A lazy world

 

Today I got the latest e-mail from Sony announcing the end of PlayMemories- the tool I use to download my pictures and fix their unfixables.  As of February 29th (which is a thing this year), I'll have to rely on the cumbersome, annoying, and un-adjustable direct download to the computer.  I bet they could have asked people to pay to use it- I certainly would have.  But no, let's just flush it all down the toilet, because we're LAZY.  In their defense, they DO give you something to click on to download your pics on the site to your computer (which I thought they already were), but... you get to the penultimate step, and you get "The server has timed out" and shuffled off to a PlayStation ad.  Lazy.

So, I don't know if I'll still have MY pictures come March, or how much I'll bother to fight with this 'new system' I'm being forced into.  In the end, I'm lazy too, and learning how to do this (which I tried back when they first announced this day was coming) is a right pain.

I can't fix this with money, i.e. new camera or computer.  The money is just too tight.  Last weekend, in a burst of my own laziness, I speculated on taking today off as my Swiss hockey team, Servette, is playing on TV in a few moments. After I sobered up gave it some thought, I rejected the idea as I need no more reasons to be lazy.  However, because of our "wonderful" economy (Thanks again, Joe), our work is at a point where 6 people of our crew just got laid off, Boss says he's not looking for things to get better till at least March, and the prospect of not having to find me something to do today put a gleam in his eye.  So, I'm getting ready- sorta- to watch my guys get clobbered in the Champions League semis, while in the meantime Laurie takes Misty to an impromptu drs appointment to see if her current symptoms denote a UTI.  It just keeps getting more fun.  Add to that our lovely weather (Currently 5F, or -15 for you in the Celsius world), and today's just a gas.

But, I digress, I was ranting about lazy.  I see another example was Uber has shut down their semi-independent booze-delivery wing, Drizzly.  Not tried to sell it off, do something productive with the assets, just flip the switch.  I'm told in the article that a motivating factor may have been that Drizzly's info got hacked.

Three years ago.  

And no one said a word or did a thing for two of those three years.  Lazy.

About our work, I don't know that this is an example of lazy.  Out of our entire list of Tracker boats for me to cut this week, starting at 10 AM, I had 81% (13 out of 16) cut by the time we left at 2:30.  With pauses for recuts, long talks, and a meeting to explain the layoffs to everyone.  And this sucks, because it gets you in a 'no-pressure' mindset and you begin to drift into 'milk-it' mode.  I don't like 'milk-it' mode anymore.  I'm not real fond of 30-hour weeks, either.  Our boss has tried shifting the heaven/earth axis to get things better.  But it is what it is.

Throwaway workers, throwaway jobs.  Throwaway websites that even a modicum of effort could reap benefits.  What's the answer?  "Well, anyone who WANTS a lay-off, just ask".  Go on the dole, pull money out of my right pocket to fill my left.  Yeah, I'm bitter.  4 years ago, with the "Big Orange Meany" as President, we couldn't get fabric in the building fast enough.  We were proud when 50 hours got enough done we didn't have to work Saturday.  Uncle Joe took 4 years to make it so we are now slower than we've EVER been in 11 years of working this job.  Even Obama didn't fubar things as bad as they are now.  Then you see paid shills come on Twitter saying that the Biden economy is creating so much wealth, so many jobs, and you just want to cry.  That people can be This. Damn. Stupid.

Sigh.

Now, mind you, I'm not a Trump cultist.  But he didn't let touchy-feely woke pie-in-the-sky crap stop us from doing business.   Frankly, at 5F I'm in favor of global warming.  Global warming means I can feel my feet, rich people are buying boats, and gas is back down to where prices can come down.  Upset with that take?  Go complain to Delhi, Djakarata, of Beijing, where the real carbon emissions come from.

I'd better wrap this up before I get any further into politics, which I told myself I wouldn't do here anymore.  Best to just go lazy down on the couch, watch my game, ponder if March WILL be any better, whether I'll still have pictures then, worry what's up with Misty, and growl at my team as they give up another one.

My lovely Friday Morning

 

Friday morning looked already to be a hectic day.  I had 2 appointments, and a major winter storm was approaching.  After getting my opening duties done (Bible, bathroom, Misty, etc), I settled in to look at the morning round of e-mails.  Wouldn't come up.  Tried again rinse ring repeat, no dice.  So I sent a message to my sister: "Happy birthday, o ancient one". Got back: "You're that far behind, slick".  Think she missed the "not", but whatever.  Tried e-mail again, it would load the screen, show you the list of 'em, but you couldn't open them.  If you tried long enough, it would stop showing them, but would tell you:

Unable to connect to mail server. Possible reasons: The mail server is (temporarily) down or there are network connection problems. Please try again in a few minutes.

Or:

An error occurred inside the server which prevented it from fulfilling the request

So I say, this sounds like Xfinity is down, thus I contacted DownDetector. Nope, not according to them. Oh well, time to go to my eye appointment.  Road not bad yet, but sleet is falling.  Some little bits frozen on the windshield.  I get down our street to just past the bark park- and my wiper, driver's side, flies OFF the car.  I swing into the lot, run out into the street to pick up my wiper, found the plastic pin that holds it on missing most of its head.  No time to deal with, I throw it on the seat and head to the Mall.

At this point, I'm thinking, I can just zip-tie it on when I get home until nice weather returns (which was projected to be not before next Wednesday.  So, I call Laurie- or try to- to look for zip ties I thought we still had. My phone says, "No bars, emergency use only".  What the actual, is AT&T down too?  Trying to drive with sleet on the windshield, busy Friday morning traffic, trying to watch my phone for bars.  Get a couple, try to call.  "Connecting..."  No, no you're not.  Three tries later, I get a ring!  I can hear Laurie- Laurie hears, "Hey, I se;cn,jkhrteoijhdxc.dfnlh", followed by nothing.  I slam the phone down, continue to Mall.  

I pull in at the proper door (all the way around back, of course).  Sleet/snow still coming down, wind in the 30 mph range. I have full bars now, but as I get out of the car and try to get with Laurie, I get interrupted by a couple sitting in their car: "Do you know what the latest weather report is?"  Of course I do, I had to do something while I was waiting for my e-mail to not work.  "Worst comes in the afternoon," I yelled over my shoulder as I tried calling Laurie.  Finally, get through clear.  I tell her the situation, but as I approach Pearle Vision, the phone starts breaking up again.  Three attempts at saying, "I'll call you later," I grab the door handle at PV exactly at my appointment time.

Door's still locked.

They let me in, apologizing, and I get my appointment started.  My phone makes the "You just got a phone voice message" sound- mind you, without bothering to ring- while I wait for the doc. I listen- Laurie, telling me she found some wire, and her and Misty were on their way- thanks to the garbled phone- to the bark park, where they believe I am waiting for them. "No, I'm in the Mall, waiting for the doc."

On to the appointment.  Some signs of possible Macular Degen, so she wants me to come back in 6 months.  Don't NEED need new glasses, yet.  "Baby cataracts", whatever that means.  Tells me to start eating more ( as in any) leafy greens to help my eye health.  Suggests she'll put me on supplements if I don't.  My answer: "What's a couple more pills, bring 'em on."

Call Laurie back.  Make a wasted trip around the Mall to see if they have a store that might possibly sell something to hold my wiper on.  Back to the car, thankfully the sleet/snow has stopped for the moment.  Find an O'Reilly's Auto on the way home, fix that.  So the co-pay on the eye exam plus the cost of the wiper will now just edge out the co-pay on the upcoming PT appointment- conveniently timed to hit right as the main storm has had an hour or so to dump more crap on the road.

Back home, the phone is back to functional, but not so much the e-mail.  I seem to have a lot of luck doing the Xfinity help chat on Twitter/X, so I contact them, while I ascertain the level of FUBAR on the e-mail.  Now it will give me the e-mails, even let me read them- but I can't DELETE them.

The connection to remote server http://imap-central.ge.xfinity.com was refused or timed out while attempting to connect. Please try again later.

So she has me do some stuff, logging out and in, asks me questions.  Suddenly I can't post a new message because "X is over capacity, try again later."  Several attempts later, X becomes un-capacitated, and we continue.  In the meantime, I go to DownDetector again- and this time it is full of messages cursing Xfinity's "awful service" and comparing the company to all things bright and wonderful.  About the time I mention this to my chat-helper, it all starts working again.  Or shortly after.  I was getting a bit blurry by this time.

On to the PT appointment, and the easy end of my travails. We now have literal slop, a couple inches of snow mixing nicely with an equal amount of rain.  Fortunately, my PT place is quite truly a drive around the block in a circle, so other than not slipping into parked cars, it wasn't a challenge.  What IS a challenge, I found out, is the fact that lying down, putting my hands behind my head, and pulling elbows toward each other is EXCRUCIATINGLY painful.  I love my body....

M10 Show week #103

 

So today I saw the Billboard Alt Airplay top 50 for the year...

Elvis:  Yeah, how'd it look?

I broke it down like this:

Songs I either never heard, or heard so little I don't remember hearing them: 12

Songs I heard and either didn't care for all the way to couldn't stand: 11

I heard 'em, they're okay, but not enough interest to put them in the shuffle: 12

At least made the shuffle, including my unpublished 11-15: 5

Top 6-10: 2

Top 5-3: 2

#2: 1

#1's:  New Gold (#22) and Run Away To Mars (#30).

I bet we did better there than on the pop chart...

86 I didn't know, 3 I didn't like, 6 just okay (mainly re-charts of Christmas songs), 4 that hit the M10, and one -last year's As It Was- was a #1.  So, yeah.  Anyway, on we go to this week's chart and this week's set of our top songs of 2023!

20- Slow Dance, Geowulf.  The first single by Star Kendrick on her own, though still under the Geowulf name.

19- Summer Breeze, Dark Side Of Light.  Had I been "modifying the points" this year as others, this would be much higher.

18- Reconsider, Cafune.  The click-thru is a beautiful live in studio acoustic version.

17- Kansas, Whitney.  My little breath of Seals and Crofts-ian tunes....

16- Death Wish, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.  Another radio live version.  He's coming to Ft Wayne in March... but way things are going, $60 a ticket is way too hard to justify....

And now, if I'm lucky, we move on to the first of two debuts in the M10...

What's this, "If we're lucky"?

Well, last time it was a pain in the rumpus to even find a vid of these guys singing... okay, here we go- in case it's "banned in Canada like the other one, this is the Trans Canada Highwaymen covering Lighthouse's big Canadian hit Pretty Lady, at #9.... ******************************************************

Whut year is we at this week?

1967- I was in Kindergarten, and music was great!  In the US, the Monkees had #1 staked out (for the next few weeks) with I'm A Believer;  in Canada, it was the song the Monkees kept out of the top, The Royal Guardsmen with Snoopy and the Red Baron (which was stuck at 2 here). In Australia, we were beginning the run of the local boys with Normie Rowe's double sided Ooh La La/ Ain't Nobody Home, which I'll have to check out after the show.

My Song I wouldn't Turn Off netted me seven candidates, whittled down to three:

Third, and I know this sounds like sacrilege, but the Beach Boys with Good Vibrations, a #1 in all but Canada (#2)...

Second, The Buckinghams and Kind Of A Drag, #3 here, #1 in Canada, and a solid #18 peak in Australia...

And my top one- and a #1 across the board...

...Judith Durham and the Seekers with Georgie Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More of the M10 tops of '23...

15- Tile By Tile, Alvvays. Dropping off this week, just missed being their biggest M10 hit....

14- Old Man, Albert Hammond Jr. My top video of the year.

13- Forbidden Doors, Tennis.  Live on CBS Saturday Morning.

12- Follow You, Imagine Dragons.  Another fun video...

And last this week:

11- Take On Me, a-ha (acoustic).  The actual live session.

And that leaves for next week the year's top ten!  Who will join the other 8 year end champs?

Hopefully somethin' by me...

Now you KNOW that's not happening!  Kick on that second top ten debut!

Yeah, yeah.  This band got back tagether ta redo a ten year old album, with fresh takes and lead vocals by other acts.  The star has hit the the 10 once; the guest is a newly minted M10 superstar!  This is Thousand Foot Krutch, with Saint Asonia, at #7....

****************************************************************

Yow!  That's loud'n'proud!

Yes it is, and now the rest of the M10...

10- Saint Asonia's Wolf, down 2...

8- Levitation Room's Heaven, up one...

6- TCH with Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat up one...

5- Down 2 for Built To Spill and Carry The Zero...

4- Up 2 for boygenius and Cool About It...

3- Up 1 for Juliana Hatfield and Sweet Is The Night...

2- Holding, Real Estate and Water Underground...

And holding at the top...

...Juliana Hatfield and Showdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week- the top ten songs of last year!

Wednesday Bible Study: Hebrews 1

 

In the course of my morning Bible study, I read three passages: a Psalm, a chapter of Proverbs, and a New Testament chapter.  A couple weeks back, I found myself going through the Book of Hebrews.  And I said to myself, "I remember when I started as a Christian, this was the book that taught me the most."  But now, it just wasn't sinking through with just a 'casual read'.  Fighting my way through Nehemiah, though, I didn't pay it much mind.

Until this past weekend, when I engaged in 'debate' with someone who, while holding to a defensible doctrine (though not one I agree with), did it from a bully pulpit:  "You will hear what I have to say; but I won't listen to you, because I have heard it all before."  It finally came down to me quoting a verse to show why I believed as I did, and him using the same verse to (illogically) 'prove his point'.

The purpose in telling that story is why we are going to Hebrews now- because you have to read WHAT it says, not what you WANT it to say.  A "yeah, whatever" reading of any passage can lead to you taking a "Devil's opinion" of what it says, and I realized I couldn't just stop at my own half-witted reading of Hebrews- I needed to make it make sense to me again.  So here we are.

If you study Hebrews chapter one, you can see not only three points the author (Whoever it may have been, because we don't know other than the Holy Spirit) was making, but also the kind of people he was dealing with.  Of course the title, and the use of Scripture, tell us that they were in fact Hebrew converts- but to what?  They apparently were lacking three things- a knowledge of the Nature of Jesus, the connection between Himself and the Father, and where angels fit in.  How do angels come into it, you ask?  In those days, one of the main ways Satan was screwing things up was through a philosophy called Gnosticism.  They believed to an extent, that since God was spirit, only spirit was holy- flesh was evil.  It caused debate on how it was that God (as Jesus) could possibly have taken on flesh, how He could even create flesh- and a corollary, that as angels were spirit, they were holy and thus to be worshiped.  Our human author was beginning by setting them straight.

His first point I'll look at is the subtle one you might miss- READ YOUR BIBLE!  By quoting Scripture to prove the connection between Jesus and the Father, and the lower position of the angels,  he was showing them that whatever the truth, it was THERE in the Bible, and theirs to read and learn.  My debater's problem (among others) was that he formed an opinion, then manipulated his reading of certain passages to fit his narrative.  Now, the author saw these converts being deceived the same way.  By quoting Scripture to explain, he showed them not only WHAT, but THAT, they should have known better.

His second point was setting the record straight about just who and what Jesus is:

 Heb 1:1  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 

Heb 1:2  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

Heb 1:3  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

Heb 1:4  having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 

Okay, so you see five parts here I have boldened.  First, that God had used Jesus on Earth to succeed the prophets (and angels) in the job of speaking to us.  Still waiting for a prophet?  Sorry, John was the last one- when Jesus was born as Man, the game changed.

Second, Even though Son, even though the first of the Heirs of heaven, Jesus was THERE FROM THE BEGINNING.  As John said in his gospel:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

Third, there was NO DIFFERENCE between the Father and Jesus- save that Jesus also became Man.  How can this be?  I could give you MY theory, but let me answer through a passage in Revelation:

Rev 19:11  Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 

Rev 19:12  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 

See, the thought that, "in Heaven, all will be revealed" isn't quite right.  There are some things about the nature and being of God we won't EVER understand.  Nor should we.

Fourth, that Jesus had had a single task on Earth- to make "a purification for sins."  And this job was DONE.  The gnostics, much like the Catholics of today with their idea of Purgatory, believe that there is something yet for us to do to get shed of our sins.  This passage alone tells you, "No," and it is backed up in many, many places.

Fifth is the author's final point of this chapter- angels are a LONG way from being God. He uses an if-then manner to make his point, like this:

Heb 1:5  For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? 

Heb 1:6  And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." 

The first quote is from Psalm 2:7; the second, 2 Samuel 7:14; the third, Psalm 97:6-7.  "See, it's right there!"  The author ends the discussion (for today) with a simple definition:

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? 

With the word for 'ministering' and 'minister' translating to "Public servant".  To the minds of this people, that would tell them that an angel is the equivalent of a 'spiritual butler.'

Well, we (I hope) don't worship angels, so what do we get from this?  1.  Read your Bible, not as a curiosity, but with a heart for seeking God. 2. Jesus and the Father are one, in a way we might never fully understand.  And three- if something seems questionable, question it- even if it tears down "your narrative".

Monday for pics

 Mainly because:a) no earth shattering finds to share, and b) the new exercises I have to do for PT about killed my Sunday (slight exaggeration).  Anyhow, here's New Year's Day- which I somehow woke up for...

Tiny bit of snow left from last year

Ducks chillin' in the Swamp

I remember when this was part of a living tree, long ago.  Now it looks (with some imagination) like the ruins of a mountain fortress

"Oh, great, here come those two..."

"I'll pose for a change.  It IS a new year, after all."

"HEY!  Pay attention to ME!"

On the 4th, we saw something we hadn't seen all year...

"...blue sky!"

Somebody went to Sky Zone Trampoline park, somewhere by Glenbrook Mall.

"Man, the moles are awful this year..."

This is that little bitty nest at the end of the branch I tried to get before...

At least three of 'em were yelling at us.  The quiet one posed.

Misty knocks out her 4 times a year tangle #1....

Somebody played toss the log in the creek...

This is Oreo... she don't like people, but she liked Misty

One end is iced

Recent varmintage

The next day was too cold to enjoy our walk, but we did see a moose...

Saturday was icky, and we stayed home and drank Golden Monkeys...

Sunday, like I said, was a total pain-wash, but once again we are on a 4-8's schedule this week (Tell your friends to buy boat covers!), so we got one more in...

I have to put on 'fast-motion' to get Misty when she's rampaging for a walk, and those come out dark

At least the snow's gone- but it will be back tonight, followed by a full day of rain

And here we have idiots cutting up their tree and taking it to the recycle just dumping it

Moles really are out of hand this year

Pond is fully frozen over

M10 show week #102

 

Hey, keep it down, but I got off early, so I'm doing the M10 show before Elvis comes in today!  I got one new debut, another set from the 2023 Top 40, and we go to year 1968!

First, let me do the first five of this week's Top 40 installment:

30- Lost, Linkin Park.  As cool as it was to do a remix of a vocal from a member of Rock'n'roll heaven right (Beatles take note), It died out a bit for me before it did the rest of the alt world.

29- Are You Bored Yet, Wallows (w/Clairo). One of my 'out of time' numbers, probably my second favorite video this past year.

28- Hollywood Baby, 100 Gecs. Probably my Earworm of the Year.

27- Angelica, Wet Leg.  I'm thinking this was a smaller hit for them because, weighed against Chaise Lounge and Wet Dream, it's practically normal.

26- Tek It, Cafune.  The first one of theirs I hit, it ruled over January and got me through COVID.

So now let me throw in this week's debut, a song I found just because Spotify played it after my shuffle got done.  They come in at #9, they are called Levitation Room....

******************************************************

This week in 1968, our three countries all agreed on the #1- the Beatles and Hello Goodbye.  Which means we can go right on to the Song I Wouldn't Turn Off.  I know at this point going back, we're probably going to be much more divergent from the Australian picks, but that's nothing we haven't been through before, eh?  I found 9 songs, and sliced them down to the usual top 3 for your perusal...

Third was a song that charted pretty consistent up north- #26 here and 22 in Canada, but Australia barely heard it at #61- Donovan and Wear Your Love Like Heaven...

Second was #1 everywhere at one point or another- Paul Mauriat's Love Is Blue.

And my top song I wouldn't turn off- Once again #1 across North America but only #32 in Australia-

Strawberry Alarm Clock's Incense and Peppermints!

**************************************************

Next five on the Top 40 of 2023 (I almost typed 1968, lol!)

25- Destroyer, MAGS.  I need to check that lp for more songs...

24- The Way, Manchester Orchestra.  My favorite lyrics of the year.

23- Easy, Bethany Cosentino.  Her big solo year, and the first of 2 hits on the list.

22- Black Magic, Beach House.  The biggest of M10 stars with a one-off single.

And...

21- Look Up Child, Lauren Daigle.  Her second hit on the chart for the Christian superstar.

*************************************************

And now, the rest of the M10...

10- Tile By Tile drops a bit too far to #10, meaning Alvvays biggest hit will not be changing- yet.

8- Saint Asonia holds with Wolf.  

7- TCH (because Trans Canada Highwaymen is just too long!) up 3 with Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat.

6- And holding for boygenius and Cool About It.

5- Floating back up a pair, Lily and Madeline and Windowless Bedroom.

4- Juliana Hatfield, part one- Sweet Is The Night, up one.

3- And holding, Built To Spill and Carry The Zero.

2- At least this week, down to #2, Real Estate and Water Underground.

And the new #1- 

...Juliana Hatfield, part two, and Showdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All right, time to hit my little button and put this in the can!  See ya next week, Lord willing!

(Much later) Clik... slam!

Elvis:  All right, looks like I beat the boss in today!  Imma hide unner his desk and scare the crap outta him when he comes in!

(Much, much later)

Man, what a day fer him ta be late... my legs are fallin' asleep!   An' I'm getting hungry....

Wednesday Bible Study: Reconstructing Nehemiah Part VIII

 

And if there's one thing I am good at, it's 'turning my back' to see I'm on the same old track.  To know that, for all the wisdom God has given, I still don't listen.  And that is where we find the conclusion of our Nehemiah series.

If you recall- and don't worry if you don't, because this has all been more about application than storyline- Nehemiah had gotten the assignment as Governor AFTER he had set a firm time to return to the King's service- 12 years.  When the 12 years were up, and the services turned back to Ezra (who apparently passed on before Nehemiah returned), Nehemiah went back to serve Artaxerxes in Babylon.  The Scriptures do not give a time of Nehemiah's return, only saying, And after some time I asked leave of the king (Neh. 13:6b).  By the time he returned, all hell had broken loose.  There were a list of crimes the people had committed in the meantime.  

1- A room for the enemy

Neh 13:4  Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 

Neh 13:5  prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 

So for one thing, a room that was Holy to the Lord was given over to an enemy of God- by the High Priest himself!  There was corruption in their 'church'; and that which was to be saved for God was given to man.  But wait, there's more...

2- Forsaking of duty

Note the phrase,"where they had previously put the grain offering", etc.  So now we know the tithe was not being collected...

Neh 13:10  I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 

Neh 13:11  So I confronted the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 

With no tithe, and no other means of support, Eliashib had effectively starved the faithful out of the Temple.  Now this was essentially a tax in a theocratic state, and so it was the corruption of the OFFICALS- ie the government- that was now on the table.  But wait, there's more...

3- Opening the Gate

Neh 13:15  In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 

Neh 13:16  Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 

The sabbath, with no priests or Levites to enforce it, was the next Commandment to fall.  As the leaders, so the people.  In application, this is me going back to the same old way of doing things, living just as if God didn't matter.  For me, this means I need to get God back in the forefront.  For them, it meant the leaders of all stripes were gonna get it...

Neh 13:17  Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 

Neh 13:18  Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 

You may not realize this, but the reason God exiled the people for 70 years was the sabbaths they had forsaken:

2Ch 36:20  He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 

2Ch 36:21  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 

But these people were IGNORING it.  They were heading for another exile- one that would begin in about 500 years and last for almost 2,000!  Do I really want to go back to the way it was?

But that wasn't yet the worst...

4- and now, the 7th Commandment

Neh 13:23  In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 

Neh 13:24  And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 

This may not have been physical, legal adultery, but it was spiritual in the worst way- they were in process of erasing themselves as a separate people!  They were removing WHAT MADE THEM DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE.  God had made them "a peculiar people"-

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 

-and they were un-making it! And once again, it was the leaders- Eliashib's grandson and eventual successor was married to a daughter of Sanballat!  Everything God had helped Nehemiah and Ezra repair was ruined.  

Only thing left was the Wall.  And its gate was open.

This was also a reminder to the quick of study.  The wall, I found out, was finished on the same day the Jews recognized as the first day of Creation.  The same Creation that fell without God.  The wall isn't the key, God is.  That's where Nehemiah messed up, though not his fault.  He thought the wall was the #1 thing needed to save his people.  But GOD was what was needed all along.  And he realized it in his answer to the sinning people:

Neh 13:25  And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. 

Neh 13:26  Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. 

Neh 13:27  Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? 

Even the greatest of men will fall if they stray from God.  Whether it be from unholy friendships, corrupt leaders, forsaking of your relationship with Jesus, acting like "everyone else", or losing your identity in Christ to the world.  So how did Nehemiah fix these things?

1- Just like the first time, he grieved over the sin- and allowed that grief to initiate action...

Neh 13:8  And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. 

Neh 13:9  Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense. 

2- Next, he got tough:

Neh 13:11  Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. 

Neh 13:12  Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries. 

3- Then, he closed the gates, and scared off the ones waiting to get in:

Neh 13:19  And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. 

Neh 13:20  So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. 

Neh 13:21  Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. 

(Subtitle this one, 'Stop messing around!')

4- Next, he made sin painful:

Neh 13:25  And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. 

(Subtitle this one, 'Remember the consequences')

5- Next, it was, "No excuses, remove the causes of sin":

Neh 13:28  And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. 

Dear Jesus, as I close this study, let me remember, there is no wall, no gate, no rule that can help me as much as YOU can.  Because I love You, let me grieve at the sin I allow; help me guard against the influences that lead me astray; but most of all, lead my mind and heart to follow you, and bar my soul from sin.