Musar sur Zacharie 2:9

When we read in 31,16: לעשות את השבת, the extra word את suggests that we should add a little from the weekday to the Sabbath, i.e. commence the Sabbath before sunset. The words: לא תבערו אש, "Do not make a fire" in 35,3, also hint at the statement in the Talmud that wherever we find that the Sabbath is also being desecrated, we are liable to find a conflagration (Midrash Hagadol based on Jeremiah 17,27). Observance of the Sabbath on the other hand, will lead to the redemption and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. G–d will then be as a wall of fire for Zion, as we know from Zachariah 2,9.

Although this parable describes the descendants of Esau as burning the Holy Temple, we must remember that no human being can burn G–d's building unless G–d wants it burned. To remind us of this, Jeremiah, in Lamentations 1,13, describes the Temple as being burned ממרום, "By Heavenly decree. This appears to make G–d guilty of the burning of the Holy Temple, in line with the example quoted in Baba Kama. Exodus 22,5 describes a situation where a fire is lit within one's private domain, the fire crosses that domains's boundary, ומצא קוצים, and "encounters stray thorns," as a result of which the neighbor's corn-stacks are burned. The Torah clearly holds the party that started the fire as liable for any damages arising from his action. Allegorically speaking, G–d assumes the blame for the destruction of the Temple, saying: "I have lit the fire." This is the meaning of Lamentions 4,11: ויצת אש בציון ותאכל יסודותיה, "G–d set fire to Zion and it consumed its foundations." G–d will also personally rebuild it, as we know from Zachariah 2,9: ואני אהיה לה נאום ה' חומת אש מסביב ולכבוד אהיה בתוכה "I, says the Lord, shall be a wall of fire surrounding it, and I shall be glory in her midst." When the Torah had said in Exodus 22,5 שלם ישלם המבעיר את הבערה, that the one who started the fire shalll surely pay for the damage, G–d says that it is He who has to pay for the damage caused by the fire.