Nehemiah 5:1Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”
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. So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
Nehemiah called out the nobles and officials who were, in essence, keeping their brothers in slavery. They were making a profit off of their Jewish brothers and sisters hardship. He called out their sin in a public setting and told them to stop this oppression. What they were doing was right and ok to do in other cultures but in the eyes of God, this was a sinful way to treat their fellow Israelites. When times were hard those who had plenty used it to acquire more from those who had little. I am sure in the minds of those nobles and officials they were following what was culturally acceptable in the business world. After Nehemiah called them out on their sin they agreed and promised, in front of this great gathering of people, to give back the interest, fields, and vineyards they had been taking and to stop this practice. Nehemiah did not stop there. He then called out the priests and made them swear covenant promised before God and everyone. He even called on God to curse them if they did not hold true to their commitment.
We are challenged every day. As followers of Jesus Christ must make decisions that choose between the culturally acceptable practices of this world and what is commanded and expected in God’s word. When we are complacent and neglectful in our devotion and study of His word the clarity between these culturally accepted practices and commands/expectations in God’s word becomes blurred. They become blurred because the word of God is not in us. The desire of His word is not in us. The want to grow, mature, and live to honor God more is not in us. We have been given free will to choose to how we live in honor of the great price Jesus Christ paid for our sin. Does your life honor Him? Are you seeking to know Him more and more? Are you desiring to be changed deep within your heart, mind, and soul in such a way that brings you closer, builds your faith and trust deeper, and honors Jesus Christ more fully each day?
Now is the time to begin living anew for Jesus Christ.
