Topical Bible: The Sabbath: The Wicked: Pollute

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The Sabbath, a day of rest and worship, is a central tenet in Judeo-Christian tradition, established by God as a day of rest on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2-3). It is a sign of the covenant between God and His people, a day set apart for holiness and reflection. However, throughout biblical history, there are numerous accounts of the wicked polluting the Sabbath, demonstrating a disregard for God's commandments and the sanctity of this holy day.

Biblical Foundation of the Sabbath

The Sabbath is first introduced in the creation narrative, where God rests on the seventh day, blessing and sanctifying it (Genesis 2:2-3). The command to observe the Sabbath is later codified in the Ten Commandments: "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:8-10). The Sabbath is intended as a day of rest and spiritual renewal, a time to cease from labor and focus on God.

Pollution of the Sabbath by the Wicked

The pollution of the Sabbath by the wicked is a recurring theme in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. The prophets frequently rebuke the Israelites for their failure to honor the Sabbath, equating this neglect with a broader pattern of disobedience and idolatry. In Ezekiel 20:13, God laments through the prophet, "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My ordinances, which, if a man does them, he will live by them; and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them" .

The prophet Isaiah also addresses the issue, calling out those who engage in commerce and self-serving activities on the Sabbath: "If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words" (Isaiah 58:13). This passage highlights the heart of the issue: the wicked prioritize their desires over God's command, thus polluting the Sabbath.

Consequences of Sabbath Pollution

The consequences of polluting the Sabbath are severe, as it reflects a broader rejection of God's law. In Jeremiah 17:27, the prophet warns, "But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem" . This dire warning underscores the seriousness with which God views the observance of the Sabbath.

Restoration and Renewal

Despite the repeated pollution of the Sabbath by the wicked, the Bible also offers hope for restoration. Nehemiah, upon returning to Jerusalem, takes decisive action to restore the sanctity of the Sabbath, rebuking the nobles of Judah for their neglect and instituting reforms to ensure proper observance (Nehemiah 13:15-22). This renewal of Sabbath observance is seen as a return to faithfulness and a restoration of the covenant relationship with God.

In summary, the pollution of the Sabbath by the wicked is a significant theme in the Bible, illustrating the tension between human disobedience and divine command. The Sabbath remains a symbol of God's covenant, a day set apart for rest and worship, and a reminder of the need for holiness and obedience in the life of the believer.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Isaiah 56:2
Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the sabbath from polluting it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Ezekiel 20:13,16
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Festal Letters.
... For many, crowding to the fast, pollute themselves in ... is humbled when it does not
follow wicked opinions, but ... Pharmuthi (April 5), on the holy sabbath of the ...
/.../athanasius/select works and letters or athanasius/i festal letters.htm

The Sixth Book
... All other evils pollute those who perform them, not ... where are theaters, where those
other wicked vices that ... Israelites had gathered wood on the Sabbath, he was ...
//christianbookshelf.org/salvian/on the government of god/the sixth book.htm

Carried by Four
... years, is not impressed; it may be that another has left the Sabbath-school unsaved ...
Does a long life of infidelity pollute thee ... Hast thou been abominably wicked? ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/carried by four.htm

The Being of God
... that his day is coming.' While there is a hell, the wicked shall be ... in the days that
I shall deal with thee?' Such as pollute God's Sabbath, oppose his ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/1 the being of god.htm

The God of Peace
... be still." He it is who on the Sabbath-day brings ... by his flaming brand, never again
to pollute the sacred ... righteous have been severed from the wicked, when the ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/the god of peace.htm

Unsound Spiritual Trading
... The drunkard, the blasphemer, the Sabbath-breaker, can it be ... Shall not the answer
be, "Thou wicked and faithless ... when perhaps the same sin may pollute our own ...
/.../spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/unsound spiritual trading.htm

That it was Before Predicted that the World Would Hold us in ...
... be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-day: for ... Antichrist was set forth"sought
to pollute the mouths of ... he may deceive, should embrace the wicked part of ...
/.../cyprian/the treatises of cyprian/11 that it was before.htm

Paul's Sermon Before Felix
... Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 10, 1858, by the. ... the gospel, and for dealing
sternly with a wicked man who ... vices of a ruler would tend to pollute a nation ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/pauls sermon before felix.htm

Faustus Fails to Understand Why He Should be Required Either to ...
... aside circumcision, and sacrifices, and the Sabbath and its ... sacrificial flesh, it
would necessarily pollute even when ... lovers of the world, the wicked, or carnal ...
/.../faustus fails to understand why.htm

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
... When the Sabbath points out a rest from sin ... Strangers brought into God's sanctuary
to pollute it, and ... deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, it is ...
/.../cunningham/the ordinance of covenanting/chapter xi covenanting enforced by.htm