The Threat from Within - Nehemiah 5:1-19

Nehemiah 5 - The Threat from Within Last week we saw that the threat to God’s people in Jerusalem in ch 4 was from the outside. Sanballat and Tobiah and the people they represented were angry that the walls around Jerusalem were being rebuilt, and to halt the work… they threatened to attack and kill the labourers and the stone masons. And so, Nehemiah armed his people, with swords and spears and bows to defend themselves. So, the threat in ch 4 was from outside. But in the passage we are looking at today, from ch 5, the threat is from within. ***Verses 1-5 Many of the Jews working on the rebuilding of the walls had made huge sacrifices to be there. Their smallholdings in the country were unproductive… because there was no one to plough the fields and plant the crops… which meant there was no money coming in. But there were still mouths to feed… children to clothe… wives to support. To make matters worse, Palestine was in the grip of a severe drought, and without water, and money to buy grain, how long would it take for the livestock to all die off. So the situation for these people working with Nehemiah on the wall was dire. Now some of the wealthy businessmen in the city, who had not lifted a finger to help with the building project, saw this as an opportunity to enrich themselves. So, they loaned money to the labourers on the wall, to help cover their mounting debts back home. When the labourers were unable to pay the interest on those loans, the nobles took their land as compensation. Some of the folk were so desperate they even sold their children as slaves. And to make matters even worse, there were still the taxes to pay to King Artaxerxes. 1 Which helps to explain their grumbling in verse 1 of our passage: Some men and their wives cried out against their Jewish brothers and sisters. The point being that this was not outsiders exploiting the situation, but fellow Jews… it was people from within the city who were threatening to derail the building project, because if Nehemiah did not resolve to problem quickly, everyone would down tools and return home. Now, what we see happening here in Jerusalem, has its parallels in the Church. Instead of everyone working together to carry the building program forward, certain individuals in the church, exploit the situation to promote their own petty interests, and, before you know it, people are pointing fingers at one another and accusations are flying backwards and forwards… and instead of being united… the church becomes fragmented… with people pulling in different directions… and work on the wall comes to a standstill. Did you notice that in our passage…? Not one word about the gaps in the wall being filled in… not one word about the walls rising from the rubble. So, what Satan could not achieve through persecution from outside he achieves by disunity from within! Which is why “unity” is such a prominent theme in the NT. One of the last things that Jesus does before they carry him off for crucifixion… one of the last things he does is to pray for us. And do you know what he prays? That we might be united! It’s also a recurring theme in the letters of Paul, like his comment to the Corinthians: I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought…. perfectly united in mind and thought… one big happy family… everyone pulling in the same direction. 2 ***vs 6-11 So how does Nehemiah deal with disunity in the ranks? Well, the first thing that we notice is that Nehemiah has the heart of a pastor, in that he feels his people’s pain. He is not indifferent to their suffering… he feels it keenly: When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. One of the things that people struggle with is whether or not there is a place for anger in our response to what we understand as sinful behaviour. Are we right, for example, to feel angry when we hear of a child who has been sexually abused by a priest? Are we right to feel angry when a husband violently assaults his wife? I have to admit that I feel angry at what the Zimbabwe regime is doing to their people. Nehemiah’s anger wasn’t malicious or spiteful… it was a righteous anger… at the way the rich and the powerful were exploiting the weak and the vulnerable! The second thing that we notice about Nehemiah’s response is that it was Biblical. I can imagine Nehemiah asking the question, “What do the Scriptures have to say about this matter?” Have a look at vs 7: I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest! So Nehemiah obviously thought about it… scrolled through the Scriptures in his mind… and was reminded of Leviticus 25:35 ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor… do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. The point that Leviticus is making is, “Look, God delivered you Jews from slavery, when he brought you out of Egypt, and now here you are enslaving your own people!” 3 Which is the same logic that the New Testament uses to challenge us: “Look, Jesus has forgiven you so much… it’s massive… like huge … how, then, can you not forgive your brother or sister for this little thing that he has done to offend you?” To summarise then: the Jews should not exploit their fellow Jews for personal gain… but that was the very thing that these nobles were doing. They were charging interest, they were confiscating land and enslaving the children… of fellow Jews! And as a result, they were impeding progress on the rebuilding of the walls… whereas what they should have been doing was using their resources to assist in the building project. “Don’t worry Nehemiah, we will look after the families of the labourers… we will buy their food… we will clothe their children… we will finance their daily needs… so that your team can continue building the walls.” Which raises the question: what should our attitude be to money: Should we regard it as something that belongs to me, to be used as I choose, for my pleasure, or should we see ourselves as stewards over that which God has placed in our care, to be used for his glory and for the promotion of his kingdom? Do the walls on occasions remain broken down and unattended because we are too busy serving our own selfish interests? The third thing to notice from Nehemiah’s response is that he is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Even though the nobles and the officials were the people of influence and power in the city, Nehemiah was not afraid to call them out on their sinful behaviour. You can see this in vs 8: I accused the nobles and officials: “You are charging your own people interest”. And vs 9: “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God? 4 It may be necessary on occasions to call people out in church for their bad behaviour, especially if it could adversely affect the progress of the Gospel in this place. We had someone at Ithaca a while back who was quite rude to people… intimidating… and I had to take him aside and say, “Not acceptable… you need to change the way you speak to others.” Well, he didn’t last long… he stopped attending the church here at Ithaca. But rather that than he starts driving newcomers away! That’s what Nehemiah feared. If you look at vs 9… what danger did Nehemiah anticipate? It’s there in vs 9: the reproach of our Gentile enemies? So, the people of Israel would make great claims about God and their relationship with God and how he had changed their lives… and their Gentile neighbours would say, “Yeah right! Look at the way you treat the poor amongst you!’ And that’s another reason why our unity is so important. It’s a powerful witness to people when they see such a diverse group of people, from so many different backgrounds, getting on so well… loving each other… sharing meals in each other’s homes… all pulling in the same direction… all committed to the same goal of making Christ known. Do you remember what Jesus said? They… your neighbours… people who we rub shoulders with at work… folk who visit our church… they will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have, one for another. And sometimes it only takes one person to mess that all up… one person fighting his own campaign… pushing his own agenda… one person behaving badly… and our unity goes out the window. Verses 14-19 The fourth thing to notice about Nehemiah’s response, is that he doesn’t just talk the talk. Words are easy, it’s the follow 5 through that is difficult. So, what Nehemiah demands from the nobles and officials, he requires of himself. As governor he was entitled to a host of benefits: he could have insisted that the people provide the food for his table… he was entitled to raise a tax for his personal needs as governor; and when people failed to pay their taxes he could have acquired their land. Which would have been an act of utter hypocrisy. But Nehemiah chose to forego all of these benefits and instead to finance his needs as Governor from his own resources. I was intrigued to see that AMP is going through hard times… the company posted a loss of $2.5 bill… and as a result, no dividends will be paid out this year, which means that all the small-time investors in AMP will lose out. But that didn’t stop the CEO from getting a pay rise of $1.8 million! But that is something that we demand from those who lead us in the church… that they lead by example. And that’s what Nehemiah is doing in this passage: he is leading by example. In closing, we don’t always get it right. We are not perfect… we make mistakes. You do get a sense that Nehemiah does overdo the self-praise on occasions… like in vs 19: Remember me with favour, my God, for all I have done for these people. It does come across as a little boastful, doesn’t it? But, hey, at the end of the day, he was just a man, with all of the flaws that that entails. And that is a good lesson for us to take to heart… that our leaders are but men… Jayesh has many flaws… as do I. Be careful about putting us on a pedestal, because we will let you down. There is only one person who deserves to be up there and that is the Lord Jesus… let your confidence be in him. 6