Nehemiah 5

CHAPTER 5THEME: Nehemiah’s response to opposition from withinWhile engaged in this important project of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah has been met by opposition in many forms. My, the devil is subtle. First the enemy laughed at the Jews. Then the enemy ridiculed them. Finally there was open opposition. It was so intense that Nehemiah had his builders put a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other hand while they worked on the wall. Nehemiah and his associates worked so hard that they did not take their clothes off except to bathe. Now we see opposition coming from within. This is where the Devil strikes his greatest blow. In the history of the church we have seen that when the Devil could not destroy the church by persecution, the next thing he did was to join it! The Devil had already caused discouragement among the Jews, and now he goes a step farther and causes conflict within.

Nehemiah 5:1

Human nature really does not change. Even though we are living in an electronic, mechanical, technological, and space age, problems are about the same as those during Nehemiah’s day. I think that all of our technical devices merely multiply our problems and make them very thorny and difficult to solve. Because the Jews were so busy building the walls, they did not have the opportunity to carry on their personal business. They had to buy cornfood for their families, and in doing so they had to mortgage their property. Some of them had to mortgage their property in order to pay their taxestaxes were high in that day. They were borrowing money from their own brethren.

Nehemiah 5:5

For a long time this problem had been growing, but up to this time Nehemiah did not know about it. These folk wanted to build the walls of Jerusalem, so they very quietly mortgaged their property to their brethren. There were those who were in the lending business, you see. The foes outside had not been able to harm as long as there was love and harmony within, but now there is conflict. This problem had also come into the early church, you remember. Ananias and Sapphira had conspired to deceive their brethren and were judged by God with sudden death. Their conspiracy had to do with money. I do not know why money is such a temptation, but it is. I am well acquainted with a church that has been giving out a false financial statement for some time. The old bromide “figures don’t lie, but liars will figure” is still true. There is a certain way that even a CPA can present a financial statement that looks good, but in reality the whole truth has not been told. That happens in many churches today. That is the way the Devil gets into churches. I have always noticed that he comes in this way. This is what Nehemiah had to deal with. The Scripture gives us some advice in Php_1:27-28: “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” The word conversation in this passage means “your way of life.” Paul says, “You let harmony be inside. Be honest in your dealings. Don’t give false reports or belittle a brother. Tell the truth. When you tell the truth, it will produce harmony.” Good old practical James had something to say about this subject, too, in Jas_3:16, which says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” That is what happened with Ananias and Sapphira. They lied about their dealings with the church and brought in confusion.

In Nehemiah’s day some Jews had borrowed money. When they couldn’t pay back the money, they actually had to sell their sons and daughters into slavery. It was only for a certain period of time, but long enough to wreck their lives in some cases. Those who had borrowed money were charged interest. We always think of “usury” as excessive interest, but it really means regular interest. The interesting thing is, though it might be legitimate in the business world today to charge interest, it was not legal for the children of Israel to do it.

God said that the Jews were not to charge their brethren interest. Up to this point Nehemiah has kept his cool. He has been able to go right along with his people and be patient with them, but now Nehemiah is angry.

Nehemiah 5:6

Nehemiah was not just a little angry, he was very angry.

Nehemiah 5:7

“Then I consulted with myself"this is something for him to decide; so he thinks the matter through.

Nehemiah 5:8

Nehemiah openly rebuked the nobles and the rulers for their actions. Nehemiah exposed those who had done wrong in the presence of the group, which is the right thing to do when such a thing occurs. Also, the church congregation should be warned if there are those in it who are not being honest in their dealings and are moving in an underhanded way. Evil should be brought out into the open. Nehemiah exposed the underhanded dealings of his brethren. He was angry. Somebody says, “You should not get angry.” Paul says, “Be ye angry, and sin not …” in Eph_4:26. It depends upon the reason for your anger. If you become angry because of your own personal welfare, it is wrong. If you become angry because God’s program, God’s glory, and God’s name are being hurt, then you can “be angry and sin not.” Nehemiah was not quiet about the sin he uncovered. He did not acquiesce. He was not passive. He spoke right out. We ought to be stirred up to a righteous anger when we see something wrong in the church. We should not mollycoddle the wrongdoer and shut our eyes to his sin. Many people say, “We just don’t want to disturb things.” You don’t? My friend, you had better do something because the Devil has moved in on you, and he will divide you. We need courage today. We need conviction. The church no longer has a good name in the world, and the world is passing it by. The spiritual movement that is emerging is largely outside the organized church. Christians have been playing church. The controlling group in the church has been having a good time, but they are not reaching the lost, and the world is passing by uninterested. A preacher in the North said to me, “It makes me angry to think that you cannot reach out and touch the lost today because they know about the hypocrisy, the pious platitudes, and the dishonesty inside the church.” But there are those in the world who are longing to know the truth. They want to know if we are being honest in what we have to say. Some of the brethren deal with wrongs in the church by sweeping them under the rug with the excuse that they want to maintain a “Christian” attitude by being sweet and nice. That’s not acting like a Christianit is acting like a coward!Nehemiah brought the sin of his brethren right out into the open and nobody was able to answer him. They had to keep quiet while he was there, but they will cause all the trouble they can. They are also going to cause Nehemiah a lot of trouble when he goes back to the palace in Shushan. Nevertheless, he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and he served God in his day and generation.

Nehemiah 5:9

Christ is a reproach today in the world. Is He a reproach because of the conduct of the church? Because of the conduct of believers? Because of the conduct of you and me? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Nehemiah said, “Look, you are causing the enemy to blaspheme because of what you are doing!”

Nehemiah 5:10

Nehemiah said, “I was in a position where I could have benefited financially.” This was the real test of Nehemiah. He did not use his position for gain. In our society the grasping person is after the last farthing. Many a man is putting the dollar ahead of God. You can put a dime so close to your eye that you cannot see even the sun. There are many folk looking at the world like that.

Nehemiah 5:11

Nehemiah appealed to the wealthy Jews to restore what they had collected and not to collect any more payments.

Nehemiah 5:12

I love this fellow Nehemiah. He says, “I don’t believe your verbal promises. I want you to sign on the dotted line.” Although they were God’s people, He knew better than to take them at their word. They had to put their oath in writing. I think one of the biggest mistakes I ever made in the ministry was to believe some Christians. I hate to say that, but I say it from experience. We should be able to trust the word of a Christian. An outstanding Christian businessmanwhom I know to be honestsaid to me, “McGee, I have gotten to the place where I don’t even like to do business with Christians. I would much rather do business with the man in the world because I automatically watch him. But the ChristianI assume he will be honest, but that is not always the case.” Nehemiah was a practical man. He said, “All right, you have promised to return what you have taken. I don’t believe you. Sign on the dotted line. That is what I want you to do.”

Nehemiah 5:13

I think that if something as strong as this statement of Nehemiah’s were read from the pulpit in our day, the congregation would say, “Amen.” It takes just one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel of apples. One skunk in a field full of cats will give them all a bad name. It would be well to mark out the man who is causing trouble, to get the bad apple out of the barrel, and remove the skunk from the field of cats. This is what Nehemiah did. He actually pronounced a curse upon them. What a picturesque scene!

What a dramatic scene! Nehemiah “shook out his lap.” Remember that he was a government official and wore a uniform. He shook out his long robe in front of the crowd and said, “This is the way God will shake you out, and I will shake you out, if you don’t make your promises good.” That is the way to talk to people like this! To the Galatians (Gal_5:12) Paul could say, “I would they were even cut off which trouble you.” He wished the legalizers would be absolutely cut off because of the damage they were doing to the Galatian believers. This is strong language! Now we will be given a glimpse of the personal life of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 5:14

He had a right to draw a salary, but he did not.

Nehemiah 5:15

The governors before Nehemiah received their salaries, but Nehemiah chose not to accept a salary. I love this man!

Nehemiah 5:16

Nehemiah did not go into the real estate business. He stayed out of land speculation. He gained no mortgages on land by lending money or grain. He did not take anything on the side.

Nehemiah 5:17

He regularly entertained one hundred fifty table guests. He also entertained Jews from surrounding nations who had come to live in the city but had not yet found a place to live. Apparently he did all of this at his own expense. He was different from the other governors.

Nehemiah 5:18

He did not demand the governor’s food allowance, because he had a heart for his hardworking brethren.

Nehemiah 5:19

He was a wonderful man. His concern was for his people, but they would forget him. It is a sad thing, but many a famous person has learned that the world forgets. People have short memories. But Nehemiah asked God to remember him. He said, “Think upon me, my God.” How wonderful to know that, while God does not remember our sins, He will always remember our good works. And He even records them in a book!