Building While The Nations Rage

Nehemiah 3–4

Main Idea: The truth, goodness, and beauty of God on display in the gospel is worth more than our petty causes, more than our personal luxuries and advantages, and more than our very lives.

Builders of Gates and Wall (3:1-32)
The Nations Rage (4:1-4)
The Peoples Plot in Vain (4:6-14)
Spears and Shovels (4:15-23)

Introduction

Describing the cast of characters of The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis writes of Reepicheep,

Reepicheep is the Chief Mouse. He is the self-appointed humble servant to Prince Caspian, and perhaps the most valiant knight in all of Narnia. His chivalry is unsurpassed, as also are his courage and skill with the sword.

Reepicheep is chivalrous and courageous because more than anything—more even than his own life—he loves Aslan and Aslan’s prince. Valiantly fighting in Prince Caspian, Reepicheep is almost killed, and would have died were it not for Lucy’s ability to heal with the drops from her diamond bottle. Practically raised from the dead, Reepicheep leaps to his feet and bows before the lion, Aslan, only to realize that he has lost his tail in battle. Reepicheep pleads with Aslan to restore his tail, and as Aslan discusses with Reepicheep whether he thinks too highly of his own honor, represented by his tail, Aslan sees what Reepicheep’s fellow mice have done and asks:

“Why have your followers all drawn their swords, may I ask?” said Aslan.

“May it please your High Majesty,” said the second Mouse, whose name was Peepiceek, “we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honor which is denied to the High Mouse.”

“Ah!” roared Aslan. “You have conquered me. You have great hearts. Not for the sake of your dignity, Reepicheep, but for the love that is between you and your people . . . you shall have your tail again.” (Lewis, Prince Caspian, 220–24)

Reepicheep’s comrades love him because the mouse was more valiant than most men. His great aim in life was to serve the high cause of the lion, Narnia, and the rightful king. Reepicheep was ready to protect those he loved, ready to stand for truth, goodness, and beauty, and ready to love his friends by laying down his life for them.

Need

If we are going to live for something more than our trivial agendas to make our own names great, we must be convinced of the truth, goodness, and beauty of God on display in the gospel of Jesus Christ and advanced in the work of the church. If we are going to sacrifice personal luxuries and advantages in order to live for the gospel and advance it in the church, we must not only see but experience the truth, goodness, and beauty of God on display in the gospel and advanced in the work of the church. If we lay down our lives for the gospel and the church, it will be because we have seen, experienced, and lived for the truth, goodness, and beauty of God on display in the gospel and advanced in the church.

Context

In Nehemiah 1–2 we saw that Nehemiah, at the height of power and influence in Persia, was a student of Scripture who interpreted life in light of the Bible, prayed for God to accomplish the purposes He laid out in the Bible, and took action to do what he could to be used of the Lord in answer to his own prayers. The good hand of God was on Nehemiah, and Nehemiah traveled back to Jerusalem and called the Jews to rise up and rebuild the gates and walls of the city.

In Nehemiah, we see a model of valor, and this valor exemplified by Nehemiah is a forward-looking Christlikeness. Nehemiah was a student of the Scriptures, a prayer warrior, one who loved God and His people, who sought the good of God’s people at great risk to himself, who showed great courage and boldness protecting God’s people and trusting God, and who lived for the high cause of God’s kingdom. To all Christians I say, let us follow in Nehemiah’s footsteps on the valiant path of Christlikeness: study the Bible, pray, and lay your life down to protect others.

Builders Of Gates And Wall

Nehemiah 3:1-32

Nehemiah 3 shows the people’s response to Nehemiah’s call to action in 2:17-18. The chapter seems to be organized around the rebuilding of the gates, and the references to those who worked next to those rebuilding gates perhaps account for the people who rebuilt the walls between the gates.

Think of what this construction project entailed: wood, tools, labor—and we read of bolts and bars and beams in verse 3.

The gates named would encircle the city of Jerusalem, beginning north of the temple and moving counter-clockwise around the city, as can be seen from the map entitled “Nehemiah’s Jerusalem” on page 781 in the HCSB Study Bible. This geographical layout seems to provide the organizing principle for Nehemiah 3:

3:1-2—Sheep Gate

3:3-5—Fish Gate

3:6-12—Old Gate

3:13—Valley Gate to Dung Gate

3:14—Dung Gate

3:15-27—Fountain Gate

3:28-32—Horse Gate to Inspection Gate to Sheep Gate

The Nations Rage

Nehemiah 4:1-4

Just as Nehemiah 3 showed the people’s response to Nehemiah’s call to action in 2:17-18, Nehemiah 4 exposits the mocking of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem stated in 2:19. In fact, the language of 2:19 is similar to that of Nehemiah 4:1:

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews.

Sanballat and Tobiah were displeased that Nehemiah had come (2:10), and now they are angry that the wall is being rebuilt (4:1). Why would Nehemiah’s arrival and the rebuilding of the wall make them angry? If Nehemiah succeeds, their own agenda will be thwarted. Nehemiah has come “to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel” (Neh 2:10; my trans.). Rebuilding the walls will protect the people and create a safe place in which the law of Yahweh can be enforced, a place where justice and goodness can be upheld. This would thwart Sanballat and Tobiah because they are not interested in justice and goodness. Rather, they seek to exploit the weakness and vulnerability of the Israelites for their own profit. This is un-valiant behavior, which is to say it is un-Christlike.

These two agendas cannot be reconciled to each other. Nehemiah is seeking the good of others, and Sanballat and Tobiah are seeking their own advantage at the expense of others. Nehemiah is seeking to do unto others as he would want them to do unto him, while Sanballat and Tobiah are thinking only of themselves at the expense of others. So when Sanballat and Tobiah see goodness done for the returnees under the leadership of Nehemiah, they are angry and begin to mock.

Are you concerned about others, or are you only concerned about yourself? Do you rejoice in the exploitation of other people, finding a perverse pleasure in benefiting from the misuse and abuse of another person? Or are you someone who loves goodness? Are you someone who recognizes that taking from another person—whether by wresting a toy away from your brother or sister because you’re bigger and stronger than he or she, by benefiting financially from someone else’s ignorance or need, by stealing some sexual pleasure because of moral weakness, or by exalting yourself over others because they are disadvantaged—amounts to pilfering pleasures at the expense of someone else? Do you recognize that you would not want to be treated that way yourself? Do you recognize that while these stolen pleasures may seem sweet in your mouth, they will turn your stomach?

Not only do Sanballat and Tobiah seek their pleasure at the expense of the Jews, being angered by good done to Jews they would exploit, they seek to maintain their advantage over the Jews by bullying them. In verses 2-3 we read of their attempt to make the Jews afraid through verbal intimidation:

Before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, [Sanballat] said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”

This scoffing requires no courage on the part of Sanballat and Tobiah. They have their henchmen around them, they insult the Jews as pathetic, they sarcastically call into question the possibility that the Jews will succeed, and they mock the efforts of the Jews. These guys are nothing but bullies. They are not valiant but childish, not Christlike but selfish, and certainly not to be imitated but learned from. Do not be a Sanballat or a Tobiah.

Sanballat is a Horonite, Tobiah an Ammonite, and this fellow Geshem the Arab has been mentioned (2:19). It is almost as though Nehemiah presents the nations gathered together against Yahweh and His people. Psalm 2:1 speaks of the nations raging, plotting a vain thing, and says that the One who sits enthroned in heaven laughs at them, holding them in derision. Psalm 2:4 uses the same Hebrew term to describe God’s response to His enemies as the one used to describe Sanballat and Tobiah’s jeering at God’s people in Nehemiah 4:1. It is as though Psalm 2:4 presents God responding in kind to His enemies. God’s enemies mock and jeer, and God turns their behavior back on them, mocking and jeering at their futility. The Bible does not back away from stating that God hates the wicked:

The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery. (Ps 5:5-6)

The Bible also shows the righteous taking God’s side. The righteous agree with God about the wicked:

Lord, don’t I hate those who hate You, and detest those who rebel against You? (Ps 139:21)

Nehemiah recognizes that there can be no reconciliation between Yahweh’s agenda and the agenda Sanballat and Tobiah pursue. Nehemiah recognizes that Sanballat and Tobiah have set themselves up as those who oppose Yahweh, and Nehemiah takes Yahweh’s side, saying in verses 4-5 (ESV),

Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

Nehemiah is calling on God to conquer His enemies. He calls on God to do justice against their sin. God’s justice against them might lead to their repentance, but Nehemiah leaves that implicit and unstated. What he explicitly states is his desire for God to do justice against them. He wants God to triumph over them.

There is nothing wrong with praying for God to uphold justice against those who oppose His people. Nor is this in conflict with Jesus’ instruction, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). It is not loving to want someone to continue in their evil and avoid God’s justice. It is loving to desire that God would deliver someone from his or her evil by means of the revelation of His justice against them.

Nehemiah’s imprecatory prayer calls for God’s justice against Sanballat and Tobiah’s wicked opposition to the good purposes of God. God’s justice against them may result in their salvation, but if they continue in unrepentant sin, God’s justice will result in their damnation. Nehemiah prays that they would not continue unpunished in their unrepentant sin.

The Peoples Plot In Vain

Nehemiah 4:6-14

Nehemiah responded to the mockers in 2:20, but he does not respond to their mocking in 4:1-3. Rather than speak to them, he speaks to God in verses 4-5, and he continues the work in verse 6 (my trans.):

So we built the wall. And the whole wall was put together to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.

Rather than reply to Sanballat and Tobiah by speaking to them, Nehemiah speaks to God about them, and the people keep right on working. The ongoing work only makes the enemies angrier, as we see in verse 7:

When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.

They are so angry, in fact, that they are not going to sit idly by and allow goodness to proceed unchecked, as we see in verse 8:

They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people to do physical violence against those who would protect the vulnerable. Nehemiah and the Jews are only seeking to build walls for their own protection. They seek to obey the true and living God of the universe, whose laws are just and fair, and for these acts of goodness the wicked would do violence against them.

Once again, rather than respond to the enemies, Nehemiah and the people of God pray and appoint guards. Look at verse 9:

So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.

I would imagine that they prayed along the lines of what we saw in verses 4-5, and that kind of prayer is very common in the Psalms. For example, we find in Psalm 5:10,

Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against You.

Then in Psalm 104:35,

May sinners vanish from the earth and wicked people be no more.

These are not isolated examples of this kind of thing in the Psalms. If you are not submitted to God and Christ, if you are not trusting His goodness and faithfulness, and if you are not actively pursuing God’s kingdom but pursuing your own agenda, then you have set yourself up as God’s enemy. If you are God’s enemy, if you have made yourself your own God and try to rival Him as the Lord of the world, it is righteous for the people of God to pray for God to triumph over you.

I call you to repent of your opposition to God and His purposes. I call you to bend the knee to the King Messiah, Christ the Lord. And I call you to believe that what God has planned for you is better than what you could plan for yourself. Believe that what God has done for you in Jesus is better than what you could ever hope to accomplish for yourself. Jesus has paid the penalty for sin by His death and resurrection. Repent of your rebellion and cast yourself on His mercy.

The people of God, meanwhile, face challenges to their faith. There is faithless talk within (v. 10), enemy talk without (v. 11), and faithless talk from round about (v. 12). Nehemiah writes in verse 10,

In Judah, it was said: The strength of the laborer fails, since there is so much rubble. We will never be able to rebuild the wall.

The people seem too weak, the task seems too big, and the people recognize that they cannot do this by themselves. They are right, but what those who speak this way fail to remember is that they are not doing this by themselves. God has promised to enable the effort, and the good hand of God is upon Nehemiah.

The enemies show their arrogance and folly in verse 11:

And our enemies said, “They won’t know or see anything until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.”

These enemies are also making their calculations without factoring God into their equation, and we see this also from the Jews who live around Jerusalem in verse 12 (ESV):

At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”

These faithless Jews are trying to make those in Jerusalem rebuilding wall and gate flee the danger of the city.

Nehemiah’s response to this is in verses 13-14 (ESV):

So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

They will not protect themselves by fleeing or fretting, and if they do not act, the plots of the enemies will come to fruition. Nehemiah neither frets nor flees but takes action. He identifies the most vulnerable locations in the work, and he strategically locates people near those, grouping defenders with those to whom they are emotionally connected. Not only are they next to those for whom they care deeply, for whom they will fight, but they are armed.

Are there things in your life that you fear? Take action! Are there doubts lurking in your mind about your ability to do what God has called you to do? Take your eyes off your inability and fix them on the One for whom nothing is impossible. As you contemplate the greatness of God, do the next thing. Look at the weak points and reinforce them, and when you reinforce them, do so with the recognition that you need armed defenders. Not only do you need to put weapons in the hands of those guarding the wall, you need to make sure that the ones wielding the weapons are ready to die fighting for this cause because they are standing next to those they love. Use your emotions. Use your brain. Trust God, and guard the wall.

Let me be specific: meditate on the way that God is more powerful than your sinful urges and more powerful than your wicked opponents. As you think on that, take action against the enemies of the gospel by calling on God to do justice against them. As you fill your mind with God’s greatness and fill your mouth with prayer, recognize how the sin that tempts you would crush those you love in its iron jaws, grinding them in its merciless evil. Flee temptation. Fight the good fight. Set your mind on Christ. Be valiant.

Spears And Shovels

Nehemiah 4:15-23

Look at how this works out for Nehemiah: the enemies of God’s people do not have God on their side; they do not have a cause worth more than their own lives, and so they are making calculated risks about what they can get away with. We who have God on our side not only have the support of the Almighty, we serve a cause worth more than our own lives, so we can lay our lives down ferociously standing for truth, celebrating beauty, and acting for goodness. This is what Nehemiah and the returnees are ready to do in verses 13-14, and look at how it plays out in verses 15-17:

When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall. From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah, who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

God frustrated the plans of the enemies. He did so by allowing the secret conspiracy to be made known to the Jews. Note the divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is at work for His people, and His people are doing what they can to advance His kingdom. Look, too, at how the people respond there in verse 15—they get right back to work! Not only do they keep working, verses 16-17 detail the way they kept their weapons close by.

Nehemiah is right in the middle of the fight, as we see in verses 18-20:

Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the trumpeter was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall. Wherever you hear the trumpet sound, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”

If there had been a crisis, the trumpet would have sounded, and the people were to rally to the trumpeter. The trumpeter was beside Nehemiah, which means Nehemiah planned to be on the scene of the crisis. He was not backing down. He was not hiding away. He was on the front line, right there on the wall, ready to seal his commitment with his own blood. Look at the sovereignty and responsibility again in verse 20—they were going to rally to fight, believing that God would fight for them.

What did they do next? Verses 21-23 say that they kept right on working:

So we continued the work, while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out. At that time, I also said to the people, “Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.” And I, my brothers, my men, and the guards with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.

You want a picture of leadership? You have it here in Nehemiah. Nehemiah is not using people to make his life more luxurious. He is laying his own life down for a cause that is bigger than his reputation. He is not motivating the people with the song of his own greatness; he is motivating the people with the greatness of God. He tells them in verse 14 to remember the Lord, who is great and awesome. He tells them that God is at work for them frustrating the plans of the enemy (v. 15), and he asserts in verse 20, “Our God will fight for us!”

In addition to pointing the people beyond himself to the Lord, Nehemiah is leading by example as he shows his own willingness to engage the fight—with the trumpeter next to him (v. 18). He is leading by example as he surveys the situation and makes provision for the people to be defended at weak points (v. 13), for the battle to be joined in case of crisis (v. 20), and for the city to be guarded at night (v. 22). The extremity of his readiness to sacrifice is then stated in verse 23 as he describes the vigilance and readiness that he modeled with his inner circle.

Conclusion

Do you live for a cause greater than yourself? Do you lay your life down for those you love? Do you fix your mind on Christ, the perfect man? Do you lead by example?

What enables people to do this, of course, is the experience of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty, supremely displayed in the gospel. If we know God as He is, we will be enraptured by Him and ready to do whatever He says. Not only that, we will do whatever we must to be in fellowship with God, to be in His presence, to see the Lord Christ face to face.

Reepicheep and Prince Caspian are together again in C. S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They are traveling to the edge of the world, and at one point in the story it looks as though the crew might not be willing to go any further. The strongest desire in Reepicheep’s valiant mouse heart is to get to the end of the world that he might enter Aslan’s country. As the crew seems unwilling to go on, Lucy seeks help from Reepicheep:

“Aren’t you going to say anything, Reep?” whispered Lucy.

“No. Why should your Majesty expect it?” answered Reepicheep in a voice that most people heard. “My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be the head of the talking mice in Narnia.” (Voyage, 230–31)

Reflect and Discuss

Why do you think Nehemiah answered the scoffers in 2:20 but did not respond to them in chapter 4?

In Nehemiah’s day, Sanballat and Tobiah were mocking those rebuilding the wall. Now God’s people are striving to advance His kingdom. What form does mocking from our enemies take today?

Nehemiah prayed that God would not allow unrepentant sin to go unpunished. Against whom and against what would we pray if we were to follow Nehemiah’s example today? How might grace come into play in these situations?

Nehemiah led the people to set a guard against the enemies day and night (4:9). What should God’s people be on guard against day and night today?

In 4:12 other Jews were discouraging those at work on the walls. How do Christians discourage other Christians today? Are there any ways that you yourself might discourage other Christians?

Why did Nehemiah redouble his defenses and rebuilding efforts in the face of discouragement (4:13)? What were his other options? Why was taking action his best option?

How might you direct the eyes of others to the great and awe-inspiring Lord, as Nehemiah did (4:14)?

In 4:16-17 the people work with a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other. If God’s people were to follow this example today, what would be analogous to the weapon, and what would be analogous to the tool?

In a military battle, sometimes leaders direct the action from the rear, and sometimes they place themselves at the point of crisis, as Nehemiah did (4:18-20). Which should a leader do in the kinds of spiritual battles a church faces?

What are ways that the leader of a church might model sacrificial devotion, as Nehemiah did in 4:20,23?

A Wartime Lifestyle On A Millionaire’s Budget?

Nehemiah 5

Main Idea: The bad way to use wealth is to disregard others in order to gain more for oneself. The good way is to steward one’s wealth and be generous to others to advance God’s kingdom, as Nehemiah did.

The Outcry (5:1-5)
Nehemiah Addresses the Situation (5:6-13)
Nehemiah and the Governor’s Allowance (5:14-19)

Introduction

Would you feel guilty if you were a millionaire? I think there is a strand of evangelical thinking that suspects, if not believes outright, that having a lot of money (and in some cases just a little surplus) is something to feel guilty about. Shane Claiborne has quoted Rich Mullins: “We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too” (Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution, 98–99).

When we read the passage to which Claiborne refers in context, we see that Jesus was exposing to the rich young ruler the fact that he loved money more than God. By contrast, the whole New Testament teaches that all people need to be born again, made alive, regenerated for salvation (see Eph 2:1-5; Titus 3:5-6; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23). Obviously it is wrong to love money more than God, but that does not mean that it is categorically wrong for anyone to have money. Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus to sell everything he had and give to the poor. Zacchaeus demonstrated that he worshiped God, not money, by repaying those he had wronged and giving away half of his possessions, and Jesus said salvation had come to him (Luke 19:1-10).

John Piper has called people to a wartime lifestyle. He writes, “In wartime we spend money differently—there is austerity, not for its own sake, but because there are more strategic ways to spend money than on new tires at home” (Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad!, 44). Later he writes, “A $70,000 salary does not have to be accompanied by a $70,000 lifestyle. . . . No matter how grateful we are, gold will not make the world think that our God is good; it will make people think that our God is gold” (ibid., 106).

Piper has a point, and we need to hear that point. We also want to balance that point with other truths the Bible affirms. Piper is not necessarily responsible for making people feel guilty for having funds and being blessed by God, but I think that people influenced by his teaching on the wartime lifestyle have felt guilty about their savings accounts and have felt guilty about God’s blessings. They might even feel guilty about putting new tires on their cars. But it’s good stewardship to make sure that you’re not going to have a blowout that could result in a tragic accident, especially if we are talking about the car that will be driven by your wife as she transports your children.

Need

Our need is to balance all of the Bible’s teaching on the subject of money. Our need is to see that even if we sell what we have and give it away, we haven’t necessarily done what would please God. We also need to see that indulging ourselves at the expense of others does not please God. Our need is to know how to steward what we have for the glory of Christ, the good of others, and the advance of the gospel.

Context

In Nehemiah 1–2 we saw that Nehemiah was a man of prayer and Bible study who took action to be used of God in answer to his own prayers. In chapters 3–4 we saw that Nehemiah exemplified Christlike valor as he led the people of God to rebuild the wall at great risk to himself. Now, in Nehemiah 5 we will see him living a wartime lifestyle on a millionaire’s budget.

The Outcry

Nehemiah 5:1-5

In Nehemiah 5:1-5, the financial dealings of those with money are not being regulated by the Torah of Moses. The ability of the covenant community to rebuild the wall is therefore hindered. We read in verse 1(my trans.),

And it came about that there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brothers.

The outcry is from Jews about Jews. That is, the Jews are not crying out against the people of the land, and the people of the land are not crying out against the Jews. This is an infraction that deals with the way that the people of God relate to one another. If we are going to apply this to ourselves today, we must apply it to the way the people of God relate to one another because that is the concern in this text.

We must know what the Torah of Moses required of the Jewish people in order to understand this outcry. Deuteronomy 23:19-20 says,

Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or anything that can earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are entering to possess.

It appears that the concentrated work on the wall has meant that fields have gone un-worked. Perhaps if the people had worked their fields rather than the wall, they would have been able to get food for themselves. Thus we read in verse 2,

Some were saying, “We, our sons, and our daughters are numerous. Let us get grain so that we can eat and live.”

With the fields un-worked, however, the people had to find a way to buy food. It appears that what they did was allow others to work the fields in exchange for grain. This appears to be the mortgage spoken of in verse 3:

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain during the famine.”

Though the work in the fields had not been done, the king did not suspend his tax on the produce of the fields, and on top of that the land was suffering from a famine. We see the complicated situation in verses 4-5 (my trans.):

And there were those who said, “We have borrowed silver for the tax of the king on our fields and our vineyards. And now, our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our sons are as their sons. And behold, we are subjecting our sons and our daughters to slavery, and there are from our daughters those who have been subjected, but there is no power in our hand, while our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

In addition to mortgaging their fields, they were selling their children into debt-slavery. The Jewish people of wealth are primarily concerned with themselves here. They are not thinking about the effect their financial dealings have on the ability of the poor to feed themselves, care for their children, or devote themselves to the work on the wall.

Do you think beyond yourself when you think about how you deal with your money and how you go about accumulating money? Do you ever ask whether what you do with your money harms other Christians or keeps them from being able to devote themselves to the work of the church?

Nehemiah Addresses The Situation

Nehemiah 5:6-13

There are several concerns at work in the outcry:

the inability of the poor Jews to work the land and provide for themselves,
the way the work on the wall will suffer if they leave it to work the land,
the mounting financial burden of mortgaging the fields and vineyards and borrowing to pay the king’s tax on mortgaged land,
the devastation of selling one’s children into slavery,
and the compromised position of vulnerable children, especially daughters, enslaved to others.

All of this provokes Nehemiah, who from what we see in this book was a fiery, volatile man. He tells us how he responded in verses 6-8 (ESV):

I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say.

When Nehemiah says in verse 7 that he “took counsel with” himself, the literal idea is that his heart was ruled. It seems that after his initial outrage, he got control of himself. Then when he charges “the nobles and the officials,” he addresses them specifically for breaking the Torah of Moses by “exacting interest, each from his brother.” Here again, Jews are charging other Jews interest, which was explicitly forbidden in Exodus 22:12-27, Leviticus 25:35-54, and Deuteronomy 23:19-20. Look at what Nehemiah says in verses 9-10:

Then I said, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God and not invite the reproach of our foreign enemies? Even I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop charging this interest.”

After he ruled his heart, Nehemiah focused his appeal on Yahweh and His Torah. He called the transgressors to fear God, to be concerned for God’s reputation among the nations, and to bring themselves into line with the Torah by lending without interest, as it appears he was doing.

Do you fear God in the way you deal with your money? Do you deal with your money in a way that reflects your concern for God’s reputation among the nations? Do you regulate your finances according to God’s instructions in the Bible?

We are not under the Mosaic covenant, and we are not Jews in covenant with our kinsmen before Yahweh. This means that we are not constrained by the ordinances in the Torah of Moses on dealing with money. Where, then, do we turn? We can learn principles from the Old Testament, and I would suggest the following set of guidelines from the Old and New Testaments for dealing with what God has given to us.

1) “The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth” (1 Sam 2:7).