This morning we are studying through Nehemiah. Nehemiah is in the Old Testament. Nehemiah is about the history of Israel at a point when the people are incredibly discouraged.
The walls of the city have been torn down. The best and brightest have been deported into a foreign land. The people are discouraged. And in chapters 1-4 we see Nehemiah leading the people to rebuild their city, overcome opposition, persevere through challenges, and in Nehemiah 5 we are going to see sometimes the challenges and opposition of our day aren’t just circumstantial events but sometimes the greatest challenges are the ones we face from the people who are closest to us in life and sometimes the people who are sitting right next to us on a Sunday morning. Does that make sense?
Perhaps you follow along in the tends of the day, but you need to know it is very common these days to hear people talk about the hurt we do to one another and especially the hurt we do to one another within the local church in Austin.
Before we might have heard about pastoral scandals, or sexual abuse but these days we are talking more and more about how we hurt one another at the personal, and sometimes that hurt and pain is so deep that people are concluding, “I am done with those relationships.”
If that’s your story this morning I want you to know I am I am sorry for any hurt and pain you have experienced from other people. The God of Scripture isn’t okay with people hurting people and we are going to see that this morning in God’s Word.
I am also glad we’re all here this morning because it is an easy time for us to offend one another. It is an easy time to be confused by what people do, what people say, how people respond, and now more than ever we need to be reminded of the importance of our relationships with one another, so that this morning we will see three sub-points; 1. The Offense. 2. The Response. 3. The Application. Let’s look at our first sub-point; 1. The Offense.
- The Offense (vs. 1-5)
Turn to page 29. You’re going to want to see God’s Word in your hand. These slides are just a guide but lean in close to God’s Word so you can follow along. Let’s read verses 1-5:
Nehemiah 5:1-3, “Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” 3 There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.”
In the context of Nehemiah 5 the people have been rebuilding the wall. Do you remember Nehemiah 3? We saw a long list of names. All types of people involved. It was awesome. The people we’re coming together to do something collectively that they could never do individually.
Well, if you are working on the wall all day then you aren’t working on the harvest and as a result there is a shortage of food. Makes sense, right? It’s possible this doesn’t land on us emotionally because when we want food, we go to HEB. When we want water, we turn the knob. We are chilly we simply push a button. We live at a unique point in history because most of human history would have to work every day for food, water, and shelter and in the context of Nehemiah 5 the people are vulnerable, and their own people are taking advantage of that vulnerability. Look at verses 4-5:
Nehemiah 5:4-5, “4 Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
I know this is a lot to process this morning, but I need you to feel the emotional weight of our passage. This is an agricultural context. The people have borrowed money to produce a harvest on their land but now they don’t have the harvest to pay back their loan, so that those who are in power are coming to collect and essentially making the people slaves to their own land. Does that make sense?
And to make matters worse this isn’t just someone taking advantage of someone’s economic challenges, but these are Jewish people taking advantage of Jewish people because they were working together to rebuild a for a Jewish city. Does that make sense?
This is what makes our relationships with one another so important. We have the potential to experience great warmth and care for one another as we work together to accomplish something great for the Lord. We can do this at the marital level, family level, local church in Austin, and beyond and great things can happen as we come together.
We can build a family together in Austin. We can serve others together in Austin. We can speak encouragement into the lives of the people who are close to us and sometimes those words can last a lifetime. It’s awesome when those types of relationships get developed.
I’ve seen people make incredible sacrifices for others. I’ve seen people work through hard conversations and bring reconciliation. I’ve seen people demonstrate great humility with one another. I’ve seen God use people in our lives to bring healing from pain that has been sitting on our hearts for decades. It’s amazing! I’ve seen it over and over and over.
And at the same time, I know we have all seen and / or experienced people doing and saying really hurtful and painful things to one another. I am sure all of us have stories of people in our life, sometimes the closest people in our life, sometimes people in the local church doing and saying things that are incredibly hurtful, so that the trauma we see people talking about in the news is real and this morning we get to see God’s Word speak into that pain. Let’s look at our second sub-point; 2. The Response.
- The Response. (Vs. 6-13)
In verses 1-5 Nehemiah hears about the hurt and the pain, therefore, how does Nehemiah respond? The people are taking advantage of one another, hurting one another. What do you do? Look at verses 6:
Nehemiah 5:6, “6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words.”
I love that response. I love the honesty. I love the brevity. I love the compassion. I love that God’s Word models people who see the offenses of their day and they are bothered by the offenses of their day, and I want to make sure we don’t move past the emotional response too quickly.
I think sometimes we can become so familiar with the offenses of our day at the personal level, national level, global level, and we start to think to ourselves, “This hurt, and offense is just normal.” This is just how people treat one another.
We drive down Lamar so often and see the Yellow Rose Club so many times that we think it is normal for people to take off their clothes for money. We start seeing homeless people on the corner so often that we start thinking it is normal for people to live in those conditions and drive past those people every day. It’s not normal. Nehemiah is angry at how people are treating one another!
It’s not normal for politicians to lie to the people over and over and over. It’s not normal for corporations to be corrupt. It’s not normal for sex trafficking to take place in our city. It’s not normal for systemic problems in our city to take place so that one part of our city is neglected over and over while another part of our city continues to prosper. How does that happen? It’s not normal. It makes Nehemiah angry!
It’s not normal for people to gossip and slander against one another. It’s not normal for people to not know one another. It’s not normal for or fears and insecurity to get the best of us so that we sing songs of worship in our church family and not know one another, so that we are surrounded by people and still lonely. It’s not normal.
It’s not normal and God’s Word is reminding us this morning that sometimes we are going to see great things in humanity, in our relationships with one another, in the local church and those moments are amazing but sometimes we are going to see hurtful things and painful things and those things need to bother us. Look at verse 7:
Nehemiah 5:7, “7 I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, “You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.”
In verse 7 we see Nehemiah “consulted with himself.” I love that! I am going to see if I can build this language into my personal vocabulary, so that when I see hurtful and painful things in the world I can just walk away and people will say, “Where are you going.” I can say, “I am going to consult with myself.” Look at verses 8-9:
Nehemiah 5:8-9, “8 I said to them, “We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 Again I said, “The thing which 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?”
When people hurt people it’s not good. It doesn’t matter if that happens at the macro level between organizations or at the individual level between people. It’s not good, and the reason it’s not good is because of the character of God. Do you see that in verse 9?
Nehemiah isn’t bothered by what they are doing because he posted a sign in his yard. Nehemiah isn’t bothered by what they are doing because there is a cultural hashtag taking place in their day. In fact, the culture didn’t seem to care about how they were mistreating one another.
But the foundation of Nehemiah’s offense is the fear of the Lord. Do you see that in verse 9? It is the Lord who created all things and said, “It is very good.” It is the Lord who makes humanity in His image. It is the Lord who established the people of Israel; therefore, it is the fear of the Lord that moves Nehemiah to stand up and speak out. Look at verses 10-11:
Nehemiah 5:10-11, “10 And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury. 11 Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.”
Again, this is difficult for us to understand because it’s not like a bank lending money to a person at a high interest rate. It is people who have food, shelter and water going to people who don’t have food, shelter and water, and charging them so much that they have to mortgage their land at a cost they won’t be able to pay so that they are getting their land stolen from them and essentially turning their children into slaves on their own land. This is in direct contrast to Deuteronomy 23:
Deuteronomy 23:19-20, “19 “You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.”
This is Old Testament law between Jewish people that the people would have known, and they are in direction violation, so that our passage this morning isn’t going to be a 1-1 application.
We’re not Israel. We’re not under Old Testament law. It’s not biblically wrong to charge interest. It’s not biblically wrong to make money but the principle of not taking advantage of people, so that we are hurting them instead of helping them, still applies today. Look at verses 12-13:
Nehemiah 5:12-13, “12 Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. 13 I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise.”
Praise God! The people respond! Nehemiah could have jumped on his tablet to post a nasty response. Nehemiah could have thrown his hands in the air and walked away. Nehemiah could have made the bumper sticker “People suck! I give up!”
But instead, Nehemiah models Matthew 18. Nehemiah goes to the people who made the offense. And by God’s grace the people repent! Praise God! Listen to me, God’s Word calls us into relationship with one another. In our relationships we are going to experience great things with one another and sometimes we are going to experience really hurtful and painful things with one another.
When those moments happen, we see God’s Word teaching us to stand up and speak out. Talk to those people. It isn’t always going to reach reconciliation in one conversation. Nehemiah knows that.
That’s why Nehemiah called the priests and challenged the people to make an oath. Nehemiah knows people can do dark things to one another, so that Nehemiah says, “Hold up, let’s get a worship service going here to mark the occasion.” Do you see that in verse 13?
Nehemiah calls in the priests to ceremonially mark the occasion so that the people would make an oath before God that they would follow through on what they committed and then in his best Taylor Swift impersonation shakes out his garment in front of them, shake it off, so as to reinforce the importance of following through on the commitment. Do you know why?
It’s because Nehemiah isn’t going through all of this wall building to simply build a wall and some gates in Jerusalem. Nehemiah didn’t travel across the land, kicking up sand, because he’s concerned about the economic growth of Jerusalem. Nehemiah cares about the fear of the Lord, the glory of God, and how casual the people of God had become with their relationships with one another, so that it moves Nehemiah to respond. Let’s look at our third sub-point; 3. The Application.
- The Application. (vs. 14-19)
Nehemiah doesn’t just get emotionally engaged. Nehemiah doesn’t just confront the problem and yell at the people. Look at verses 14-16:
Nehemiah 5:14-16, “14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God. 16 I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.”
First application is we must become convinced of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord isn’t a bad thing. The fear of the Lord is like fire that brings warmth to a family, but we also teach children to not play with fire.
It is similar with the Lord. We don’t want to play with the Lord. We aren’t buddies with the Lord. We don’t want to be casual with the Lord. We want to have a healthy fear of the Lord that helps us run from sin. We want to have a healthy fear of the Lord that moves us to obedience of God’s Word.
Are you in awe of the Lord? Have we become too casual with the Lord? Have we seen or experienced so many hurtful things from the people that we think the Lord is okay with how we treat one another?
The Apostle Peter reminds us not to mistake the Lord’s slowness with indifference but instead the Lord is being patient, not wishing for any to perish under His judgment but for as many as possible to come to repentance. Therefore, let us be filled with a healthy fear that moves us to reconcile our hurts and pains with the people who are close to us personally. Look at verses 17-18:
Nehemiah 5:17-18, “17 Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the governor’s food allowance, because the servitude was heavy on this people.”
Second application is that we see Nehemiah take personal ownership. In verses 14-16 Nehemiah has access to the governor’s allowance and yet he says, “No, because it will put a burden on the people.”
In verse 18 Nehemiah has access to an ox, six sheep and wine in abundance every day over 12 years, which is a lot of sheep but again Nehemiah says, “No, because it will put a burden on the people.” Why? It is because Nehemiah is personally involved in the reconciliation.
In the same way, we can’t just read the horrible stories about the horrible things the people do to one another and say, “Yeah, people are horrible.” But instead, like we see in God’s Word, we respond with anger “It’s not right.” We confront the offense. We don’t give up. And we do what we can to help bring reconciliation because the body of Christ, the glory of God, the fear of the Lord is too important.
Therefore, each of us who are in Christ must solidify in our soul today that I won’t walk away from those close relationships in my life, I want walk away from the body of Christ, but I will personally invest whatever it takes to hold those relationships together because the glory of God is too important.
Third and last application is that in life we can’t become so entrenched with the vision that we forsake the people. This is true at the micro level and the macro level. Nehemiah’s plan is to build a wall but in the process of building the wall Nehemiah pauses the work to tend to the people.
In the same way, we can’t just pursue our vision as a church, as a nation, as a people and ignore the hurt and pain that is taking place. We might not agree with the hurt and pain, we might not reach reconciliation as fast as Nehemiah, but we can’t ignore it and hope it will go away.
This is why we are spending the next 12 months as a church family focusing on “Build and Belong.” This is why we want to share meals with one another. This is why we want to learn our gifts with one another. This is why we want to seek peace with one another. We’re not interested in just creating a place for people to go to church. We want to help stir up healthy relationships with one another. Let’s close with verse 19:
Nehemiah 5:19, “19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.”
Verse 19 might land a little funny at first glance. It might look like Nehemiah is praying a self-centered prayer like, “Look at me!” But standing up to the offenses of our day is hard. When those offenses in our life creep into our life it is going to be easy to want to quit, give up, and disengage, therefore, Nehemiah as a normal person prays, “Remember me, O my God! Remember what I have done for these people.”
It’s why Nehemiah isn’t the hero of the story. Nehemiah is just a regular person. Nehemiah is just a foreshadow of One who is to come who also sees the offenses of the day, hears the cries of the people and responds.
Jesus could have stayed in the glory of heaven with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus could have disengaged. Jesus could have become indifferent. But instead, Jesus takes on flesh and draws close to the hurt and pain of our world.
So much so that Jesus is not only emotionally angered by what He sees but Jesus is personally involved. Jesus not only lays aside His privileges of the governor’s allowance, but Jesus also pays the price for our sin at the cross.
Jesus doesn’t just confront the problem but actually presents a solution to the problem by being the greater Nehemiah who conquers our sin at the cross, so that we can find forgiveness and healing with God and with one another.
If you have yet to believe in Jesus, then please do that this morning. Come talk to me, go to the people for pray, but trust in Jesus today. There is hurt and pain in this world. There is no earthly solution than to turn to the One who promises that one day every hurt and pain of this world will be taken into account and never happen again. Won’t you do that this morning?