Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—April 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

April 18, Nehemiah 5

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. - Nehemiah 5:7

High prices, high taxes. Population growth, food shortages. Sounds like a quick summary of a recent newscast, doesn't it? But that was the economic situation in Judah in the days of Nehemiah. Economic hard times are tough on the working class, regardless of what year it is. So often the old saying, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer" is a fair and accurate assessment of the economic woes that threatened Nehemiah and the people he governed in the Persian province that had once been Israel and Judah. The internal problems were as real as the external pressures from the enemies who did not want Judah back and rebuilding in the land.

Some Israelites came home from Persian captivity, only to quickly find themselves in bondage of another sort, economic bondage. Some had no land to farm, and looked to others to provide food for them. Others had houses and land, but had mortgaged it to buy high- priced food during the famine, Others had already mortgaged all that they had and were forced to sell their children into slavery to pay the high tax imposed by the king. The wealthy people had taken advantage of the poor in their plight to put them even deeper into debt. Their strong will to survive led them to enslave themselves and their families, just as their ancient ancestors had done in Egypt centuries before. Solomon wrote, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." (That is still true today, as many people have learned with credit cards and easy credit terms.)

Nehemiah was infuriated by the ruthless cruelty of the rich, charging interest to their brothers, seizing their property as collateral and

foreclosing on loans in default. The rich got richer at the expense and misery of the poor people.But before Nehemiah acted, he did something I should do more often when I want to react in anger to some situation. Nehemiah took counsel with himself. He thought about what to do and say before he confronted the rich people about their callous mistreatment of the poor. He still accused them of taking advantage of their poor brothers and ordered immediate relief for the impoverished and enslaved Israelites among them. At first the wealthy people he addressed were speechless. Greed was the only excuse or explanation for what they had done. They agreed to do what Nehemiah required them to do, and immediately restore what they had taken from the poor. Nehemiah made the priests who were also guilty of this sin take a public oath that they would stop and make amends for what they had done.

Nehemiah could charge them like that and enforce his orders by the strength of his character and example. He bought enslaved people with his own money and set them free. He refused to take the governor's allowance so the burden of supporting him and his administration would not be laid on the citizens. He fed a remarkable number of people every day at his own table. His conduct gave him a powerful platform to demand repentance and obedience from the opportunistic rich who had exploited the poor people among them. Nehemiah asked God to remember all the good he had done. He was conscious of God's awareness of what he did, and knew he was accountable to God for it.

If you and I have been blessed, we should take care not to leverage our blessing to take advantage of those who do not enjoy as much as we do. We do not want to be like the people Nehemiah confronted. Their behavior was a clear and cruel violation of God's law. We should also remember that our own conduct and character needs to conform to what we

would prescribe others to do about sin in their lives. And we should live with a daily awareness that God does see and know what we do. The Lord is all-knowing and righteous, and will reward those who do good accordingly. If we would remember that accountability, we'd be more likely to treat others with kindness and compassion.

Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.