Day 139: February 28, 2026 – February 28

We bring the book of Nehemiah to a close and in it we find the people of God rediscover the law and have it read to them. At the reading the people say “Amen” and from there they begin to observe the religious festival days that had been relegated to history. Nehemiah also insists, and much of this book is written in the first person, that the people of God obey the Sabbath. So much so that when he sees merchants around Jerusalem selling goods he closes the city gates at the start of the Sabbath and does not open them until the Sabbath is completely over. I have often thought what it would look like to not shop for anything, on line or in person, on a Sunday. Nehemiah commands the people that they should have a walk with the Lord unlike that which their ancestors had, which led to them being in slavery.