Problems From the Inside (Nehemiah 5)

There is more than one way to hinder progress in God’s kingdom. Sometimes the barrier is people on the outside as we saw in previous studies in Nehemiah when Sanballat and Tobiah expressed their opinion about the rebuilding of the wall round Jerusalem. In this chapter of Nehemiah we see that the barrier can be internal, caused by wrong actions of some Jews against other Jews. Nehemiah says that those actions caused a great outcry among the people.

The problem (vv. 1-5)

The problem came to a height because of a famine in the area. As far as main harvests were concerned, the barley harvest occurred in April and May and the wheat harvest in May and June. Perhaps both had failed, thus causing problems for the community for several weeks. In addition, there had been an increase in the population, which meant that there were more mouths to feed. The price of available food had gone up as well to such an extent that people had to mortgage their property at a high interest of repurchase to buy some food. In addition, they had to pay tax to the Persian emperor. Moreover, the situation had become so bad that in some cases family heads had been compelled to sell their children as bondservants to fellow Jews, even although the children did not want to be sold.

Before we jump to conclusions, we should note that the Mosaic law allowed a person to become a voluntary bondman to pay debts, although he should not be regarded as a slave (Lev. 25:39). Those who did so could be redeemed by a relative, or if that did not happen, they would be given their freedom when the year of jubilee came round. But it was obviously possible for people to abuse the system. So it was a time of crisis that had the potential to cause real difficulties, particularly in destroying the sense of unity that existed among the people as they rebuilt the wall.

We may wonder how some of the Jews in Jerusalem at that time were so wealthy. One reason is that those who had returned earlier from the exile in Babylon had been given a great deal of financial help. The emperor Cyrus had given instructions to other residents in the country to give silver and gold to the Jews to help them with their work of rebuilding the temple, and much help was given to them (Ezra 1:4-6). In Ezra 7:15ff., the details are given of a later command by Artaxerxes for the Jews to be given whatever resources they needed. We also know from the complaint of Haggai that the returnees soon had enough resources to build panelled houses for themselves, while not giving any help to the rebuilding of the temple. So it looks as if a sizeable number of the people had become wealthy.

What can we make of this situation? First, the reason why any of them had anything was because someone else had given it to them. Strangely, the kindness of others had made the wealthy Jews into very selfish people. They had forgotten how they had become rich. There is an obvious spiritual lesson here. All we have as Christians has been given to us by the God of grace. Jesus tells us in a parable about a servant who was forgiven all his great debt by God who then refused to forgive a small debt owed to him by a fellow servant. That man had been given the riches of forgiveness and then refused to forgive. In that parable, Jesus makes it very clear that God disapproves of selfishness. But selfishness often appears, and it was being expressed by those returning from the exile.

The response by Nehemiah (vv. 6-7)

How would a righteous man like Nehemiah respond to this situation and sort it out? The first detail that he mentions is his anger. Indeed, he says that he was very angry. Of course, right away we might wonder if his anger was righteous or if it was sinful, because either option was possible. His anger would have been sinful if it had been an expression of selfishness. But he had no interest in such gain. What concerned him was whether the actions of the people had been against God. And since it had been, he was angry at their sin. This is what Paul has in mind when he writes in Ephesians 4:26 about having anger that is not sinful.

The second detail is that his anger was controlled (v. 7). We can see that was the case because instead of lashing out in fury he took counsel with himself. In other words, he thought about the situation, taking time to consider what his response should be. He looked before he leaped, we can say, a response that indicates he was marked by wisdom. Proverbs 29:20 asks: ‘Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.’

J. I. Packer comments that ‘Nehemiah’s anger at the victimizing of the poor was like the anger of the Lord Jesus at the trading in the temple—not the petulant anger of one whose personal plans were being thwarted, but an agonized sense of outrage at behavior that was ungodly in its nature and abusive of others in its effect. His anger led him to think hard (5:7a)—and prayerfully, for sure, though he does not mention this—about what he should do.’

The third detail is that having thought about the issue Nehemiah then confronted the guilty with their sin (v. 7), but he did so on the correct basis. He pointed out to them that it was forbidden in the law of Moses for an Israelite to charge interest on a loan he gave to another Israelite (Exod. 22:25). It looks as if he met with these men privately, but they did not agree with him and rejected his warnings. Yet it looks as if he was following the process that Jesus later taught about dealing with wrong. First, contact the perpetrators in a private way. But since, the guilty had not listened to him, what would he do next?

Convened an assembly (vv. 7-13)

The fourth detail that Nehemiah mentions was his decision to arrange a public gathering of the Jews in which he asked them to consider what was taking place (which also is in line with what Jesus taught about bringing an issue to a public gathering if a private one is ignored). This was quite an event because it meant that Nehemiah brought the work on the wall to a stop so that the builders would attend this meeting. It indicates the seriousness with which Nehemiah regarded the matter. Someone has pointed out that there was no point building a wall to protect people who were prepared to ignore God’s requirements.

When they met, Nehemiah pointed out their inconsistency in accepting a practice that was contradictory to other actions in which they were engaged concerning their people. It was not surprising that the Jews were redeeming other Jews who had been sold to Gentiles, but it was surprising that they were prepared to enslave fellow Jews who were struggling with the circumstances that they faced. Yet it is often the case that contradictions of behaviour can sit side by side.

It looks as if the people were affected by the situation, realising that great wrong was taking place. They could say nothing in defence of their behaviour. Maybe they did not know what to do about it. In any case, Nehemiah spelt out for them what should be done. In verses 9-13, he details what he said.

First, Nehemiah pointed out that their behaviour was not an expression of walking in the fear of God. How could it be? They were not expressing love for their neighbours as required in the law of God. They were prepared to disobey his laws about charging interest on loans to fellow Jews. He also pointed out that they had not considered what non-Jews would think of their behaviour. Their treatment of needy brothers would enable the enemies to mock the inconsistency that was so visible among the people of God.

Second, Nehemiah pointed to his own practice and of those with him (v. 10). They were helping the needy without demanding interest from what was loaned to them. It is good for a man not to have his words negated by his actions. In fact, the word for such a person would be hypocrite. But Nehemiah ensured that he and his colleagues could not be accused of such behaviour.

Third, Nehemiah urged instant reform (v. 11). Repentance, after all, is not something that we can decide to do tomorrow. There is only one time when we can engage in repentance and that is the present. Their repentance also included restitution of what they had wrongly taken. The fact of the matter is that repentance is always an urgent matter, to be done immediately, whether it is repentance towards God or towards other people.

Fourth, Nehemiah ensured that they acted on their promise (v. 12). The people had been affected by what they had heard and had agreed that they should follow the process that Nehemiah had stated. Yet Nehemiah was not content with them agreeing to do what he had stated. He wanted them to make a religious commitment, so he arranged for them to swear in the presence of the priests. Taking a vow is a religious commitment made in the presence of God, and we may want to read what our Confession says about taking vows.

Fifth, Nehemiah gave a severe enacted warning of divine chastisement if they failed to keep their promise (v. 13). After all, it is easy in the pressure of the moment to make a commitment that we may try and water down afterwards. But it is also helpful to be reminded of the consequences because a vow is made to God who takes what we say seriously.

The effects were remarkable (v. 13). Praise was offered to the Lord, and they all did as they promised. A situation that seemed so dangerous for the life of the community was changed into one in which the Lord was honoured and his people were restored to living in a manner that pleased him. Harmony among God’s people was recovered and enabled them to pursue their work in his service.

Lessons

There are several lessons that can be deduced from this crisis that occurred in the city of Jerusalem while the wall was being rebuilt.

First, at one level, the issue here can be classified as a social and an economic one in which the poor were being mistreated by the wealthy and which had to be corrected by those in authority. Yet there is also another level that must be considered and that is the use that the devil can make of such occasions. It was an opportunity for him to destroy the unity that had marked most of the people so far in Nehemiah’s task to rebuild the wall. We can all say with Paul that with regard to the devil’s intrigues we are not ignorant of his devices. The fact is, he can use anyone or anything to cause division in a congregation or denomination.

Second, there is the issue of anger. Obviously, anger must be righteous. Moses, the meekest of men, missed out on entrance to Canaan because his anger on one occasion was not correct, although he had been provoked by others. Yet we are not to allow wrong actions to persist. There is the example of Paul when he was determined to confront Peter about his wrong action in Antioch when he ate only with Jews. We might have been prepared to ignore it, thinking it did not matter that much, but Paul did not because he knew that worse would occur because even Barnabas was influenced by Peter’s wrong action. For Paul, the unity of the church was likely to be affected by what Peter had done. Jesus too was angry when necessary. He was angry with those who used the fourth commandment as a reason for not helping people. He was also angry with those who abused the temple system to make money. There is something wrong with a person who is not angry at prolonged sinful behaviour, especially when bad example and wrong effects follow. But such anger is not explosive or out of control. Instead, it is a righteous response to actions that offend God and threaten the spiritual life of his people.

Third, there is the value of the fear of God in showing to others what a blessed life is like. Nehemiah reminded the Jews who were taking interest from their brothers were guilty of two errors. They did it because they had stopped fearing God and it opened the way for the wicked to taunt them about their behaviour. The fact is, people who are not Christians expect Christians to fear God and they will point out any failures in this area to them. Nehemiah mentions why his way of life was different when he says in verse 15, ‘But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.’ A person knows if he is fearing God when he says or does something. A true believer wants to fear God in every way, to obey his commandments from the heart out of a sense of gratitude for the incredible grace that was shown by him when he saved that person from his sins.

Fourth, there is benefit from communal challenge and repentance. Nehemiah realised that such a response was necessary for the important work of building the city to continue. It is easy to hide from responsibility when individualism governs how people think and behave. But Nehemiah took the problem to the attention of everyone, and we can see the blessing that followed their communal response of repentance. The Lord was pleased, and work resumed on restoring the wall.

Luke, as he begins the book of Acts, summarises the ministry of Jesus as being one in which he did and taught – the order is important. Luke does not say what he taught and did. Nehemiah was like the Saviour even although he lived long before Jesus was born. After dealing with the trouble, Nehemiah gives a summary of what he did during his twelve-year period as governor (vv. 14-19) – this was his first period as governor. He consistently avoided exploiting the people, he refused to imitate the costly practices of previous governors, and he provided out of his own resources those who came on official business. His great desire was to know the blessing of God in his life as he served him in the role that he was given.

Since that was the case, we need to remind ourselves again of the reason for Nehemiah’s success. Repeatedly in this book he informs us of his prayer life, and he records his prayerful response to the success he had experienced while dealing with this issue that threatened the harmony of the people. In verse 19, he states: ‘Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.’