obedience. The demand was small, so no one could call it too hard.
- Offer — God spoke to prince and people in mercy. Keep the day holy, and joy, prosperity and praise would follow. Refuse, and fire would take the palaces.
- Refusal — Israel could have had rest and a lasting nation. They chose activity over honouring Him first.
- Burden — The forbidden load pictures the weight of sin that unbelief still carries. Take it to Christ, who gives rest to the heavy laden.