Nehemiah 5:1-13: True and Lasting Change

Nehemiah 5:1-13: True and Lasting Change

Please turn with me to Nehemiah 5. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 322. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Nehemiah, and this morning we come to Nehemiah 5:1-13. Nehemiah 5:1-13:

1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 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.” 3 There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4 And 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 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.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 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 8 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. 9 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? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11 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.” 12 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. 13 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. 

Sometimes, when you read the Bible, it can be quite uncomfortable. Yes, the Bible encourages us and yes it inspires us, but it also exposes sin in our lives and brings us face-to-face with the ways in which we’re not what God wants us to be. Kind of like you bring your vehicle to the mechanic, and the mechanic tells you some things about your vehicle you know you need to hear but you didn’t necessarily want to hear. Just this past week, I took my minivan to the mechanic, and he told me some things I definitely didn’t want to hear. And those issues have made my life rather inconvenient, but I know I needed to hear those things and I’m glad he told me. And that’s the way I believe this passage of Scripture here in Nehemiah 5 functions in our lives. If you really dive into this passage and begin thinking about it, you’re probably going to feel a little uncomfortable. I know I did as I studied it. And yet, these are things we need to hear. 

The main theme of this passage is that Nehemiah fights against oppression. That’s the main idea. Nehemiah fights against oppression. And there are two components of Nehemiah’s response to oppression I’d like to look at. Number one, Nehemiah’s anger against oppression. And number two, Nehemiah’s action against oppression. 

Nehemiah’s Anger against Oppression 

So first, Nehemiah’s anger against oppression. Here’s what was going on. There were actually several things. Verse 1 states that “there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.” What were they so upset about? Well, their most basic needs weren’t being met. Verse 2: 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.” So they needed grain but didn’t have enough money to get grain. Therefore, they had to take drastic measures. Verse 3 states, There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” So there we learn that there was a famine making this whole situation worse. And in the midst of this famine, families were having to mortgage their property just to have enough money to buy food.  Then finally, as if that weren’t enough, they had to borrow money to pay their taxes to the king—which were often extremely high. Verses 4-5: 4 And 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 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.” So some families were sinking so deeply into debt that they were running out of land to mortgage and having to sell their own children into slavery in order to pay the bills. So between the famine and the king’s tax, these were certainly difficult times. But—and here’s the key—their own Israelite brothers were making these times even worse by being the ones to loan them money so that they could charge them exorbitant interest. Remember, verse 1 said that the outcry of the people was against not just their general circumstances but “against their Jewish brothers.” And the excessive interest these wealthier Jews were charging is what Nehemiah rebukes them for. Verses 6-7: 6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 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.” So that’s the kind of oppression that was taking place. The rich were taking advantage of the poor by charging them excessive interest—and in the middle of a famine no less. 

So because of that, Nehemiah’s rightfully angry, as we read in verse 6. He’s so angry that he has to calm himself down before he speaks to them in verse 7. That’s what the phrase “I took counsel with myself” means. He’s saying he had to calm himself down. And he’s right to be angry. We should all be angry when we see people being oppressed. Because the Bible teaches that every human being on this planet is created in the image of God. That’s what Genesis 1 teaches. And because every human being is created in God’s image, that means they all have intrinsic value and dignity and worth. People aren't valuable because they’re able to do something or function in a certain way. They’re valuable because God created them with value. So…when their value is tossed aside through oppression, it’s right for us to be angry and distressed and grieved. 

And I do believe we as Christians usually respond to many forms of oppression that way—which is good. We usually respond the way we should respond. But I also think that there are other forms of oppression that many Christians aren’t very sensitive to. And the primary issue I’m thinking about here is the issue of racism. I don’t think we can talk about Nehemiah 5 without bringing up racism. And by the way, that’s one of the benefits of expository preaching—or preaching that goes passage by passage through the book of the Bible. It keeps us from avoiding difficult topics. So I’m not trying to push any kind of a political agenda here, but I just don’t think we can go through a text like this without talking about racism. Because it seems that a lot of Christians don’t even think racism really exists. 

And honestly, there was a time not too long ago, probably only five or six years, when I didn’t think racism really existed in America. I put it in the same category as the boogey man or something like that. Maybe there were a few racists left—mostly in the deep South—but they didn’t amount to much of anything. I assumed that the accusation of racism was nothing more than a convenient tool politicians would use to advance their political agenda. But I slowly became aware that that may not be entirely accurate. For example, one of my classmates in seminary’s PhD program was black man named Curtis. And Curtis was extremely intelligent and well-read and articulate. In conversation, I sometimes had to ask him the meaning of some of the words he used. So he was an exceptional student in many ways and also happened to hold a pretty prominent position in the state’s Baptist convention. And yet, he also carried himself in a very humble way. He was relatively soft-spoken and gentle and in my estimation a very godly man. And one day, we got to talking about racism in class and whether racism existed, and Curtis shared with us some very moving stories of experiences he had of racism. Of course, it’s not like he was imprisoned for using the wrong water fountain or something, but things happened on a fairly regular basis that were very hurtful to him. One night, he was leaving the gym after working out, and a lady saw him in the parking lot and hurried to her car and locked the door. Things like that. In fact, many other things like that. And what I took away from that conversation was that just because racism can often more subtle than in the past, that doesn’t mean the emotional wounds it inflicts are any less hurtful. Feeling inferior and like you just don’t belong can be a very hurtful thing. And that’s not even getting into the systematic racism and discrimination in our country, which Curtis also could testify to. 

So here’s my argument. It has nothing to do with statistics or anything like that since those kinds of things seem to be endlessly debatable. My argument is simple: If godly Christian brothers like Curtis are saying racism exists and that they repeatedly experience it, why wouldn’t we believe them? Imagine you had a sister who came to you one day and told you that the man she was seeing had raped her. How would you respond to that? Would you express doubt toward her? Would you demand evidence from her? Would you ask her dozens of questions as you tried to determine for yourself whether a rape really took place? Hopefully not. If your sister told you someone had raped her, I’m pretty sure you’d take her word for it and take the situation very seriously. So why wouldn’t we take our Christian brothers and sisters seriously as they describe the racism they’ve personally and consistently experienced? And listen, I’m not talking about far-out political activists. I’m not talking about Al Sharpton here. I’m talking about godly spiritual brothers like Curtis who believe what we believe and are committed to the things we’re committed to--guys who are committed to things like gospel-centeredness and Reformed theology and expository preaching. If Curtis and others like him tell us from their own personal experience and with tears in their eyes that racism is alive and well in America today, should we not believe them? At the end of the day, this isn’t about politics. I personally could care less about the Democratic party and the Republican party. As far as I’m concerned, they’re both increasingly godless. So this isn’t about politics, it’s about people—our own brothers and sisters in the faith.  We need to take what they say seriously and grieve with them and do like Romans 12 tells us and weep with those who weep. 

Nehemiah’s Action against Oppression (verses 7-13)

But looking back at Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah didn’t just have anger against oppression, he took action. So that’s the second point, Nehemiah’s action against oppression. In verses 7-10, he confronts the wealthy Jews who are taking advantage of their own Jewish brothers and, in verse 11, demands they return all the property they’ve seized. Then, as we read in verses 12-13: 12 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. 13 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. So Nehemiah called them to repentance, made them swear it to the priests, and then made sure they followed through. 

And if we look in verse 9, I think we gain some valuable insight into why Nehemiah was so passionate about this. There are two reasons he gives for the people he’s confronting to take action. And both of these are things that should also move us to action. First, the fear of God. Nehemiah states, “The thing you are doing is not good. Out you not to walk in the fear of our God…?” In other words, shouldn’t a healthy fear of God’s justice keep you from taking advantage of people this way? Shouldn’t it motivate you to take action and change things around here? Deuteronomy 10:17-18 says this about God: 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. So God’s on the side of the oppressed. He sees what people do to them and will always, in some form or fashion, execute justice on their behalf. God’s kind of like an older brother. Whenever an older brother hears that a bully is picking on his younger brother, he goes up to that bully, gets right in his face, and says to him as he points at his younger brother, “When you mess with him, you mess with me.” So the fear of God should motivate us to fight oppression. Then also, looking back at Nehemiah 5:9, we should be concerned about our Christian testimony. Nehemiah states, “Ought you not to walk in the fear of God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?” Now, when he speaks of “the nations our enemies,” he’s speaking to the Israelites about the other nations around them. And for us, we can apply that to people who aren’t Christians yet. Of course, they’re not in any way our enemies, but they’re still around us and watching us to see how we live. And if we don’t live what we preach, we lose all credibility in their eyes. 

You know, a lot of Christians see social action as a distraction from our mission. They correctly view our mission as spreading the gospel and telling people how they can be saved through Jesus. But…these Christians think social action gets in the way of that. And there certainly are a lot of churches where that has happened and social action has eclipsed the gospel. They’ve so emphasized caring for the poor and marginalized that they’ve forgotten to tell anybody the gospel—and in many cases, sadly enough, don’t even believe the true gospel themselves any longer. So we don’t want to make that mistake. But I’d challenge the belief that there’s some kind of competition between social action and the gospel. I just don’t think the Bible presents them that way at all. Rather, according to the Bible, social action actually supports the spread of the gospel. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus tells us, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” So according to that verse, letting your light shine consists of doing good works, and the result of those good works is that non-Christians will see them and give God glory by turning to him and being saved. So our gospel mission is actually helped, not hindered, by the practical things we do to help people. It’s kind of like planting seeds. If you have a garden or even just a common knowledge of how things grow, you understand that you can’t just throw some seeds down onto a patch of hard ground and expect those seeds to grow. They probably won’t. If you want those seeds to actually grow and do well, you first need to plow the soil. You need to churn it up a little bit so that it’s softer and looser and so that there’s room for the seeds to get down in there. Plowing precedes planting. And many times, people’s hearts work the same way. A lot of people have hard hearts that are initially resistant to the gospel. They’re not really that interested. But when they see God’s people living like God tells them to live and loving those around them with a God-given love and being increasingly transformed to reflect Jesus, that’s attractive to them. When our lives match our message, that’s attractive. And it gives us both opportunity to talk about the gospel and credibility as we talk about the gospel. So love expressed through action is the plowing that precedes the sowing of the seed that hopefully precedes the harvest. 

Let me ask you this: how much more credibility do you think white evangelicals in America would have in sharing the gospel if we had been the ones to lead the charge against racism? How much more credibility do you think evangelicals of all ethnicities would have if we had initiated the #metoo movement? I believe things would be a lot different. But there’s still time. 

Conclusion

And yet, even as we fight against oppression in its various forms, we should still understand that there are very real limits to what our efforts can accomplish. Regardless of how many government programs we establish, how much legislation we enact, how many nonprofits we start, or how many marches we organize, none of those things will be able to truly fix the brokenness of our society. And that’s because our brokenness goes much deeper than the outward issues that plague us. It goes deeper than racism, sexual violence, abortion, or any of that and goes right down to the core of who we are—to our heart. You see, the Bible teaches that ever since the first humans rebelled against God, we’ve been operating in a state of dysfunction. That dysfunction includes our thinking, our desires, and everything else about us. And the most sobering aspect of that dysfunction is our sinful opposition to God and the purposes of God and the will of God. God tells us to do this, and we do that. He tells us to love this, and we love that. He tells us the way to have true life and wholeness and blessing, but we don’t want any part of it. And that’s the underlying reason why we see so much dysfunction and brokenness in our society. Our society is broken because we’re broken, and we’re broken to the core of our being. So that’s why I say that no human initiative or human endeavor can ever truly fix the brokenness of our society in any comprehensive way. It would be kind of like trying to build a car out of broken parts. If you go around collecting all these broken parts for a car and put those parts together, how well do you think that car’s going to run? It probably won’t run at all. No matter how skillfully you put those parts together, that car isn’t going anywhere. And just like you can’t bring broken parts together to make a functional car, you can’t bring broken people together to truly fix our broken society. We need God to fix our brokenness. 

And thankfully, that’s exactly what God wants to do. In fact, he’s already set a plan into motion. 2,000 years ago, God sent his only Son Jesus to rescue this world from its sinful brokenness. Jesus became a human being, lived a perfect life without sinning even one time, and then died on the cross to pay the penalty for our rebellion. We deserved to face God’s wrath for our rebellion, but Jesus faced it so we wouldn’t have to. And then, he triumphantly rose again from the dead as a picture of what can happen to each of us as we put our trust in him. Because, as we look to Jesus for rescue, we also experience a kind of resurrection from death to life. God forgives our sin and begins to fix our brokenness. And one day, we’ll be completely fixed and experience the joy of living with God forever in heaven. That’s the hope of the gospel. And that’s the ultimate answer to the brokenness of our society. The ultimate answer to the injustices that plague our society has nothing to do with the Democratic party or the Republican party and has everything to do with Jesus and the rescue he offers. As Jesus transforms person after person and heart after heart, society also will be transformed. And that’s the only way true and lasting change will come. Let’s pray.