Nehemiah 5


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Men prey upon their fellow-creatures: by despising the poor they reproach their Maker. Such conduct is a disgrace to any, but who can sufficiently abhor it when adopted by professing Christians? With compassion for the oppressed, we should lament the hardships which many in the world are groaning under; putting our souls into their souls' stead, and remembering in our prayers and succours those who are burdened. But let those who show no mercy, expect judgment without mercy.

^"1 And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. ²For there were those who said, "We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live." ³There were also some who said, "We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine." ⁴There were also those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. ⁵Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards."

⁶And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. ⁷After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother." So I called a great assembly against them. ⁸And I said to them, "According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?" Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.

⁹Then I said, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? ¹⁰I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury! ¹¹Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." ¹²So they said, "We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say." Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. ¹³Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, "So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise ¹⁴Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provisions. ¹⁵But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God. ¹⁶Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. ¹⁸Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor's provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.¹⁹Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people."

INTRODUCTION:

A. Struggle within and with each other occurs in this chapter

B. No work is done on the wall

C. It begins with a financial local (67) loving solution

D. In a church quarrel the devil is neutral but he supplies ammunition to both sides

E. Acts 6

I. The local situation (1-5)

A. Three problems that lent themselves to a financial crisis

1. Famine in the land

a. The fields lay dormant as the wall was being built

b. Enemies

2. Taxation issue

a. Huge taxation burden

b. All of Israel was still under Persia

c. Artaxerxes was funding it but was exacting taxes

3. Interest rates are high and on the rise

B. This is called usury - adding interest that is exorbitant to your brothers and lining your pockets based on their need

C. One of the reason they suffered 70 years of deportation was that this was denounced by the prophets

1.Borrowing and Lending

a. Exodus 22:25

b. Deuteronomy 23:19-20

c. Three principles

1. It's ok to lend to a Jew

2. It's ok to lend to a foreigner and exact interest

3. It's not ok to lend to a Jew and collect interest from your

2. Slavery - Leviticus 25:39

3. Both of these were violated

II.The leadership's reaction (6-7)

A. Verse 6

1. Nehemiah was very angry

2. Angry meant to seething, boil and be incensed

3. He was angry because they violated the Law. This was righteous angry

4. They were wilfully disobeying God's law

5. Remember Nehemiah's reaction when he heard that the wall was in disarray and how the people were

6. Why the difference in his reactions?

7. Be angry and sin not, Jesus in the temple with the whip of chords at the money changers

8. This was Nehemiah's anger

9. Do you have "compassion fatigue" or "anger fatigue"?

10. If you lack righteous anger perhaps you lack conviction and courage also

B. Verse 7

1. Before he did anything he was silent and reflected on what was happening

2. Knowing Nehemiah's past he was probably praying

3. Righteous anger is channeled into something that is thoughtful

4. What does James tell us about our actions?

III. The loving solution (8-19)

A. Confrontation

1. He rebukes and confronts them publicly

2. When you love someone you can tell them anything since they know your heart

3. He accused them of usury, slavery, ruining their testimony

B. Confession

1. Nehemiah includes himself in his rebuke

2. Three hardest words to say - "I was wrong"

C. The Correction

1. Identify the problem specifically (10)

a. Confession means to agree with God that you see things as God sees things

2. Plan to correct it immediately (11)

a. Now means now

b. Remember the plague of frogs and Pharaoh asked Moses to stop the plague. Pharaoh said tomorrow!!!

c. God does not want you to put it off

3. Seek to establish accountability (12-13)

a. He calls upon them to make a public covenant

b. God and man called into this accountability

c. When behaviors need to stop we need to have accountability

d. If you want real authentic accoutability this is it

D. Illustration

1. Nehemiah becomes an example to them personally

2. He did not take advatange of his position and he was able to go to bed at night with a clear conscience

APPLICATION:

1. God is honored when we handle money wisely

2. Your personal sin will eventually affect your public testimony (remember no work is done on the wall in this chapter)

3. The best correction involves both God and man

MEMORY VERSE: Nehemiah 5:9

⁹Then I said, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?