He must make a clean sweep of these traders at once.

So, going out to them, he gives them warning that they will be arrested and imprisoned the very next time that they come within sight of the city on the Sabbath day.
'So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.

Then I testified unto them: Why lodge ye about the wall?
If ye do so again I will lay hands on you.' That put a stop to it.
'From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath.' Then, from that day, Nehemiah held the Levites responsible for the strict observance of this rule.

His own servants had guarded the gates in the first emergency, now he bids the Levites to take their place, and to do all in their power to enforce and to maintain the sanctity of the holy day.
Surely we need a Nehemiah now-a-days, we need some of his strong measures to stop the growing disregard of the Sabbath, which is creeping slowly but surely like a dark shadow over this country of ours.

We need a man who will not be afraid of being called strait-laced, or narrow-minded, or peculiar, or Jewish, or Puritanical, but who will speak his mind clearly and decidedly on such an all-important point, and who will not hesitate to use strong measures to put down the Sabbath-breaking and the utter disregard of God's law, which is threatening the ruin of our beloved country.
Let each of us ask himself or herself, What am I doing in this matter?
How do I keep the Sabbath myself?
God asks for the whole day; do I give it to Him, or do I spend the best of its hours in bed?
Am I careful not to please myself on the Lord's Day, or do I think it no shame to amuse myself on that day as I choose, by travelling, by light reading, or by any other means that I have within my disposal?
Am I anxious to dedicate the day wholly and entirely to God, setting it apart entirely for His service, and looking upon it as a foretaste of the great and eternal Sabbath that is coming?
And, if I myself keep and reverence God's Sabbath, do I see that those over whom I have influence are doing the same?
Am I anxious that my children, my servants, the visitors who come to see me, all who are in my home on the Lord's Day should do the same?
Do I help them by every means in my power?
Do I strive that in my home at least God shall have His due?
And if in my home the Sabbath is observed, what am I doing with regard to it outside, in my own town, or village, amongst my acquaintances, companions, and friends?
Am I doing all I can, using all the influence God has given me, to lead others to reverence and observe the holy day?
And my country, dear old England; am I praying day by day that her glory may not depart, that her sun may not go down because of desecration of the Sabbath day?
The old promise holds good still; it is true of individuals, of families, and of nations.
'If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own word: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth.' 'FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.'.