Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 5:1

And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.

1. And there was a great cry, &c.] R.V. Then there arose a great cry, &c. The R.V. rightly shows that the outbreak of the discontentment described in these verses was connected with the rebuilding of the walls. A general stoppage of trade must have resulted from the national undertaking. The presence of the enemy in the neighbourhood prevented free agricultural labour.

the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews ] By ‘the people and their wives’ are denoted the poorer classes, the great bulk of the nation as distinguished from the nobles and the priests. ‘Their brethren the Jews,’ seem here to denote ‘the nobles and the rulers’ whom Nehemiah rebukes in Neh 5:7. At any rate the cry proceeds from the poor, the multitudes who were driven in their need to borrow, against the few who could afford to lend. The actual expression ‘their brethren the Jews,’ as in Neh 5:8, does not imply any particular section of the people, but is employed to contrast the true fraternal relation of fellow-citizens with the existing selfishness and oppression.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Neh 5:1-13

And there was a great cry of the people.

The friend of the poor

I. The complaint of the poor. It is sometimes alleged the poor have a morbid disposition to complain of their indigence and sufferings; and this may be true of certain classes of them. The ignorant and vicious, the idle and intemperate, are prone to bewail their hardships in querulous words. They complain bitterly of the miseries of their lot, and perhaps charge those with having a hard heart who do not give them the relief they desire. They try thus to excite the pity of the benevolent, or to extort the gifts of charity which they do not deserve. But it is altogether different with the industrious and pious poor. The poor of the children of Judah are manifestly brought to the very extremity of suffering before they disclose their sorrowful circumstances; and when they are compelled to make them known, it is in language remarkable for dignified sobriety and true pathos. The complaint of these poor Israelites unveils their varied load of sorrow.

1. Some complained of the extent of their necessities. We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. The calls of hunger were many; the means of supply, on their own inheritance, were small; and they required to purchase corn for bread from others. Their straits, too, were increased by the present dearth. It is one of the many glories of the religion of the Bible that it makes a benevolent care of the poor a paramount duty in all who have it in their power to relieve their necessities, and enforces this duty by threatenings for its neglect, and by promises of reward for its observance.

2. Some of the poor here also complain of the severity of public burdens. They were still subject to the Persian king, and to secure the continuance of his favour to Jerusalem they had made every possible effort to pay his tribute. Their more wealthy countrymen met this tax without abridging their home comforts, but the burden was heavy on the poor.

3. The sorrows of the poor were in this case deepened by the thought that they were occasioned by the ungenerous conduct of their own brethren. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, neither is it in our power to redeem them. They possessed a common relation to the covenant inheritance. They had left the land of their exile animated with the same faith, and embarked in the same enterprise. Many of them had quitted comforts in that foreign land, out of love to Jerusalem, and were now enduring the first trials of returned captives. They had laboured, too, by their united endeavours, to restore the city of their fathers, instead of seeking every man his own things in the care of his patrimonial inheritance. It might have been expected that, thus labouring for a common object, they would have shared a common sympathy, and been free from the grasp of selfishness.

4. How mysterious are sufferings like these, especially of the poor people of God engaged in His service. We do not wonder that those Jews who remained in the land of idols, after they were free to return to Judah, might suffer adversity. They despised the Lords goodness in offering deliverance from exile, and preferred ease in a strange country to spiritual blessings in the holy land. It is not wonderful though they might be visited with trials in providence, and be made to read their sin in their suffering. But here those endure affliction who willingly left the land of the heathen, and they are involved in deep trouble while doing a service to the city of God. Shall we think that they disprove either the wisdom or goodness of Gods providence to His people? Do they not rather show His thoughts to be far above our thoughts, and His procedure in carrying out His great plan to be too high for us to understand? Do they not clearly indicate that He tries the faith of His servants in the very moment of accepting their love, and rewards their affection, not in the comforts of earth, but in the glories of immortality? It is thus that the world in which we dwell is still a place of weeping, where the poor and needy pour out their tears in floods. Thousands of righteous ones languish in poverty, or are persecuted for their fidelity to the truth of God.

II. Nehemiahs expostulation with the nobles. The promptitude with which he listens to the complaint of the poor does honour to his heart, and the courage with which he proceeds to redress their wrongs sheds a lustre on the justice of his administration. The cry of the lowly for relief from distress or opposition is often disregarded, yea, proves the occasion of augmenting their misery. And in his very first step for reform of these abuses in Judah he evinces again the self-reliance of a great mind. Then, says he, I consulted with myself. To this, indeed, he was shut up by his peculiar and trying circumstances.

1. He rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. To see the full force of this charge, it must be borne in mind that the Israelites were forbidden in the law of Moses to lend money to the poor on interest. With strangers, or perhaps with the rich, they might trade in this way; but this is the law interdicting such a practice with their poor brethren:–If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. This, then, is a grave charge against the nobles of violating the Divine law; and it falls on ears not accustomed to such plain words. Men of rank and affluence seldom hear this language of remonstrance addressed to them, and they can ill bear such reflections on their honour. But no earthly station exempts wrong-doers from just reproof; and Nehemiahs zeal for God, as well as his love to His people, inspires him with faithfulness. True kindness to them, not less than compassion for the lowly objects of their exactions, prompted his faithful expostulation. The reproof here was administered with firmness, yet it was accompanied with the prudence of wisdom, adopting a course fitted to fortify remonstrance, and to secure its desired effect. I set, says he, a great assembly against them. What was the object of this concourse? We cannot suppose that the servant of God intended, through this means, to overawe the nobles by numbers, or to constrain them to a decision contrary to reason. He appears rather to have convened this assembly to allow the free expression of sentiment on the evil complained of, and to bring all under the salutary influence of public opinion. In no free community can public opinion be set at defiance with either justice or safety. It may, indeed, be sometimes corrupted by designing men, and it may for a season be swayed by impulses perilous to the common-weal. It requires, then, to be corrected and regulated by the power of truth. But a healthful public opinion, wisely formed, rightly guided, freely expressed, is the bulwark of national liberty, and an essential condition of the progress of mankind.

2. Nehemiah addressed to the rulers of Judah persuasive argument. The arguments he employed are threefold. He first of all pleads the efforts already made to redeem Judah from captivity. And on this ground he asks if it is right they should be again sold into bondage. We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? This appeal reminds believers in Christ of their duty, not to come again into bondage to sin. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Nehemiah, moreover, pleads the exposure of the common cause to the reproach of the enemy as a reason for the nobles ceasing their oppression. Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? This is a powerful argument for watchfulness and consistency in all who love Zion. Many are jealous for their own reputation, and quick to wipe off any reproach from themselves, while they have little care for the honour of God. Nehemiah, once more, appeals to his own conduct as an example of a generous spirit to his poor brethren. He, too, might have exacted money and corn, but he freely surrendered his private rights for the sake of the public good. It is not in a boastful spirit that he thus refers to himself and the course of self-denial he pursued. Perhaps, also, he wishes to suggest that he gained far more in enjoyment than he gave up in substance. The powerful and persuasive appeal was crowned with complete success. The result of this appeal also proves the power of religious motive in remedying social evils. These often grow and spread in face of all arguments deduced from considerations of humanity and justice. But here, in Jerusalem, religion pours the oil of love on the troubled waters; she addresses a winning appeal to open hearts, and at once the grasp of oppression is relaxed. If any great social evils are allowed to prevail where religion is professed, it is only by neglecting or denying its power. Christianity will either destroy every iniquity that abounds in a land, or itself will decline and depart from a people who will not hear its voice, to break off their sins by righteousness.

III. Nehemiahs testimony to his own disinterested conduct. (W. Ritchie.)

Brave compassion

Now Nehemiah, as we have seen, was a business man–a man of great energy and prudence; and it would not have been strange if he had postponed the consideration of the complaints thus brought before him. He might naturally enough have been afraid lest, by now finding fault with the nobles and rulers, he should alienate them from himself, and thus hinder the completion of his great enterprise. And so he might have said to these poor people, You see that my hands are full of work; I cannot attend to this matter now–one thing at a time. No doubt you have a grievance, but let us get the wails finished first, and then I will see what can be done. It is thus that many men of business act in daily life. Their very energy leads them to brush aside everything that threatens to interfere with their present work. They cannot bear interruptions, and are so eagerly bent on reaching their end that they cannot pause to do good on their way. But Nehemiah was more than a mere man of business; he was a man with a tender heart. (T. C. Finlayson.)

A great schism averted

I. That social injustice may exist even amongst fellow-workers in a great and good cause.

II. That social injustice, if not corrected, will undermine the stability of any cause, however righteous.

III. That social injustice should be regarded by all good men with feelings of righteous indignation.

IV. That social injustice, whenever discovered, should be calmly, yet promptly, dealt with.

V. That conciliatory appeals are sometimes more efficacious than coercive measures in dealing with social injustice. (Homiletic Commentary.)

The accusing cry of humanity

I. The unending struggle. Wealth and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, brain and brawn, capital and labour–when in all ages have not these come into collision?

II. Elements of bitterness in this struggle.

1. On the side of the oppressors there is power (Neh 5:7).

2. The oppressed are the brethren of the oppressors.

3. They were engaged in a common cause.

III. Light in dareness.

1. Christ cams to proclaim the brotherhood of humanity.

2. Signs of the times. The teacher is abroad. Society is tending towards redress. (Homiletic Commentary.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER V

The people complain that they are oppressed and enthralled by

their richer brethren, 1-3.

Nehemiah calls them to account; upbraids them for their cruelty;

and obliges them to swear that they will forgive the debts,

restore the mortgaged estates, and free their servants, 4-13.

Nehemiah’s generosity and liberality, 14-17.

The daily provision for his table, 18, 19.

NOTES ON CHAP. V

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

To wit, the great and rich who had oppressed their brethren.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1-5. there was a great cry of thepeople . . . against their brethrenSuch a crisis in thecondition of the Jews in Jerusalemfatigued with hard labor andharassed by the machinations of restless enemies, the majority ofthem poor, and the bright visions which hope had painted of purehappiness on their return to the land of their fathers beingunrealizedmust have been very trying to their faith and patience.But, in addition to these vexatious oppressions, many began to sinkunder a new and more grievous evil. The poor made loud complaintsagainst the rich for taking advantage of their necessities, andgrinding them by usurious exactions. Many of them had, in consequenceof these oppressions, been driven to such extremities that they hadto mortgage their lands and houses to enable them to pay the taxes tothe Persian government, and ultimately even to sell their childrenfor slaves to procure the means of subsistence. The condition of thepoorer inhabitants was indeed deplorable; for, besides the deficientharvests caused by the great rains (Ezr10:9; also Hag 1:6-11),a dearth was now threatened by the enemy keeping such a multitudepent up in the city, and preventing the country people bringing inprovisions.

Ne5:6-19. THE USURERSREBUKED.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives,…. Those of the poorer sort:

against their brethren the Jews; the rich that oppressed them; and this cry or complaint was made to Nehemiah for redress.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The people complain of oppression. – Neh 5:1 There arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews, i.e., as appears from what follows (Neh 5:7), against the nobles and rulers, therefore against the richer members of the community. This cry is more particularly stated in Neh 5:2, where the malcontents are divided into three classes by , Neh 5:2, Neh 5:3, Neh 5:4.

Neh 5:2

There were some who said: Our sons and our daughters are many, and we desire to receive corn, that we may eat and live. These were the words of those workers who had no property. (from ), not to take by force, but only to desire that corn may be provided.

Neh 5:3

Others, who were indeed possessed of fields, vineyards, and houses, had been obliged to mortgage them, and could now reap nothing from them. , to give as a pledge, to mortgage. The use of the participle denotes the continuance of the transaction, and is not to be rendered, We must mortgage our fields to procure corn; but, We have been obliged to mortgage them, and we desire to receive corn for our hunger, because of the dearth. For (1) the context shows that the act of mortgaging had already taken place, and was still continuing in force (we have been obliged to pledge them, and they are still pledged); and (2) must not be taken here in a different sense from Neh 5:2, but means, We desire that corn may be furnished us, because of the dearth; not, that we may not be obliged to mortgage our lands, but because they are already mortgaged. , too, does not necessarily presuppose a scarcity in consequence of a failure of crops or other circumstances, but only declares that they who had been obliged to pledge their fields were suffering from hunger.

Neh 5:4

Others, again, complained: We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and vineyards. means to be dependent, nexum esse , and transitively to make dependent, like , to be full, and to make full: We have made our fields and our vineyards answerable for money for the king’s tribute (Bertheau), i.e., we have borrowed money upon our fields for … This they could only do by pledging the crops of these lands, or at least such a portion of their crops as might equal the sum borrowed; comp. the law, Lev 25:14-17.

Neh 5:5

“And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, and our sons as their sons; and lo, we are obliged to bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, and some of our daughters are already brought into bondage; and we have no power to alter this, and our fields and vineyards belong to others.” “Our brethren” are the richer Jews who had lent money upon pledges, and are their sons. The sense of the first half of the verse is: We are of one flesh and blood with these rich men, i.e., as Ramb. already correctly explains it: non sumus deterioris conditionis quam tribules nostri divites, nec tamen nostrae inopiae ex lege divina Deu 15:7, Deu 15:8, subvenitur, nisi maximo cum foenore . The law not only allowed to lend to the poor on a pledge (Deu 15:8), but also permitted Israelites, if they were poor, to sell themselves (Lev 25:39), and also their sons and daughters, to procure money. It required, however, that they who were thus sold should not be retained as slaves, but set at liberty without ransom, either after seven years or at the year of jubilee (Lev 25:39-41; Exo 22:2.). It is set forth as a special hardship in this verse that some of their daughters were brought into bondage for maid-servants. , literally, our hand is not to God, i.e., the power to alter it is not in our hand; on this figure of speech, comp. Gen 31:29. The last clause gives the reason: Our fields and our vineyards belonging to others, what they yield does not come to us, and we are not in a position to be able to put an end to the sad necessity of selling our daughters for servants.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Complaints of the Poor.

B. C. 445.

      1 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.   2 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.   3 Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.   4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.   5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

      We have here the tears of the oppressed, which Solomon considered, Eccl. iv. 1. Let us consider them as here they are dropped before Nehemiah, whose office it was, as governor, to deliver the poor and needy, and rid them out of the hand of the wicked oppressors, Ps. lxxxii. 4. Hard times and hard hearts made the poor miserable.

      I. The times they lived in were hard. There was a dearth of corn (v. 3), probably for want of rain, with which God had chastised their neglect of his house (Hag. i. 9-11) and the non-payment of their church-dues, Mal 3:9; Mal 3:10. Thus foolish sinful men bring God’s judgments upon themselves, and then fret and complain of them. When the markets are high, and provisions scarce and dear, the poor soon feel from it, and are pinched by it. Blessed be God for the mercy, and God deliver us from the sin, of fulness of bread, Ezek. xvi. 49. That which made the scarcity here complained of the more grievous was that their sons and their daughters were many, v. 2. The families that were most necessitous were most numerous; here were the mouths, but where was the meat? Some have estates and no children to inherit them; others have children and no estates to leave them. Those who have both have reason to be thankful; those who have neither may the more easily be content. Those who have great families and little substance must learn to live by faith in God’s providence and promise; and those who have little families and great substance must make their abundance a supply for the wants of others. But this was not all: as corn was dear, so the taxes were high; the king’s tribute must be paid, v. 4. This mark of their captivity still remained upon them. Perhaps it was a poll-money that was required, and then, their sons and their daughters being many, it rose the higher. The more they had to maintain (a hard case!) the more they had to pay. Now, it seems, they had not wherewithal of their own to buy corn and pay taxes, but were necessitated to borrow. Their families came poor out of Babylon; they had been at great expense in building them houses, and had not yet got up their strength when these new burdens came upon them. The straits of poor housekeepers who make hard shift to get an honest livelihood, and sometimes want what is fitting for them and their families, are well worthy the compassionate consideration of those who either with their wealth or with their power are in a capacity to help them.

      II. The persons they dealt with were hard. Money must be had, but it must be borrowed; and those that lent them money, taking advantage of their necessity, were very hard upon them and made a prey of them. 1. They exacted interest from them at twelve per cent, the hundredth part every month, v. 11. If men borrow large sums to trade with, to increase their stocks, or to purchase land, there is no reason why the lender should not share with the borrower in his profit; or if to spend upon their lusts, or repair what they have so spent, why should they not pay for their extravagances? But if the poor borrow to maintain their families, and we be able to help them, it is certain we ought either to lend freely what they have occasion for, or (if they be not likely to repay it) to give freely something towards it. Nay, 2. They forced them to mortgage to them their lands and houses for the securing of the money (v. 3), and not only so, but took the profits of them for interest (Neh 5:5; Neh 5:11), that by degrees they might make themselves masters of all they had. Yet this was not the worst. 3. They took their children for bond-servants, to be enslaved or sold at pleasure, v. 5. This they complain of most sensibly, as that which touched them in a tender part, and they aggravate it with this: “Our children are as their children, as dear to us as theirs are to them; not only of the same human nature, and entitled to the honours and liberties of that (Mal 2:10; Job 31:15), but of the same holy nation, free-born Israelites, and dignified with the same privileges. Our flesh carries in it the sacred seal of the covenant of circumcision, as well as the flesh of our brethren; yet our heirs must be their slaves, and it is not in our power to redeem them.” This they made a humble remonstrance of to Nehemiah, not only because they saw he was a great man that could relieve them, but a good man that would. Whither should the injured poor flee for succour but to the shields of the earth? Whither but to the chancery, to the charity, in the royal breast, and those deputed by it for relief against the summum jus—the extremity of the law?

      Lastly, We will leave Nehemiah hearing the complaint, and enquiring into the truth of the complainants’ allegations (for the clamours of the poor are not always just), while we sit down and look, (1.) With a gracious compassion upon the oppressed, and lament the hardships which many in the world are groaning under; putting our souls into their souls’ stead, and remembering in our prayers and succours those that are burdened, as burdened with them. (2.) With a gracious indignation at the oppressors, and abhorrence of their pride and cruelty, who drink the tears, the blood, of those they have under their feet. But let those who show no mercy expect judgment without mercy. It was an aggravation of the sin of these oppressing Jews that they were themselves so lately delivered out of the house of bondage, which obliged them in gratitude to undo the heavy burdens, Isa. lviii. 6.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Nehemiah – Chapter 5

Internal Problems, Verses 1-13

The internal problems which hindered the building of the wall now began to proliferate. It appears that the wives may have been the ones who brought it to an issue. Many times the wives suffer in silence, going along with things for the sake of peace. Great must be the reward of

many, who serve the Lord in quietness. This time their protest was in order and to be respected. While their men were busily engaged in building the wall of Jerusalem it was the wives who stayed at home, trying to maintain the grainfields, vineyards, oliveyards, with the aid of their sons and daughters. While the workmen were maintained in the city these country folk had to find food for themselves and children. There had been an added problem in that they suffered a drought which kept their fields and fruits from producing sufficient food.

These protesting people had also been required to pay the regular king’s tribute, which went largely to pay the nobles and rulers of the land, many of them being fellow Jews. When there had been no money for the tribute they had been compelled to borrow against their fields and fruit orchards. Now they protested that they were as much Jewish, thus of the Lord’s own people, as were the great men who lived from the tribute. The tribute payment was imposing an unbearable burden on the ordinary Jews of the land.

The next step was the demand of their creditors for payment,

which not being forthcoming, they lost their lands, vineyards, oliveyards by foreclosure, leaving them without means of livelihood. Some were going so far as to suggest the bondage of their children to get out the indebtedness. Some of the girls had already been pressed into service as bondmaids, while others, boys and girls, were being threatened with the same fate.

Nehemiah had been unaware of this condition, and when he found it out, he was greatly angered. He “consulted” with himself, which means that he gave thought to the problem and what to do about it. He confronted the nobles and accused them of taking interest from their own brethren, which was contrary to the law (see Exo 22:25; Lev 25:35-38). To settle the matter he called a great assembly of all the people. He told this assembly how many of the leaders had used their money to redeem numbers of the Jews from heathen masters and to restore them to the land. Now some of these same people were trafficking in the lives of their own people, buying and selling the boys and girls of their own nation. When they heard this accusation from Nehemiah they said nothing, listening in guilty silence.

Nehemiah continued his rebuke of these men, They were doing a bad thing, which betrayed in them a lack of godly fear and reverence for His ordinances. Furthermore, their conduct was so reprehensible in view of the fact that they were themselves the reproach of the heathen. Nehemiah gave his own conduct as an example for these. He had come to Judah with authority from the Persian king to exact tribute for his welfare, but he had not done so.

Nehemiah proposed that they discontinue the usury they were charging the poor people and to restore their fields, oliveyards, vineyards, and their houses. In reality the rate of usury must not have been exorbitant, since Nehemiah required that they restore to the people at the rate of 1% of what had been taken from them. Yet this meant much to this people who were without means of livelihood.

The proposal of Nehemiah was received by the elders. They

agreed to require nothing from their people who had borrowed from them, or who had been unable to pay the tribute. Calling the priests Nehemiah had them take an oath from the rulers that they would keep their promise. Figuratively Nehemiah stood and shook out the folds of his robe of everything which may have been in it. “Let the Lord so shake out those who did not abide by their oath and leave them without anything,” said Nehemiah. The assembly of the congregation, observing these things, said, “Amen!” They praised the Lord for this good outcome, for the rulers kept their promise.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

THE DIFFICULTIES OF REBUILDING

The opening chapter acquaints us with Nehemiahs very soul. The heart of the man is here exposed and the reader is permitted his deepest thought. He inquires after the remnant left in Jerusalem and learns that they are in great affliction and reproach, the walls of the city broken down, the gates burned, and he not only sits him down to weep, but mourns for days and fasts and prays before the God of Heaven, and his prayer as reported in chapter 1, Neh 1:5-11, is a model of intercession, while chapters 2 to 7 record the result of that petition before God.

These seven chapters suggest three things:

First, the strain of prayer and the exercise of patience. Chapters 1 and 2,

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven,

And said, I beseech Thee, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments:

Let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee now, day and night, for the Children of Israel Thy servants, and confess the sins of the Children of Israel, which we have sinned against Thee: both I and my fathers house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses.

Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

But if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the Heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there.

Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.

O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants, who desire to fear Thy Name: and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the kings cupbearer (Neh 1:1-11).

Neh 2:1-20.

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulchres, lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of Heaven.

And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers sepulchres, that I may build it.

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kings forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the kings letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the Children of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the kings pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the kings words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said. What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of Heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem (Neh 2:1-20).

I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven (Neh 1:4). There are people who make easy work of prayer. They either repeat what their mothers taught them in infancy, Now I lay me down to sleep, or else they think over what they would like to have and lightly tell God about it at night or in the morning; or else they remember the famous story of the saint who was heard to say, Well, Lord, Pm glad we are on the same good terms! Good-night! and the whole exercise is finished. Or perhaps, as possibly the greater multitude, forget to pray before retiring, awake in the night and remember it, and while formulating the phrases, fall to sleep again.

There are people who never pray without agonizing. They hold a conviction that any appeal addressed to God must be voiced in sobs if heard in Heaven, and they take on prayer tones and assume sorrow, contrition, agony of soul, and such are wont to think that no one prays who does not cry aloud; but while such patented prayers produce strange and almost revolting feelings on the part of the discerning, it remains a fairly well established fact that true praying is no easy or lackadaisical task.

The prayer of Jacob at Peniel was no slight mental exercise. It consisted not in framing a few petitions. It is described in the Book as a wrestling with God all the night through, a clinging that would not let Him go without a blessing. Abraham in praying for Sodom, continued his petition; advanced his requests and did not let God go until the best possible proffer was secured. Moses in agony for Israel reached the point where he begged that if God would not bless them, He should blot his name out of the Book of remembrance. In Gethsemane, Jesus remained on knees and wrestled with the Father and not only cried in agony, If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me, but sweat great drops of blood.

Prayer is no mere passing of time in talk; prayer is no mere opportunity of literary expression or homiletical arrangement; prayer, at its best, is an agony; prayer, at its best, utterly exhausts; prayer consumes!

Christ, Himself, in teaching us how to pray, employed the illustration of the importunate widow who would not be turned aside but, prostrate before the unjust judge, kept her petitions going until he was wearied with her. Many times I have heard Dwight L: Moody pray and the memory of it will never pass from my mind. I am perfectly confident that a five-minute prayer passing Moodys lips exhausted him more than five hours of hard physical labor would have done; more than the hour sermon that followed, for while Moody assumed no agonizing tones, prayer with him was indeed a soul exercise. He went trembling into the presence of God, as Esther approached the king. He ordered his cause before Him as one who felt that the highest human interests and holiest were at stake. He came not back until he was conscious that he had been heard and his hearts request was fully before God.

Listen to the language of Nehemiahs prayer; I beseech Thee, O Lord God of Heaven * * Let Thine ear now be attentive and Thine eyes open. I pray before Thee now, day and night (Neh 1:3; Neh 1:6). Hear his confession of sin, Both I and my fathers house have sinned, Remember, I beseech Thee, and again, O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant. Grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for he was the kings cupbearer.

But if prayer is exhausting, to wait for the answer is equally if not more so; for the man who truly prays is impatient. He yearns; he longs! Nehemiahs prayer seems to have been made in the month Chisleu, or December, and he waited until Nisan or April, before he had a chance with the king. Four months is a long time to wait when every moment is freighted with anxiety. The reports that had come to him of the condition of his loved city and its sacred temple, and of these blood relatives to whom he was bound as only a Jew is bound to his own, made every day of waiting seem like an eternity.

John Knox was heard, in a secret place behind the hedge-row, to pray, O God, give me Scotland or I die. Three times the passer-by heard this petition, wrung from his soul, and yet even Knoxs agony never exceeded that of Nehemiahthe waiting, weeping man!

Think what it would mean to you if the temple that we are now demolishing at Tenth Street had been in such state for years, and the place to which we were once wont to go and gladly worship God, and in which we once waited with such delightful songs and profitable exercise of soul, was never to rise again, and we knew that only God could call back its towers and make possible the completion of its auditorium and breathe His own Spirit, like a soul, into the same!

Joseph Parker said, Can we hear of sacred places burning without a single tear? Could we hear of St. Pauls cathedral being burned down without feeling we had sustained an irreparable loss, and if anything happened to that grand old Abbey at Westminster, we should feel as if a sacred place was gone, a sanctuary indeed, and as if it were every Englishmans duty to help put it up again.

When the cathedral at Rheims was destroyed, the entire Christian world revolted and grieved, and justly so; but that was a matter of pride rather than of passion. We may be moved with the report that the mansion on the boulevard has burned, but the souls deeps are smitten when one stands before the smoldering ashes of his own home, the place where he has thought and wrought, hoped and helped, planned and prayed. In a great sense, such a place is an essential part of life itself, and to smite it is to smite the soul of man.

To wait for the new building to come, to abide patiently until the walls rise again, and to look unto God who alone can bring order out of chaos, victory out of defeat, restoration out of despair; that is the strain for which few men are sufficient, but under which Nehemiah stood steadfastly.

But the whole of exhausting is not in waiting. Nehemiah proved sufficient for a second thing, namely, the exhausting stimulus of seeing plans perfected.

There are people who imagine that all weariness is over when once a work is well begun, clearly under way, with every prospect of completion. On the contrary, the opposite is true. That is when and where the truest exhaustion takes place. Its exhilaration we grant; its stimulus is often mistaken for strength; but it is none the less consuming.

Some years ago Mrs. Riley and myself sat down to think through plans for a home. Weeks we spent upon those plans, and they were weeks of pleasure. Anticipation played conspicuous part and the enthusiasm of new thought for this convenience and that cheered and encouraged, but when the building time came, the constant watch and care-taking concern was exhausting.

The members of the building committee of the First Baptist Church would bear kindred testimony. I doubt if any building the city of Minneapolis holds, had more time expended in thinking through plans than the two buildings upon the plans of which we have been engaged for years. They have been drawn three times, and the utmost endeavor was put into every detail, and yet the actual construction itself, while stimulating, has proven also exhausting. It may be difficult for racers to wait the word Go, and it is; and when once the race is commenced, the very stimulus of prospective victory leads one to forget self and muscles are not conscious of the strain, but with joy yield themselves to their task. The goal, however, never fails to find an exhausted runner.

But the greatest difficulty of this rebuilding is found in a third circumstance, namely, the increasing load of every conceivable opposition.

This opposition took varied forms; in fact, almost every form possible to Satanic suggestion.

Its first form was scorn. Sanballat and Tobiah laughed, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? wilt they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

Then, with a great guffaw they continued, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall (Neh 4:2-3).

What so hard to endure as scorn; what so difficult to bear as a laugh? It stings like a hornet! It is one of the things against which it is hard to go. The Professor who teaches evolution also teaches his students that ridicule is an insult to science. They know its power and they also know that that subject deserves it; and on that account they wince at the very suggestion. But, on any subject, ridicule is hard to bear. However the true builder, a leader like Nehemiah and his co-laborers go on joining wall to wall and will not be laughed out of court on a great and needful enterprise.

Seeing this, Sanballat and Tobiah changed voices, and, joining with Arabians, Ammonites and Ashdodites, they were very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder if (Neh 4:7-8). The man who makes fun of you, when he finds his laughter ineffective, and your success assured, comes to hate, and if possible, to hurt. Human nature does not change through the coming and going of the centuries. All our enemies are of a kind; mockery at first, murder afterward. But, Gods man can commonly meet the true adversaries, Satans servants.

A far more difficult opposition is that recorded in the fifth chapter, the opposition of ones own. The Jews now join their complaints with the others, and the great cry of the people and their wives against their brethren was this:

We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

Yet now our flesh is the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards (Neh 5:2-5).

For the moment they forgot that no man among them had sacrificed as Nehemiah had sacrificed, and, in reckoning their losses, they overlooked the circumstance that he had shaken his lap out, leaving himself nothing. That was a harder opposition than was created by Sanballat and Tobiah.

The disappointment of Christs life was not in the fact that He faced the Cross; He came to do that. It was not in the cruelty of the nails that crushed His tender flesh; from all eternity that had been anticipated! But, His agony was in the lifting up a heel against Him by one out of the little circle, dear to Him. Never was sarcasm reduced to such keen edge and more deeply felt than in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ, looking into the face of Judas, said, FRIEND, wherefore art thou come?

FRIENDwhat that must have meant to Judas! If he knew the Scriptures, like a flash, Psa 41:9 filled his thought. My own familiar FRIEND, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me (Psa 41:9).

And yet again how he would recall the words of the great Zechariah (Zec 13:6), And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My FRIENDS.

Blessed is the man, the members of whose house join with him in his enterprises; and cursed indeed is he who endures their opposition.

But Satan has other methods of opposition than scorn, warfare and domestic rebellion. In the sixth chapter Sanballat tried to effect a companionship and consequent compromise with Nehemiah. Four times over he sends requesting that they meet together for a conference and adjust their differences. The recent Convention of Baptists is now heralded as a triumph of brotherly love. The whole session has gone by and only a single protest characterized it, and only one man voiced that complaint and the newspapers have been filled with jubilation of the reports of peace. The fundamentalists have subsided and the path of the future is smooth! Such is the glared acclaim; and that in the face of the fact that in the last twelve months the most flagrant denials of the faith that ever passed the lips of Baptist men, or dribbled from the pens of Baptist writers, have gone brazenly into print. The peace that comes by a compromise of principle, a conference that results to the satisfaction of Gods enemies, a conference that follows a fellowship of Satanic plans; these are, after all, the most effective hindrances to the truth of God. And it is written to the eternal credit of Nehemiah that he fell into no such trap, but declined the conference, resented the approach, rejoicing that he had escaped the pit digged for him, and recorded the fact that the wall was finished on the twentieth and fifth day of the month, being completed in fifty-two days.

And this same man who had led in the building now organized to hold what he had gained, and the result was a revival.

Mark

THE STABLE FEATURES OF THIS REVIVAL

It commenced in a careful canvass of returned captives. The seventh chapter of the Book of Nehemiah would amaze the modernist, should he read the same. That individual imagines that the social surveys of the last few years constitute a twentieth century novelty, but here three thousand years ago Nehemiah orders a census taken with a view to knowing the strength of Israel and sounding out his possible resources, the fuller carrying out of which has seldom been equalled and never surpassed. The report rendered by the commissioned workers was perfect. He took count of the last man and of his possessions, and when it was finished, Nehemiah knew how many people he had upon whom he could dependforty-two thousand three hundred sixty, besides seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven servants and two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.

There is a suggestion there for modernists; better count rather than estimate! My candid judgment is that the one sin that characterizes more ministers than any other is estimating versus counting. I went into a church where the preacher had claimed a congregation of forty-four hundred, and counted exactly twenty-two hundred seats, including the choir gallery; and in another church largely over-estimated, reporting six thousand, and counted exactly thirty-two hundred including the choir. Better count than estimate. One might greatly reduce his crowd but would increase his reputation for veracity and increase his self-respect. The man who goes to battle had best not count on soldiers he does not have, and the church of God is militant and cannot win its victories with congregations that are estimated, but never existed.

The relation, however, to such a careful reckoning of ones resources to a revival is intimate and logical. I am inclined to think that of the years of my pastorate in this church, no single meeting held in it has accomplished more for it than the two years campaign that commenced with a most careful canvass of the membership. A canvass itself suffices to bring a conviction of responsibility to the individual, and to waken interest in the task to be undertaken by the entire people. Nehemiah knew the principles of a revival thirty centuries ago as well as the evangelist knows them today.

The second feature of this revival is significant in the last degree: The Word of God was produced and read to all the people.

It was no brief reading; it went on for hours, from morning until midday, .before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the Book of the Law (Neh 8:3).

There will never be a revival of religion without a revival of Bible reading. We are publishing more Bibles than ever before in human history, but the individual is not reading the Bible as much as his father did, and the whole church of God feels the relapse. When the Christian takes his Book in hand and abides with it by the hour, when the family begins the day by reading a chapter from the Book, when the, preacher turns from textual sermons and revives expository preaching, when the Sunday School ceases from lesson helps and pores over the text itself, the revival will be well on the way.

There never will be strength in the church until we feed on the Bread from Heaven and on the meat of Gods Word; until we hold the milk bottle of that same Word to the lips of babes. If we would have a revival we must bring the Bible from its shelf of neglect; if we would have a revival we must exalt it against the charges of infidelity; if we would have a revival we must rescue the people themselves from indifference to this Book. We are novel readers now; we are readers of the daily newspapers; some few of the more industrious, are magazine readers; a smaller company still, are book-readers, but the Church of God waits Bible reading; and if the day of Bible study should suddenly break in upon usand there are some signs of it then as sure as day follows night, an unspeakable blessing immeasurable in extent, infinitely desirable in character, will fall on the sons of man.

But note again, Repentance, fasting, and a fresh covenant follows (Neh 8:9 to Neh 12:39). Impenitent people will never become Bible students. The gormandizing crowd will never give itself to Gods Word; the pleasure-seeking will never enter into covenant with the Lord.

However, if, in the wisdom of His grace, the present Bible movement voices itself in the fundamentals association, and the thousands of Bible conferences that have been held, in the Bible Unions of China and England, and America, shall result in earnest and sincere and increasing study of the Scriptures, we may well expect repentance to follow. Men will break with sin and will no longer make a god of their bellies, but will fast; and out of this conviction self-control will come and a fresh covenant, made in sincerity, and destined to be kept in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So much for the stable features of revival, let us conclude our Book study with

THE STUBBORN FACTS OF RE-OCCUPATION

These are recorded in chapters 11 to 13, and the first one that we face is this: The Jerusalem dwellers were recorded as especially favored. The rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city (Neh 11:1).

It is a significant suggestion: Jerusalem, the city of the king; Jerusalem, the captial city of the land; Jerusalem, the subject of every Jews love, and the choice of every Jews living.

It does make a difference where one lives. A Minneapolis minister, returning from the Orient, a few years since, in an address before the Baptist ministers, said, I spent some days in Jerusalem; it is a bum town!

But only the readers of the Old Testament know what the ancient Jerusalem was and what it meant to every living Jew. It was more than the capitol; it was more than the city of the king: it was more than beautiful; it was, to them, Divine! They believed that God Himself was there; and in a sense they were correct, for He had made every pledge of His Presence in the Temple, and He performed His promise. Ones life, in no small measure, is the result of ones location.

I think I may be pardoned in passing, if I pay tribute to this city. I declare it my conviction that life has meant more to me, that the burdens have pressed less heavily upon my shoulders, that the joy of living has itself been increased, and that I hold a confidence against decrepitude and old age that would be impossible, if I lived in a city less charming than this beautiful metropolis. Life is profoundly affected by location. In the northern woods of Minnesota I stumbled suddenly and unexpectedly upon a small house. I was hungry and supposed myself beyond the pale of civilization. Going in I was met at the door by a charming looking woman to whom I said, I am hungry and have a party of four friends with me; would it be possible for you to give us a dinner? She graciously answered, It would be a delight to give you a dinner; bring your friends in. When the dinner was over and I tried to pay her, she declined to receive anything, and it was only by leaving the money on the table that I could force it upon her. She said, I have not seen a living face, except that of my little son, for three months; you cannot imagine the pleasure this dinner has been to me, for it has meant companionship. I asked, Will you tell me why you live here away from all civilization and friends?

Yes, sir, I live here with pleasure and with joy. In Southern Illinois I dragged a miserable existence; in these north woods my health is recovered and living is a joy.

Who will say that location has nothing to do with living. Jerusalem! Ah, that was the city coveted by every Jew, and the tenth man permitted to dwell there dwelt not only nigh to the Temple but nigh to God; and whatever else may be said of the Jew, it was the acme of his existence that he believed God and sought to live near God.

You will find again that in this city special provision was made for the priests and Levites. God never forgets those He calls to be His special servants !

There are special promises made to all Gods people! In fact, Dean Frost, our former great-souled co-laborer, used to say that there were thousands of promises in the Bible, and that with a solitary exception, they were all made to Gods own, and that exception was salvation proffered to the sinner. But while all Gods people are the subject of promises, the servant whose entire time is devoted to Gods work is the subject of His special promise, and the object of His constant care. The Levite was never forgotten; the priest was never overlooked. By law the provisions made for them both were adequate.

I meet a good many ministers who tell me they feel it incumbent upon them to look out for themselves, and judging by their conduct, they are keen on the job. They hunt for positions; they seek compensation; they corral opportunities. It all raises a serious question, whether one has much to do with the subject of caring for himself if he be the true servant of God, or whether it is sufficient for him to devote himself to that service and leave the whole question of his care to Him who careth and never faileth.

Finally, by the Law of the Lord certain were excluded from the city. Chapter 13.

Mark who they were: Ammonites and Moabites were not to come into the congregation of God forever, and note the reason, They met not the Children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them that he should curse them (Neh 13:2).

It is a grievous thing to refuse help to Gods people in the hour of their need. It is more grievous, a thousand-fold, than the average man imagines. It is not a rejection of the people onlyit is a rejection of Him. The twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew is a further presentation of this subject. The great day of Judgment has come; men are separated to the right and to the left, after the manner of sheep and goats, and the King is saying to them on His right hand,

Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in:

Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.

Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink?

When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee?

Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.

Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?

Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Mat 25:34-46).

And yet this is not the only sin that excludes. After all, it is not sin that does exclude, save the sin of having rejected Jesus. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (Joh 3:36).

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

EXPLANATORY NOTES.]

Neh. 5:1. Against their brethren] i. e. the richer portion (Neh. 5:7).

Neh. 5:2-4. There were that said] Keil divides into three classes. (a) The workers, who had no property. (b) Those who had mortgaged their fields, vineyards, and houses. (c) Those who had borrowed money for the kings tribute upon their fields and vineyards.

Neh. 5:2. We take up corn] Not by force. The words mean, We desire that corn may be provided.

Neh. 5:3. Because of the dearth] Probably Sanballat and his army intercepted the supplies.

Neh. 5:4. For the kings tribute] We have made our fields and our vineyards answerable for money for the kings tribute (Bertheau), i. e. We have borrowed money upon our fields for tribute. This they could only do by pledging the crops (comp. the law, Lev. 25:14; Lev. 25:17).

Neh. 5:5. Our brethren] The richer Jews. The sense of the first half of the verse is, We are of one flesh and blood with these rich men. The law not only allowed to lend to the poor on a pledge (Deu. 15:8), but also permitted Israelites, if they were poor, to sell themselves (Lev. 25:39), and also their sons and daughters, to procure money. It required, however, that they who were thus sold should not be retained as slaves, but set at liberty without ransom, either after seven years or at the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:39-41; Exo. 21:2 seq,). It is set forth as a special hardship in this verse that some of their daughters were brought into bondage for maidservants.Keil. Neither is it in our power] Lit. Our hand it not to God (Gen. 31:29). Keil explains thus: The power to alter it is not in our hand. Our fields and our vineyards are in the hands of others.

Neh. 5:7. I consulted with myself] My heart took counsel upon it. Ye exact usury] Usury and injustice are closely allied.

Neh. 5:8. We redeemed. Ye sell] Strong contrast. The sale of their brethren for bondservants forbidden (Lev. 25:42).

Neh. 5:11. Hundredth part] Probably a monthly interest.

Neh. 5:12. I called the priests] To witness the oath.

Neh. 5:13. I shook my lap] A symbolical action. The lap of the garment, in which things are carried (Isa. 49:22), where alone the word is again found.Keil. See for this significant action Act. 18:6; Act. 18:14.] Crosby says this verse and those which follow form an interruption of the narrative. They show that Nehemiah was for twelve years governor of Judah, and did not write this history till the expiration of that time. The bread of the governor] The food and wine with which the community had to furnish him.

Neh. 5:15. Even their servants bare rule] Arbitrary, oppressive rule. Abuse of power for extortions.

Neh. 5:17. The rulers] The heads of the different louses of Judah.

Neh. 5:19. Think upon me] (Comp. Neh. 13:14; Neh. 13:31).

HOMILETICAL CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 5

Neh. 5:1-19. Greed corrected.

Neh. 5:1-19. Godless Rich Men.

Neh. 5:1-13. A Great Schism averted.

Neh. 5:1. The Accusing Cry of Humanity.

Neh. 5:3-5. The Miseries of Debt.

Neh. 5:6. Righteous Anger.

Neh. 5:7. Introspection.

Neh. 5:7. An Assembly convoked against Sinners.

Neh. 5:8. Inconsistency without Excuse.

Neh. 5:9. Gods People under the Eye of a Critical World.

Neh. 5:10. What Others do no Excuse for My doing.

Neh. 5:12. Clenching a Good Resolution.

Neh. 5:13. The Terrors of the Lord persuading Men.

Neh. 5:14. A Man foregoing his Rights for the sake of his Duties.

Neh. 5:15. A Motto for a Manly Life.

Neh. 5:19. Conscious Integrity.

Neh. 5:19. The Saints Support.

Neh. 5:19. The Remembrance of Good Deeds a Pillow of Rest for a Good Man.

GREED CORRECTED
Chap. 5

THE chapter is complete in itself. It is not only a story, but a parable of everlasting suggestiveness. In the history of every generation we find some situation similar to the one recorded here. The great humanness of the Bible is not less striking than its divinity. Gods book is sublimely crowded with pathetic interest in mans life. Here is a picture of the desolations of greed and their correction.

I. The desolations of greed. The cry of the people in the first verse is a note in the still, sad music of humanity which has rung out in every age. The cry of the people in the days of Norman tyranny; the wail of nations in the priest-ridden dark ages; the lamentations of the negro race in the slaveries of the last century; the shriek of the despised people prior to the bloody struggle of the French Revolution; the clamour of the English poor in the days of the Corn Laws,are all re-echoes of this old cry. So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter (Ecc. 4:1). Such was the melancholy view which made Solomon praise the dead, whose eyes were shut upon the scene, and the unborn, who had the chance of coming to look upon a better spectacle. In this fifth chapter of Nehemiah we have the whole of the dark parable of poverty and oppressionhunger debt, mortgage, serfdom. Jesus Christ redeemed poverty by himself becoming poor; not to show that poverty is a good, but to show that the highest moral conditions of mans soul may co-exist with these hard conditions. He, Jesus of Nazareth, was (temporally speaking) a vassal of Rome, and had not where to lay his head. This story of the earthly sojourn of the mighty God is a golden ray which gilds the deep valley of humiliation, where millions walk all through their threescore years and ten; but woe to those who help to deepen the gloom of that dreary place by their own narrow and damnable selfishness. I was angry, says Nehemiah, when I heard their cry (Neh. 5:6); and he did well to be angry.

1. WANT. Bread! bread! bread! what a cry is that to be the chief cry of immortal creatures. Yet such is and will yet be the wail of the hungry. God deliver us, says Isaac Walton, from pinching poverty. Feed me with food convenient for me, meekly said the good man in olden days. By industry and frugality let us offer this prayer.

2. DEGRADATION is the result of this want. Great are thy temptations, O Poverty. What will not the poor man in the wilderness, with hunger in his body and the devil beside him, do to make stones into bread? How can a man be a man while he is kept in slavery to his pinching need? Again let the woe, woe, woe go forth upon those whose selfish greed breaks the staff of bread for the people.

3. HOPELESSNESS. Here is a picture from one of Thomas Carlyles graphic books. Passing by the workhouse of St. Ives in Huntingdonshire, on a bright day last autumn (about 1840), I saw sitting on wooden benches, in front of their Bastille, and within their ring-wall and its railings, some half hundred or more of these men. Tall, robust figures; young mostly, or of middle age; of honest countenance; many of them thoughtful and even intelligent-looking men. They sat there, near by one another; but in a kind of torpor, especially in a silence, which was very striking. In silence; for, alas, what word was to be said? An earth all lying round, crying, Come and till me, come and reap me;yet we here sit enchanted! In the eyes and brows of these men hung the gloomiest expression, not of anger, but of grief, and shame, and manifold, inarticulate distress, and weariness. They returned my glance with a glance that seemed to say, Do not look at us. We sit enchanted here; we know not why. There was something that reminded me of Dantes hell in the look of all this, and I rode swiftly away. What a dark outlook utter want has! what a dreary nightmare to lie on a human spirit! In the poor wretches whose condition stirred Nehemiahs anger with their want and their hopeless debt and their heart-breaking family separations, as son and daughter went in pawn for bread, there is a scene to smite the buried conscience of the grinding oppressor, and to call forth some natural tears from the eyes of onlooking philanthropists. Mans inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

II. The corrections of philanthropy. Like a Howard moved with pity and shame for the prisoner as if he had been his own mothers son, or a Wilberforce making his vow to break the iron chain of the negro, Nehemiah rose up to mend the evil. It was a monster that would have frightened back to Persia a less dauntless man, but fear and discouragement were his playmates. Nehemiah proceeded to correct this evil by his exhortation and by his example.

1. Echortation. He rebuked the greed of gain. In Neh. 5:6-8 we have the grand outpouring of his aroused sympathies. Then they held their peace, and found nothing to answer. Read from Neh. 5:12-13. Knowing how subtle is the devil of greed, Nehemiah called the priests to a religious solemnity, that the promise of the repentant oppressors might as it were be written down in the great doom-book of God, so that each man might go back to his money-bags with his own Amen! with the curse on greed ringing in his ears. Here is an example. What is good to be done should be done in the solemn name of God. Strike the iron of a good resolution while it is hot. Second thoughts are selfish thoughts in all Divine things. Bind the soul while it. is willing fast to Gods altar. Pledges, vows, oaths; let those mock these who will. Our evil nature is a Samson, who snaps cords like tow; nay, a demoniac whom no man can bind, no, not with chains. If the obligations of a solemn pledge to God can do it, let it be done. I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. You who are meditating surrender to Christ, or reformation from drunkenness, or abandonment of some evil thing or associate, go and do likewise.

2. Example. Grand as was Nehemiahs exhortation, his example is still grander. He enforced his sermon by living it out before his congregation. The perquisites of his office he abandoned for the sake of example (Neh. 5:15); what he might have regarded as a right he surrendered in order to be himself a type of unselfishness. His chances of gain were many. He knew what his plans were, and could have invested well in the new city; but, says he, Neither bought we any land, a suggestion to public persons whose office gives them the chances of gain. I took no advantage of my opportunites. Besides his servants, he maintained himself. The men he had brought to do the noble work of renovation were men who had claim to reward; and what was needful Nehemiah gave them out of his own private means. He wanted to build Jerusalem as Michael Angelo said he would build St Petersfor the glory of God.

Application.

1. Have an ear for the cry of the poor and oppressed. Keep a heart alive for such as be prostrate.

2. Emulate Nehemiahs self-sacrifice. Do not say, He was a hero. His character made him a hero. His sublime fear of God and pity for man did not flow from his heroism so much as make it. He was but a cupbearer to the king, and had a snug birth and a good stipend and great expectations, but these were chaff when compared with an opportunity of making a good mark in his generation, and of writing his name in the book of life. By faith he obtained a good report!

Illustrations:Every grain of riches hath a Vermin of pride and ambition in it. Oppression is a bony sin (Amo. 5:12-13). As God hath enlarged any man in his outward estate, he must be answerably enlarged in works of mercy. It is one thing to be rich in this world, and another thing to be rich towards God, as our Saviour phraseth it; to be rich in knowledge, as St. Paul hath it; rich in faith, as St. James. Highmindedness, causing men to think great things of themselves, and to seek great things for themselves, is a blab that the devil will easily blow up in rich misers, to think themselves simply the better men because richer than others, which is all one as if the silly ant, the higher she gets upon her hillock, the greater she should conceit herself.Trapp. Poverty, it has been said, has many wants; but avarice is in want of everything.

The sense to value riches, with the art
Tenjoy them, and the virtue to impart,
Not meanly nor ambitiously pursued,
Not sunk by sloth, nor raised by servitude;
To balance fortune by a just expense,
Join with economy, magnificence;
With splendour, charity; with plenty, health;
O teach us.Alexander Pope.

GODLESS RICH MEN
Chap. 5

This is not the only page of the Bible on which the sins of covetousness, oppression, and luxury are linked together and denounced. Isaiah represents the Lord of Hosts looking for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry; and then hurls a Divine woe against those that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth; that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink, &c. (Isa. 5:7-12). Amos speaks of those who cause the seat of violence to come near, that lie upon beds of ivory (Amo. 6:3-4). Micah utters a woe against those who covet fields and houses, and take them by violence (Mic. 2:2). Even Christ takes up his parable against those who devour widows houses (Mat. 23:14). The apostles follow his example. But they remind us that other gifts may be misusedpower, beauty, any gift of God.

I. The value of wealth. The word of God does not despise wealth. The references to riches and rich men are no fewer than one hundred and seventydescriptive, regulative, corrective.

1. Riches are Gods gift. Not invariably. He has not ordained that right and riches should be inseparable, or that wrong and want should be invariably cause and effect. Still it is true that the Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. Riches and honours come of him. The earth is full of his riches. The virtuous he maketh fat and flourishing. He has not made poverty the outward and visible sign of his displeasure, nor wealth of his favour. Had he done so the Church would have been sectional. Large numbers would have been shut out by circumstances. It would have been in antagonism to human weal. There is a working force and a conserving force.

2. Wealth is mans glory. With it he can surround himself with all that is ennobling in science and art, the conveniences of life. With it he can rule men. It elevates. Prosperous families and prosperous nations become refined.

II. The responsibility of wealth. We take this responsibility to be personal and relative.

1. A man owes a duty to himself. The first contrast here is between getting and covetous hoarding. The Bible preaches no Crusade against getting. It does not say, Take no care for the morrow. It does say, Take not anxious, boding thought. Christianity is a system of prudence. It imposes restraint because license leads to ruin. It gives a premium to diligence. Idleness is treated with scorn by the inspired writers. The sun shines on no fairer prospect than a diligent person; whatever his station, whatever his aim, the first condition of success is toil, the second is toil, the third is toil. But the crucial test is, Are we getting to live? or, Are we living to get? Do we lay up or lay out? At every step in our inquiry we are upon the horns of a dilemma. The breakers are on every side. The vessel needs careful piloting. Laying up is not wrong, and nature as well as revelation teaches that he that does not provide for his own house is worse than an infidel. Naked came we into this world, and naked shall we return thither; but we do not read that we must leave those naked whom we leave behind. For the majority this must be so. The law of life for most is from hand to mouth. Very literally their prayer is answered, Give us this day our daily bread. But for the middle and upper classes John Wesleys famous rules apply. Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can. At eighty years of age he thus narrated his own experience. Two-and-forty years ago I wrote many books. Some of these had such a sale as I never thought of, and by this means I unawares became rich. I gain all I can without hurting either my soul or body. I save all I can, not willingly wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, or a cup of water. I do not lay out anything, not a shilling, unless as a sacrifice to God. Yet by giving all I can I am effectually secured from laying up treasures upon earth. And I am secured from either desiring or endeavouring it as long as I give all I can. But my own hands will be my executors. Generally no better executors can be found. The Peabodys and Burdett-Coutts act on this principle, and their memorial remains in model cottages and Christian sanctuaries. Howards rule was that our superfluities give way to other mens conveniences; that our conveniences give way to other mens necessities; and that even our necessities sometimes give way to other mens extremities. Charity, says Chrysostom, is the scope of all Gods commands.

2. A man owes a duty to others. No man liveth to himself. (a) We have spoken of the kingly rule of wealth. A kings is a noble office. But sometimes kingship becomes kingcraft. Kingship rules for the good of the subject; kingcraft rules for personal ends, and then power becomes tyranny. To rule well is a difficult task. In most men the love of power is a ruling passion. In no form is it stronger than in ruling men. The pages of history are stained with the blood shed by the oppressor. But there are other thrones than that on which the monarch sits. Every master is a king. Let him never forget that kingly honours imply kingly reponsibilities. Read the indictment in Epistle of Jas. 5:1-6. The labourers are dependent on youtheir masters. The moral claim is stronger than the legal. There are forms of oppression which are too subtle for the coarse instruments of law. But God has a special controversy with the oppressor. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. The poor, and him that hath no helper, find a helper in God. One duty of a Queens Counsel is to plead the cause of the queens subject, who would otherwise be defenceless. The queen is the defender of the weak. Now will I arise, saith the Lord, for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy (Psa. 12:5); He shall judge the poor of the people (Psa. 72:4); and, not to quote passages, he is the Advocate of the poor, the Elevator of the poor, the Satisfier of the poor, the Deliverer of the poor. The sin of oppression is the child of covetousness. Ye exact usury! Sins which are passed by because of the power of those who commit them, or passed by because of the poverty and powerlessness of those who suffer from them, are said to cry to God. There are many species of slavery below the actual thing. When we get from our servants more than they are well able to do, when remuneration is insufficient, when in any way we prey upon their necessities we are slaveholders in all but the name. Remember, the Lord of Hosts is the poors Avenger. What hosts he can send against us. Wilt thou contend with God? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31). It is hard to possess riches without sin. They are called the mammon of unrighteousness. They are often possessed by the wicked, much admired by them, and not seldom gained by fraud. Many a fortune is built on wrong, and wrong is a foundation of sand. It is not easy to have them and not be hindered by them. A ship that takes in too much cargo is liable to sink. Many rich men bend under their mountain of gold. A man who should bear this burden should be a very Atlas for moral strength. The beasts become fierce when well fed. And it is hard for the purse-full to be other than purse-proud. God can best be served by a mean, Give me not riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Give me not poverty, lest I take the name of God in vain. If riches increase, set not thine heart upon them. Possess them; let them not possess you. God gives riches to the good lest they should be thought evil; he gives them to the bad lest they should be thought the only good. It is not impossible for a rich man to be virtuous. Abraham and Job were the wealthiest men of the East. In the highest circles the fair flower of piety flourishes. Those, however, who have so much to keep them here may well find it difficult to be absorbed in the contemplation of a hereafter. Prosperity begets security.

III. The punishment of misused wealth. Nehemiah cites them, as it were, to Gods judgment-seat. They are called upon to plead their cause.

1. The punishment is self-caused. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days, as the New Testament apostle teaches (James 5). The punishment grows out of the gain. The wind shakes the tallest trees. The willow bends under the storm and rises when the gust is over; the oak stands until endurance is no longer possible. Men fall from eminences. He who keeps on the ground has generally secure foothold.

2. The punishment is self-inflicting. All speech is translatable by God. The young lions cry for prey is an appeal to God, and he gives scent and swiftness. The parched ground speaks to him and pleads that the windows may be opened, and the rain-drops fall from the closed storehouse. There is something terribly suggestive in the RUST of wrongly-withheld gain, and the helpless CRIES of the defrauded poor passing up through distant space and taking their case to the highest tribunal, pleading with an earnestness akin to that of the woman who came to the unjust judge, but, unlike her, pleading with the Judge of the whole earth, the only absolutely righteous Judge, who will surely avenge his own elect. Heard by God, it becomes the instrument of the punishment. The canker and rust shall witness against you. Miseries shall come upon you. Calamities everywhere attended the Jews soon after the ascension of Christ. Proverbial for their wealth, they were ransacked and punished. From then till now they have been a persecuted people, and mainly through their wealth. Every one remembers Shakespeares Shylock, and Sir Walter Scotts Isaac of York. Covetousness brings Gods curse on our estates. He sends putrefaction, the rust, and the moth. Ill gains are equivalent to losses, because providence often scatters them. There is a withholding that tends to poverty. He that will save must lose is the gospel riddle. The best way of bringing in is laying out. What is given to the poor is lent to God, and he is a safe banker; he repays with interest. God can easily corrupt that which we lay up, and make the worm breed in manna. God is in no lack of servants to carry information or effect his purposes. Corruption, canker, moth, all are at his beck and call. Some rise from within, as corruption; some attack from without, as the moth; the rust corrupts the substance, eats it away. He can arm the elements of fire, wind, and water. He can take the lightning into his hand. The stormy wind and vapour fulfil his word, and these he can bring at last as witnesses against us. Sealed volumes. God breaks the seal, and each circumstance becomes an unbribed witness. Many things now fair-seeming will show rottenness in the day of judgment. Vividly does the prophet tell us of the houses built by oppression coming as witnesses against the owners. The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. The stones will say, We were hewn by violence, and the timbers, We were inlaid by fraud. Many of the great works of ancient times, i. e. the pyramids, many colossal fortunes and magnificent mansions of modern times, were built with bones and cemented with bloodthe blood and bones of the men who built them, or the men from whom the wealth was obtained. The circumstances of sin are so many memorials to put us in mind of guilt and to put God in mind of vengeance. Conscience writes when it does not speak. There is a book of remembrance. All conceptions of torment indicate a relation between sin and punishment not only in justice and duration, but in kind. In this world each sin has its own avenger; many sins are their own avengers. Angerthe agitation and unrest, are not they like whips whose lashes are weighted with lead?

Application.

1. Let us learn to weep tears of penitence, that we may not have to shed tears of remorse. After great showers the air is clear. It is better to weep in a way of duty than to weep in a way of judgment.

2. Let us learn the secret of happiness. The saint in the Old Testament commanded his soul to be merry because God was the light of his countenance; the fool in the gospel because he had much goods laid up for many years.

3. Let us learn to provide ourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth nor moth corrupteth. For all that is in the world is not of the Father. And the world passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

ILLUSTRATIONS

The rich mans empire.The empire which a rich man exercises finds no nation or tribe that wishes to resist it. It commands the services of man wherever man can be reached, because it offers to the desires of man the power of acquiring whatever objects of external enjoyment he is most eager to acquire. From the north to the south, from the east to the west, everything that can be rendered active is put in motion by him, who remains tranquilly at home, exciting the industry of those of whose very existence he is ignorant, and receiving the products of labour for his own use without knowing from whom he receives them. It is almost as in the magic stories of romance, in which the hero is represented as led from the castle-gate by hands that are invisible to him, ushered to a splendid banquet, where no one seems present, where wine is poured into the goblet before him at his very wish, and luxurious refreshment after refreshment appears upon the board, but appears as if no hand had brought it. To the rich man, in like manner, whatever he wishes seems to come merely because he wishes it to come. Without knowing who they are who are contributing to his idle luxury, he receives the gratification itself, and receives it from hands that operate as invisibly as the fairy hands at the banquet. He gathers around him the products of every sea and every soil. The sunshine of one climate, the snows of another, are made subsidiary to his artificial wants; and though it is impossible to discern the particular arms which he is every instant setting in motion, or the particular efforts of inventive thought which he is every instant stimulating, there can be no doubt that such a relation truly exists, which connects with his wishes and with his power the industry of those who labour on the remotest corner of the earth which the enterprising commerce of man can reach.Dr. Thomas Brown.

Possessions.Possessions distinguish man from the brute, and civilized man from the savage. Labour finds in possessions its normal fruit; possessions are labour as having become reality. The brute is possessionless because he does not labour. In property man ceases to be a mere isolated individual of his species; he creates for himself a world about himself which he can call his own; his property is the outward manifestation of his inward peculiarity. The fact that he who possesses much is also much regarded and esteemed in the world is indeed often very hollow and baseless, though in reality it springs from the correct consciousness that possessions are the fruit of labour, the result of moral effort. He who acquires nothing for himself passes in the world, not without reason, for unrespectable. Of a special virtue of possession-despising, as with the mendicant monks, there can, in the ante-sinful state, be no question; and even after the fall possessions are presented as a perfectly legitimate end of moral effort, and their being increased as a special Divine blessing. Cain and Abel possess already personal property; and the God-blessed possessions of the patriarchs occupy a very large place in their morally religious life [Gen. 12:5; Gen. 12:16; Gen. 13:2; Gen. 14:14; Gen. 24:22; Gen. 24:35; Gen. 24:53; Gen. 26:13-14; Gen. 27:28; Gen. 30:27; Gen. 30:30; Gen. 30:43; Gen. 31:42; Gen. 32:5; Gen. 32:10; Gen. 32:13 sqq.; Gen. 33:11; Gen. 39:6; Gen. 49:25; Exo. 23:25; Lev. 25:21; Deu. 2:7; Deu. 7:13; Deu. 15:14 sqq.; Deu. 16:15; Deu. 16:17; Deu. 28:3 sqq.; Deu. 33:13 sqq.; Deu. 24:22 : comp. 1Ki. 3:13; Psa. 107:38; Psa. 112:2-3; Psa. 132:15]. Property being the enlarged life-sphere of the moral person,in some sense his enlarged personality itself,the moral phase thereof lies not merely in its antecedent ground, namely, labour, but also in its moral use and application. To its enjoyment man has a moral right, as such enjoyment is the reward of labour; but to the exclusive enjoyment of it for himself alone he has no moral right, seeing that he is bound to other men by love, and love manifests itself in communicative distribution.Wuttkes Christian Ethics.

A GREAT SCHISM AVERTED

Neh. 5:1-13. And there was a great cry of the people, &c.

The paragraph teaches

I. That social injustice may exist even amongst fellow-workers in a great and good cause (Neh. 5:1-6). The complaint of the poor was forced from them. Wrong may be long endured; but it will find a voice, a cry not loud, but deep.

II. That social injustice, if not corrected, will undermine the stability of any cause, however righteous. Sanballats army less fatal than the nobles avarice.

III. That social injustice should be regarded by all good men with feelings of righteous indignation (Neh. 5:6). From a realization of the brotherhood of men; of interdependence; of a Divine purpose in the elevation of the downtrodden.

V. That social injustice, whenever discovered, should be calmly yet promptly dealt with (Neh. 5:7). The prudent Nehemiah brought a moral force to bear upon the offenders. Set an assembly. The courageous Nehemiah rebuked the offenders, albeit they were highest in name and station. The far-seeing Nehemiah discerned ruin if internal wrongs remained unredressed.

V. That conciliatory appeals are sometimes more efficacious than coercive measures in dealing with social injustice (Neh. 5:8-13). Nehemiah used persuasive arguments.

1. The efforts already made to redeem their captive brethren (Neh. 5:8).

2. The exposure of the national cause to reproach (Neh. 5:9).

3. His own unblemished life and fit example (Neh. 5:10).

THE ACCUSING CRY OF HUMANITY

Neh. 5:1. There was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren

THE ACCUSERS.The many who lack bread (Neh. 5:2). THE ACCUSED.Their richer brethren, the nobles and the rulers (Neh. 5:1; Neh. 5:7). THE ACCUSATION.Ye exact usury. Ye have our lands and vineyards. A story of the olden time of ever-new significance. A twice twenty-times told tale.

I. The unending struggle. Wealth and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, brain and brawn, capital and labourwhen in all the ages have not these come into collision? Communists, Socialists, Nihilistsare not these today voices from many lands (whether rightly or wrongly); the great cry of the poor of many nationalities against their richer brethren? The prayer of the philanthropists of every age has been expressed by a poet of our own:

Ring out the false, ring in the true;
Ring out the darkness of the land;
Ring out the fend of rich and poor;
Ring in redress to all mankind;
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring in the love of truth and right;
Ring in the common love of good.

THE HEBREW PROPHETS declare that they that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field (Lam. 4:9). They tell how Gods judgments came upon the land because the righteous were sold for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes (Amo. 2:6). The scathing words of JESUS CHRIST were reserved for those who used the pride of place to oppress the poor and him that hath no helper. The EARLY PERIOD of English history is associated with William the Conqueror. The DARK AGES had light enough to show the few how to prey upon the many. Through much tribulation NATIONS have emerged into the light, and CLASSES burst the shackles of slavery and proclaimed their freedom. With a great sum England obtained the freedom of the WEST INDIES. The blood of AMERICAS sons wiped out the stain of slavery which disgraced the greatest republic the world has seen. A great cry has gone up to God as our poor world has struggled on towards knowledge and liberty.

II. Elements of bitterness in this struggle.

1. On the side of the oppressors there is power. They are the nobles and the rulers (Neh. 5:7). The names of king and priest are the most appalling in history. So perverted have they become. Anciently to rule was also to feed (Psa. 78:71-72). A bishop is a shepherd. The pastoral staff is the shepherds crook.

2. The oppressed are the brethren of the oppressors. Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. Same blood, same love of children, same sensitiveness to pain. Hath not a poor man eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Is he not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a rich man? If you prick a poor man, will he not bleed? if you tickle him, will he not laugh? if you poison him, will he not die?

3. They were engaged in a common causrebuilding Gods chosen city. To make this world a paradise; to compel all kings to recognize the King of kings; to set up a kingdom of righteousness and peace, is not this the task given to humanity, the goal toward which our world should move?

III. Light in the darkness. Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh.

1. Christ-came to proclaim the brotherhood of humanity. His Beatitudes direct men to look to character, not to position, for Divine approval. The strait gate must be passed through by rich and noble as well as by poor and unknown. Jesus spoke to the poor, felt for the degraded, raised hope in the oppressed.

2. Signs of the times. The many (Neh. 5:2) are not unheard; their influence not unfelt. There is wrong, but society tends towards redress. Ignorance abounds, but the teacher is abroad. Many rich forget their dutiesnot all. Tennysons Sir Walter Vivian is not the creation of a poets fancy.

Sir Walter Vivian all a summers day
Gave his broad lawns until the set of sun
Up to the people: thither flocked at noon
His tenants, wife and child, and thither half
The neighbouring borough, with their Institute,
Of which he was the patron.

Why should not these great Sirs

Give up their parks some dozen times a year
To let the people breathe?

Tennysons vision will one day be actualized.

I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;
Saw the havens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there raind a ghastly dew
From the nations airy navies grappling in the central blue;
Far along the world-wide whisper of the south wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder-storm;
Till the war-drum throbbd no longer, and the battle-flags were furld
In the parliament of man, the federation of the world.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.

How long, O Lord?

ILLUSTRATION

The passion for power.Christianity has joined with all history in inspiring me with a peculiar dread and abhorrence of the passion for power, for dominion over men. There is nothing in the view of our Divine Teacher so hostile to his Divine spirit as the lust of domination. This we are accustomed to regard as eminently the sin of the arch-fiend. By this sin fell the angels. It is the most Satanic of all human passions, and it has inflicted more terrible evils on the human family than all others. It has made the names of king and priest the most appalling in history. There is no crime which has not been perpetrated for the strange pleasure of treading men underfoot, of fastening chains on the body or mind. The strongest ties of nature have been rent asunder, her holiest feelings smothered, parents, children, brothers murdered to secure dominion over man. The people have now been robbed of the necessaries of life, and now driven to the field of slaughter like flocks of sheep to make one man the master of millions. Through this passion government, ordained by God to defend the weak against the strong, to exalt right above might, has up to this time been the great wrong-doer. Its crimes throw those of private men into the shade. Its murders reduce to insignificance those of the bandits, pirates, highwaymen, assassins against whom it undertakes to protect society. Power trampling on right, whether in the person of king or priest, or in the shape of democracies or majorities, is the saddest sight to him who honours human nature and desires its enlargement and happiness.W. E. Channing.

THE MISERIES OF DEBT

Neh. 5:3-5. Some also there were that said, &c.

Dr. Jamieson, the Bible interpreter, thus writes on this passage:The poor made loud complaints against the rich for taking advantage of their necessities, and grinding them by usurious exactions. Numbers of them had, in consequence of these oppressions, been driven to such extremities that they had to mortgage their lands and houses to enable them to pay the taxes to the Persian Government, and ultimately even sell their children for slaves to procure the means of subsistence. Generalizing this particular instance, we have the subject of debt and its miseries.

I. Mental unrest. Credit is necessary. The worlds business could not otherwise be carried on. The every-day word trust is, like most every-day words, suggestive. It is confidence between man and man. It supposes an honourable undertaking. Faith is not only a theological word; it is a force in this working-day world. No man ought to receive credit without a prospect of being able to pay. The violation of this rule is dishonest. To take a mans purse is stealing. So is taking up goods without paying for them, and receiving wages for which the stipulated labour has not been given. Unless hardened through a long series of dishonesties, a man cannot be contented who does not obey the New Testament law, Owe no man anything.

II. Social degradation. It is pro verbial that to be in debt is to be in danger; danger of detection and exposure. Do not pretend to be what you are not; do not keep up a style and scale of cost beyond your means.

III. Family ruin. A man owes a first duty to his own house. The helpless hang on him. He may bring ruin through extravagance.

IV. A disregard of a Divine command. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL was written with the finger of God. This law has not been abrogated.

Application.

1. Christians should set the world an example.

2. Watch the beginnings of extravagance.

3. In small things as well as in greater act on Christian principle. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Illustrations:The Persians reckoned these two very great sins.

1. To be in debt.
2. To tell a lie; the latter being often the fruit of the former.

By the twelve tables of Rome, he that owed much, and could not pay, was to be cut in pieces, and every creditor was to have a piece of him according to the debt.
We read of a certain Italian gentleman who, being asked how old he was, answered that he was in health; and to another that asked how rich he was, answered that he was not in debt. He is young enough that is in health, and rich enough that is not in debt.Trapp.

RIGHTEOUS ANGER

Neh. 5:6. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words

Ezra and Nehemiah were both of them very wise, good, useful men; yet in cases not unlike theirs there is a great deal of difference between their management. When Ezra was told of the sin of the rulers in marrying strange wives he rent his clothes and wept, and prayed, and was hardly persuaded to attempt a reformation, fearing it impracticable; for he was a man of a mild, tender spirit. When Nehemiah was told of as ill a thing he warmed presently, fell foul upon the delinquents, incensed the people against them, and never rested till, by all the rough methods he could use, he forced them to reform; for he was a man of a hot and eager spirit. Very holy men may differ much from each other in their natural temper, and in other things that result from it. Again, Gods work may be done, well done, and successfully, and yet different methods taken in doing it; which is a good reason why we should neither arraign others management nor make our own a standard. There are diversities of operation, but the same spirit.Matthew Henry. Nehemiahs soul was stirred within him as he saw the oppression of his voiceless brethren. But they who were not able to help themselves were not therefore to remain unhelped.

The voice of their indignation
Rose up to the throne of God.

They bore long, until suffering was no longer endurable; and then they appealed from Festus unto Csar, from the nobles and rulers who were set over them to Nehemiah under whom they all served. The longer Nehemiah mused the more fiercely the fire of his anger burned. There cannot be supreme love of right without bitterest hatred of wrong. Admiration of virtue and scorn of vice are correlative. There is such a thing as righteous anger.

I. The righteousness of anger depends upon its cause and occasion. What is anger? It is displeasure felt in a high degree; a feeling which is awakened when we think ourselves injured. It is usually attended with a restless uneasiness of mind, and frequently with something worse. But is anger in no case allowable? Perhaps it is. God is angry with the wicked every day (Psa. 7:11); that is, he is highly displeased with their sinful conduct, and resolved to punish them on its account; yet anger in God is infinitely remote from anything of turbulence and malevolence. We read of our Lord Jesus looking round on the people, particularly on the Pharisees, with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts (Mar. 3:5); but this anger was perfectly consistent with the purest benevolence, with the tenderest, the most disinterested kindness. Anger in depraved creatures is certainly very different from what it is in God, and from what it was in Jesus Christ; and we should be cautious how we give the least allowance to so dangerous a passion. It has been judiciously remarked, when anger proceeds from pride, or from selfishness; when it rises high, or continues long; and when it is accompanied by anything like hatred or ill-will towards the person who is its object, then it is sinful and hurtful. But whatever we may think of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of anger in itself, and how difficult it may be to ascertain in what cases and in what degree it is allowable, one thing is evidentwe cannot be too cautious of yielding to its influence. It is a passion so difficult to be regulated and so dreadful often in its effects; so destructive of that meekness, gentleness, and love which form the very essence of the Christian character; so expressly forbidden in various passages of the New Testament, and so carefully guarded even in those where it seems to be in some measure allowed, that we have much more reason to restrain than to encourage it even in the smallest degree. There is one object against which anger may be innocently directed, and this object is sin; either sin in ourselves, or sin in others. Peter was angry, exceedingly displeased with himself, when, at the recollection of his sin in denying his blessed Lord, he went out and wept bitterly. The brethren of Joseph were angry with themselves, displeased at their base behaviour, when convinced of their cruelty towards an unoffending brother; and doubtless the feeling was laudable. The soul of righteous Lot was vexed; he was angry with the filthy conversation of the wicked among whom he dwelt; and as we dwell among a people of unclean lips and unholy conduct, our blame would be great if we felt not displeasure at what we hear and witness.Kidd. We read of the fierce anger of the Lord when Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor (Num. 25:1-9). Pronounced upon disobedience (Deu. 29:20). When Jesus Christ looked upon his spying enemies with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, which predominated, the anger or the grief? Contrast the anger of Sanballat (chap. 4) with the anger of Nehemiah (chap. 5); how different the occasion, how unlike the cause. For a good work Sanballat was prepared to stone the Jews; for an evil act of oppression Nehemiah rose up to rebuke the nobles. Be ye angry and sin not in reference to cause.

II. The righteousness of anger depends upon its spirit and limitations. Note, especially, the anger of Jesus Christ had reference to the evil, the hardness of their hearts. Righteous anger is against wrong, not against wrong-doers. Must have in it no personal malice, no spleen. Must not cross the line to revenge. Anger is the basis of magistracy, the support of laws, and the pillar of decency and right conduct. Magistrates are mortal gods, and God is an immortal magistrate; therefore, as the merciful God heareth in his holy habitation in heaven the cry of the miserable, oppressed people in earth, so should every godly ruler hear and relieve the pitiful cry of the oppressed, being his brethren, seeing he is Gods lieutenant, and hath the sword and law in his hand to bridle such ill-doers, and must not for favour, gifts, nor fear suffer it unamended; else he doeth not his duty unto the mighty Lord, who set him in that place, gave him the authority, and will ask a strait account how he hath used it to the relief of the oppressed. Some be of opinion that a magistrate should not be moved with anger in doing his office, but give every man fair words, pass over matters slowly, please all men, though he do them little good; but, the truth being well considered, it may be judged otherwise. Lactantius writeth a book wherein he proveth that God himself is angry, and every anger is not sin. If God then be angry against sin, why may not a good man in Gods cause then do the same? Hate not the man, but his ill-doing; be not angry without a just cause unadvisedly; keep not thy anger long, that it grow not into hatred; let it be no more nor no less than the fault deserveth, and let it be without raging, fuming, fretting, swelling, and raving and disquieting of body or mind; not for malice of revenging, but for pity or justice to correct and amend; and anger well qualified is not ill. This is not spoken to give liberty to anger, for we are too ready to it by nature; but rather to bridle it, seeing it standeth on so narrow a point to keep measure in. This qualifying of anger is declared in the Scripture as that it should not continue. St. Paul saith, Let not the sun set upon your anger; and that it should not be rashly, without cause, nor more than the cause requireth. The gospel teacheth, saying, He that is angry with his brother without a just cause is guilty of judgment. This anger of Nehemiah was just in all circumstances, and kept the rule of St Paul, Be angry and sin not, which is a hard point to keep.Pilkington. He who hates sin will escape it. An extreme sentimentalism would make all virtue consist in amiability. Men have proclaimed the love of God as if it denied his justice. God is love. Our God is a consuming fire. The two poles of the Divine character.

Application.

1. Temperamental anger to be subdued by holy thought, prayer, and effort. Lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset.

2. Distinguish between the wrong and the wrong-doers. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

3. Remember Christian doctrine of forgiveness. If thy brother trespass against thee and return, saying, Repent, forgive him. Let the daily prayer be, Forgive us our trespasses, and help us to forgive them that trespass against us. For this doctrine of forgiveness is one of the hard sayings of Jesus Christ.

INTROSPECTION

Neh. 5:7. Then I consulted with myself

The position was perilous. The nobles and the rulers were powerful; their services were needed. The toilers were embittered; the common cause endangered. Too little courage or too much prudence, cowardice or temporizing, would prove fatal. Then I consulted with myself. His heart took counsel upon the injustice. From this instance of introspection or self-communion let us consider self-communion generally.

I. The value of self-communion. Thought comes in solitude. Character is formed by self-communings. A preacher must return sometimes to fructifying silence. We are not enough alone. Our age is restless. It craves resultsspeedy and sure. Too much bustle and hurry. Duty treads upon the heels of duty. Moses, Elijah, John Baptist, Paul, yes, and Christ himself, lived in the wilderness alone with God. Cecil, Scott, Newton, Wesley, the spiritual giants, were men of solitary hours. Too much familiarity with men breeds contempt and distrust. Know thyself! Come ye yourselves apart, said Jesus to disciples flushed with success (Mark 6). Need of rest and self-communion evident in all spheres of life. Restlessness characterizes most men. Space and time are nearly annihilated. Parliamentary speech spoken in the early hours of the morning is printed and transmitted to the breakfast-table. Markets of Odessa, Alexandria, New York, Calcutta, and Sydney hardly closed ere the electric current has flashed the quotations. Best and time to think almost denied many commercial and professional men. It was the sin of Israel. My people doth not consider. Consider your waysthere speaks a prophet. Think on these thingsthere speaks an apostle. Hear ye the word of the Lord ushers in the Old Testament. He that hath ears to hear let him hear introduces the New. He who pleads the pressure of business has too much business. Men must find time to prepare for eternity. Too much religious work dangerous. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept (Song of Solomon). I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (Paul). Nothing is so important as to keep an exact proportion between the interior source of virtue and the external practice of it, else, like the foolish virgins, we shall find that the oil in our lamps is exhausted when the bridegroom comes (Chrysostom). Is this the meaning of our Lords solemn words, Many will say to me, &c. (Mat. 7:22-23)? Christian charity begins at home. It is possible to build reformatories and be ourselves unreformed; possible to send the Bible to others and ourselves forget to read it; possible to lay costly gifts on Gods altar and not bow in penitence at his footstool. The Christian life a growth. It is the burden of direct precept. Grow in grace and in knowledge (2Pe. 3:18). Add to your faith (2Pe. 1:5). It is variously illustrated. The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger (Job. 17:9). He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the river (Jer. 17:8). It is the subject of apostles joy when Christians stand fast in the Lord (Php. 4:1). Can this be effected without time and thought? Does not the garden of the soul require culture? Do the flowers of humility and charity grow wild? Does business demand application, but the souls commerce none? Must the childrens minds be educated and their hearts remain untrained? Each must come into some desert place and rest awhile with Christ.

II. The dangers of self-communion.

1. Morbid religion. Dont be always a spiritual anatomist. Too frequent looking within brings depression. Religious depression arising from neglect of duty or commission of sin cannot coexist with spiritual life. But very much depression is needless or self-induced. We may say sometimes, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? (Psa. 42:11). A man feels forsaken, and, projecting his own feelings, imagines God has forsaken him. Do not rashly imagine that because you cannot every hour read your title clear that therefore your name is erased from the book of life.

2. Out of undue self-communion arose asceticism of middle ages; arises some conventual tendencies of our own. Dream not of becoming unworldly by escaping from duty. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (Joh. 17:15).

III. The safe-guards of self-communion.

1. Action. From the temple to the city.

Twixt the mount and multitude,
Doing or receiving good.

Thought the basis of action. Acts become habits. I must work the works of him that sent me (Joh. 9:4). As the Father hath sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world (Joh. 17:18; Joh. 20:21). Do not put asunder what God hath joined together. Different temperaments will give varying prominence to contemplation and action; the inward and the outward. But woe to those who neglect either. A pure heart the indispensable condition of a noble life.

2. Gods word. Make that the only guide.

AN ASSEMBLY CONVOKED AGAINST SINNERS

Neh. 5:7. And I set a great assembly against them

Partly because persons implicated were numerous and powerful to show them that greater numbers disapproved, and partly to cause such shame and remorse as might lead them to renounce their criminal practices. The measure was successful. Show impenitent sinners how great an assembly may be set against them. Sinners rely on being a majority. They are decidedly superior to the servants of God; not only in number, but in wealth and power and influence. Were the great question What is truth? to be decided by numbers, they could easily determine it in their own favour. Show that those whose opinions and approbation are more important are against them.

I. The good men now in the world. Not necessarily professors of religion. Many professors not good men. By good men is meant men whom God will acknowledge to be good.

II. All the good men who have ever lived. These compose an assembly far exceeding in number all the good men who are now alive. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John Baptist, disciples of Jesus, early Christians, martyrs, reformers, men of May-Flower.

III. All the writers of the Old and New Testaments. They are good men; they are morethey are inspired men. Being taught by the eternal Spirit of God, with one voice they cry, Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with him! Heaven and earth shall pass away, but Gods words never.

IV. The holy angels. Consider number, character, and intellectual rank. Perhaps exceed in number the human race. An innumerable company. In comparison with the least angel the wisest human philosopher is a child. Their holiness is perfect, spotless. They execute the will of God.

V. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord of angels and men, the appointed Judge, who will pronounce a sentence on both.

VI. God the Father. Sinners strive with their Maker. Survey the whole assembly which is arrayed against evil and evil-doers. Terrible to sinners; consolatory to Christians.Dr. Payson, abridged.

INCONSISTENCY WITHOUT EXCUSE

Neh. 5:8. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer

They found nothing to answer. For what answer could be given? They which heard Nehemiahs accusation were convicted by their own conscience. Brotherhood, memories of bondage, the great price at which they had redeemed their brethren from Persian masters, the inspiration of their journey to the decayed city, the work God had given them to dothese rose up like prophets of evil tidings to second the noble censures of Nehemiah. Their inconsistency was without excuse.

I. The admirableness of consistency. It is manly. Everybody reverences it. Even in an unworthy cause it extorts a momentary recognition. In a worthy cause all bow the knee and do it homage. The heroes of history by flood and field, the redressers of human wrongs at home and abroad, the characters of Bible story, were consistent. They had a purpose and stuck to it. Despised of men, mocked at by demons, are those whom the inspired apostle describes as wavering like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed; the double-minded, who are unstable in all their ways (Jas. 1:6-8). Dignity is robbed of its excellency and power of its strength in the Reubens who are unstable as water (Gen. 49:3-4). Be persistent. Be consistent. Is it consistent for Christian men to enter into partnership with those who work without a conscience? Ought Christian parents to consult first and foremost the worldly convenience and advantage of their children? If religion be true, should it not decide the just weight and the true measure? In business, in pleasure, at home, abroad, through the week as well as on the Sabbath, be consistent.

II. The inexcusableness of inconsistency. Has nothing to recommend it. Nothing gained. Brings discredit upon any cause. The inconsistent man has no faith in his position. An inconsistent Christian may profess but does not possess a good creed. The creed which influences conduct is not that which a man holds, but that which holds him. Life is the expositor of doctrine. Nehemiahs nobles called the workmen brethren. But that was only a word of the lip. The deed of the life made them slaves and foreigners. For a time the nobles prospered. Success smiled upon oppression. But a reckoning day came. Summoned to Nehemiahs bar, they found nothing to answer. A New Testament parable is recalled. The man who had not on a wedding garment was speechless (Mat. 22:1-14). Profession and possession, reality and hypocrisy, are not always distinguishable here and now. Parable of tares: Let both grow together until the harvest (Mat. 13:24-30). In earlier times men strove for a pure visible Church. That impossible. Our eyes cannot distinguish true from false in every instance. By-and-by inconsistency will stand self-convicted. At heavens judgment-seat every one must give an account.

Application.

1. The supreme importance of character. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Pro. 23:7). Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Pro. 4:23).

2. The value of self-reliance. Wrong-doing is contagious. One noble imitated another in exacting usury. Those who were half conscious that they were doing wrong were encouraged by the evil example of others. Trust thyself when thou hast the approval of thy own conscience.

3. Remember the bar of God. He who made Nehemiah upright is a God all whose ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity (Deu. 32:4). He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? (Psa. 94:9).

SAME THEME

The marvellous personal power of Nehemiah. Great individuality triumphs over all things. Napoleon laughed away the pretensions of rank by saying, I am an ancestor. The force of personal character makes all other forces give way. Especially when the individuality is a good individuality; when the strength of manhood is backed by the strength of right. Illustration of this in the text, where the dumbfounded nobles stand ashamed before the challenge of the man who has come to spy out their faults and to mend them at all costs to himself. Subject, the inexcusableness of inconsistency.

I. The inconsistency. Define inconsistency. Want of harmony in the parts of a mans life. The presence in a mans being of two things which cannot be together. A man who swears the British oath of allegiance and takes the pay of the English state would be an inconsistent man if he betrayed state secrets to a hostile country, or gave guidance to an invading foe. That would be treason. Religious inconsistency is treason against the King of kingstreason and treachery against the truth.

1. Worldly inconsistency. Worldly men point sneeringly to any little deviation from consistency in Christian people; but if Christian charity did not forbid the sneer might be returned. The cant and pretence and selfish departure from avowed principles which fills the life of the children of this world may well creep a little into the Church. A politician who loves liberty, and is at the same time a tyrant in his household and to his servants; a man who loves to read and to talk fine sentiment, and whose common life runs along a low level of worldly meanness, are examples of inconsistency. The world had need to pluck the beam out of its own eye before meddling with the mote in the eye of the Church. 2. Religious inconsistency. Example of Balaam, who prayed, Let me die the death of the righteous, and who died with a sword drawn against God; the Puritan, who fought for liberty to worship God, and then would not grant toleration to his brothers creed; the professing Christian of even late years, who bought and sold men, women, and children as slaves, are glaring instances of contradictions in character and conduct. Enumerate common forms of inconsistency in the ordinary life of professedly Christian people.

3. Injurious effects of inconsistency. (a) To self. It blunts the conscience, and so damages the finer spiritual perceptions as to deprive the soul of the perfect peace of those who are in perfect truth. () To others. It seems a contradiction of religion, a confession of its inadequacy to master the sin in a man, and shakes the faith of an on looking world in the power of the gospel.

II. The inexcusableness. With heads hanging like bulrushes the dumbfounded men stood before Nehemiah, as now the inconsistent stands before the convictions of Gods Spirit and the reproach of the world.

1. Infirmity is often pleaded as an excuse. The follower of the meek and lowly Jesus so excuses his outbursts of violent passion. The man who hides his convictions in a worldly circle so excuses his want of religious courage. The man who grasps at some questionable advantage of the world so covers the selfishness which has shown itself mightier than his Christian self-denial. It is dangerous to so shake hands with our own infirmity.

2. Ignorance is another excuse. Want of true perception of Gods law and lack of thoughtfulness concerning the true significance of his own actions are a reason, but not an excuse, for much inconsistency among the professed servants of God. As some uninstructed persons are not sure of the difference between green and blue, and are not pained by want of harmony in colours that are joined but not reconciled to each other, so a blunt moral sense may not detect all the contradictions of his own religious character.

3. But infirmity may be strengthened and ignorance may be instructed. These are not excuses. Truth in the inward parts is the requirement of him whose we are, and whom we serve. To be sanctified wholly (not one-sidedly or partially) is the Christians prayerbody, soul, and spirit all penetrated through and through with holiness.

Application.

1. Do not leave to others the task of detecting your inconsistency. Find it out yourself.

2. Do not weakly reconcile yourself to things which can have no place in a complete Christian character.

3. Seek more of that freedom of the truth which liberates a man from these reproaching faults.

GODS PEOPLE UNDER THE EYE OF A CRITICAL WORLD

Neh. 5:9. Also I said, It is not good, &c.

The world has a spleen against the Church. The Church is an incarnate condemnation of the world. I have saved them out of the world. However full of charity the elect of God may be, they stand rank on rank, by their creed and their practice, witnessing with silent censure against all ungodliness. Hence in self-defence the world watches for the Churchs faults, rejoicing in iniquitythe discovered iniquity of the professedly good. Our religious self-government is watched by a critical opposition, ever ready with its reproach. Nehemiah asks a fair question: Ought ye not to walk in the fear of God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?

I. The reproach of the enemy. The worlds criticism of Gods people is very merciless and very unfair. It makes no allowances. It does not remember that we are dust. It has no place for the extenuations of charity. The world will not under-rate, but over-rate, the defects of the good. Malicious rumour makes a mountain out of a molehill; like photography, it exaggerates every freckle or scar on the countenance of a good mans life. Beware of the reproach of the world our enemy.

1. Accept this condition of life. It is useless to kick against the pricks. We may be moved to scorn by the mean carping of the foe; but it flings back its motto, Alls fair in war. If you contend with an uncivilized enemy you get ready for uncivilized deeds. Give mercy, but expect none. Do not call the world hard names; the world is simply the world, and no more. Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, nor because of their evil tongues.

2. Do not despise this power of enmity. (a) There is a noble scorn of the evil-tongued society. Here is an old motto of an independent mind. They say! What do they say? Let them say! Do not be afraid to live. Let us not creep apologetically through the world. We owe no one an apology for our fear of God. It is they who are wrong, and most of them know it very well. If you carry the Christian flag as if ashamed of it the world will despise you all the more. It likes out and out manhood. Do not liberalize your creed, or conceal your conviction, or blush at your good deeds for fear of reproach. Whosoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will I be ashamed. Be no reed shaken with the wind. () But there is an unwise scorn of the worlds opinion. A thing lawful for me as a man may be inexpedient for me as a Christian man. Many good men are doing hurt to Christs cause by a reckless bravado, which flows out of an uncontrolled independence or out of an unthinking foolishness. A man in ambush may show he is no coward by exposing himself to danger before the enemy, but he may show that he is a fool by revealing the position of his comrades and involving them in peril. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.

3. For the worlds own sake have a care of the worlds reproach.

(1) You may make the evil man doubt the God you fear. Another saint unmasked, says the world, as it exults over the declared inconsistency of a Christian. By one judge all, says the critic. You cast a veil over Gods face, and put truth at the bar on suspicion, when you do not walk before the enemy in the fear of God.
(2) You may hurt the conscience of the worldly man. To let him see his own fault in you is to justify his fault to his pliant conscience. When you do an ill thing you endorse the ill things another does.
(3) You cast away your influence for good. All things are possible to you if the world believes in you. You can cast out its devils and tread on its serpents and scorpions, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. But if you cast away the confidence of your unconverted brother you can do nothing with him because of his unbelief. We want to have faith in God and to make the world have faith in us.

II. The caution of the godly. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

1. Elements of caution. () Be strong in the fear of God. Let the solemn thought of his watchfulness guide your steps. Remember the one omnipresent Witness whose eye shines like a star over the darkest gloom of secrecy. Fear him, ye saints, and ye shall then have nothing else to fear. Cultivate the sentiment of that ancient saying, Thou God seest me! If clear of his reproach, the reproach of the enemy shall be but as a hailstone against the flint. () Be rigorous in self-condemnation; Be charitable in judging others; be just in judging thyself. If you are lax, let it not be with self. For your own sake be what you would seem. Above all fear of the worlds reproach, fear the reproach of an indignant self. To thine own self be true, and it shall follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

2. Spheres of caution. () Personal life. In all those elements of life which are your own business, and not the worlds affair, be on your guard. Reverent behaviour, amiable temper, truth and kindness of tone and speech in conversation, godly direction of your habits and your householdlet these be above suspicion. Your habits are the atmosphere and your home the environment of yourself; let them become you. () Public life. Though in Rome, despise the ill-doers motto. In the world; be not of it. Where association makes you unable to prevent be no advocate of evil. Do the worlds work and change the worlds gold with Christian fingers. () Church life. Remember that in all Church life higher maxims and nobler usages than those of the world should predominate. Do not blare out the faults of fellow Christians. For Christs sake, for the worlds sake, cast a cloak of charity over the misunderstandings and the misunderstandable doings of the household of faith. Do not tell your enemy how weak your own brother is. In private life, in public life, in Church life, walk in the fear of God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies.

Application.

1. Pray. Who is sufficient for these things? Draw deep inspirations of the Holy Spirit of God.

2. Watch. Keep open eyes on yourself and on your temptations.

WHAT OTHERS DO NO EXCUSE FOR MY DOING

Neh. 5:10. I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might, &c.

Nehemiahs great strength of goodness and his nobleness of mind made him in his historic conduct a law unto himself.

1. He rose above all example. The contrast between himself and the common run of his contemporaries is evident throughout the story. He heard a voice they could not hear.

2. He rose above all the bare requirements of law. Is it so nominated in the bond? is never the question of a heroically good man. Not what I am required to do, but what I am able to do; not what I am commanded, but what I can, is his rule of action.

3. His generous goodness made him a law unto himself. See this illustrated in the text. What others do is no excuse for my doing the same. I might exact of them.

I. Common contravention of this rule.

1. A common reason for wrongdoing is that others do it. Easy to find precedent and example for anything we wish to do. In the practices of the world and in the faults of good men we can find, if we are perverse enough, plenty of examples of evil.

2. A more powerful reason still is the fact that it will be done, so I may as well do it, and have the benefit of it. This will justify anything to a man. The schoolboy in Cowpers story robs the orchard because his companions will go even if he should remain away. The business man contents himself with iniquitous action because others would do it in any case, and he may as well have the benefit as another. The legislator enacts an unrighteous statute or favours an unholy conquest because these things will be done.

II. Vindication of this rule.

1. Not anothers conscience, but his own conscience, is a mans guide. If every one descended to the lower level of his neighbour, the world would go with swift slide into the bottomless pit. To stand faithful where others fail is the glory of the servant of the Lord. They do it, and will do it:let them do it; I will not.

2. The evil doings of others will not save a man from the doom of his own wrong-doing. Thou hast delivered thy soul. That surely is some consolation for the man who stands aloof from evil. I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn, if this wrong exaction by others might justify it in us.

CLENCHING A GOOD RESOLUTION

Neh. 5:12. Then said they, We will restore, &c.

In a time of danger we understand a general interest. Every one is called in to take a part in the struggles that we make for liberty. And yet when the toil was a little over some of them acted as if they thought that Providence was not a public friend, but only a sort of a factor to a few private families. It is a misrepresentation of him who gives us the mercy if we do not make it extensive. He accepts not the persons of princes nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. You must not think he is so lavish of his bounty to the great men of the earth merely that they may glitter upon a throne, but be his ministers for good; and this they cannot be if they resolve to confine their influence. Princes love to be called Gods representatives, but they usually understand it in no other attribute than his power; whereas that is incommunicable; it is a glory that he never gives to another. The chief titles in which he would be represented by them are those of justice and mercy. These strong, brave, and true words were written by Thomas Bradbury more than a century and a half ago, and applied to his own times. The human heart is the same in all ages. It is treacherous. Nehemiah knew this. The words of the oppressors were fair-seeming. We will restore. We will require nothing of them. We will do as thou sayest. But the very greatness of the promise constitutes its danger. It is too good to be true; needs binding force. The priests presence will give the oath legal validity for judicial decisions. It will also impart solemnity. If tempted to oppress again the awful oath will rise to recollection. There is the truth of life in this old-world scene. Men need all the helps they can get.

I. In the resistance of temptation. The balance of our lives has need of one scale of reason to poise another of passion. The proverbs of many peoples speak of the fragile nature of promises and vows. He who stands on his unaided resolution has insecure footing. Forgetting is easy. Self-interest is powerful. The present moment outweighs the future hour. Philosophy would teach us to forego a moments rapture for lifelong peace; but we are not all philosophical. The now is here, the rapture is possible; the future is uncertain, the peace is contingent. All experience of life teaches that men will barter future blessedness for present happiness. The things which are seen bulk larger in the eyes of men than the things which are not seen. We cannot afford to neglect (a) the daily reading of the word of God; (b) private and ejaculatory prayer; (c) covenant engagements with God. Many Christians have found it helpful to enter into a written covenant. The signature has had the same effect as Nehemiahs oath. Any system of spiritual mnemonics is valuable. What is wanted is quickness to discover temptation, and firmness to resist it. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psa. 119:11). It is written! Jesus answered and said to the tempter (Matthew 4). Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation (Mat. 26:41). All inspirations that are available are needed.

II. In the performance of duty. Doing good is a more comprehensive phrase than easy task. Virtue is its own reward. Possibly, but not always so regarded. A hard task trying to help those who hinder. He who will serve must suffer. Let him despise not the smallest strength from any quarter. Bind thyself to Gods altar with any cords thou mayest obtain. Reliance on God will bring the only safe self-reliance. For each days task God has promised daily strength. For rugged paths he has provided wear-resisting shoes. Lift up thy burden. Put thy foot forward along the path God has marked out. Trust in the Lord and do good. Thy God hath commanded thy strength.

THE TERRORS OF THE LORD PERSUADING MEN

Neh. 5:13. Also I shook my lap, and said, &c.

This text describes a solemn scene. A reformer with a stern, hard nerve of righteousness arraigning a guilty band of fellow mortals before God. The nobles feel the spell of Nehemiahs strong conscience and the still stronger spell of Jehovahs threatening, and have promised to reform their deeds. Their ruthless friend, having compelled them to swear to their resolves, turning upon them, exclaims, Now you are committed to your course. I shook my lap, and said. So God shake out every man that performeth not this promise. And all the congregation said, Amen. A similar scene is recorded in Deuteronomy 27, where the curses of God were read as the doom of those who broke the laws solemnly repeated before the people, and where, like the murmur of a surge on the coast, the deep Amen of the people rolled back in acceptance of the stern alternativeobedience on the curse. Twelve times over from the slopes of Ebal rang the Cursed be he of the officiating Levite, and twelve times was flung back the united Amen of Israel. In a similar spirit Nehemiah extemporized this solemn binding ceremony of the text.

I. The doom of unrighteousness acknowledged. Amen in one significance means verily, truly, so it is and shall be. The Lord will shake out from his lap the wicked like a man shaking the worthless dust from his garment. It is even so. Amen! Say to the wicked, It shall be ill with him.

1. Natural instinct asserts this. By natural instinct one holds no precise philosophical dogma. This is enough for our purpose. Every rational mind in a land of light and knowledge has the deep, inwrought conviction that doom must follow misdoing. Fiery sentences asserting this are written in legends of the heathen world. Nemesis, like a bloodhound, follows the wrongdoer. Ancient poetry grows terrible in its tragic representations of this great belief. Our heart condemns us. Gods warning words are answered by the souls Amen! It is even so!

2. The operation of natural law exhibits this great principle, that God must one day shake away the worthless. Nature gives us a word and a blow, and the blow first. Excess or transgression of physical law threatens us as with fixed bayonets. Put a bound upon thy lust and appetite, or beware, is the voice of all experience. No less a human than a Divine proverb is the saying, He that breaketh the hedge, the serpent shall bite him. The sensual, who has lost his health; the drunkard, who has pulled down the pillars of his home; the dishonest, who is cast out a despised and characterless thing, all point one way. It is natures Amen to the Bible curseIt is so.

3. History fills her picture-galleries with illustrations of this point. The history of nations is a story of well-doing and its reward, prosperity, and of ill-doing and its sure-footed vengeance. History puts her brazen trumpet to her lips and blows out an assenting Amen! It is so. God will shake out as he has shaken out the wicked. You cannot argue with or alter this stable law of life. You may lay an unbelieving hand upon the letters of doom, you may cast doubt after doubt into the bottomless pit, but not one jot or tittle of the worlds law which is Gods law can be affected thereby. Be sure your sin will find you out.

II. The doom of unrighteousness accepted. Amen not only means It is so, but, So let it be. By their Amen the people signed their agreement to the conditions, their acceptance of the pains and penalties of the transgressor. The repentant people said Amen to the curse. They indignantly denounced their baser self. If I could be so base as to neglect my vow to God, let it be even thuslet me be shaken out of Gods lap of rest and blessedness. That is the significance of their Amen!

1. Yet it is dangerous to misunderstand this. Many a struggling man, after being repeatedly vanquished by a bad habit, has in an hour of despair clutched at something like this as if to frighten his own soul. He has invoked a conditional curse upon his head. If I repeat this let me perish by it! has gone from the half-maddened mind in the hour of self-disgust. Then there has come the repetition of the sin, for the strongest oaths are straw to the fire in the blood, and the poor sinner has settled down with the thought that his doom is sealed. There is not a little of this practical fatalism. Avoid it! That way madness lies!

2. But there is no need to pray for a curse. If we sin the curse is sure; and the Amen of the repentant soul, whose only wish is for well-doing, is merely a waking up of the conscience to this gloomy fact. Let it sink into the soul. Our God is a consuming fire, therefore know the terrors of the Lord. We may look at the mild glories of mercy until we forget the sterner side of life. Brace the soul by meditations on the deep, inexorable sternness of offended law.

3. When engaging in formal covenant with God, when taking the pledge of conversion, when engaging in the solemnities of public or private worship, we virtually bind our souls with this curse. To give ourselves up to blessing is to denounce upon our backsliding self the curse. When a soldier takes his oath he insures his fidelity of the reward and prospective promotion, and by that same act says Amen to the law, Thou shalt be shot for desertion or for treachery! It is the same in citizenship. All well-doing, right-loving citizens agree to the pains and penalties which await their possible malefactions. It is thus that life is girdled with a deep gulf of doom. Evil to the evil-doer is the proposition. It is so. Amen! says every voice that can argue with man. So be it. Amen! says the soul that rises up to follow good.

III. The doom of unrighteousness avoided. And the people did according to their promise.

1. The good man shuts himself up to his course. Like Simon Peter, he can turn nowhere. To whom shall we go but unto Thee. No turning, like Lots wife. The fire of doom is the end of all backward steps. Paul-like, let us leave the things that are behind.

2. The good man must not depend upon the mere binding force of his oath. Pledges and prisons are but geeen withes on the strong man of sin if there be no other bond. Goodness by the ROD is not safe or real or lasting. The commandment often arouses the contrary desire.

3. My grace is sufficient for thee. The vow of the soul is its warrant of sincerity; the steadfast faith of the soul in the grace of Jesus Christ is its defence against temptations to desertion and disobedience.

Application.

1. Ponder the inevitable terrors of the Lord against all unrighteousness.

2. Vow solemnly the vow of repentance and reformation.

3. Pray for hourly strength to do according to this promise.

A MAN FOREGOING HIS RIGHTS FOR THE SAKE OF HIS DUTIES

Neh. 5:14. Moreover from the time that I was appointed, &c.

Nehemiah was a law unto himself. Refused to be guided by others example. I might exact of them money and corn (Neh. 5:10). Rose superior to insistence on his own rights. The former governors were chargeable unto the people (Neh. 5:15). The principle is this:A man must sometimes forego his rights for the sake of his duties.

I. Rights must be asserted. It will not do to weakly allow selfishness to trample upon the too submissive soul. St. Pauls insisting on his privileges as a Roman citizen an example.

II. Rights must not be pressed too far. A man has prejudiced views of his own worth and deserts. According to his self-importance will be the large ness of his views of his own rights. The rights of man is frequently a hollow cry of selfishness.

III. Rights must be tempered by considerations of duty. Duty is a grand governing word. It sways men more than we think. The holiday-maker is restless after a while to get back to the routine of his duties. Duty is our home; pleasure is the place we take a trip to now and then. Our happiness is more bound up with our duties than with our rights. We can survive being cheated of a right, but we cannot escape if we have neglected our duties. It was such considerations as these which swayed the Jewish liberator.

IV. The due adherence to this principle is the self-sacrificing spirit of Christianity. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. The crowning glory of the redemptive life of Jesus is, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. In the second chapter of the Philippian Epistle we have the Christian setting of this doctrine. The example of Nehemiah, who came among the miserly, selfish Jews, and flung back to the people even the dues and monies which were properly his, in the greatness of his self-sacrifice shrinking from insistence on his own rights as he would from sin, was like an incarnation of nobleness for the fallen minds of his contemporaries to look at and emulate. In the sweet story of old this same grand law is carried higher. In the life of St. Paul it is repeated. In the story of missionaries and martyrs there is a prolongation of this line of light. Blessed are they who reflect its blaze and join this glorious succession.

Application.

1. Guard against the selfish spirit of the world.

2. Seek and show the unselfish spirit of Christ.

A MOTTO FOR A MANLY LIFE

Neh. 5:15. So did not I, because of the fear of God

There is a motto for a manly life. The key-note of his character was not fear of the crowd, but fear of his own conscience. What a noble thing is the iron sense of duty. This was the strong sinew of the Duke of Wellingtons great nature. Whether in the Church or the world, every circle feels the presence and reverences the career of one who bears this hall-mark of duty. So will not I, for conscience sake. Briefly sketch the story of Nehemiah, as illustrating his adherence to his self-chosen motto. It was the banner of his whole life-battle, and he held it with a clenched hand in every high place of temptation.

I. The regulative power of a lofty motive. In manifold forms the firm and heroic have ruled their lives by a power superior to their own lower nature.

1. The fear of God is Nehemiahs phrase. That reverential, loving awe of the all-holy Father and Ruler of men.

2. The love of Christ is the warmer sentiment which corresponds to this in Pauls phraseology. Fuller light brought a deeper sentiment. The thought of Christs love awakening love for Christ, and becoming in man an incarnation of heavenly inspiration.

3. Religious principle is another colder, broader, yet noble expression of the same animator of good men.

4. Conscience, the sense of duty, the instinct of right are less precise variations of the motives which sway all whose lives are redeemed from the ignoble.

II. The courage to be singular is implied in this motto of the Jewish liberator.

1. Let there be no singularity for singularitys sake. Opposition may be our misfortune, but must not be our ambition. To sing out of tune for the sake of having your voice heard is weakness, not strength.

2. Yet this world has always rested as on granite pillars on men who could be singular. Moses refusing to be identified with the godless nationality of Egypt. The three Hebrew children standing upright in Babylon like watch-towers of truth. Peter and John giving their summary answer to the council: We ought to obey God rather than man. Luther at Worms crying out, It is not wise or safe for a man to do anything against his conscience. These men and their heroic brethren in resistance have all glorified their lives by this motto: So did not I.

III. Applications of this principle in the commonplace life of all men.

1. To HIMSELF a man must say NO! Let him deny himself is a precept we must practise if we would even live. It is also a necessity of our happiness. True quietness of heart is gotten not by obeying our passions, but by resisting them. It is essential to our self-respect in the struggle of the instinct that enjoys with the more noble instinct which aspires. The mastery of self is the foundation-victory. To thine own self be true, and it shall follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

2. To THE WORLD a man must say NO! Prevalency of temptations for a man to let himself down, to barter purity for pleasure and honour for gold. How many poor men sell their birthright of immortality for some animal gratification! How many sell their Lord for thirty pieces of silver, more or less.

3. So did not I is the YOUTHS motto. If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. It is a manlier and a stronger thing to go right than to go wrong. Stand thou firm as an anvil that is beaten.

IV. The simplicity and directness of this life-motto. Nehemiahs reason for his nonconformity was a very simple one. In my view this practice is not right! You cannot be always arguing a thing. You cannot be seeking truth (to quote the worlds cant expression for moral irresolution) all your life. Find it quickly, and stick to it always. Pro viding a mans heart is bad enough, his head will usually be clever enough to argue for his defence. The devil is said to be the best of advocates, and can quote Scripture to his purpose. But in plain matters of right and wrong there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. Nehemiahs reason for not pocketing the money as others had done was a very simple answerI fear God.

V. This motto is our guide in doubtful matters. Many bad things are doubtful for want of a sensitive nerve in the soul. That which to one is but a choleric word, to another is flat blasphemy. To Nehemiahs contemporaries and predecessors this practice of money-making had seemed a lawful one, but Nehemiah said that it was one in which a man could not keep clean hands. The scrupulous has the solution of his difficulties in his own conscience. Forego the doubtful for Gods sake. Make your self-denial in that matter a sacrifice to God, and it shall be to him as the odour of incense.

Application.

1. Let us understand and acquire this great life-principle. The fear of God is not fear or dread of a Being outside us, but reverence and submission to a holy Spirit within.

2. Let it be our strife, at whatever sacrifice, to reverence this powerful sentiment. Hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

ILLUSTRATIVE POEM:

Brother, up to the breach
For Christs freedom and truth;
Let us act as we teach,

With the wisdom of age and the vigour of youth.

Heed not their cannon-balls,
Ask not who stands or falls,

Grasp the sword
Of the Lord,
And forward!

Brother, strong in the faith
That the right will come right,
Never tremble at death,

Never think of thyself mid the roar of the fight.

Hark to the battle cry
Sounding from yonder sky!

Grasp the sword
Of the Lord,
And forward!

Brother, sing a loud psalm;
Our hopes not forlorn.
After storm comes the calm,

After darkness and twilight breaks forth the new morn.

Let the mad foe get madder;
Never quail! up the ladder

Grasp the sword
Of the Lord,
And forward!

Brother, up to the breach
For Christs freedom and truth;
If we live we shall teach,

With the strong faith of age and the bright hope of youth.

If we perish, then oer us
Will ring the loud chorus:

Grasp the sword
Of the Lord,
And forward!Norman Mac Leod.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Singularity.We must learn to say No. We must dare, if need be, to be singular. Like the young Joseph, when you are tempted astray by seducing voices, let your answer be, How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Like the young Daniel, when forbidden pleasures and questionable delights are urged upon your appetites, be purposed in your heart that you will not defile yourself with them, and choose pulse and water with the relish of a good conscience rather than such dainties. Like the same Daniel, when the crowd are flocking at the sound of the sackbut and psaltery to worship some golden image, keep your knees unbent amidst the madness, learn to stand erect though you alone are upright in the midst of a grovelling multitude, and protest, We will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Like Nehemiah, dare to lose money rather than adopt sources of profit which others may use without a thought, but which your conscience shrinks from; and to all the various enticements of pleasure, and gain, and ease, and popular loose maxims for the conduct oppose immovable resistance, founded on a higher law and a mightier motive. So did not I, because of the fear of God.A. Maclaren, D.D.

The mighty motive. So did not I, because of the fear of God. The heart cannot be prevailed upon to part with the world by a simple act of resignation. But may not the heart be prevailed upon to admit into its preference another, who shall subordinate the world, and bring it down from its wonted ascendancy? If the throne which is placed there must have an occupier, and the tyrant that now reigns has occupied it wrongfully, he may not leave a bosom which would rather detain him than be left in desolation. But may he not give way to the lawful sovereign?Chalmers.

By his place Nehemiah had an advantage of oppressing his brethen, if he durst have been so wicked; and from those that had before him been honoured with that office he had examples of such as could not only swallow the common allowance of the governor without rising in their consciences, which showed a digestion strong enough, considering the peeled state of the Jews at that time; but could, when themselves had sucked the milk, let their cruel servants suck the blood of this poor people also by illegal exactions; so that Nehemiah, coming after such oppressors, if he had taken his allowance, and but eased them of the other burdens which they groaned under, no doubt might have passed for merciful in their thoughts. But he durst not go so far. A man may possibly be an oppressor in exacting his own. Nehemiah knew they were not in a condition to pay, and therefore he durst not require it. But as one who comes after a bad husbandman, that hath driven his land and sucked out the heart of it, casts it up fallow for a time till it recovers its lost strength, so did Nehemiah spare this oppressed people. And what, I pray, was it that preserved him from doing as the rest had done? We have the answer in his own words: But so did not I, because of the fear of the Lord. The man was honest, his heart touched with a sincere fear of God, and this kept him right.Gurnall.

CONSCIOUS INTEGRITY

Neh. 5:19. Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people

Nehemiahs appeal to God to deal with him according to the integrity of his life is several times repeated in this book (Neh. 13:14; Neh. 13:22). He fed the people in the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. God-fearing, faithful, and unselfish, in every step he could boldly look back upon his progress and take the satisfaction of an approving conscience. There is something noble and something dangerous in this sentiment.

I. The habit of righteousness. To some men it is given to possess great accuracy of character, to others it is given to be exposed constantly to a course of honest blundering. Illustrated in the sphere of intelligence. One man can never write a letter to satisfy him the first timehe must re-write it; while another lays a firm hand on the paper and never writes anything that he needs to erase or be sorry for. Among men of genius there are some who are dashing and brilliant in their thoughts and deeds, but now and then their work is weakened by the mistakes found therein; while there are others who seem never to be inaccurate in thought or blundering in deed. The Duke of Wellington is, I believe (says Niebuhr), the only general in whose conduct of war we cannot discover any important mistake. The mind of such men is a chronometer as compared with the cheap clock-work of less careful and less certain minds. So it is in the moral sphere. One has a severely even and consistent nature, another full of moral eccentricities. Bursts of virtue and of faultiness alternate in these last-named so as to make them a continual perplexity to their friends. Goldsmith happily touches this in his pleasantry on a contemporary.

Here lies Edmund Burke, whose genius was such
We scarcely can praise it or blame it too much.

Yet when we consider how an hours fault may undo a weeks virtue, how by one error or sin you may put back your nature or your work more than you promote it by many excellences, it is wise to be severe upon faults, especially upon our own. To be without fault in the day of God is the mark of all Christian longing; to have neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing in his glorious vesture the Church is the desire of that Lord of whom it was said while he tabernacled among men, I find in him no fault at all.

1. Aim at a perfect walk with God. Search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me. See Neh. 5:9 : Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies. Ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost is the restraining thought to keep us from fault. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin is our refuge in our stumbles.

2. Strine to remedy the faults of your brother. To mend his character is better than to mend his fortune; to perfect him is better than to perfect the surroundings which he must leave behind him.

3. At the same time, cover with charity and bear with patience the failures of weak human nature. You cannot measure the greatness of his inward difficulties.

Whats done you partly may compute,

But never whats resisted.

Be severe on your own fault; be gentle with the fault of your brother.

II. The noble refuge of the righteous. A little poem, whose every line is a thread of gold, speaks of the man whose conscience is his strong retreat. In every circumstance and crisis of life this is a safe place for the thoughts to dwell.

1. In prosperity. It is a joy to know that good has come by good means. The rich man whose moneybags are all witnesses of iniquity, whose every gain signifies dishonour, must have a wasp-sting in every fruit he tastes. Accumulated wealth is but an accumulation of doom to the man who prospers wrongfully. But to have a good conscience as the companion of good fortune is to drink of the sweetest cup of earthly happiness.

2. In adversity. When other miseries are upon a man it is glorious to be free from that archangel of misery, a guilty conscience. The drunkard, who looks upon the desolation of his family, and who knows that his own trembling hands have pulled down the pillars of his home; the extravagant and reckless, who see in their ruin the ripe harvest for which they sowed, sit in the dark place with no consolatory light at all. If I am bereft of my integrity I am bereaved. Sweet it is in adversity to sit without the whips and scorns of self-accusation.

3. In the relationships of life. To know I have not wilfully hurt the health, or conscience, or happiness of my fellow is an angel remembrance as lifes evening comes on. Guilty men have repented and found a Saviours mercy before now whose after-thoughts have been gloomy with remembrance of injuries done to their fellows. So St. Paul meekly sorrows over the madness which had in former days damaged the flock of God.

4. In death. O death, where is thy sting if the soul is found in Christ, and the memory plays like a setting sun on a well-spent life? All that I have done for this people. The good deeds of a well-spent life are shining companions to the soul as it goes through the windings of the last dark valley. Contrast with all this the guilty thoughts of the bad king.

I have lived long enough; my way of life
Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf;
And that which should accompany old age
I must not look to have; but in their stead
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour breath
Which the poor heart would fain deny, but dare not.

III. The dangers of the righteous. To stand upon our righteous habits is to select a wrong basis. Goodness is rather the buttress of the wall than its foundation.

Nor alms or deeds that I have done
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee;
O God, be merciful to me.

Self-righteousness brings pride and uncharitableness. When Archbishop Whateley lay dying some one said, It is the greatness of your lordships mind that supports you. No, it is not (he said); it is faith in Christ that supports me. That is the Rock of ages.

Application.

1. Strive after such integrity as will bring satisfaction to the soul in the great review at the last.

2. Let no thought of your own goodness come as a shadow in front of the cross to rob the Redeemer of the glory of his salvation.

THE SAINTS SUPPORT

Neh. 5:19. Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people

Two motives induced Nehemiah to pray thus: the many great and good things he had done for Church and state; the many great and desperate dangers he had already met with, and would still have to encounter. There were three solemn comings of three famous persons to JerusalemZerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The secret of Nehemiahs couragehis heart was on his God.

First, of the sense of the text. Think, properly remember. To remember is (a) to keep and hold fast in memory; opposed to forgetting. (b) To call to mind forgotten things. A word derived from this root is put for a memorial (Exo. 28:12) and for records (Est. 6:1). Remembering is in Scripture applied to

(1) God and

(2) man. To God properly in first signification. God never forgets. Known unto him are all his works (Act. 15:18). Remembrance is also applied to God in the second signification (Job. 7:7; Job. 9:9; Job. 14:3). He has a book of remembrance (Mal. 3:16). These are to be taken tropically, by way of similitude. Nehemiahs remember means, May I have assurance and others evidence. My God, an appropriating particle (GodHeb. Elohim), a plurality of persons, a unity of nature. For good, i. e. goodness. The saints support is God.

1. The person petitioned.

2. The point prayed for.

I. The person.

1. General title. God.
2. Special relation. My.

II. The point prayed for.

1. The kind of it
2. The end of it.
1. The kind.
(1) An act desired of God. Think upon.
(2) The special object. Me.
2. The end.
(1) Generally. For good.
(2) Particularly. (a) The groundthat I have done. (b) The rule:according to. (c) The extentall. (d) The limitationfor this people. Observations hence arising.

1. God the support of his saints.

2. Peculiar God to believer. My.

3. God hath remembrancers.

4. God is soonest drawn to his own.

5. Prayer proper for ones own good.

6. Works may be pleaded before God.

7. Mans works are the rule of Gods reward.

8. Everything well done shall be rewarded.

9. Good done to Gods people is most acceptable.Dr. Wm. Gouge, 1642.

THE REMEMBRANCE OF GOOD DEEDS A PILLOW OF REST FOR A GOOD MAN

Neh. 5:19. Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people

Nehemiahs soul was frank with God. There is freedom of access to a throne of grace for every believer (Heb. 4:16). Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people, is not a presumptuous conceit, but a childlike simplicity. The gross mind of the world would confound the two. Where we know that God has led us in paths of righteousness, we may well use that knowledge, and encourage our souls by it. Nehemiah had but few around him who could reach high enough to sympathize fully with him; and it was thus his great comfort to pour out his soul, according to truth, before the God whose good hand had guided him. God wishes no mock modesty from us. His grace in our hearts and lives should be acknowledged (comp. 1Ti. 1:12).Crosby. The personal pronoun is very prominent in Davids autobiography. I have preached. I have not refrained my lips (Psalms 40). My defence is of God (Psalms 7). Thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing (Psalms 17). St. Paul boldly cites his own example. Readers of his epistles note his self-consciousness. Whatsoever things ye have learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do (Php. 4:9). Brethren, be followers together of me (Php. 3:17). I beseech you be as I am (Gal. 4:12). These hands have ministered to my necessities (Act. 20:34). I have fought a good fight (2Ti. 4:7).

I. Lifes review will be a review of the whole of life. Its good as well as its evil. When backward are our glances bent we shall need the recollection of every pure thought, guiding word, kindly deed. When we lie down in the long sleep men call death may no pleasant dreams come?

II. Lifes reward will be rendered according to its deeds. God will give every man according as his work shall be (Rev. 22:12). We are saved by grace, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jud. 1:21). But there is a rewardableness of works. We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body (2Co. 5:10). Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; their works do follow them (Rev. 14:13). We carry nothing out of the world with us but the conscience and comfort of what we have done for God.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT

E. Internal difficulties arise and are overcome.
1. Selfishness and greed create a problem.

TEXT, Neh. 5:1-5

1

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

2

For there were those who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.

3

And there were others who said, We are mortgaging our fields our vineyards, and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.

4

Also there were those who said, We have borrowed money for the kings tax on our fields and our vineyards.

5

And now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.

COMMENT

Chapter five presents a new kind of problem: the work is threatened by internal dissension. Somewhere along the line this almost always has to be faced. It may be pointed out that the problem is not identified exclusively with the rebuilding of the wall. The only mention of the wall in this chapter is in Neh. 5:16, and may be merely a statement that Nehemiah had helped on the construction at some time past. The problem of usury was probably larger and more extensive than the brief period of their work on the wall. It would give even more point to their complaint, however, if this was going on while the walls were being built. The presence of the chapter at this point does have its weight and does suggest a connection. It does follow logically from the things that have gone before.

With great numbers of workmen busy from dawn to dusk repairing the wall in the shortest time, and with their being forbidden even to go out of the city to take care of crops, some would begin to suffer hardship, The workers received no income apparently, and this kind of toil produced no consumer goods; hunger was the inevitable result. Opportunists arose and took advantage of the situation to make themselves wealthy at the expense of the hard pressed.

Neh. 5:1 identifies the opportunists as some of the more wealthy Jewish brethren. Some of these may have been of the number who had married the peoples of the lands (cf. comments on Ezr. 9:1), and had become prosperous as a result. It made the load no lighter that those who were oppressing them were of their own race and religion.

Neh. 5:2. states the peoples appeal to the government for relief, and identifies the first of three of their burdens: some had large families, Let us get grain may be their threat to steal to keep from starving, or it may be only a request for food to help them survive this time of desperation.

Neh. 5:3 gives the second source of their grief: many had gone in debt and mortgaged their property, and were in danger of default and the loss of everything. The famine alluded to may not have been a general condition; the word is used in other places occasionally of private hunger, so it may be only a suggestion of the conditions imposed on some persons by the circumstances mentioned above. These in themselves would be enough to produce the situation of hunger.

Their third burden, in Neh. 5:4, was taxes. Some had borrowed money, jeopardizing their lands and pledging their future crops to pay the Persian tribute; their subjection to Persia was an ever-present reality.

Neh. 5:5 is their plea, on the basis of compassion. If their creditors loved their children, they could be sure that the poor loved their children in the same manner. Some families had already been driven to sell their sons and daughters into slavery, and to part from them. In addition, some of their daughters had been forced into bondage. This may have been an euphemism for rape[54]; at the least it would imply marriages which were not of their choosing, since women were often sold into slavery for this purpose (Exo. 21:7-11).

[54] Interpreters Bible, Vol. III, p. 708.

Of course all of this was legal: the Law of Moses made provision for a person to sell his children into slavery to pay his debts (Lev. 25:39-43). He could even sell himself; he could not sell his wife separately, for the twain shall be one flesh.

And slavery was not as onerous as it became in more recent centuries. A Hebrew slave, male or female, was to be released after a maximum of six years (Deu. 15:12-18), though slaves were not always freed as they should have been (Jer. 34:14-17). If he suffered any injury or abuse, he was to be released (Exo. 21:27). He had the further option of running away, in which case he was to be protected and not returned to his former owner (Deu. 23:15 f). In effect, he was a slave only as long as he wanted to be a slave. Neither is todays employee in industry compelled to report to his job any longer than he wishes; but he wont get help in paying his expenses and his debts unless he does. Why, then, would they bemoan the enslavement of their children? Even at best there was the reality of separation from them.

WORD STUDIES

WEALTHY (Neh. 5:2 : Chayil): in various contexts, it can mean (1) strength, might, valor; (2) forces, army; (3) ability, wealth; (4) integrity, virtue. It is usually translated army, but wealth in Rth. 2:1, where it describes Boaz.

The two most important letters in the word are the h and i; these appear in our words heil, hale, heal, health, whole, and even holy: words having the same sense as the Hebrew, in certain contexts. They also occur in a word of very different derivation, but with the same connotations, in our slang (big) wheel; we wonder if this is only a coincidence. Try that expression in Neh. 5:2!

TRUMPET (Rth. 2:20 : Shofar): scratch, scrape, rub, polish. This leads to the idea of brightness, brilliance, and a brilliant tone. The word for scribe (Sepher) is akin to it (cf. Word Studies on Ezra 7 : note the resemblance in primary meaning). There seems to be a connection between what a person communicates by writing or speech, and what he conveys by musical tones.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) Their brethren the Jews.Nehemiahs other troubles had come from the enemies without: he begins this account by laying emphasis on the hard treatment of Jews by Jews.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

REFORMING OF ABUSES, Neh 5:1-13.

1. A great cry The outcry of poverty, oppression, and abuse.

Against brethren So there were troubles and abuses among themselves, as well as from their enemies.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Problems Facing The Poorer People ( Neh 5:1-5 ).

The three examples that follow are representative of a whole range of problems rather than being specific, but underlying them are the problems that the poor faced, especially when there was drought or famine. Compare the situation in the time of Haggai over seventy years previously (Hag 1:6; Hag 1:10-11). These poor consisted of day-labourers who had no land (see Mat 20:1-15), and subsistence farmers with meagre strips of land.

Neh 5:1

‘Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brother Jews.’

The taking of the adult males to work on the walls left many families, which were already struggling to survive, in a parlous situation. (A similar situation would arise during warfare). They would have to depend on the labours of their wives and children. This would explain why the wives are particularly mentioned as being vociferous. They were bearing the brunt of the situation. Thus the families were complaining about the harshness of their fellow-Jews who were taking advantage of the situation to increase their own wealth, rather than obeying the Law which said, ‘you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land’ (Deu 15:11).

Neh 5:2

‘For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”

The first complaint is on behalf of those who were starving because they could not afford to buy food. Their breadwinners, who would normally be acting as day-labourers for wages, were not available, and yet they still had to support large families. Losing them for even a period of less than two months was disastrous. They needed grain simply so that they could eat it and survive. There is no mention of them possessing land. We must therefore assume that they were landless.

Neh 5:3

‘Some also there were who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the drought.”

The second group did own a small amount of land. But they were subsistence farmers, struggling to produce enough to eat. However, the harvest had been poor, and their adult males had neither been present to help with the meagre harvest, nor to act as part-time labourers, earning wages so as to supplement the little that they produced. Thus in order that they might obtain food to eat, and grain which would have to be sown to produce the following year’s harvest, they had mortgaged their tiny fields and vineyards. Repayments were becoming due and in order to pay them they would have to sell some of their children into debt-slavery (Neh 5:5), or lose their land, which would then put them in the position of the first people.

Neh 5:4

‘There were also those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute on our fields and our vineyards.’

The slightly larger fields and vineyards of the third group had also not been productive because of the drought, and the position had been made worse because their adult males were not there to help but were taken up with building the walls. Thus they had had to borrow money to pay the king’s tribute, based on land ownership, thereby mortgaging their future. These loans would have to be paid back, seemingly with interest (which was actually forbidden – Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36-37; Deu 23:19-20), and this would have to be paid out of future produce. Financially things were difficult.

Neh 5:5

‘Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage (already), nor is it in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

All three groups were concerned about the possibility of eventually having to sell their children into debt slavery, whereby their children would become unpaid servants, with payment for their services being given up front as the ‘purchase price’ of the young virtual slave. This slavery would last for seven years (Exo 21:2-11; Deu 15:12-18). And this was being done to them, not by foreigners, but by their fellow-Jews who were of the same stock as they were. Indeed some of their daughters had already been brought into such bondage (girls would be sold first as they were not so useful in the fields). Nor could their parents do anything about it as their fields and vineyards were under the control of others, either through sale or mortgage, with the result that there was no other way of obtaining money.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

One Unforeseen Consequence Of The Concentration On The Building Of The Wall Proves Nehemiah’s Worth ( Neh 5:1-13 ).

Nehemiah is now revealed, not only as a great leader, but as a man of compassion. Like many rich men he had probably not considered the effect on the poorer Jews of the concentration of their menfolk as labourers on the building of the walls, no doubt without payment. For many poor families, struggling to survive even before this happened, losing their adult males for nearly two months was turning out to be a catastrophe. There would be three types of people involved:

1) The landless Jews who depended on a daily wage for the existence of themselves and their families at a very low level, eking out a living from day to day.

2) Jews with only a tiny amount of land struggling at subsistence level when harvests were bad, and having in bad years to borrow in order to buy next year’s grain, because they had had to consume all that had grown.

3) Jews with a larger amount of land who were being caught out by the Persian taxes, who, because of the lack of productivity of their fields, were falling into debt.

For the first group, the requirement for their menfolk to work on the walls meant that the poorest families had no income coming in from their normal work as labourers on other people’s fields, apart from what the wives or children could earn which was insufficient. In consequence they were having to sell their children into debt slavery or worse, in order even to obtain food. For the second group failing crops (‘because of the drought’ – Neh 5:3), and the lack of the adult males to either wring from the fields what could be obtained, or work for others in order to be able to earn food, was resulting in some having to mortgage their lands so that they could afford to buy grain, both to eat and to be sown in the coming year in order to continue to survive. Another poor harvest would also result in debt-slavery for their children. For the third group there was the problem that shortage of harvest had meant that they had to borrow money to pay their taxes. This could bring them under a continual debt burden and eventually they also could be in danger of losing their land if harvests continued to be bad. Their plight was the least of the three, but it was serious non-the-less.

This was another side to the problems described in chapter 4. There it was problems without. Here it is problems within. For these people morale, which was already low, had become even lower.

With great vigour Nehemiah deals with the problem. He calls on the wealthier Jews to treat their fellow-Jews as brothers, remembering that they are all YHWH’s servants (Lev 25:53; Lev 25:55), and providing for their needs rather than exacting from them as much as they could. And he himself supplies the example.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Continual Opposition To The Building Of The Wall And Problems Related To It ( Neh 4:1 to Neh 6:14 ).

Meanwhile the work did not go on unopposed. Powerful men were involved in seeking to ensure that the walls were not rebuilt, and that Jerusalem was not re-established. We have already had three of these described to us in Neh 2:19. They were formidable opponents. We now learn about their activity in more detail.

o Initially they operated by using ridicule and threats (Neh 2:19; Neh 4:1-3). They had grave doubts about whether the objective would be achieved. It was after all a massive operation, and there was no one with the authority to enforce the rebuilding by using slave gangs and taskmasters. That was not within Nehemiah’s remit. It depended on voluntary cooperation and popular enthusiasm. They could not believe that the initial enthusiasm would be maintained. But as things progressed they began to fear that they might be wrong.

o Thus when that failed they turned to the idea of using extreme violence (Neh 4:7-11). But that too failed because of the vigilance of Nehemiah, and the stout-heartedness of God’s people, who worked with their swords in their hands.

o Then they five times (Neh 6:4-5) sought to entice Nehemiah to a place where they would be able to do him mischief (Neh 6:2). But he was no fool and once again they found themselves thwarted.

o As a consequence they resorted to suggestions to Nehemiah that in their view treason was involved in the building of the walls which they intended to report to the king of Persia himself along with a report of the activities of treasonable prophets (Neh 6:6-7). To these suggestions Nehemiah gave short shrift. He was confident that his royal master would rely on his trustworthiness.

o This was followed by an invidious attempt through someone who pretended to be friendly to persuade him to act in a cowardly way in order to protect his own life by taking refuge in the Temple along with him (Neh 6:10). But Nehemiah was no coward and roundly dismissed such an idea.

Combined with these activities was the problem of the extreme poverty that resulted for many due to their dedication to the building of the walls. Many had been living on the breadline for decades, scratching an existence from their limited resources, but now the concentration on the building of the walls had tipped them over the edge. They found themselves hungry, and even enslaved by debt, and that by their fellow Jews (Neh 5:1-6). This too was something that Nehemiah had to remedy (Neh 5:7-13).

Meanwhile the work on the wall progressed until it was finally accomplished. Jerusalem was once more a walled city, with its gates secure.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Complaint of the People Adjusted by Nehemiah

v. 1. And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives, namely, the poorer ones in the nation, against their brethren, the Jews, the richer members of their own nation, who were taking advantage of their poverty.

v. 2. Nor there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. The more exact rendering of this sentence seems to be: We have mortgaged our sons and our daughters that we might buy corn. They had been forced by their creditors to give their very children as security, as hostages, in order to get food for their families.

v. 3. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses that we might buy corn because of the dearth. The shortage of food may have been due as well to the excessive rains, Ezr 10:9; Hag 1:6-11, as to the fact that the Samaritan adversaries managed to keep so many of them penned up in the city of Jerusalem, which made it impossible for them to till their lands.

v. 4. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, the taxes laid upon them by the Persian government, and that upon our lands and vineyards. It was a most deplorable condition of affairs which compelled these poorer members of the congregation to mortgage their children and all their property for the sake of procuring food and the necessary funds to pay their taxes to the Persian government.

v. 5. Yet, now, our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children, they rightly felt that they had equal rights with their richer neighbors before the Lord; and, lo, we bring into bondage our Sons and our daughters to be servants, practically forced to sell them as slaves, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already, apparently said of their being used for immoral purposes, Exo 21:7-11; neither is it in our power to redeem them, literally, “and not is toward God our hand”; for other men have our lands and vineyards, they were at the mercy of their creditors.

v. 6. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words, since these conditions were strictly against the Law of Jehovah, Exo 22:25-27.

v. 7. Then I consulted with myself, since his heart was filled with pity for his oppressed brethren, and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers, these being the guilty ones in this instance, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, both in taking pledges and in charging interest, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them, calling a mass-meeting in spite of the urgent need of wall-building, in order to have the outrage stopped immediately by the expression of the opinion of the whole congregation.

v. 8. And I said unto them, with great force and emphasis, We, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren, the Jews, by paying ransom-money to free them from bondage in the land of their captivity, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren, or shall they be sold unto us? That is what the custom then in vogue practically amounted to, an enslaving of the poor. Then held they their peace and found nothing to answer, being overcome by Nehemiah’s remonstrance.

v. 9. Also I said, It is not good that ye do, there was a second reason which condemned their action. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, in a wholesome awe of His holy presence, because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies? If the latter heard of the conditions existing in the midst of the Jews, they would be sure to reproach them, to scoff at them.

v. 10. I likewise, and my brethren and my servants, might exact of them money and corn, rather, “And also I, that is, my brethren and my servants, exact of them, by lending them money,” members of his own family had been found guilty. I pray you, let us leave of this usury, which was expressly forbidden in the Law, Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36; Deu 23:19.

v. 11. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, everything that had been taken as security, also the hundredth part of the money and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye exact of them, the interest charged them, which amounted to twelve per cent. a year.

v. 12. Then said they, overcome by the force of the arguments used by Nehemiah, We will restore them, both the pledges and the interest exacted, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, as the representatives of the Lord, and took an oath of them, the priests administering this solemn oath, that they should do according to this promise, the men involved thus binding themselves before the face of Jehovah Himself.

v. 13. Also I shook my lap, the bosom of his outer garment, which was used as a pocket, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his labor that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied. It was a symbolical act, also used by the Apostle Paul at a later time, Act 18:6, and similar to that of shaking off the dust from the garments and feet in the time of Jesus. And all the congregation said, Amen, stating their full agreement with the sentiments expressed by Nehemiah, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise, they lived up to their solemn agreement, as Nehemiah carefully notes. If similar conditions are found in a Christian congregation, if richer’ members forget their duties of love and mercy toward their poorer brethren, the Word of God must be applied with the emphasis required by the occasion until the wrong has been righted.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

INTERNAL DIFFICULTIES, AND NEHEMIAH‘S MODE OF MEETING THEM (Neh 5:1-13). While the building of the wall was in progress, but not, so far as it is stated, in direct connection with the employment of the mass of the people in unremunerative labour, internal evils showed themselves which demanded prompt attention and remedy. Complaints were made to Nehemiah by large numbers of the lower orders, both men and womenthe shrill voices of the latter rising to the intensity of a “great cry” (verse 1)to the effect that the oppression of the rich and great, combined with some other permanent or temporary causes, was depriving them of their houses and plots of land, and forcing them to sell their sons and their daughters into slavery (verses 2-5). According to the existing text, the primary causes of the general poverty were three:

1. Over-population (verse 2);

2. A recent famine (verse 3); and,

3. The weight of taxation, arising from the large amount annually demanded from the province by the Persians in the way of tribute (verse 4).

As there is no reason to suppose that the tribute had been augmented recently, this cause must be viewed as constant. The over-population may have arisen, in part, from the influx of immigrants, in part from the narrow extent of the territory which the returned tribes had been allowed to occupy. The famine, which has been attributed to the calling off of the people from their ordinary employments, can scarcely have had this as its main origin if the whole work was begun and ended, as Nehemiah tells us it was (Neh 6:15), in less than two months; but supposing that already there was a scarcity produced by bad harvests, as in Haggai’s time (Hag 1:9-11), it may have been aggravated by this circumstance. The entire result was that the poorer classes were compelled, first of all, to mortgage their houses and such lands as they possessed (verse 3), and secondly to pledge the persons of their sons and daughters (verse 5), in order to raise money, with the near prospect of having to allow them to become slaves if they were unable to repay their creditor at the time appointed. Under these circumstances they appealed to the new governor, probably not long after his arrival, for relief. The appeal placed him in a position of great difficulty. He was not rich enough to take upon himself the whole burthen; and though he himself, and also his brothers and personal attendants, did lend freely, out of their private store, money and grain (verse 10, with comment), yet this was far from being enoughit did not go to the root of the evil Had he stopped at this point and done no more, the distress would have continued, and with it the discontent the mass of the population would have held aloof from him in sullen anger, and his whole undertaking might have been frustrated. On the other hand, it was impossible for him, under the Persian system of government, to carry matters with a high hand, as a Grecian lawgiver might have done, and order a general can-ceiling of debts. He could only have recourse to persuasion, argument, and per sonal influence. He therefore, first of all, spoke to the “nobles,” who were the moneylenders, rebuked them, and endeavoured to induce them to desist from their malpractices (verse 7); but failing to produce in this way any considerable effect, he brought the matter before an assembly of the people (ibid.). There, he first shamed the nobles by alleging his own contrary example, and then called on them, “for the fear of God and because of the reproach of the heathen,” to restore the forfeited lands and houses to their former owners, repay all that they had received in the way of interest on the money lent, and give up the entire practice of lending money upon pledge or mortgage (verses 7-11). Moved by this public appeal, the nobles intimated their consent, whereupon he made them clench their promise by an oath (verse 12), adding on his own part a malediction if the oath were not observed, which was hailed with acclaim by the people. Thus the whole matter was brought to a happy conclusionthe promise made was kept”the people,” i.e. the whole nation, nobles included, “did according to this word” (verse 13).

Neh 5:1

A great cry. Compare Neh 5:6, where the “cry” is distinguished from the “words.” The Oriental habit of shrill lamentation must be borne in mind it is always shrillest when the women have a part in it, as on this occasion. Their wives. Mothers, whose children had been sold into slavery, or who anticipated losing them in this sad way speedily (Neh 5:5). Their brethren the Jews. i.e. the richer Jews, who had adopted the practice of lending upon pledge.

Neh 5:2

There were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many. Those who had large families were foremost in making complaint. They found their numerous progeny not the blessing that abundant offspring is ordinarily reckoned in Holy Scripture, but a burthen and an anxiety. Therefore we take up corn for them. We are obliged to get corn for them, or they would die, and have to run in debt for it. Corn, wine, and oil seem to have been lent, no less than money (Neh 5:11).

Neh 5:3

Because of the dearth. Some, who could not say that their families were large, claimed relief on account, as it would seem, not so much of a present as of a past famine, which had forced them to mortgage their fields, vineyards, and houses. That Judaea was liable to famines about this time appears from Hag 1:6, Hag 1:9-11; Hag 2:16-19.

Neh 5:4

The king’s tribute. Judaea, like other Persian provinces, had to pay a tribute, partly in money and partly in kind, yearly to the Persian monarch (see the comment on Ezr 4:13); but there is no reason to believe that this burthen was generally felt as oppressive, nor that it was heavier in Judaea than elsewhere. But by the very poor even a small amount of direct taxation is felt as a grievance; and the necessity of meeting the demands of the tax-gatherer was in the ancient world often the turning-point, which compelled the contracting of a debt (Liv; 2.23); and so it seems to have been with these complainants,

Neh 5:5

Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren. We love our own flesh and blood, poor as we are, just as much as do our richer brethren; our children are as dear to us as theirs to them. The necessity which compels us to bring into bondage our sons and our daughters is therefore most grievous to us. Some of our daughters are brought into bondage already. On the power of fathers to sell their daughters, see Exo 21:7. Neither is it in our power to redeem them. Literally, “nor is aught in the power of our hands” (see Gen 31:29). We have no remedy; it is not in our power to effect any change.

Neh 5:6

I was very angry. It is not clear that the letter of the law was infringed, unless it were in the matter of taking interest (Neh 5:11), of which the people had not complained. That men might sell their daughters to be concubines or secondary wives is clear from Exo 21:7; and it is therefore probable that they might sell their sons for servants. But the servitude might only be for six years (Exo 21:2); and if a jubilee year occurred before the sexennial period was out, the service was ended (Le Exo 25:10). Land too might be either mortgaged or sold (ibid. Exo 21:14-16), but under the condition that it returned to the seller, or at any rate to his tribe, in the jubilee year (ibid. Exo 21:10, Exo 21:13). The spirit, however, of the lawthe command, “Ye shall not oppress one another” (ibid. Exo 21:14, Exo 21:17)was transgressed by the proceedings of the rich men. It was their duty in a time of scarcity not to press hard upon their poorer brethren, but freely to alleviate their necessities. Nehemiah, his near relations, and his followers had done so to the utmost of their power (verse 10, with the comment). The rich men had acted differently, and made all the profit that they could out of the need of their fellow-countrymen. Hence Nehemiah’s anger.

Neh 5:7

I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury. So the Vulgate, and most commentators; but Bertheau has shown that the expression used, which is peculiar to Nehemiah, cannot have this meaning, since it is not the taking of usury that has been complained of, or that Nehemiah is especially anxious to stop, but the lending of money upon the security of lands, houses, or children, with its consequences, the forfeiture of the lands and houses, with the enslavement of the children. He therefore translates, “I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye lend upon pledge.” I set a great assembly against them. It is evident that Nehemiah’s rebuke had no effect. The nobles gave him no reason to think that they would change their conduct. He was therefore compelled to bring the matter before the people; not that they had any legal power, but he felt that the nobles might be ashamed or afraid to continue their oppression when it was openly denounced by the chief civil ruler in the hearing of a great assembly of their countrymen.

Neh 5:8

We after our ability have redeemed our brethren. “We,” here, may be either “we Jews of the captivity,” in contrast with “you who have long returned from it,” or “we of my house and household” (equivalent to the “I, my brethren, and my servants” of Neh 5:10), in contrast with “you rich Jews not of my household.” Nehemiah must appeal to a well-known fact, that he and others had been in the habit of redeeming enslaved Jews among the heathen. Will ye even sell your brethren? An argumenturn ad verecundiam. Will ye do the exact opposite? Cause your brethren to be sold into slavery? And not to heathen masters, but to men of their own nation, unto us? Roman creditors, if they sold their debtor slaves, were required by law to sell them across the Tiberto men of a different race. It was felt to add to the indignity of the slave condition that one should have to serve one’s own countryman, recently one’s equal and (perhaps) acquaintance. They held their peace, and found nothing to answer. Or, “found never a word. The argument told. It admitted of no reply. The nobles were ashamed, and had not a word to say.

Neh 5:9

Also I said. To silence the nobles was not enough. To shame them was not enough. What was wanted was to persuade them. Nehemiah therefore continued his address. It is not good that ye do. It is not good in itself, apart from any contrast with what I have been doing. Ought ye not to walkor, literally, “will ye not walk”in the fear of our God? Will ye not really, “fear God and keep his commandments, not in the letter only, but in the spirit? Will ye not cease to oppress your brethren? Will ye not deal kindly and gently with them? Because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies. If the mere fear of God, the desire to escape his displeasure and win his approval, is not enough, will not the thought of the light in which you will appear to the heathen influence you? You make a profession of religion; you claim to be actuated by high motives; to be merciful, compassionate, and self-denying. If they see you as keen after gain as any of themselves, as regardless of others, as pitiless and oppressive, what a reproach will not this bring on your religion! What a proof will it not seem to be that you are no better than your neighbours, and your religion, therefore, no whit superior to theirs!

Neh 5:10

I likewise might exact of them. Rather, “have lent them.” I and mine have advanced to the poorer classes, in this period of their distress, money and corn; but not as you have, not upon security. Let us then, all of us, you as well as I, henceforth relinquish this practice of mortgaging and pledge-taking.

Neh 5:11

Restore, I pray you, etc. Nay, more. Let us not only give up this practice in the future, but let us remedy its evils in the past. You are in possession of lands and houses that have become yours through these mortgages, and you have received a heavy interest on the sums of money, or on the corn, wine, and oil that you have advanced. I bid you restore it all. Give back at once the houses and the lands that you will in any case have to restore in the year of jubilee. Give back the interest that you have illegally taken, and so, as far as is possible, undo the past; make restitution of your ill-gotten gains, relinquish even your legal rights, and become self-denying patriots, instead of tyrants and oppressors.

Neh 5:12

Then they said, We will restore them. Nehemiah’s eloquence prevailed, and brought about a “day of sacrifices.” The nobles, one and all, agreed not only to give back the interest that they had illegally received on the corn and money borrowed of them, but to restore the forfeited lands and houses, which must have been of far greater value, and to which they were by law fully entitled. “We will restore them,” they said, “and will (in future) require nothing of them, neither interest nor security, but will do as thou sayest.” The promise was sweeping in its terms, and probably not insincere; but Nehemiah mistrusted all sudden impulses. He would have something more than a promise. Then called I the priests, and took an oath of them (the nobles), that they should do according to this promise. i.e. he swore the nobles, in the sacred presence of the priests, to the performance of the promise which they had made.

Neh 5:13

Also I shook my lap. Even the taking of the oath did not seem sufficient to the prudent governor. He would strengthen the oath by a malediction, and a malediction accompanied by a symbolical act, to render it the more impressive. Among the nations of antiquity few things were so much dreaded as falling under a curse. The maledictions of Deu 28:16-44 were the supreme sanction which Moses devised for the Law, whereof he was the promulgator. Curses protected the tombs and inscriptions of the Assyrian and Persian kings, the contracts of the Babylonians, and the treaties of most nations. Nehemiah’s curse is an unusual one, but very clear and intelligible. He prays that whosoever departs from his promise given may be cast forth a homeless wanderer, emptied of all his possessions, as empty as the fold in his own dress, which he first gathers into a sort of bag or pocket, and then throws from him and so empties out. To this the assembly responded by a hearty “Amen,” and then praised the Lord for the happy ending of the whole affair; in which they piously traced the directing and over-ruling hand of God, “restraining the fierceness of men,” and “turning it to his praise” (Psa 76:10Prayer-Book version).

HOMILETICS

Neh 5:1-13

Extortion rebuked.

Rulers of men have no easy task. No sooner have they provided a remedy for one evil than another presents itself. Nehemiah found this to be the case. He had preserved the city from the enemies outside, and was fast proceeding with the fortifications which would be a permanent protection; but before they were completed a cry arose within which called his attention to dangers quite as threatening. Of what avail to have secured the people from the foreign foe if they were to destroy one another by extortion and dissension? The wisdom and courage of the governor, however, proved equal to the occasion. Observe

I. THE LOUD COMPLAINT MADE (verses 1-5). A large number of the people “and of their wives“ came to Nehemiah and complained bitterly of their condition, and of the extortion to which they were subjected by their rich and noble brethren. The complainers were of three classes. Some who were originally poor found themselves, with large families, unable to obtain food for them on account of the pressure of the times. They desired that corn might be distributed among them. Others had borrowed money to obtain food, and given up their lands and houses in pledge. A third class had taken a like course to enable them to pay the taxes of the Persian monarch. Some (of each class probably) had already been compelled to obtain supplies by selling sons, and even daughters, as servants, and saw no resource but to sell others of their children. Moreover, contrary to the Mosaic law, heavy interest was being charged for the loans. The rich were taking advantage of the necessities of their poorer brethren to enrich themselves yet more, regardless of the suffering and humiliation they were inflicting. The sufferers felt and said that they were of the same flesh and blood as their rich oppressors, and their children as dear to them.

II. THE EFFECT ON NEHEMIAH OF THIS COMPLAINT. “I was very angry” (verse 6). A very just anger; the anger of a righteous man at flagrant wrong; of a noble and generous spirit at base rapacity; of a lover of the people, who was making great sacrifices for their good, against those who cared not for the welfare of the community, so that they could accumulate wealth for themselves and their families; of one who feared God, that his name should be dishonoured by the very people whose mission was to exalt it.

III. THE COURSE HE TOOK.

1. He carefully considered the matter (verse 7).

2. He rebuked the offenders (verse 7).

3. He called an assembly upon the case.

4. He publicly remonstrated with the offenders.

(1) Contrasting their conduct with that of himself and his immediate friends (verses 8, 10). He and others like-minded had bought Jews out of slavery to the heathen, while these were selling, or causing to be sold, into slavery to Jews their brethren around them. He, his brothers and servants, had also lent money and corn to the needy, but without exacting pledge or interest.

(2) Reminding them of the reproach they were bringing on the Jewish name and religion, and which the fear of God should have prevented their incurring.

(3) Entreating them to give up to their owners the property they held in pledge, and cease to require interest on the money due to them (verse 11).

IV. THE RESULTS.

1. The self-conviction of the offenders (verse 8).

2. Their promise to comply with his proposals (verse 12). A promise solemnly ratified by

(1) An oath administered by the priests.

(2) A malediction pronounced by Nehemiah, with a significant ceremony (verse 13).

3. The joy and thankfulness of the people (verse 13). They responded “Amen” to the malediction, and “praised Jehovah.

4. The performance of the promise (verse 13).

Lessons:

1. The hideousness of avarice. “The love of money is the root of all evil.” It here appears as inhumanity, oppression, violation of Divine law, disregard of the claims of patriotism. Especially odious and injurious in nobles and rulers, who ought to be examples of generosity, protectors of the poor, and promoters in every way of the general good.

2. The duty of discountenancing and suppressing this vice. Rulers and magistrates are peculiarly bound to do so.

3. The power of good example. Gives confidence in reproving iniquity and urging amendment, and force to reproofs and appeals.

Neh 5:5

Human equality.

“Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children.” The doctrines of the kinship and equality of all classes of men have a terrible sound when they come from the lips of a starving multitude in times of general distress, and are likely to assume in their minds an exaggerated form, and be pushed to dangerous extremes; but they contain substantial truth, notwithstanding, which, in order that it may not be perverted to evil in troublous times, should be well learnt, and pondered, and applied to practice in quiet times by those who are raised above their fellows in wealth and position.

I. THE ESSENTIAL EQUALITY OF MEN.

1. In nature.

(1) They have like bodies. “Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren.” Similar in origin, composition, organisation, needs, susceptibilities; equally feeling pains and pleasures.

(2) They have similar minds. With like faculties, capacities, etc.intellectual, emotional, moral, spiritual. If Christians, are alike “partakers of the Divine nature.”

2. In relationships.

(1) Divine. They have the same Maker (Job 31:15; Pro 22:2), the same Redeemer. Equally as sinners need salvation.

(2) Human. The family ties as real and valuable. “Our children as their children.” Are similarly related to the state, and of equal worth to it. If Christians, are alike children of God, members of Christ, “brethren” to each other.

3. In affections.

(1) Have the same natural affection. “Our children as their children,” equally beloved. The poor equally with the rich rejoice in their children’s joys, grieve over their sorrows, are pained at their degradation.

(2) Are alike, when regenerate, in religious affections.

4. In prospects. Must alike die and appear before the bar of God. Will, if accepted, occupy the same heaven; if condemned, be consigned to the same hell.

5. In rights. Which follows from what has been said. The poor and the rich should be “equal before the law,” as they are in every well-governed community, civil or ecclesiastical. They are entitled to equal social justice; they should receive like sympathy and brotherly consideration and help in times of loss and suffering.

II. THE DUTIES WHICH ARISE FROM IT.

1. What they are.

(1) Mutual respect and good will. “Honour all men,” as human beings. “Love the brotherhood,” as fellow Christians. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” for he equally deserves love.

(2) Mutual consideration and sympathy. Men the most unlike in many respects ought to be able, much better than they often do, to understand each other, and enter into each other’s feelings, because of their essential likeness. And they should consider one another, that they may appreciate and sympathise with each other. These rich creditors would not have dealt so hardly with their poor debtors if they had tried to realise what the loss of all property and the sale of their children would have been to themselves.

(3) Mutual helpfulness. Men are made of various capacities and conditions that they may form in society a more perfect unity, and be able to serve one another the better.

2. By whom owing. The poor are bound thus to feel and act to the rich, as well as the rich to the poor; the employed to the employer, as well as the employer to the employed, and the former are as likely to neglect these duties as the latter. Selfishness is not confined to any class. Those, however, who from their circumstances have acquired most of intelligence and culture, and have most power individually, may be expected to take the lead in the understanding and practical application of the truths and duties just stated. In doing so they will show a tender consideration for the feelings of the poor; they will be concerned for their elevation, improvement, and salvation; they will not use their advantages selfishly or hardly (even though legally); they will not push too far the doctrines of political economy, and feel quite content to swell their own fortunes by giving helpless people starvation wages, or lending money at rates ruinous to the borrower, merely because the law of “supply and demand” justifies them; their power will be used to rebuke, restrain, and remedy oppression; to protect and aid the weak; to soften the inequalities of life by kindness and thoughtful charity; and, generally, to bless others rather than aggrandise themselves. In thus acting they will obey the dictates of prudence as well as those of Christianity, and will aid in uniting society by bonds stronger far than Acts of Parliament, armies, or police regulationsbonds which the strain of the most calamitous times will not burst asunder.

Neh 5:6, Neh 5:7

Righteous anger.

“And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers.” Anger is always dangerous, often evil. The anger is sinful which has its root in selfishness, which is excited by slight causes, or is blended with hatred, or issues in malice or revenge, or lasts long in any form. But there is an anger which is righteous, and the absence of which, so far from being a commendable meekness, may be occasioned by indifference to great principles, and to the general welfare of men. The text illustrates

I. THE NATURE OF RIGHTEOUS ANGER.

1. Whence it springs. Love to God and man; love to righteousness, hatred of sin.

2. By what it is excited.

(1) Flagrant wrong-doing,

(2) consequent injury to society, and

(3) counteraction of efforts for its good.

II. ITS USES. To stimulate to

1. The rebuke and restraint of evil-doers.

2. Efforts for their reformation.

3. The discovery and application of remedies for the mischief they have wrought.

III. ITS BEST PRESERVATIVE FROM EVIL. Reflection before acting. “I consulted with myself.” No passion more demands self-control, that it run not to excess, nor hurry into unwise and sinful words and deeds. A pause to consider, and the exercise of reflection itself, will supply the needful corrective, and enable us so to govern and guide our anger that it may subserve the ends for which this passion was given.

Neh 5:7

Self-consultation

“Then I consulted with myself.” The power of con-suiting with himself is one of the chief things which distinguish men from brutes. A man can be both the subject and the object of his own thought; as if there were in him two personsone thinking, feeling, suggesting, etc.; the other observing the processes, judging of their worth, and determining accordingly. “My heart consulted with me,” says Nehemiah (translating literally). “Commune with your own heart,” says the Psalmist (Psa 4:4). The exercise of this power of self-consultation, or reflection, is of the utmost importance to the wise direction of our lives. “A reflecting mind,” says an ancient writer, “is the spring and source of every good thing;” although it must be acknowledged that it may become the source of the worst wickedness. For the evil which is deliberately planned is far worse than that which is unpremeditated.

I. ON WHAT WE SHOULD CONSULT OURSELVES.

1. With respect to personal religion. Our condition before God, and in view of eternity. Our sinstheir peculiar nature, aggravations, etc. Our duty to God and ourselves in view of themrepentance, confession of sin, faith in Christ, self-surrender to God, a new life. Or, again, a higher and fuller Christian life than we have hitherto lived. What we must encounter if we adopt the better course. A Christian life growing out of reflection will be richer, nobler, more decided, and more stable than one which springs merely from emotion.

2. With respect to our work. What we are best fitted for, and have opportunity to do. How it can be best done. What are its difficulties, and how they can be surmounted. Motives to its performance. Work thus begun and conducted will be done wisely and confidently, and be likely to succeed.

II. THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESSFUL SELF–CONSULTATION.

1. That it be conducted with the aid of the best advisers. The two within us consulting must call in a thirdthe all-wise God (comp. Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5; Psa 139:23, Psa 139:24). And all that can help us to the understanding of his will should be welcomed.

2. That it be accompanied with serious purpose. To do what is seen to be right and wise. “If any man wills to do his will, he shall know,” etc.

3. That it be followed by corresponding practice. Consideration may be too prolonged. Some go through life “considering,” or pretending to do so, as to the plainest duties; perhaps also they “resolve and re-resolve,” yet “die the same.”

Neh 5:9

Avoidance of reproach.

“Ought ye not to walk?” etc. The “reproach” spoken of here is supposed by some to be that arising from the feeble condition of the Jews, which the conduct of these extortioners was likely to perpetuate and increase. Better, however, to interpret it of the just reproach which such conduct would occasion.

I. REPROACHES OF MEN WHICH ARE NOT TO BE REGARDED. Those which are directed against

1. The Christian faith.

2. Christian confession. The bold acknowledgment of Christ.

3. Christian life and work. “Fear ye not the reproach of men,” etc. (Isa 51:7. See also Rom 15:3; Heb 11:26).

II. REPROACHES THAT SHOULD BE REGARDED. Those which are directed against manifest inconsistencies between our faith and our life, our professions and our practices. Men of the world can understand our religion sufficiently to discern wherein we fail. Their judgment of some things in our conduct may be just, and is then fitted to quicken our consciences and lead us to improvement. “Fas est et ab hoste doceri.” We should be careful not to give just “occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,” for the sake of the credit of religion, the good of enemies themselves, and of other men who may be well disposed, but to whom our inconsistencies are a stumbling-block. Amongst the occasions of just reproach may be named

1. Untruthfulness and dishonesty in worldly transactions.

2. Insincerity and cant in religious utterances.

3. Selfishness and self-indulgence.

4. Dissension and contention among Christians.

5. Censoriousness.

6. Gloominess. As contrasted with our representations of the happiness of religion.

7. Worldly ambition or policy in Church life and work.

III. THE SUREST WAY TO AVOID JUST REPROACH. “Ought ye not to walk in the fear of God.” Genuine, habitual piety, actuating our whole life, will produce such fruits as will commend themselves even to the irreligious who are not malignant foes of what is good, and “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” Thus fearing God we shall not need to be much concerned about the judgment of men. Finally, those who reproach Christians with their inconsistencies condemn themselves. The light by which they do so reveals their own duty. They are as really bound to be genuine and consistent Christians as those whom they reproach. The obligation to piety and goodness does not spring from the profession of religion, though this may add strength to it; it rests on all to whom the gospel is known, and if you know enough to condemn others, you know enough to teach you what you ought to be, and to leave you without excuse.

Neh 5:13

Promise-keeping.

“And the people did according to this promise.” Nehemiah wrote this, we may be sure, with peculiar satisfaction. It would be well if the history of all promises of amendment, etc. could be thus concluded. But it is far otherwise. Men often “say and do not.” Even vows made to God in secret or before the Church, and with solemnities resembling those recorded here, are, alas, often broken. In view of such failures it may be profitable for those who are contemplating a solemn profession of religion to consider how they may best Secure that they shall fulfil their vows.

I. BY CARE IN MAKING THEM.

1. With right understanding of their import.

2. With deep conviction of the truths and duties to which they relate.

3. With due deliberation. Not hastily, under the influence of passing emotion, but carefully considering what they involve, and counting the cost of keeping them.

4. Of free and hearty choice. Not merely because of pressing solicitations from others.

5. In dependence on the grace of the Holy Spirit. With consciousness of weakness, and humble reliance on God and prayer to him.

II. BY FREQUENT REMEMBRANCE AND RENEWAL OF THEM. “O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord.” “Thy vows are upon me, O God.” “I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” Such exercises are especially suitable:

1. In anticipating and celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

2. When assailed by powerful temptations.

3. When called to difficult duties. Such as, though requiring toil and self-denial, are involved in our professed consecration to God.

III. BY CONSTANT WATCHFULNESS AND PRAYER. In conclusion, notice

1. The blessedness of those who do according to their promises to God. He will fulfil his promises to them.

2. The guilt of unfulfilled promises.

3. The comfort, under the sense of partial failure, which arises from the Divine compassion and readiness to forgive. “For in many things we offend all.” But our God knows and values sincere purpose and endeavour. He knows also our weakness. He accepts imperfect service, and forgives the imperfections of his true-hearted servants.

4. Obligation to piety and holiness is independent of our promises. These recognise obligations, do not create them. Those who “make no profession” must not, therefore, console themselves as if they were guiltless.

HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL

Neh 5:1-13

The rich rebuked for taking advantage of the poor.

I. THE POOR.

1. Numbers tend to poverty. “We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live” (verse 2).

2. Borrowing tends to poverty. “We have mortgaged our lands” (verse 3).

3. Taxation tends to poverty. “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute” (verse 4).

4. Poverty may sometimes have cause for protest against injustice.

5. Poverty is experienced by the people of God who are engaged in holy toils.

II. THE RICH.

1. The rich must not take undue advantage of calamitous circumstances. “Because of the dearth” (verse 3).

2. The rich must not be inconsiderate. “Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren” (verse 5).

3. The rich must not be cruel. “Our daughters are brought unto bondage” (verse 5).

4. The rich must not violate the law of God. “Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God?” (verse 9).

III. THE REBUKE.

1. Angry. “And I was very angry.”

2. Reflective. “I consulted with myself” (verse 7).

3. Impartial. “The nobles and the rulers.”

4. Sustained. “And I set a great assembly against them.”

5. Argumentative (verse 8).

6. Unanswerable. “They held their peace, and found nothing to answer.”

7. Successful. “We will restore.”E.

HOMILIES W. CLARKSON

Neh 5:1-13

Error and return.

In the very midst of apparent success, when the Church is building its walls and seems likely to be triumphant and secure, there may be an aggravated evil springing up and spreading to its very heart. Such was the case at Jerusalem when the walls of its defence were rising. When priests and people were repairing the defences, there was circulating a deadly mischief within the whole body. We look at

I. THE WORST EVIL FROM WHICH THE CHURCH OF CHRIST CAN SUFFER (Neh 5:1-5).

1. An internal evil, always more dangerous and deadly than an external one. Better a hundred carping or even conspiring Samaritans than ten Jews inside the walls carrying a curse within their breast. Better an army of Canaanites in battle array than one Achan in the camp.

2. The evil of discord. One Jew was complaining of another, one class of another class; seeds of dissension and strife were springing up and bearing bitter fruit. Internal evil in a Christian society may take many formserror, sloth, pride, etc.but the worst of all is discord. The Master is never so grieved as when his first commandment is broken, and when they who are specially bound to love one another are indulging’ in “bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, malice.”

3. Discord springing from oppression. The richer Jews had made use of a time of want, arising from dearth (Neh 5:3), to compel the necessitous to (a) mortgage their children (Neh 5:2) and (b) their ancestral property (Neh 5:3) in order to save themselves and their families from starvation (Neh 5:2, Neh 5:3), as well as to pay the tribute to the king of Persia (Neh 5:4). What naturally afflicted them the most was, that through the cupidity and hardness of the wealthy they had been obliged to sell into servitude their own sons and daughters; said they, in their forcible lament, “Yet our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren: our children as their children” (Neh 5:5). Nor were they able to redeem them (Neh 5:5). There is great bitterness of soul when one member of a Christian Church is heedless of the natural human affections of any of his brethren: guilt can hardly go further.

II. ITS DEPLORABLE CONSEQUENCES (Neh 5:1, Neh 5:9).

1. Misery (Neh 5:1). “There was a great cry of the people and of their wives” (Neh 5:1). When one part of a society is sinning and the other part “sinned against,” when the Church is divided into wrong-doers and wrong-sufferers, misery sinks to its depth. There is no gladness of heart so great as when harmony and love prevail; so, there is no wretchedness of soul so complete as when hatred and injury abound.

2. Reproach (Neh 5:9). “It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?”‘ It is our primary duty, and should be our most earnest desire, so to let our light shine that men may glorify Christ, to “adorn the doctrine” of our Saviour; when we so act as to cause the enemy of God to blaspheme, we are “verily guilty before God.”

III. THE WAY OF ESCAPE AND RECOVERY (Neh 5:6-13). Happily, in this instance, it did not go too far, because it was not allowed to .do its work too long. There was

1. An appreciation of its enormity (Neh 5:6). Nehemiah was “very angry when he heard their cry and these words.” Angry, but certainly not sinful (Eph 4:26); angry with a holy wrath, roused by a profound sense of the magnitude of the guilt and the danger.

2. Self-control (verse 7). He “consulted with himself.” Instead of acting with injurious haste, he waited till he had well considered the best course to take. When wrath is roused, it is well indeed to “consult with ourselves” before we speak to others or act on others.

3. Concerted action (verse 7). “I set a great assembly against them.” Nehemiah directed against the evil the full force of public sentimentthe national conscience.

4. Boldness on the part of the leader. There is a time for decided speech and action. “I rebuked the nobles” (verse 7). “We have redeemed our brethren; and will ye even sell your brethren?” (verse 8). “Restore their lands, their vineyards,” etc. (verse. 11). “I shook my lap,” etc. (verse 13). In times of great defection or oppression, when things are going ill with the cause of God, it is not honied words, but the language of reproach that is wanted. “Reprove, rebuke, exhort,” though “with all long-suffering” (2Ti 4:2).

5. Repentance on the part of the erring. This includes

(a) Conviction of sinfulnesshaving “nothing to answer” (verse 8), under a sense of guilt.

(b) Acknowledgment and promise of reform (verse 12). This may well be accompanied by the most solemn vows uttered before God (verse 12).

(c) Amendment (verse 13). And the people did according to this promise.

(1) Conviction,

(2) confession,

(3) the solemn vow,

(4) the homeward stepthis is to walk in the way of recovery.C.

HOMILIES BY R.A. RADFORD

Neh 5:1-19

An example of successful activity for God.

A great practical reformation carried out by a religious ruler on the highest religious principles, and by the strength of religious character. No more difficult task than to deal successfully with such circumstances in which men’s selfish interests were involved, .and the monied classes would be against reform. Nehemiah, by his wisdom, boldness, and simple-minded appeal to God, achieved a marvellous success. Notice

I. The direct appeal to great MORAL AND RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES. We cannot do better than bring men face to face with conscience.

1. Humanity.

2. Patriotism. They are brethren.

3. Fear of God, who is no respecter of persons.

The Jews all professed to be rearers of God. All civil law and common life were based upon the Divine law. That which was manifestly displeasing to God could not be legally right. We acknowledge the same principle. All human law rests on the word of God. We cannot directly appeal to the letter of Scripture in dealing with ungodly men, but we may use it to make the law of nature clearer.

4. The universal conscience. “I set a great assembly against them.” No wrong-doers can withstand the appeal to the common sentiment of right. Educate the moral sentiment of society. and it becomes a protection against the self-will of individuals. Vox populi should be vox Dei. In a truly progressive society it will be more and more so. The great leaders of thought and action should not be afraid of making their appeal to great assemblies, in Nehemiah’s spirit.

II. AN EXAMPLE OF WISE METHOD. Much depends on method in every successful reformation.

1. The means used were moral. Remonstrance, persuasion, appeal to the heart and conscience. No violence. No craft. No resort to mere worldly expediency. No compromise of religious position. No truckling to rich men.

2. Personal character was brought to bear upon those whose conduct must be changed. Nehemiah’s moral indignation had great influence. His bold challenge of the wrongdoing. His appeal to his own example and that of others. His tender interest in the poor, and imploring earnestness in their cause.

3. While acting as a ruler, and with a ruler’s authority, the public feeling, is enlisted in support of reform. It is a great matter to enlist the sympathy of the majority.

4. In all practical measures and social reformations we should endeavour to unite the two forces of religious and civil law. “I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.” With solemn appeal to God, and in the presence of all the congregation, who “said Amen, and praised the Lord,” Nehemiah bound the wrong-doers to carry out their word.

III. An illustration of the BENEFICIAL EFFECT of decisive and speedy reform when effected on religious principles and by wise methods.

1. Liberation of human energy, both for the Church and for the state. What could the people do when they were so oppressed? How could they work with men who treated them so cruelly? All real reformation is the setting free of power for the future. We must not look at temporary inconveniences, but at permanent benefits.

2. The value of great moral and political precedents. Such an instance of heroic championship in the cause of God and humanity becomes an inestimable treasure for future generations. What power there is in the histories of all great reformations!

3. We cannot doubt that, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, the moral and social work which Nehemiah accomplished was intended to prepare the way for that more directly religious work which followed. All true reformation is a preparation for advancement. John the Baptist heralds the kingdom of God.

4. An immense service to the cause of righteousness when governors and statesmen identify their names with great movements for the lifting up of the people. Their self-sacrifice, their faithfulness, their victory become part of God’s word. God thinks upon them for good, and will make the world think of them. The best monument to a great man is “what he has done for the people.”R.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Neh 5:1-19

1And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. 2For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore we take up corn [perhaps, our sons and our daughters we mortgage, that 3we might buy corn] for them, that we may eat and live. Some also there were that said. We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth 4There were also that said, we have borrowed money 5for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet [and] now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children [sons] as their children [sons]: and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power [and our hand is not to God] to redeem them; for [and] other men have our lands and 6vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. 7Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. 8And I said unto them, We, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to 9answer [and found no word]. Also [and] I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our 10enemies? [And] I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants might, exact of 11[have lent] them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the 12wine and the oil, that ye exact of [lent] them. Then [and] said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then [And] I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. 13Also I shook my lap [bosom], and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performest not this promise [word], even thus be he shaken out and emptied [empty]. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise 14[word]. Moreover from the time that I was appointed [he (Artaxerxes) appointed me] to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my 15brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But [And] the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but [and] so did not I, because of the fear of God. 16Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my 17servants were gathered thither unto the work. Moreover [And] there were at my table a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides [and] those that came 18unto us from among the heathen that are about us. Now [and] that which was prepared for me (i.e., at my expense) daily [for one day] was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me (i.e., at my expense), and once in ten days store [large quantity] of all sorts of wine: yet [and] for all this required not I the 19bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people. Think upon [remember to] me, my God, for good, according to [om. according to] all that I have done for this people.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

1 Neh 5:5. The E. V. rightly supplies an equivalent to .

2 Neh 5:6. . This Niphal evidently carries the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan meaning of the verb. Comp. Dan 4:24 (27) where the derivative noun is used. The literal translation here is and my heart was consulted upon me. Why the lexicographers give it a Kal meaning I know not.

3 Neh 5:15. is rightly rendered besides. After the forty shekels salary they received the bread and wine.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Hindrances (2) from the Tyranny of Jews over one another

It might at first sight seem as if this episodical chapter was out of place, and should properly follow chap. 8; but there is no sound reason why we should not consider the complaint to have been made while all were engaged in the important work of fortifying the city, as a time when it would be the easier to remedy the evil under the pressure of the common danger.

Neh 5:2. We, our sons and our daughters, are many,etc. The error of the Heb. text here in writing rabbim for orebim (requiring only one letter prefixed in the Hebrew) is very evident (according to Houbigant), so that it should read in English, we have mortgaged our sons and our daughters that we might buy corn. Compare the structure of the next verse. The complaint was three-fold: 1. We mortgage our children for food. 2. We mortgage our estates for food. 3. We mortgage our estates for the royal tribute. In all these their brethren were the exactors, not only acting tyrannically towards them, but breaking the written law of God in its spirit (Exo 22:25-27) as well as in its letter (see Neh 5:7).

Neh 5:5. Neither is it in our power. Lit. and our hand is not to God. So Gen 31:29.

Neh 5:7. Then I consulted with myself.The Niphal use of malak (wayyimmalek) is peculiar, and suggests a peculiar sense in this place. The Syriac use of the word as consult (see Dan 4:24; Dan 4:27) is probably the right one here. Ye exact usury.The words refer both to the pledges and the interest (Neh 5:11). And I set a great assembly against them.In the midst of the necessity of the wall-building Nehemiah summons a great mass-meeting of the Jews (see the word Kehillah in Deu 33:4) to have this fraternal outrage stopped instantly by the force of public opinion.

Neh 5:8. The Jewish colony had probably often redeemed Jews from captivity.

Neh 5:9. Because of the reproach of the heathen.That is, so as to avoid giving them an opportunity to reproach us.

Neh 5:10. I likewise, and my brethren and my servants might exact of them.Rather: I likewise, that is, my brethren and my servants exact of them, or rather lent them. It is a confession of Nehemiah that he too was implicated from the fact that he had found his own family engaged in the oppression. Hence he says: let us leave off this usury. The law expressly forbade lending money to Jews on interest. See Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36; Deu 23:19. All the lands those rich men had acquired had been obtained in thisway.

Neh 5:11. This hundredth part was probably a monthly interest, that is, an interest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum. That ye exact of them. Rather: that ye lent them.

Neh 5:12. The moral force of the great assembly produced an immediate conformity to Nehemiahs demand. His action was a master-piece of management. The oath would have greater solemnity as administered by the priests.

Neh 5:13. My lap.This is the bosom of the outer garment (sinus tog), which was used as a pocket. (See for this significant action Act 18:6.)

Neh 5:14. This verse and those which follow form an interruption of the narrative. They show that Nehemiah was for twelve years governor of Judah, and did not write this history till the expiration of that time. The parallel between Nehemiah and Washington in refusing salary while saving the nation is striking.

Neh 5:15. Forty shekels of silver.This (like the interest in Neh 5:11) is probably to be reckoned for the month. The former governors had received their table and 480 shekels a year as salary. The 480 shekels would be only $360 in amount of silver; but this would represent in value a large official salary in that day.

Neh 5:16. A second point to which Nehemiah refers with satisfaction and as a proof of his disinterested conduct is his allowing no speculation in land on his own part or that of his immediate attendants.

Neh 5:17. A third point is his free entertainment of a hundred and fifty Jews, and besides this visitors from surrounding nations.

Neh 5:18. The bondage.The service needed to the king of Persia and also that which was needed for the restoration of their national welfare.

Neh 5:19. Think upon me, my God,etc.Rather: Remember to me for good all which I have done to this people. It becomes necessary sometimes for a man of God to declare his integrity against the oppositions and insinuations of enemies. In such cases he can without presumption expect God to vindicate His faithfulness. See Pauls words before the Sanhedrim (Act 23:1), and compare also 2Co 1:12; 2Co 4:4; 2Ti 1:3; Heb 13:18.

HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL

1. The advantage taken in troublous times for men to prey upon their associates and kindred exhibits the deep depravity of human nature. The violence of open enemies and the presence of surrounding dangers should have encouraged the virtue and piety of the Jews by the odiousness of the opposite and their sense of weakness and need of the Divine help. But as often sailors on a wreck, or as men (e.g. the Florentines) in the midst of the plague, have given themselves up to debauchery and revelling, so the Jewish remnant, persecuted and straitened, oppressed one another. It was no little bravery in Nehemiah to face these tigers of his own nation, while guarding Jerusalem from the foreign foe. A weak spirit would have reasoned that it was enough to do the latter, and that domestic evils must be endured until a more propitious time for their cure. That great assembly was a grand token of Nehemiahs marvellous energy and fertile resources.

2. Nehemiahs refusal of official salary was. like Pauls refusal of support at Corinth and Thessalonica (2Co 2:9; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8), a waiving of an undoubted right for the sake of the higher good. Summum jus summa injuria is a sentiment which every tender conscience must often put into exercise. It sees that the only right is to give up right. A sublime spirit discerns when lex, no longer rex, becomes nex.

3. Nehemiahs soul was frank with God. There is freedom of access to a throne of grace for every believer (Heb 4:16). Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people, is not a presumptuous conceit, but a child-like simplicity. The gross mind of the world would confound the two. Where we know that God has led us in paths of righteousness, we may well use that knowledge and encourage our souls by it. Nehemiah had but few around him who could reach high enough to sympathize fully with him, and it was thus his great comfort to pour out his soul, according to truth, before the God, whose good hand had guided him. God wishes no mock modesty from us. His grace in our hearts and lives should be acknowledged (comp. 1Ti 1:12).

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Neh 5:1-13. The most powerful hinderances to the development of the congregation. 1) That they are discords and separations, but especially the complaints of the poor against the rich. 2) Whence they arise: from want of love. 3) What do they teach: they challenge to a more powerful proving of love, and lead, when such proof is given, to a new impulse in the life of the congregation, but particularly to new praising of the Lord in common.

The old, and ever new, need 1) In what it consists; want, poverty, and misery are ever in the Lords congregation. 2) Whence this arises, a) From sin (that of others, but also our own), from laziness, discontent, ingratitude, etc. b) From Gods wise intention: He knows the sins, and wishes to remove them; He wishes to give opportunity to the rich to exercise their love, and to the poor to struggle against their discontent. 3) How it is removed: not through all sorts of new social regulations and lawsnot through home missionary societies, in so far as their work is scarcely experienced by the poor as a mark of love, and is easily looked upon by them as help owed to them, but through an awaking of the heart to the proving of true love and benevolence as the Lord ever anew renders possible.Starke: God scourges not alone with a single, but also at times with a double rod, and sends one cross and misfortune upon another. Job 10:17. But the godly have great consolations and promises on the other hand. Psa 33:19; Psa 37:19; Psa 37:25. Usury against our poor brethren is forbidden. Lev 25:36; Psa 15:5; Eze 18:13; Eze 22:12; for whoever builds his house with the property of others, gathers stones for his own grave. Sir 21:9. It is a bad case when we show ourselves to our fellow-Christians in such a way that they must sigh and cry to God against us. Gen 18:21; Sir 4:6.

Neh 5:7-13. What renders the admonition to exercise love effective? 1) Mildness in example. 2) Readiness of the preacher and his friends to take precedence in the example of love (Neh 5:10). 3) The assurance that God rejects the unloving from His communion, and robs him of His blessing (Neh 5:13).

Starke: Anger in office is not, indeed, forbidden, yet one should be angry so as not to sin, Psa 4:5, and moderate himself properly. Sir. 30:26. As storming showers beat down the grain to the earth, but gentle drops, on the contrary, revive and ripen it, so is it also with speech. Friendly language has more effect than severe rebuke, particularly with the irascible and people of rank, who cannot submit to hard reproof.

Neh 5:7-19. How important, but how difficult it is to go forward as an example in true proving of love. 1) How important (Neh 5:7-13). a) When one condemns hard-heartedness, but is himself hard-hearted, he shows that he was not in earnest in his condemnation. b) When one makes claim to the God of love against the unloving, but is himself unloving, he shows that he does not really possess the fear and faith of God, but hypocritically pretends to have it. c) Those who support their word by their actions always make the greatest impression. 2) How difficult. It is not sufficient to exercise love in that one particular in which one desires proofs of love, much more must love, self-denial, and self-sacrifice be shown in every relation (Neh 5:14), and indeed beyond common obligations (Neh 5:15), in spite of particular deeds, on account of which one could be entitled to make claims (Neh 5:16) in spite of the great sacrifice which the willingness for immolation imposes (Neh 5:17-18). Schluss: The example of true deeds of love is (Neh 5:19) particularly also so important on this account because it gives us the assurance and the joyful sentiment of the love and care of God, but it is always on this account so difficult because with sin is joined such want of love, so that we Christians can only find the prayer of Nehemiah (Neh 5:19) justified in the mouth of Christ, and only for Christs sake are allowed to dare to beg for Gods care and love.Starke: When necessity or other cogent reasons demand it, one should willingly forego that which otherwise he would with good reason demand and take. Mat 10:10; 1Co 9:18; 1Ti 5:18. He never rules well who does not do everything he can. God will reward good works, not according to the worthiness of the merit, but from grace. Luk 17:18.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

In this Chapter we are led to behold Nehemiah reforming certain abuses which had crept in among the people. He sets a noble example of liberality.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. (2) For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. (3) Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. (4) There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. (5) Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

Though in the laws by Moses, every provision was made for the happiness of Israel, in the several situations of poor and rich; yet there were then, as there is now, and from the same cause, the ruined state of our nature by the fall, many whose hearts felt not for the poor, but for the love of gain, and in direct defiance of God’s law, cared not but to oppose their brethren. We have here the complaint. The oppressed felt the evil, and cried out under it. What a sweet thought is it, under all the mortgaged state of our spiritual inheritance, our captive state to sin and Satan; we have a Brother, our next of kin, to redeem both our persons and our inheritance. Lev 25:25 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Neh 5

“And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews” ( Neh 5:1 ).

Nehemiah’s Hindrances

UP to this time Nehemiah and such as were willing to work with him had been engaged almost night and day in building the wall which he determined to reconstruct. Things have been going on with some excitement, because there were enemies among the heathen who were determined to do their very utmost to make the work of Nehemiah almost impossible. They tempted him, they threatened him, they scorned him: they left undone nothing that they could do to trouble his course, to foil his purposes, to cover his wishes and his plans with disappointment and mortification. Nehemiah, however, steadily pursued his way, with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other the people kept on building but in this chapter there is a new tone in the history. So long as the opposition came from Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian and the people who sympathised with them, all belonging to the camp of heathenism, Nehemiah went steadily forward, encouraging his people to pursue their toil hopefully and resolutely. But now the opposition is not from the enemy there is sedition within the ranks of Nehemiah’s own friends, or in the ranks of those who ought to have been his patriotic co-operators.

“There was a great cry of the people and of their wives,” not against the heathen, not against Sanballat and Tobiah, “but against their brethren the Jews” the wealthier Jews, the stronger men amongst them who wanted to make profit out of the difficulty of the case, who bought up the corn at one price and sold it at another who lent out money at usurious rates and oppressed the people in demanding a heavy percentage on the loans which they had granted; so that there was not only the heathen opposition, there was internal difficulty. Outward assault Nehemiah could manage, but this internecine strife, this domestic oppression, this tyranny within the household line troubled him with a new difficulty, oppressed him with a new discouragement. When a man’s foes are those of his own household, his heart simply gives way. “For it was not an enemy,” he might have said, “then I could have borne it” and it is the complaint of one that his familiar friend had lifted up the heel against him. And of Christ it is said, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

How difficult it is to permeate a whole nation with the spirit of high patriotism. Nehemiah will be faithful a man here and a man there may be equal to the occasion, but how difficult to inspire a nation with the common sentiment of distrust of the enemy, with the common sentiment of mutual confidence. If an enemy were assaulting England, there are men who would sacrifice all they had to defend their paternal shores, and there are also Englishmen who would be within the lines turning the occasion to selfish profit, building up their personal fortunes out of the catastrophes of the empire. This is exactly what the wealthier and better-to-do Jews did in the days of Nehemiah: they oppressed the hireling, they added toil to the labour of the weary man; their one purpose was to increase themselves, to aggrandise their possessions, no matter what became of the name of the Jews or the fortunes of Israel. How is it with us? How difficult it is to be public-spirited, to care anything for the line that is beyond our own threshold. There are men in whom it is impossible to awaken a public spirit. They are not necessarily bad men they may have many excellent virtues; they may be hospitable and kind: but rather than step forward and utter their voices in an exclamation that could be heard, they would be willing that the whole country should go down. Let us encourage them to take some interest in questions that lie beyond the little nut-shell of their own houses. Let us hear the younger people discussing great subjects, and we shall have hope of the country; but if they can talk upon nothing but the most gossipy and trivial themes, in that very fact we have a guarantee that the spirit of lofty self-sacrificing patriotism must go down.

Nehemiah was therefore discouraged by the brawling on one side and the oppression on the other, and there is a tone in brave, good Nehemiah’s voice that we have not heard before. Up to this time it has been a good round voice a mighty bell with a mighty clapper but now there is a wail in it, a threnody, a mournfulness that is very pathetic. A man that can stand against a whole army of heathen opponents may succumb when his own little child lifts its tiny fist against him. Said the grand old Scipio, he would rather that Hannibal, his enemy, should tear out his heart and eat it with salt, than that Lelias, his friend, should speak one cross word to him. So we feel that to encounter all the argument, so-called, and all the opposition and flippant chatter and miserable objections of infidelity, is nothing: but when those who wear the king’s badge lift up the hand of high treason or utter a word of sedition, then it is that the soldier’s heart reels, trembles, dies: for if his friends turn against him, what will not his enemies do? Get strength at home, constancy in the Church, unity in the redeemed fellowship, public spiritedness in the commonwealth; then

So shall it be with the Church of God, if every member, from the oldest veteran to her youngest child, shall be one and indissoluble and loving. Have we been faithless, inconstant, sympathising with the enemy? Then let us repent of the high treason, crawling as the traitor that ought not to be forgiven, and for the sake of the great drops of blood that fell from us in our agony we shall have one more chance in the Church.

What was this new tone in the voice of good, brave Nehemiah? He tells us

“And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words” ( Neh 5:6 ).

To see a noble people inflamed with a common sentiment, rising to demand the redress of an all but infinite wrong, is a picture on which no man can look, who has any spirit of patriotism or nobleness in him, without emotion and without religious thanksgiving. Take care that the rising does not become a mere fretfulness: let it be a holy and not a baleful fire, a lofty and sacred indignation, and not a miserable, petty self-protrusion and self-excuse. Nehemiah was very angry, but he still had himself to consult. A great man falls back upon himself “a good man shall be satisfied from himself.” Never give yourself away always carry about with you, however hot the indignation that may inflame, an inner sanctuary into which you can retire to study that which is right and to do justly, although there be a great provocation to vindictiveness and even to finality of punishment.

What a speech the grand man made! “I rebuked the nobles and the rulers.” Was he a noble? was he a ruler? Even though he was neither one nor the other, yet he was a noble and a ruler by the right of being right, and when a child is right he can make a giant quail. You that can crush a child by mere strength of muscle may be made to tremble before his pure glance, before his calm and searching look. He who is wrong is weak a giant in stature, an infant in power: gigantic outside, but within is the desolation of moral weakness. He, therefore, who has a right cause to plead, and pleads it in the right spirit, can rebuke kings, can chase mighty men. The elevation comes from the nobleness of the cause, not necessarily from the preeminence of the individual gifts. A weak man with a great cause will be mighty because of the greatness of the object which has challenged his attention and fascinated his energies. Therefore it is that God chooses oftentimes the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the strong things and the mighty. You will do good if you want to do good. The meanest soul can speak the right word, and the success of his ministry shall be not in the splendour of his individual genius, but in the earnestness of the soul, in the Tightness of the spoken word, in the fitness of the opportunity. How good is a word spoken in season! Do not therefore let us say, “We are not nobles, we are not rulers we have no right to speak,” for every man has a right to speak in a good cause. Let those who have been dumb for a lifetime speak soon, that it may be known which side they are upon.

What did the good man demand of the Jews? He set a great assembly against them, and said:

“We after our ability have redeemed [ Lev 25:48 ] our brethren [Nehemiah contrasts his own example with that of the rich Jews. He has spent money in redeeming some of his countrymen, who were in servitude among the heathen; they are causing others to be sold into slavery among the Jews] the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell [i.e. cause to be sold] your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us?” ( Neh 5:8 ).

That was the old method of rhetoric that was the Demosthenic plan appeal, interrogation, questioning, inquiry after inquiry like a shower of darts. How a question like this searches the conscience and makes the judgment sober, and causes the innermost heart to deliver up the key of its secret. “Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.” They were eloquent men when they had a good cause to plead, dumb men before the seat of judgment. So at the great day of assize, the eloquent orator, who could make the worse appear the better cause, shall be dumb before the charge that shall be laid upon him. Then the man of many words will be unable to frame one sentence in answer to the impeachment in which God shall involve him in the great day of the final audit. “Also I said, it is not good that ye do.” Now he puts it gently: having brought them to silence he wants to bring them over from a negative surrender to a positive submission, so he adds “it is not good that ye do.” Before, the charge was sharp, the accent was keen; the result was silence, want of answer on the part of those who were indicted. And Nehemiah construed their silence into a partial acknowledgment at least, and now he lures them with the skill of a mighty leader. He says, lowering the scalding water full ten degrees at once, and making it more tolerable on the scorching skin of those who had been scorched by the heat he says, “It is not good that ye do.” There is a way of uttering such words that suggests a platform of return, that opens a door of re-entry to those who had abandoned their high crimes “Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?” That is the eternal appeal, as if he had said, “Nobles and rulers of Israel, is there not enough to do in contending with the assaults that come from the outside has not Israel a common foe are there not men round about us, yea even within earshot of this brawling and controversy, and possibly overlooking all these nefarious dealings of yours, who rejoice in the ashes of the old Jerusalem, and sneer at the overthrow of the sacred Zion? Ought we not, therefore, to remember their eyes are upon us, their ear is open to our discussions; ought we not to unite to show a common front to the common enemy, and cause terror to enter into their hearts, because of the constancy of our faith and the perfection and incorruptibleness of our patriotism?”

It was a heroic appeal; it is the same appeal that stirs nations to-day, that causes the fainting to pluck the banner from the conqueror, and to cause the forlorn hope to bloom into a new and happy expectation. Now Nehemiah was not content with the appeal; he said:

“Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them” ( Neh 5:11 ).

A practical man was Nehemiah, and the people heard that grand sermon, and they said instantly, “We will restore them.” But Nehemiah was not content even with that promise; he instantly called in the priests, and the priests came forward, and that which the people had declared should be, was sealed by an oath that they should do according to their promise. The Lord send a Nehemiah into every land; a Nehemiah to lead every good cause; a Nehemiah to every section of the Church! An incorruptible patriot was Nehemiah; a man who sank his own individuality, his own ease, honour, fame, and everything that could possibly minister to his personal indulgence in the supreme desire to do good to the commonwealth of Israel.

Nehemiah was not content with the vow and with the oath he did something himself: he says:

“I shook my lap [compare Act 18:6 . By ‘lap; is meant what the Latins called the sinus, a fold in the bosom of the dress, capable of serving as a pocket], and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, [rather, And thus let him be shaken out] and emptied” ( Neh 5:13 ).

And then the people were made one, the true patriotic spirit seized them all: “The congregation said Amen, and praised the Lord,” and Israel, broken, shattered, divided, was made one that day, and by its very unity became a new terror to Sanballat and his malignant companions. And what more did Nehemiah? He not only made the eloquent appeal and brought the controversy to a very satisfactory and healthful conclusion, but he set a magnificent example. He would not eat the bread of the governor.

14. Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor [ i.e. “have not, like other Persian governors, lived at the expense of the people under my government”].

15. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver [not forty shekels a year from each person, as some suppose, but rather forty shekels a day from the entire province. For such a table as that kept up by Nehemiah ( Neh 5:18 ) this would be a very moderate payment]; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.

16. Yea, also I continued [ rather, I repaired; that is, as superintendent] in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land [I did not take advantage of the general poverty to buy poor men’s plots]: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.

17. Moreover [ The Speaker’s Commentary says: Translate, “Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews, one hundred and fifty rulers, beside those, etc” The governor entertained daily one hundred and fifty of the chief resident Jews, besides keeping open house for such as came on a visit to Jerusalem from foreign countries], there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.

18. Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox [comp. the provision for Solomon’s table ( 1Ki 4:23 )] and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine [wine was, no doubt, drunk every day; but the stock was renewed only once in ten days]: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy [the demands of the Persian crown upon the Jews, as its subjects, were heavy. Compare Neh 5:4 of this chapter, and chap. Neh 9:36-37 )] upon this people.

A glorious man the kind of man that has redeemed humanity, the unit that turns us poor cyphers into value. Is there no sacrifice for us to make, no leadership for us to take held of? If we cannot be Nehemiahs in the splendour of our personal qualifications, in the invincibleness of our persevering energy, we can at all events cheer the men and bless the leaders who do their best to make the country good and strong. We appeal to Christian men to be unselfish, to be noble, patriotic, public-spirited: to abhor all littleness, meanness, all sharp practice, all detestable conduct. We ask the church, by the spots of blood that make it singular in the eyes of the universe, to be noble and true. We call upon the redeemed, the blood-besprinkled church, to be incorruptible in its patriotism, noble in its every sentiment, self-sacrificing in disposition, ready to communicate in all things, to emulate the good of the past, that it may leave a legacy, a memorial, that shall cause it to be blessed by generations yet to come.

Note

On reviewing the character of Nehemiah, we seem unable to find a single fault to counterbalance his many and great virtues. For pure and disinterested patriotism he stands unrivalled. The man whom the account of the misery and ruin of his native country, and the perils with which his countrymen were beset, prompted to leave his splendid banishment, and a post of wealth, power, and influence, in the first court in the world, that he might share and alleviate the sorrows of his native land, must have been pre-eminently a patriot. Every act of his during his government bespeaks one who had no selfishness in his nature. All he did was noble, generous, high-minded, courageous, and to the highest degree upright. But to stern integrity he united great humility and kindness, and a princely hospitality. As a statesman he combined forethought, prudence, and sagacity in counsel with vigour, promptitude, and decision in action. In dealing with the enemies of his country he was wary, penetrating, and bold. In directing the internal economy of the state, he took a comprehensive view of the real welfare of the people, and adopted the measures best calculated to promote it. In dealing whether with friend or foe, he was utterly free from favour or fear, conspicuous for the simplicity with which he aimed only at doing what was right, without respect of persons. But in nothing was he more remarkable than for his piety, and the singleness of eye with which he walked before God. He seems to have undertaken everything in dependence upon God, with prayer for His blessing and guidance, and to have sought his reward only from God.

Prayer

Almighty God, thou dost grant unto man special moments: moments in which he sees his immortality, and knows it surely without doubt, and accepts it, not only without reluctance but with gratitude and delight and unutterable joy. If thou wilt grant us one such moment now, we shall be able to enter upon the engagements of the week with a sense of mastery and perfectness of dominion, and the world shall have no power against us. In the recollection of this lofty hour we shall pass through all the perils and engagements of the week as conquerors appointed of God. We ask thee now to open the door of heaven and let us overhear somewhat of the upper music. We ask thee to send a beam of light upon our life that shall enkindle upon it a glory above the brightness of the sun. We ask thee for a visitation of the Holy Spirit that shall animate us, renew our best purposes, recall our ambition from its debasement, and lift us up on high with a sure sense and a perfect and joyous consciousness of our sonship in God. We love the Saviour we love his name we gather around his cross, and as we touch it our dead bones live, all our hopes are re-enkindled, our delight is perfect in the Lord Jesus. Seeing therefore that we gather upon Calvary, and that every hand is laid upon the cross, that every heart is open with all its love to give welcome and rest and peace to the Son of God, enable us now to enter into the joy of our Lord. Keep us in the love of the truth keep us steadfast in thy holy cause save us from all hesitation, from all doubtfulness and uncertainty of mind may we know that we rest upon the One Rock that though the winds blow and the rains fall, yet our house cannot be overthrown. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXIII

THE EXPEDITION OF NEHEMIAH AND HIS WORK OF REBUILDING

Nehemiah 1-7

The period of time between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah is about twelve years. The leader of this expedition was Nehemiah, who was in all probability a man of princely Jewish blood, brought up and trained in a foreign land, a man of fine presence and splendid ability. He was a favorite of the king, Artaxerxes, and he was a true Jewish patriot. He was the “cupbearer” of the king. This was a position of great responsibility, and yet of great authority. He was skilled in the diplomacy and trickery of the Oriental courts, a man who knew men and affairs.

He received word from his brother, Hanani, that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the people afflicted. This news produced a remarkable effect upon him, and he prayed to the God of heaven and fasted, confessing the sins of the people. He prayed that God would enable him to speak to Artaxerxes the king at the right time and that he might receive favors from him.

About two months Nehemiah continued to pray, waiting for his opportunity, though he dared not manifest that sadness in his face. Kings do not like for their servants to be sad in their presence. But the deep grief of Nehemiah could not be completely hid. The king noticed it, asking him why he looked so sad, stating that it could only be sadness of heart. He gave his reason for his sadness. Then the king asked him if he had any request to make,, and in that moment Nehemiah prayed to the God of ‘heaven for help. He had matured his plans and had come to a conclusion as to what he should ask of Artaxerxes. So he requested that he be sent to Jerusalem and that the king give him letters so that he might safely go on his way without being hindered by their enemies.

The date of this decree is 445 B.C. It gave to “Nehemiah the special commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, including letters to Asaph, the keeper of ‘the king’s forest, which also caused much grief to the enemy. This is the first sign of opposition which grew more and more intense as the work went on. After some time Nehemiah with his bodyguard arrived safely. He was a man of great position in the empire, and must have had a strong guard with him. He makes no mention of his mission on his arrival. He preserves a very tactful silence. If his purpose had been known, his enemies would have at once set to work to defeat it. His practical turn of mind is shown in the fact that he chose the secret hours of the night to ascertain the condition of the walls of Jerusalem, thus being able to mature his plans, no one suspecting his purpose. When he had surveyed and noted the condition of the walls, and had seen just what had to be done, he summoned the leaders of the people, made his purpose known and organized his forces for the rebuilding. Then followed an appeal to the elders to consider their evil case and to arise and build and then he told them how the good hand of his God had been upon him. “So they strengthened their hands for the good work” but the opposition now is more manifest. They laughed them to scorn, but Nehemiah replied, “God will prosper us . . . you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah had organized his forces to perfection. The priest ly families began to build by the sheep gate which was the portion nearest to the Temple. They had a double incentive to work, viz: the protection of the city in which they dwelt, and the protection of that part of the city where their interests were. Nehemiah mentions many of the gates, e.g., the Fish Gate, which was probably at the northeastern entrance of the city. It was called the Fish Gate because the fish from the river Jordan and the Sea of Galilee were brought to the city from that side and through that gate. He mentions the old gate which was probably to the north of the city. The “tower of the furnace” probably refers to the potteries which existed in that day. The Valley Gate overlooking the valley of Ninnom opened west. The Dung Gate led out to the lower end of the valley of Hinnom on the southwest. The Fountain Gate probably led down to the Tyropean Valley on the south. The stairs led to the City of David. The next was the Horse Gate, but we do not know just where it was located. Thus he built the walls beginning at the east side and going around to the west and south. It is impossible to follow the construction exactly as Nehemiah built it. Only a small portion of this wall has been discovered, and that part is near Ophel. Hurlbut’s Bible Atlas is helpful here.

They built the walls in the face of opposition. No one knew that this would arise better than Nehemiah. He felt that the work must be rushed. The attitude of his enemies was characteristic. Anger in the first place gave place to scorn and contempt. Now Sanballat gathers his forces together to oppose Nehemiah. It was a trying time. The enemy mocked them (Neh 4:1-3 ), but Nehemiah set his prayers against the enemy and went forward.

Their third opposition was a conspiracy to fight, which was met on the part of Nehemiah by prayer and setting a watch against them, but just here a complaint came from Judah evidencing his lack of faith. It was threefold, viz: (1) The strength of the burden bearer is gone; (2) there is much rubbish; (3) the enemy is threatening. In view of this, Nehemiah made provisions for their safety, arming the people and setting them in battle array after their families and then he made a moat masterful plea: “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” The effect of this plea is seen in their vigilance and diligence. Half of them worked while the other half held the arms; those that worked had on the sword and worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Nehemiah set trumpeters for signal purposes; they did not take off their clothes not lay down their weapons for water, but with sleepless vigilance they pressed the work to completion and were able to say, “And so we built the wall . . . for the people had a mind to work.”

Now we have followed Nehemiah’s work to the time that the walls were rebuilt. Almost as soon as this work had been completed there occurred great destitution. This is set forth in Neh 5 . Nehemiah had been devoting his energies to the fortification of the city; now he must give his attention to the matters in the city.

So we now take up the reforms of commercial and social abuses by Nehemiah. In this fifth chapter we come face to face with conditions that give us a painful surprise. One would think that they would be happy indeed, now, but instead, they were sorely downcast by serious circumstances, in that great wrongs were heaped upon them. Nehemiah was brought face to face with a serious condition of affairs. A great cry was raised by both men and women who were concerned. They said that they were in dire straits of poverty. They had no food, and were in danger of starvation. The suffering was intense. Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, and vineyards and houses.” The implication really is that some of these had been taken away from them. Then they were without fields and vineyards, also without corn and wheat, things necessary to life. Then again, others said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and vineyards.” They even had to borrow money to pay the king’s tribute. Now we see that they were in sore straits when they had to borrow money to pay their taxes. But their distress does not stop here. We are told that some of them had to sell their own children in order to get bread to eat. “Lo, we bring unto bondage our sons and our daughters . . . for other men have our fields and our vineyards.” This is the condition with which Nehemiah was brought face to face.

Nehemiah was angry and said, “Then I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother.” He saw what had led to this state of affairs. It was just common greed and covetousness. Nehemiah was enraged. He called an assembly et the people, something like the old fashioned “Town Meeting” of New England. He says to them: “The thing ye do is not good: . . . I likewise, my brethren, and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.” The interest was about 12 per cent. All such interest was forbidden by the law of Moses. So Nehemiah issued a command ordering them to restore all this property. He called the priests together and took an oath of them that they were to see that this thing was done. Now this shows that the priests were the leading men in national life. They were to enforce the law. In order to impress it he says, “I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house who does not do this.” Just as one would take an apron with articles in it and shake them out, so God would do to them, which meant excommunication. They were to restore the fields and the vineyards which the people sorely needed and ought to have. Then he cites his own example (Neh 5:14-19 ): “From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah . . . I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor,” that is, he had not been collecting any salary. “But,” he says, “the former governors were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, and forty shekels of silver, but instead of that I fed one hundred and fifty of them at my own expense.” Then in Neh 5:19 he says, “Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.”

During all this time, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem had been trying to entrap him. They sought some way to entangle Nehemiah and stop the work. But Nehemiah had been trained in an Oriental court. He was used to trickery and deception, common in the life of an Oriental palace. Sanballat and Tobiah invited him down to the plain of Ono for a conference. That sounds like they wanted to be friends with Nehemiah. But he says, “I cannot come down: why should the work cease while I leave it, and come down to you?” He saw through the plan. Four times they sent him that invitation, but each time he replied that he could not come down. In Neh 6:5 he says that they sent him an open letter in which Geshem says, “You think to rebel. You have appointed prophets to preach among the people that you are to be king in Judah.” That is a clever story. The letter informs Nehemiah that they were going to report to Artaxerxes that he was planning to be king; that prophets were preaching in Jerusalem that Nehemiah was to be king. That is the same threat that the Pharisees used on Pilate: “Pilate, if you let this man go you are not Caesar’s friend.” It would have frightened an ordinary man. That very thing drove Pilate to put Jesus to death, when he knew that he was innocent. They sought to stop the work in that way, but Nehemiah prayed: “Now, O God, strengthen thou my hands.” So the work went right on. In Neh 6:10 is the record of another attempt. They employed a certain prophet to help them. He was one of those men who made divinations and was secured to entice Nehemiah. Nehemiah went down to the house of this man, who had been shut up under a vow. Then the prophet said to him, “Let us meet together in the house of God; . . . let us shut the doors of the Temple: for they will come to slay thee.” That was a very subtle proposition. But Nehemiah was too wise even for this trap. He says, “Should such a man as I flee? I have no right to go into the Temple. Am I going to do wrong to save my life?” No wonder God cared for and used this man! Then he discovered that God had not sent the prophet, but he had been hired by Tobiah and Sanballat.

The work went right on, and the wall was completed on the fifty-second day. Now what was going on in the city? Neh 6:17 tells us that the nobles of Judah sent letters to Tobiah and he to them. Nehemiah says, “They spake of his good deeds before me and reported my words to him.” Now that was treachery, but Nehemiah paid no attention to that. He saw clearly through it all. They were simply trying to make him afraid.

Now when the wall had been built he set up the doors and appointed porters and singers and Levites. He appointed his own brother to be governor over the city. This brother was appointed because he was a God-fearing man. He gives instruction about the city gates, as to their opening and so on. Now we are told about the houses and the inhabitants. The record says, “Now the city was wide and large but the people were few therein.” Many Texas cities are like Jerusalem in that they are large and wide, but the houses are not yet built and the people few.

Now he had built the walls and set up the gates. Next he finds the book of the genealogy. That is the same as the list in Ezr 7 . The Apocryphal book, 1 Esdras, also contains a similar list. But why was it repeated here? It was taken from the same list from which Ezra’s was taken and is in accord with the great emphasis which the Jews put on their genealogies. This was necessary for the identification of all who had thus come to Jerusalem and confirms the account given by Ezra. There are no important differences no more than we might expect in two separate genealogical lists prepared by different persons. But there is a special advantage in having the two lists, viz: they enable us to make out a more complete catalogue of those who came at the first, though either list was sufficient for the purpose of identification.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the time period between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah?

2. How did Nehemiah come to know the condition of Jerusalem and according to this report what was the condition?

3. How did this affect Nehemiah and what did he do?

4. What of the providence of God in answer to his prayer and what was the lesson on the relation of prayer and works?

5. What date of this decree and what special commission did it give?

6. What effect of this decree on the enemy?

7. How did Nehemiah commence the work of Jerusalem?

8. What his appeal, what was the first opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?

9. How did Nehemiah distribute the work and what was the lesson?

10. Locate as nearly as you can the parts of the wall which were assigned to the various companies to build.

11. What was the second opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?

12. What was the third opposition of the enemy and how did Nehemiah meet it?

13. What was Judah’s complaint and what was the masterful plea made by Nehemiah in reply?

14. What indicates their great vigilance and diligence?

15. What complaint came to Nehemiah from the people?

16. How did this affect Nehemiah, what course did he take and what the result?

17. How does Nehemiah show his spirit of generosity and unselfishness?

18. After the wall was completed what artful proposition came from the enemy to Nehemiah, what was his course in the matter and what lesson for us?

19. How then did they try to entrap Nehemiah and what saved him from their scheme?

20. How long was the wall in building, what effect on the enemies, what embarrassing fact to Nehemiah here revealed, and what provision was made for the continued safety of Jerusalem?

21. Why should Zerubbabel’s register of names occur here also, are there any important differences between the two lists, and what the special advantage in having the two lists?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Neh 5:1 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.

Ver. 1. And there was a great cry ] Such as seditious ones use to set up in their outrageous uproars; or such as is the expression of great grief and anguish of heart.

Of the people ] The ignobile common people, a most dangerous and heady water, when once it is out.

And of their wives ] Who being pinched with penury, made piteous outcries. Invalidum omne, natura querulum. Significat clamorem vel querulum, vel imperiosum, iracundum, minacem (Seneca).

Against their brethren the Jews ] The richer sort, who oppressed them and drew them before the judgment seats, as St James hath it of the Jews of his time; for they were no changelings. Let the Philistines bind Samson, and he can bear it; but do not you lay hands on me, saith he to his countrymen. Scipio had rather Hannibal should eat his heart with salt than Laelius give him a cross word. Had it been mine enemy, saith David, I could have digested it. So could these poor creatures far better have borne the insolencies of strangers than the oppressions of fellow brethren. Tacitus tells us, that in his time the Jews were very merciful to those of their own nation, and cruel to all others, Misericordia in promptu apud suos, &c. But here their own complain, and this was doubtless a great grief to good Nehemiah.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Nehemiah Chapter 5

But there is another and a most sorrowful state of things which the 5th chapter reveals to us, and that is, the heart was wrong with considerable part of the remnant. And another thing, too, is very sorrowful. It was not only that the nobles of Tekoa failed when the rest were faithful in the work; but here “is a cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.”

“We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards and houses that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters.” Nehemiah was very angry, and “rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye, even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer. Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?” (vers. 3-9).

So he pleads with them, and the consequence is that his rebuke was blessed of the Lord. “Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them that they should do according to this promise” (verse 12). But he added a most solemn denunciation of such conduct for the future. “Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.”

There is nothing like example. If you want devotedness, the great thing is to begin with yourself. Be you devoted individually. If you want love, show love. You will very often find that the men who most claim love are those that least manifest it. Now that is not the way of God, and so it is, beloved friends, not merely with love – take lowliness. Who is it that most complains of the pride of others? The proudest men among you. Now, my friends, that has nothing to do with position. You may find a man who is what men would call in a good position after the flesh or the world, and the man who wants to pull him down has a great deal more pride than the man who is in that position, even supposing the richer man may not be all that one could wish. But then we have to take care of our spirit, beloved brethren. We have to take care of what our object is.

Now, I do not say this with regard to a man wanting to maintain his place; but I do say that the spirit that seeks to pull down is as sure pride as can be found in this earth, and that what God looks for is this: no matter in what position we are, we should all seek to be found according to Christ; but to dictate to others, or to wish to deal with others, is a poor way of accomplishing the will of the Lord, or carrying out His glory. Nehemiah did not act thus. “Moreover,” says he, “from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.” There was grace, nay, more than that. “But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work (vers. 14-16).

Nor was this all. “Moreover, there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people. Think upon me, my God, for good; according to all that I have done for this people.” He loved them, and there were the fruits of it most manifest.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 5:1-5

1Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2For there were those who said, We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live. 3There were others who said, We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine. 4Also there were those who said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.

Neh 5:1 there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers The term outcry (BDB 858) is used often of an outcry heard by God (e.g., Exo 3:7; Exo 3:9; Exo 22:23; 1Sa 9:16; Job 27:9; Job 34:28; Isa 5:7; Zep 1:10). Often this is in a legal sense (cf. The Jewish Study Bible, p. 1694). Notice the legal term control in Neh 5:7.

The rich Jews were exploiting the circumstances of the rebuilding of the walls to gouge their Hebrew brothers (cf. Neh 5:7) . This was a serious problem which was undermining the economic and military stability of the new nation.

Neh 5:2 for there were those who said Their statement has two COHORTATIVES and an IMPERFECT used as a COHORTATIVE. There were three main complaints: (1) the physical needs of a large population during a famine (cf. Neh 5:3); (2) they had mortgaged their property for food (the necessities of life); and (3) they had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax (cf. Ezr 4:13). The problem was not usury (Jews loaning money to Jews and charging interest, cf. Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36), but that the rich Jews were demanding a pledge (a physical guarantee) until the loan was paid. This meant a forfeiture of property.

Neh 5:3 we are mortgaging This VERB (BDB 786, KB 876 Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) means to give in pledge. The common people were being forced to use their ancestral land, even their homes, as surety for a loan.

Neh 5:4 the king’s tax If food was not the need then governmental revenue was. Persia expected revenue from her provinces (cf. Ezr 4:13) and assessed a land tax.

Neh 5:5 we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves The writings of Moses allowed Jews in debt to sell themselves as servants, but not slaves (cf. Exo 21:2-6; Lev 25:39-43; Deu 15:12-18).

Debtors also were forced to use their children as payment to creditors (e.g., Exo 21:7-11; 2 Kings 4; 2 Kings 1).

NASBforced into bondage

NKJVare brought into slavery

NRSVhave been ravished

TEV, NJBhave already been sold as slaves

This VERB (BDB 461, KB 460, Niphal PARTICIPLE) means subdue (cf. Gen 1:28), but can mean assault (e.g., Est 7:8). The context already mentioned slavery, so this is an intensified attack against selected young women (implication is that they were turned into sex slaves). Brown, Driver, and Briggs (p. 461, VERB kbs #2) says that this term is related to ‘gh (cf. Eze 23:11).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

a great cry. So there were troubles within as well as without. Compare 2Co 7:5.

the people = the common people, in contrast with the nobles and rulers (Neh 5:7), who had returned with Nehemiah.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 5

Now in chapter 5, further problems arose, and this time from within. If Satan can’t defeat you from his forces from without, then he seeks to wreck you from the forces within. Many times the greatest enemies of the church aren’t the atheists or those godless forces outside the church, but it is actually the church itself. Factions within the church. And usually the thing behind it all is jealousy, which springs, usually, in the church from greed. “Oh, the church is being blessed more than we are.” And the tragedy of the infighting that goes on within the church! You would think that the church would wake up to the fact that we are all one body working together for one King, one Lord.

Someone this morning was telling me of some pastor here in Orange County who warned his people not to go to Calvary Chapel. Well, that’s fine. We don’t have room for them anyhow. But I’m not worried about you going to another church. I thank God that people from Calvary Chapel are filling all the churches around the area, because wherever they’re going they’re taking the love of Jesus Christ with them, and the love of Christ is sparking revival and a work of God all over the place. And to me that’s exciting that God is working.

And it’s a tragic thing that the churches cannot realize that we should be striving together for the cause of Christ. Our problem is that we haven’t properly identified the enemy. Our enemy isn’t the church across town that’s being greatly blessed of God. Far be that from being an enemy. That’s a joy and a blessing and something to rejoice and praise God for, not to get jealous about or envious because the Lord is working in their behalf in such a wonderful way. “Oh, but they’re Baptist, you know.” God loves the Baptists, the Nazarenes; He even loves us. And we need to realize the oneness of the body, and when one member is exalted, they are all exalted. And when one area is being blessed, we’re all being… it’s the kingdom that’s being blessed. I’m a part of the kingdom.

How thankful I am for the day that God delivered me from narrow sectarianism and allowed me to see the whole body. Where I didn’t any longer have to feel jealous because another church was prospering or being blessed. But I could rejoice because the whole kingdom of God is expanding and rejoice with all my heart. And I believe that I can say with all honesty, and of course, only God knows my heart, but I rejoice in every great work of God around the country that people are being brought to Jesus Christ. I thank God for the ministry of Jerry Falwell and for the ministry of Pat Robertson and these others who are touching so many people for God. Rex Humbard. So many of these fellows who are just being used to reach so many lives. Praise God for it!

Now, I may not agree with their methods. Nor I may not agree with them all the way in the various aspects of the doctrines. And yet, I shouldn’t allow what minor differences that we may have to stand in the way of the rejoicing and the fact that God is using them, and through them people are being brought into the kingdom of God.

Paul acknowledged that there were people there in Rome who were preaching Christ from different kinds of motivations. He said, “I could care less. Christ is being preached. Praise the Lord! They think that they’re adding to my own bonds and afflictions. They think that it’s bothering me but not so. I rejoice that Christ is being preached.” And that needs to be our attitude.

But the next problem that came to them actually came from within. It’s no longer Tobiah and Sanballat and the outside forces that are seeking to hinder the work of God. But now it’s forces from within. And so often Satan will begin to strike from within. And not only will he strike by divisions and strifes within the body, but also by the introduction of many what I call sterile ideas or beliefs that he will inculcate within the body of Christ. And these sterile doctrines have the effect of destroying a person’s fruitfulness. When a person is sterile he can no longer reproduce. And there are certain doctrines that will create spiritual sterility. They’re not so evil or awful of themselves, but the effect of them is that they will keep you from really beginning to or continuing to reproduce for Jesus Christ. You become sterile.

So many of the doctrines that make the person so totally inward. Looking at myself. Looking at my own conditions. “I’m not worthy to bring anybody to Christ until I’m mature enough to shepherd them into full maturity. Therefore, I shall not witness anymore until my shepherd tells me that I’m capable and mature enough to shepherd someone to full maturity.” Well, what is the effect of that? It stops me from witnessing. It creates a sterility. And soon those groups are just feeding off of themselves. They are no longer really a real light within a community.

The deliverance. Devil, devil, who’s got the devil? And so anxious to go around and exorcise whatever demon may have come into the room tonight. And if you burped, you’re guilty of having the demon of gluttony and so exorcism is in order. Well, you get so inbred, and of course, you know the effect of inbreeding is idiocy. And it’s also sterility. You get to where you just don’t reproduce healthy sheep any longer. Satan, his attacks from within the church.

What happened here in Israel is that there were certain people, and the priests were among them, and the rulers who took advantage of the people’s plight. And the people needed to borrow money in order to plant their crops and these guys were charging exorbitant interest so that they weren’t able to pay back the money and they were having to give their crops for the money. Then they started selling their children as slaves in order to get enough money to exist. And they were having large families; they just couldn’t feed their families. And the rulers were just taking advantage of the people and putting them into total bondage. And here were families selling their daughters and their sons as slaves in order that they might just get by. And it was great discouragement to the people because of the high interest and the advantage that the wealthy class were taking over the poor class. Actually, just making themselves richer and richer while they were oppressing the poor.

And this really got to Nehemiah and he called these rulers together and he said, “What you are doing is not right. Let’s get rid of this usury. These high interest rates that you’re charging. Set the servants that you bought free and let’s start having an equanimity among us.” And so they hearkened unto Nehemiah and they obeyed his voice. He was so upset he just shook his lap and he said, “And so let God shake the person who is guilty of this exorbitant interest rates and the oppressions over his brothers.” And so the people agreed to it. They all said, “Amen,” and they praised the Lord together.

Now Nehemiah was a beautiful example unto the people in that he did not take a salary from the people. He did not take of their taxes, but he supported himself completely all the while that he was there. Not exacting taxes upon the people in order that he might live a luxurious kind of life. The governors that had been there before him all lived off of the people, but Nehemiah lived off of his own resources, showing really that his heart was in his office. It was not just a job; it was a real calling of his heart. And he even fed his guests, and he had 150 people eating at his table everyday. So it took one oxen, a half a dozen sheep and all to feed all of these people that came. But he took all of that out of his own pocket. And at the end of the chapter he says:

Lord, think upon me for good [because I’m a pretty good guy] according to all that I have done for this people ( Neh 5:19 ).

Now Nehemiah went a step further than I would ever dare to go at that point. I have never asked the Lord to think upon me for good, for the good that I have done. I always just say, “Think upon me, Lord, in grace and in mercy because You are gracious and merciful. Lord, think about me.” And I come to God on the basis, not of what I have done or the good of my own life, but I always come to God on the basis of His grace and His mercy.

There are times when I might be tempted to come to God on my own goodness right after I have done some gracious, benevolent act. But I’d have to come in a hurry, because I might not be able to come in ten minutes because I can blow it so quickly. So I would just rather come on the basis of God’s grace and mercy, because then I can always come. The door is never closed. It’s always open to me. I’m never turned away, because God is gracious and God is merciful unto those that call upon Him.

But Nehemiah had done a very magnanimous job and in a magnanimous way, and thus, he asked the Lord to think upon him for good for the good that he had done to the people. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Neh 5:1-5

Introduction

NEHEMIAH’S HANDLING OF A SEVERE SOCIAL CRISIS

There are conflicting views of reputable scholars regarding the nature of this chapter. Whitcomb labeled it “parenthetical”; but Williamson divided the chapter into two sections, making Neh 5:1-13 a description of a crisis that came during the building of the wall, but admitting the rest of the chapter as a later parenthetical addition. Of the first section he wrote that, “The wives … were more conscious of the approaching calamity, because they were having to manage at home while their husbands were engrossed in the wall-building.”

There are a number of reasons why this writer accepts the viewpoint that the whole chapter is parenthetical and that it was included at this point in Nehemiah’s memoirs for reasons which we believe will appear later in the narrative.

“This parenthetical chapter describes how Nehemiah succeeded in stopping the practice of usury, which resulted in extreme poverty and even bondage for many Jews. There is also a record here of Nehemiah’s example of unselfishness and generosity during his twelve years as governor.”

It seems to this writer that Nehemiah might well have included this chapter just here as an advance glimpse of the evil nobles who, along with the priests, would eventually vigorously oppose Nehemiah’s reforms.

Neh 5:1-5

A MAJOR SOCIAL CRISIS CONFRONTS NEHEMIAH

“Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many: let us get grain that we may eat and live. Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth. There were also those that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and our vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

There are three classes of protesters here: “These were (1) the landless who were desperately short of food (Neh 5:2), (2) the landowners who, because of famine had been compelled to mortgage their properties (Neh 5:3), and (3) those who had been forced to borrow money at exorbitant rates to meet the Persian king’s property taxes (Neh 5:4).”

Man’s inhumanity to man is tragically visible in the sad circumstances that precipitated this uprising of the people.

There are also three causes of the situation, as enumerated by Rawlinson. “These were over-population (Neh 5:2), recent famine (Neh 5:3), and heavy taxation (Neh 5:4).”

“Because of the dearth” (Neh 5:3). “Dearth is the usual word for famine, as in Gen 12:10, and in many other places.”

One reason for accepting this chapter as a record of events unrelated to the wall-building, is this mention here of a widespread shortage of food, due to famine. There was no hint of such a shortage during the building of the wall; besides that, “The wall-building did not take long enough (less than two months) to cause widespread suffering.”

“For other men have our fields and our vineyards” (Neh 5:5). Keil explained the tragic significance of these words: “Since our fields and vineyards belong to others, what they produce does not come to us, and we are not in a position to be able to put an end to the sad necessity of selling our sons and our daughters for servants.”

E.M. Zerr:

Neh 5:1-2. We take up means they needed corn for their children. They complained that the need was urgent because there were many of them. For this great need they were crying to Nehemiah.

Neh 5:3. Some of the people claimed they had to mortgage their properties because of the shortage, to get food for their families.

Neh 5:4. Still others complained that they could not pay the tax required by the king, until they borrowed money. And the loan had to be secured by their land and vineyards, the very sources of their living.

Neh 5:5. The poorer Jews were being thus oppressed by their more fortunate brethren. They protested having their children, which they called their own flesh, to be placed at the mercy of their brethren. They insisted, and with truth, that the flesh or bodies of them and their children was just the same as that of their more fortunate brethren, as far as value was concerned. They declared that their plight was not to be helped, on account of the hold the lenders had on them.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

A new difficulty now presented itself. This time it arose among the people themselves. The rich among them exacted usury from their poorer brethren to such an extent as to oppress and impoverish them.

Perhaps nowhere in the story does the nobility of Nehemiah’s character more clearly manifest itself than here. There is a fine touch in his declaration, “I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles.” His consultation with himself resulted in his determination to set an example of self-denial in that he took no usury, or even the things which were his right as the appointed governor of the people. Such an example produced immediate results in that all the nobles did the same. Thus the people were relieved, and were filled with joy; and consequently went forward with their work with new enthusiasm.

From the position of personal rectitude a man is always strong to deal effectively with wrong in others. Contention with nobles who are violating principles of justice, which is not preceded by consultation with self, is of no avail. When the life is free from all complicity with evil, it is strong to smite it and overcome it in others.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Securing Justice for the Poor

Neh 5:1-19

The prospects of the poor people among the returned exiles were deplorable. There had been deficient rains and poor harvests, Hag 1:6-11. They had mortgaged their lands to their richer brethren, and had even sold their children to pay the royal taxes and procure means of subsistence. The rich had taken advantage of their necessities, oppressing them with grievous exactions and heavy usury. When Nehemiah heard of it, he seems to have withstood the wrong with strenuous protest, depending on his God for support. And, in a great assembly, he carried the day against selfishness and greed. There is nothing here to condemn mortgage, or interest in themselves. Each is a legitimate method of trade, except when undue advantage is taken of a brothers necessities. The Neh 5:14-19 were evidently added at a subsequent period to the rest of the chapter, and relate the habits of Nehemiahs administration. How full is this book of ejaculatory prayer! Even from his writing-table, this true-hearted man would lift up his eyes to God.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 5

Internal Strife

Outside foes may rage, but they cannot really harm the people of God if there be love and harmony within. Only, writes the apostle, let your conversation (the conduct) 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(Php 1:27-28). The contrary is involved in the warning given by James: Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work (Jam 3:16). And this Paul also set before the Galatians, when he wrote: If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another (Gal 5:15). The sheep of the Lords flock need to keep close to the Shepherd and to one another if they would be guarded from the prowling wolves who ever seek their destruction. But how sad, and what shame it is when they fall to devouring one another, thus giving place to the devil. Of this we are warned in the happenings narrated for our instruction in this chapter.

The opening verses of this fifth chapter remind us of the beginning of the 6th of Acts: And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many, and we must procure corn for them that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards and houses, that we might buy corn in the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already; neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards (vers. 1-5).

What a pitiable state of affairs is portrayed here by the simple narrative of the complaints of the people against their own brethren! The worst of it all was, that the accusations were true; and the demands of the usurers were so far as business principles are concerned, such as all nations recognize as legitimate. But Gods people were not to be guided by such principles. From the beginning He had told them not to exact usury of their brethren, but rather to make provision for the poor, as giving unto Him. They had all been in poverty once, and He had enriched them according to the grace of His heart, not according to their deserts. Alas, how soon had they forgotten this when it came to dealing with one another.

And what sorrows have come upon the children of God in all dispensations because of this very thing! The full manifestation of grace in the present age has not hindered the same mercenary spirit often appearing among those who owe all to the mercy of God. We have already referred to Acts 6; and the conditions prevailing in the assembly at Corinth, long after, were the fruit of a similar state. Brother dragged brother to law, and that before the unjust-men who, whatever their reputation in the world, were not suited to deal with things in the Church. How incongruous are such conditions with the grace of Christianity!

Nor is it only in connection with temporal things that such a spirit has been manifested, but, alas, in fancied zeal for the holy things of God how often has the same evil principle of exaction prevailed. Questions have arisen, often of the most perplexing character, concerning which an almost instantaneous judgment has been demanded; and if tried souls and weak gatherings have not been able to bow to the ipse dixit of certain carnal leaders, excision or excommunication have been resorted to, in defiance of the word of God and the Spirit of Christ. What is all this but the same thing prevailing in spiritual matters which wrought so much havoc in these temporal affairs?

Oh for more men who, instead of tacitly acquiescing in these unholy conditions, are stirred to a righteous anger by such un-Christlike ways! Nehemiahs righteous soul was moved to indignation, and with the assurance that came from knowing he sided with God, he rebuked the nobles and the rulers for thus exacting usury of their brethren. The matter was brought up for open consideration in a great assembly, and the guilt of the leaders charged home upon their consciences before all the people. We, he says, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? They were speechless; what answer could they make?

Apply it to conditions such as I have referred to above. Think of the toil, and labor that have been expended by devoted servants of Christ to bring lost sinners to His feet. Think of the ministry exercised afterwards to lead on these young converts and establish them in the truth. Think of the pastoral care exercised by earnest, faithful men who knew them as individual members of the flock of Christ-not as a mass without heart or conscience-and then think of the spirit of exaction that can press some test-question on such saints, and ruthlessly cut off and cast out souls for whose blessing others have labored so persistently-and this by men who profess to act for God and to seek His glory!

Oh, brethren, let us listen to the words of Nehemiah and bow our head in the dust if we have been parties to such unholy ways. It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the heathen our enemies? I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil that ye exact of them (vers. 9-11).

These are suited words for the present solemn time when God has been exercising many as to the very things of which we have been speaking. It is not a time to demand the uttermost farthing of one another, but rather to heed the word, I pray you, let us leave off this usury. If we have been guilty of robbing any of our brethren of their blood-bought privileges, let us hasten to restore what we can ere the Lord arise as their champion and we be put to shame. For He has said, Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My names sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed (Isa 66:5). Cutting and comforting words are these, mingled by the Lord Himself. Oh, for a heart to take heed to them ere it be forever too late!

On the part of the rulers in Judah there was an instant response when the words of Nehemiah had moved them to repentance. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest (ver. 12). And this was sealed with an oath, and further confirmed by a graphic action on the part of the Tirshatha. He shook his lap and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And this was attested by the solemn Amen! of the congregation, who praised the Lord for the mercy shown. It was the same spirit that led the apostle Paul, long afterwards to write: I would they were even cut off that trouble you!

In the closing verses, Nehemiah contrasts his own behaviour with that which he had so severely censured. One is again reminded of Paul. It was an occasion where he was compelled to speak as a fool that he might close the mouths of any gainsayers. He relates how that from the day of his appointment as governor he had never availed himself of the perquisites of his office that he might not be burdensome to the people whose blessing he sought.

Former governors had felt free to do this, but the fear of God restrained him from doing the same. Instead, he had kept open house for a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides strangers from the surrounding villages. He was one who had learned that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and he acted accordingly.

The people might forget all this-alas, too often do; but he cries, Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people (ver. 19). This may seem to savor of self-complacency, but who of us would dare judge so devoted a servant? And again we need to remind ourselves that the dispensation of grace had not yet dawned. Law was still in the ascendant, and the spirit shown by Nehemiah is so beyond his age that we can only give thanks for what God had wrought in the soul of His dear servant, while we pray for wisdom and grace to serve His people in our own generation unselfishly, and in the Spirit of Christ, leaving all question of reward to be settled at His judgment-seat.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Neh 5:15

I. First let me put the main principle that lies here in these words: nothing will go right unless you dare to be singular. “So did not I.” The chief field for the exercise of this resolute non-compliance with common practice is in the region of moral action in the daily conduct of your lives. (1) He who yields is wrecked and ruined. (a) The absolute necessity for this sturdy resistance is plain from the very make of our own natures, (b) It is enforced if we think of the order of things in which we dwell. (c) It is chiefly enforced by the fact that every one of us is thrown more or less closely into contact with people who themselves are living as they should not, and who would fain drag us after them. (2) Remember that not only does easy yielding to such enticements bring all sorts of moral confusion and failure into a man’s life, but that such compliance is in itself weak and unworthy. Surely there is nothing that walks the earth more contemptible, as well as more certainly evil, than a man that lets himself be made by whatever force may happen to be strongest near him, and fastening up his helm and unshipping his oars, is content to be blown about by every vagrant wind and rolled in the trough of each curling wave. (3) Another very solemn consideration may be suggested, enforcing the need of this vigorous non-compliance with the temptations around us, from the remembrance of what a poor excuse for wrong-doing they will be found to be at last.

II. You cannot resist the evil around you unless you give yourselves to God. “So did not I, because of the fear of God.” God in Christ, trusted in, loved, reverenced, obeyed, imitated-God in Christ alone strengthens a man for this resistance and non-compliance. (1) In Christ we have an all-sufficient pattern. There is a Man whom it is safe and blessed to imitate-the Man Christ Jesus. (2) That fear of God which is all transfused and mingled with the love of Him gives us next an all-powerful motive. (3) The fear of God strengthens us for resistance because it gives us an omnipotent power in ourselves whereby we resist.

As the secret of all negative forbearance from evil, take for your watchword “So did not I, because of the fear of God.” As the secret of all positive allegiance to God, let your motto be “The love of Christ constraineth me.”

A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 3rd series, p. 89.

Reference: Neh 5:15.-H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1716.

Neh 5:19

If we use this motto of Nehemiah, we must live in the spirit of Nehemiah.

I. We must think on God and God’s glory. Let us be interested in Zion, concerned in the decay of Jerusalem, grieved because religion does not make the progress it ought to do. Let us be concerned about the assaults made on Jerusalem, whether by scepticism, or worldliness, or superstition. Let us care for Jerusalem and be zealous for its building up and its defence.

II. Let us be willing to sacrifice ease, and luxury, and pleasure for the toils and sufferings of the people of God. Nehemiah gave up much. He laboured for the benefit of Jerusalem and Zion. Let us follow his example and be practical in our sympathy. Let us be diligent in service, and then we may leave our welfare and our earthly happiness to God’s care. “Think upon me, my God, for good.”

III. There are two essential things in saying, “my God”-a personal reliance on Him for salvation and a personal consecration to His service. Faith in Christ involves surrendering ourselves to Christ. Are we imitating Him and walking in His way? Let us yield ourselves to Him and avow that the Lord is our God.

Newman Hall, Penny Pulpit, No. 711.

Reference: 5-Parker, Fountain, Sept. 27th, 1877.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 5

1. The complaint of oppression (Neh 5:1-5)

2. Nehemiahs rebuke and demands (Neh 5:6-13)

3. Nehemiahs generosity (Neh 5:14-19)

Neh 5:1-5. The internal conditions among the toiling people were serious. The work which was done in rebuilding the walls was a labor of love; no wages were paid. As the people were thus engaged their other occupations, including agriculture, had to be neglected. As a result the poor had been driven to mortgage their lands, vineyards and houses in order to buy corn, because of the dearth. The rich had taken advantage of this and had enslaved their sons and daughters, and there seemed to be no prospect of redeeming them. The rich Jews by usury oppressed the poor, who had lost their lands and houses. There was therefore a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. It was a sad condition; the enemy was doing his work in the camp (Act 6:1). Oppression of the poor is especially displeasing to God and His Spirit condemns and warns against it (Amo 2:6; Amo 5:12; Amo 8:4-8; Pro 14:31; Pro 22:16; Pro 28:3; and Jam 5:1-6).

Neh 5:6-13. Righteous Nehemiah, when he heard all this, was moved with indignation and righteous anger took hold on him. Nehemiah, the Governor, writes, I consulted with myself. No doubt much prayer was connected with this self consultation. He then rebuked the nobles and rulers for having done what the law of God forbids and condemns (Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36-37; Deu 23:19; Psa 15:5) to exact usury. A great assembly was called in which their conduct was denounced unsparingly. We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem he had freed those Jews who were in bondage to the heathen on account of some debt, and these rich usurers were selling their own brethren. They had no answer to give but were convicted of their evil deeds. He then demanded full restitution, Restore, I pray you, to them even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye exact of them. The appeal was effectual. They were at once ready to restore, to require nothing more of them, and to do all Nehemiah had demanded. It was a great victory. Had the oppression continued and the internal strife, it would have resulted in disaster. How often these internal strifes and acts of injustice have brought reproach upon the people of God, and dishonor to that worthy Name! (Gal 5:15; Jam 3:16.) They had to give an oath to do this, and solemnly Nehemiah shook his lap and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, who performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out and emptied. An Amen from the great congregation followed, and they acted upon the promise.

Neh 5:14-19. The closing verses show the generosity and self-denying character of this man of God. It reminds us somewhat of the apostle Paul and his testimony concerning himself (1Co 4:12; 2Co 12:15-16; 1Th 2:9-10). In all he had done as a servant of God he had the comfort that God knew and would be his Rewarder. Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. He will have his reward, and so will all His people, who serve in behalf of Gods people as Nehemiah did.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

a great cry: Exo 3:7, Exo 22:25-27, Job 31:38, Job 31:39, Job 34:28, Isa 5:7, Luk 18:7, Jam 5:4

their brethren: Lev 25:35-37, Deu 15:7-11, Act 7:26, 1Co 6:6-8

Reciprocal: Exo 21:2 – an Hebrew Deu 23:19 – General Neh 10:31 – the exaction Job 35:9 – they make Psa 37:21 – borroweth Psa 82:4 – rid Pro 21:13 – at Ecc 4:1 – and considered Jer 15:10 – I have Jer 34:8 – to proclaim Lam 5:13 – fell Eze 18:8 – hath not Eze 22:12 – thou hast Eze 45:9 – take away Amo 8:6 – General Mic 2:2 – so Luk 6:30 – and 1Co 7:33 – careth

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

WE HAVE NOTICED certain good features that marked the people, as recorded in chapter 4, but as we commence to read chapter 5, we discover that beneath the surface sad mischief had been at work. Under Nehemiah’s leadership there had been a courageous attitude towards opposition from without, while all the time there was selfish oppression proceeding within. The richer Jews had taken advantage of the plight into which many poorer ones had drifted, owing to the shortage of the necessaries of life, borrowing money or raising mortgages, in order to obtain food for themselves and their families. We might summarize the situation by saying that while externally they presented a picture of commendable zeal, in doing what was God’s service at that moment, internally they were guilty of much self-seeking and corruption.

The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy that the ‘Holy Scriptures’, which he had known ‘from a child’,-the Old Testament, therefore-were able to make him ‘wise unto salvation’ (2Ti 3:15); not only from future doom, but also from the dangers that infest our pilgrim path. Here, we think, is an illustration of this, for again and again even in our day, the work of God in revival amongst His saints has been damaged in similar fashion. Whilst outwardly the work of God has been carried on with diligence and success, even in building a wall of spiritual separation from the outside world; there has grown up the spirit of self-seeking within, and consequently of damage and impoverishment to many humbler saints. Is not this the reason why gracious revivals, that have visited the English speaking regions during the past four centuries, have lost their power and gradually faded away?

So, in the light of what is here recorded, let us all accept the warning, and try our ways before our Lord. In the case before us the situation was met for a time by the faithful energy of Nehemiah. He was angry, with the kind of anger that is to be permitted, as Eph 4:26 indicates, and he called upon them to act ‘in the fear of God’, even if they did not fear the retribution of men. Faced by Nehemiah’s searching words, they had nothing to say. They admitted the charge, and under an oath they undertook to restore what they had taken away, and this they did according to the 13th verse.

What added force to Nehemiah’s indignant charge was that he himself had been so careful in this matter, as we see in the verses that follow. Former governors had exacted their food and support from the people. He on the contrary had taken nothing from them, and had supported 150 Jews and rulers, besides occasional visitors. Just how he did this we are not told, but presumably he drew his supplies from the Persian monarch. When rebuke is called for, the power of it is greatly increased when the one administering it is wholly free of the error he has to rebuke. The same principle stands when the happy work of restoration has to be undertaken, as we see in Gal 6:1 -‘considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted’. Either way, the call to consider ourselves and our own ways is very insistent, when dealing with others. This integrity also gave Nehemiah confidence in calling upon God for good, as the last verse of the chapter shows.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Neh 5:1. There was a great cry of the people, &c. Of the poor against their rich brethren, who had oppressed them; for though the people in general were cured of their idolatry by their captivity, yet they were not cured of their other sins, but loved strange women, as we read before in the book of Ezra; and were so covetous that they oppressed the poor and needy; and this at a time when their enemies threatened the destruction of them all. This crime was the more heinous, because the twentieth of Artaxerxes, when this was done, began about the end of a sabbatic year, (as Dr. Alix observes,) which raised the cry of the poor to a greater height against their creditors, who exacted their debts of them contrary to the law, Deu 15:2; which was read to them publicly in such a year, Deu 31:12.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 5:3. Because of the dearth, specially inflicted by reason of the peoples wickedness, after their return from Babylon. See more on Hag 1:9.

Neh 5:5. We bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants. The law allowed parents to sell their children for six years. Exo 21:7. 2Ki 4:2. And surely nothing but hunger would compel them to do this.

Neh 5:11. Also the hundredth part of the money. This text clears up a difficulty in explaining the term usury: it is unlawful interest. The poor who borrowed money paid a hundredth part every month, which was twelve per cent, a most unreasonable exaction. The Romans often exacted the same usury. Complaints have also been made, that our English gentlemen in India have borrowed money of the Nabobs at ten, twelve, and eighteen per cent. This they made no scruple to do, because they never intended to pay either the interest or the principal. Life of Burke.

Neh 5:18. One ox, six choice sheep, and fowls; flesh sufficient for four hundred persons.Once in ten days, store of all sorts of wine. The decades among the heathen were feast days.

REFLECTIONS.

While Nehemiah was engaged in the great and impetuous work of raising the walls of Jerusalem, his ears were assailed by a great cry from the poor: and it was happy for them that they had a governor in the spirit of Moses and of Samuel to redress their wrongs. There had been a short harvest, and general failure of the crops; and the poor, to pay the kings taxes, and buy bread for their families, had been compelled to mortgage their lands; and mortgage was with them a surrender of possession. But what is worse, their own rulers, taking advantage of circumstances, had advanced them money at an interest which they could never pay. This calamity would doubtless be augmented by the monopoly and speculation of the dealers in corn. Trade has its vices, and vices which are difficult for the legislature to punish, for the offenders most readily make virtues of all their crimes. These men place themselves at the eye of commerce, and whatever is likely to be scarce and dear they buy up, and augment the affliction of the public by monopoly. Thus they enrich themselves, and literally feast in famine, by withholding bread from the poor. They realize estates, build villas, and roll in carriages; but at the same time they encumber themselves with the curse of the poor, and lay up for themselves treasures of wrath against the day of wrath, when God shall advocate the cause of the oppressed.

In redressing these wrongs the character of Nehemiah rises parallel to that of Samuel. Pity and indignation moved his breast. He convened the elders, many of whom were the offenders, and moved their hearts by painting the hopeless situation of their insolvent brethren; and joining a high personal example to the weight of words, he prevailed upon them, by arguments rather than by force, to restore the lands, and forgive the interest, as the law required in cases of distress, till better times should enable them to pay the principal. And lest the good impressions of his admirable speech should vanish away, he took an oath of the priests to carry it into effect, and shook his raiment, as a predictive malediction, that God would so shake off the miser who should dare to transgress the law. How grand and noble is the character of this venerable and well-instructed man! His virtues far eclipsed his dignity. How happy for the poor, that they found in him an advocate and a friend. But how much more happy for the sinner, that he finds a greater advocate in Christ: otherwise his soul would be insolvent and oppressed for ever.

While the rich remitted the lands, Nehemiah remitted the allowance of the governor for the maintenance of his household. To maintain the sovereign with a dignity suited to the empire, was the custom of Israel from the days of Solomon, 1Ki 4:7; and it has, for ought appears, been the custom of all nations. Zerubbabel and Ezra received the allowance: but both these governors did much towards the redemption of the captive Jews. Nehemiah kept a royal table, and wholly at his own expense. So the Lord sent his people a governor, wise and rich and good. So also Christ serves his people solely for the delight he has in doing good, and thereby teaches us that we ought to do good to the poor, and to the public, on the most disinterested principles, according as we are called and have opportunity.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 5:1-13. Distress among the Jews.Neither this nor the next section, Neh 5:14-19 (the two belong closely together) can be in their right place. Neh 5:1-13 deals with the economic straits to which the Jews had been reduced through want of food; yet the text nowhere hints that their evil plight was in any way the result of the building of the walls; besides, this building did not take long enough (see Neh 6:15) to occasion such widespread suffering as the narrative seems to indicate, even supposing the entire population to have ceased their ordinary work in order to give themselves to the work of building, a thing which Neh 4:12 apparently precludes. Moreover, it is evident from Neh 5:14 that the building had been finished for years, and that Nehemiah was writing after he had been governor for twelve years.

Neh 5:1. their brethren the Jews: i.e. the returned exiles, as distinct from those who had not gone into captivity but had remained in the land.

Neh 5:3. This shows that the complainants were the country folk, and that the cause of their distress was famine. The word rendered dearth is the usual one for famine (cf. Gen 12:10 and very often elsewhere); it was owing to famine that they had to mortgage their lands and sell their children into bondage.

Neh 5:5. The text is in part corrupt, but the general sense is that some had been forced to sell their children into slavery (cf. Exo 21:7).

Neh 5:6-13. The description of how Nehemiah was able to put things right again illustrates his dominating and powerful personality.

Neh 5:11. the hundredth part of: read, by a slight emendation of the text, the interest on; the text, as it stands, gives no sense, since the remission of the hundredth part could have given no appreciable relief.

Neh 5:13. lap: read sleeve.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

THE GREED OF RULERS REBUKED

(vv. 1-13)

At a time when many were laboring unselfishly for the Lord, it is distressing to hear that others, and in fact those who were nobles and rulers, were guilty of oppressing the poor. This was brought to Nehemiah’s attention by a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren (v. 1). There were many who had been reduced to poverty to the point of hunger for food (v. 2). Some also had mortgaged their lands and vineyards and houses in order to buy grain (v. 3). Others had borrowed money to pay tax on their lands and vineyards. It is evident too that the mortgages and borrowed money were subject to interest. This was plain disobedience to the law of God, which said, “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him: you shall not charge him interest” (Exo 22:25).

If the Jews under law were forbidden to charge interest in lending to another poor Israelite, now that we are under grace, should we ignore such instruction? Rather, under grace we might go much further, by giving instead of lending.

These oppressed people made a perfectly right appeal, “Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and our vineyards” (v. 5). How dreadfully pathetic a situation! The rich were taking advantage of the poverty of others, to make them sink deeper into poverty. Does this ever occur in Christian civilization? Sadly, yes! There are those who so set their minds on wealth that they do not hesitate to make others suffer. The very suggestion of greed (accompanied by deceit) was solemnly judged at the beginning of the dispensation of grace, when Ananias and Saphira were put to death by God for this sin (Act 5:1-10), even though this was not the sin of oppressing others. Let us judge our selfish motives in the light of the cross of Christ, where He has in total unselfishness given Himself for us!

Nehemiah was righteously very angry in hearing this cry of oppression (v. 6), but there was no one whose help he could enlist in combating the evil because the nobles and rulers themselves were the offenders. He therefore, in the energy of personal faith in the Lord, firmly rebuked the nobles and rulers, telling them they were guilty of exacting interest from their own brethren. He called a great assembly, to have these matters publicly faced (v. 7).

In speaking to the whole gathering Nehemiah reminded them that, according to the ability God had granted them, they had redeemed their Jewish brethren out of bondage to the nations. This involved proper care and grace toward their brethren. “Now indeed,” he demanded, “will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?” Should the rich in Israel now be content to see those sold back into slavery whom they had before been gracious enough to redeem from slavery?

These words of Nehemiah may remind us of Paul’s words publicly to Peter when Peter and other leaders had shown partiality to Jewish believers in contrast to Gentile believers (Gal 2:11-16). Paul did not first seek someone else to agree with him, but spoke directly to Peter before all, for he was a true prophet, speaking on God’s behalf. Just as Peter could not reply to Paul, so the nobles and rulers in Jerusalem had nothing to say in answer to Nehemiah’s faithful words (v. 8).

There was another reason for them to consider that their actions were not good. Their enemies were watching them, and for them to see that the poor of Israel were oppressed by the rich would give cause for their reproach and ridicule (v. 9). Are we also not concerned about what the world around us sees in our testimony? Timothy was told not only to separate from a mixture of believers and unbelievers, but to “flee also youthful lusts” (2Ti 2:21-22), which surely includes the greed for monetary gain. Unbelievers will certainly be watching to see what our attitude is in this matter. Nehemiah added that he also and his servants were lending the people money, and though he certainly was not charging interest, he linked himself with all the money-lenders in urging, “Please, let us stop this usury!” (v. 10).

Not only did he urge them to cease charging interest, but to make this matter retroactive, that is, to restore immediately the vineyards, olive groves and houses and the 100th part of the money and grain, wine and oil that they had charged the people. What could the nobles and rulers do but respond as they did, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them: we will do as you say” (v. 12). If they had not responded this way, they would be guilty of defying the law of God. But Nehemiah was not going to drop the matter there. He called the priests and in their presence required an oath from the nobles and rulers that they would do as they promised. Nehemiah knew that even a ruler could adroitly slip out of a promise if he is not held to it. Thus the priests were witnesses to this oath and authorized to see that it was kept.

Then Nehemiah shook out the fold of his garments and said, “So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise” (v. 13). At this, all the assembly responded, “Amen!” and praised the Lord. Then it is simply said, “The people did according to this promise.” How long the process of restoring took we are not told, but the decisive action of Nehemiah was affective.

THE EXAMPLE OF NEHEMIAH

(vv. 14-19)

In contrast to the way the nobles and rulers had acted, these last verses of chapter 5 show the unselfish attitude of Nehemiah for the 12 years he had been appointed governor. We may think his words sound a little too much like pride of his own character, but we must remember that this is scripture: God required him to write as he did. Compare 2Co 11:1-33.

Nehemiah writes that for 12 years neither he nor his brothers accepted provisions that were generally given to governors, though the former governors had required from the people bread and wine and money. In fact, even the servants of the governors considered themselves entitled to the support of the people. But Nehemiah writes that he did not do this “because of the fear of God” (v. 15). This reminds us of Paul’s words in 1Co 9:14-15, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me.” This thorough unselfishness for Christ’s sake is beautiful to witness.

Also neither Nehemiah or his servants bought any land by which to make a profit, though this would have been fully within their rights. They solely occupied themselves with the work of the Lord (v. 16). However, Nehemiah must have been a man of substantial means, for he provided food for 150 Jews and rulers as well as for visitors who came from the nations around them! (v. 17). Having been the king’s cup bearer, his salary would have been large, of course, but to minister a household provision of one ox and six sheep every day for 12 years, plus fowl and abundance of wine, seems nothing short of amazing (v. 18). We might wonder, was the king continuing to pay Nehemiah his salary all this length of time?

He tells us that the reason he did not demand the provisions due to his governor’s position was that the bondage was heavy on the Jews. He desired to ease this as he could. We must remember too that Nehemiah was still under law, when he wrote, “Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people” (v. 19). Under grace Paul does not ask to be remembered, for God has remembered all believers in saving them for eternity, and we may have full confidence that He will not forget any work that has been done for Him. Therefore Paul writes in 2Ti 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who love His appearing.”

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

THE CORRUPTION OF THE FLESH

Nehemiah 5

This chapter forms an important parenthesis in the story of the building of the wall. In Nehemiah 6 the work is continued and the wiles of the enemy frustrated.

In this chapter the story is broken off for a while to face another form of hindrance to the work – the low moral condition of the people themselves. Does not this important consideration warn us that it is possible for an individual, or a company of saints, to be zealously contending for separation from corrupt religious associations, and false doctrine, and yet at the same time to be very careless as to their own state.

Labour and conflict characterise Nehemiah 4, but in order to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use, and to be able to resist the attacks of the foe, there must be the maintenance of righteousness. Thus it is in the Second Epistle to Timothy, while we are exhorted to “depart from iniquity,” and “purge” ourselves from vessels to dishonour, we are also immediately warned to “Flee also youthful lusts,” and “follow righteousness.” Having escaped the corruptions of Christendom it is possible to fall into the corruptions of the flesh. Never are we in greater danger of acting in the flesh, than when we have acted in faithfulness to the Lord. As one has truly said, “We may be beguiled into moral relaxation through satisfaction with our ecclesiastical separation.” How seasonable then the exhortation to “flee also youthful lusts,” and “follow righteousness” coming immediately after the injunctions to depart from iniquity and separate from vessels to dishonour.

This is the deeply serious lesson of Nehemiah 5. The opening verses (1-5) expose the corruption of the flesh that existed amongst those who were building the wall. The rich Jews were taking advantage of the poverty and need of their poorer brethren to enrich themselves. The daily necessities of life, the adverse circumstances arising from a dearth, and the incidence of taxation instead of drawing out the sympathy of the richer Jews, became the occasion of ministering to the covetousness of the flesh.

It was no question of the ordinary business transactions of life; but the needs and trials of the poor, (arising from special circumstances, such as a dearth), were used for the aggrandisement of the rich.

The root of the trouble lay in the fact that they were viewing themselves as forming distinct classes of rich and poor, and forgetting that whether rich or poor they were “brethren.”

Nehemiah meets this evil by rebuking the nobles and bringing the matter before “a great assembly.” He shows that to act thus toward their brethren was inconsistent with the redemption from captivity in which they all shared. Towards God it showed a lack of holy fear, and in regard to the heathen it would bring them into reproach (6-9).

How definitely the rebukes of Nehemiah remind us that in all our conduct to one another, we should act as brethren, in the fear of God, so that in nothing we give occasion for the reproaches of the world. The rebukes of Nehemiah find their counterpart in the exhortation of Paul when he tells Titus that grace teaches us to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Tit 2:12). Thus we should act with self-restraint and consideration for our brethren (for such is the literal meaning of the word “soberly”), righteously toward those without, and piously toward God.

Moreover the Apostle exhorts us to bear “one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 4:2). The law of Christ is that we love one another, and this spirit of holy love is necessary, if we are to take up one another’s burdens. Failing this, class is set against class.

Under the rebukes of Nehemiah, the nobles, rulers, and the priests, correct this evil, and all the congregation “praised the Lord” (9-13). Moreover Nehemiah not only rebuked and exhorted others, but in his mode of life he was also a pattern to them. He considered the people (14 and 18); he walked in the fear of God (15); and he showed hospitality to the heathen, to remove all occasion for reproach (17).

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

5:1 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives {a} against their brethren the Jews.

(a) Against the rich who oppressed them.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

3. The strife among the workers ch. 5

This chapter evidently describes a situation that prevailed for more than the 52 days the wall was under construction (cf. Neh 5:14). The writer probably included it in the text here because it was another situation that threatened to block the fulfillment of God’s will.

"Up to this point Nehemiah’s challenges as a spiritual leader focused primarily on those outside of Judah. But before the walls were finally rebuilt, he encountered the most difficult and intense kind of problem almost every spiritual leader has to face sometime-problems within." [Note: Getz, p. 683.]

The underlying problem this chapter chronicles sprang from pride. Instead of putting God’s interests first and seeking the welfare of their brethren, the Jews were putting their own interests first and taking advantage of their brethren (cf. Mat 22:37-39). The Mosaic Law forbade Israelites from charging interest when they made loans to fellow Jews (Exo 22:25; Lev 25:35-38). Evidently Nehemiah and some of his fellow Jews had paid money to certain Gentiles in Babylonia who owned Jewish slaves in order to liberate those Israelites so they could return to Judah (Neh 5:8). How inconsistent it was, then, for the Jews in Jerusalem to enslave them again. Evidently the people of the land were criticizing the Jews for enslaving their brethren (Neh 5:9). Nehemiah himself seems to have made loans to the poorer Jews in Judah, though he did not say he charged them interest (Neh 5:10). Now he called for a stop not only to usury (charging exorbitant interest) but also to lending. He believed the "haves" should give, not lend, to the "have nots" out of love for God and their brethren. Nehemiah spoke out against social injustice. The people agreed to do as Nehemiah asked (Neh 5:12). The "hundredth part" (Neh 5:11) was the interest rate that, if calculated on a monthly basis, would amount to 12 percent per year.

Nehemiah’s unselfish example for the welfare of the community should be a challenge to any leader of God’s people (Neh 5:14-19). The plans of God and the welfare of His people were most important to him.

"One cannot be certain that Nehemiah was originally given a twelve-year appointment as governor by Artaxerxes (Neh 2:6). Perhaps his original appointment was for a briefer period, but was extended to twelve years." [Note: Laney, p. 92.]

The people the governor ruled would have provided his food allowance (Neh 5:14). Rather than taking advantage of his opportunity to acquire real estate, Nehemiah gave his attention to rebuilding the wall (Neh 5:16). He also provided for the needs of over 150 Jews who worked on the wall out of his own pocket (Neh 5:17-18).

"According to the Persian custom, as governor of Judah Nehemiah had to entertain a number of people at his table." [Note: Fensham, p. 198.]

As Paul later did, Nehemiah gave up what was legitimately his due, in order to provide a good example for those he led (cf. 1 Corinthians 9; 2Th 3:8). [Note: See H. G. M. Williamson, "The Governors of Judah under the Persians," Tyndale Bulletin 39 (1988):77-82.]

"Leadership means going further than those one is leading." [Note: Idem, Ezra, Nehemiah, p. 246.]

Nehemiah asked God to reward him for what he had done (Neh 5:19). This is not an improper request since God has promised to bless those who put Him first (Deu 28:1-14; cf. Mat 6:33; Mar 10:29-30).

"The invocation of God’s favour is not so much a plea for a reward as an emphatic way of claiming that he [Nehemiah] has acted in good faith and from right motives. It is a statement of confidence that God is judge, and judges favourably those who sincerely seek to do his will." [Note: McConville, p. 102.]

The formula "Remember me, O my God . . ." (also in Neh 13:14; Neh 13:22; Neh 13:31) has some parallels in Egyptian literature of this period. [Note: See Joseph Blenkinsopp, "The Mission of Edjahorresnet and Those of Ezra and Nehemiah," Journal of Biblical Literature 106:3 (1987):414-14.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

USURY

Neh 5:1-19

WE open the fifth chapter of Nehemiah with a shock of pain. The previous chapter described a scene of patriotic devotion in which nearly all the people were united for the prosecution of one great purpose. There we saw the priests and the wealthy citizens side by side with their humble brethren engaged in the common task of building the walls of Jerusalem and guarding the city against assault. The heartiness with which the work was first undertaken, the readiness of all classes to resume it after temporary discouragements, and the martial spirit shown by the whole population in, standing under arms in the prosecution of it, determined to resist any interference from without, were all signs of a large-minded zeal in which we should have expected private interests to have given place to the public necessities of the hour. But now we are compelled to look at the seamy side of city life. In the midst of the unavoidable toils and dangers occasioned by the animosity of the Samaritans, miserable internal troubles had broken out among the Jews and the perplexing problems which seem to be inseparable from the gathering together of a number of people under any known past or present social system had developed in the most acute form. The gulf between the rich and the poor had widened ominously: for while the poor had been driven to the last extremity, their more fortunate fellow-citizens had taken a monstrously cruel advantage of their helplessness. Famine-stricken men and women not only cried to Nehemiah for the means of getting corn for themselves and their families, they had a complaint to make against their brethren. Some had lost their lands after mortgaging them to rich Jews. Others had even been forced by the moneylenders to sell their sons and daughters into slavery. They must have been on the brink of starvation before resorting to such an unnatural expedient. How wonderfully, then, do they exhibit the patience of the poor in their endurance of these agonies! There were no bread-riots. The people simply appealed to Nehemiah, who had already proved himself their disinterested friend, and who. as governor, was responsible for the welfare of the city.

It is not difficult to see how it came about that many of the citizens of Jerusalem were in this desperate plight. In all probability most of Zerubbabels and Ezras pilgrims had been in humble circumstances. It is true successive expeditions had gone up with contributions to the Jerusalem colony, but most of the stores they had conveyed had been devoted to public works, and even anything that may have been distributed among the citizens could only have afforded temporary relief. War utterly paralyses industry and commerce. In Judaea the unsettled state of the country must have seriously impeded agricultural and pastoral occupations. Then the importation of corn into Jerusalem would be almost impossible while roving enemies were on the watch in the open country, so that the price of bread would rise as a result of scarcity. At the same time the presence of persons from the outlying towns would increase the number of mouths to be fed within the city. Moreover, the attention given to the building of the walls and the defence of Jerusalem from assault would prevent artisans and tradesmen from following the occupations by which they usually earned their living. Lastly, the former governors had impoverished the population by exacting grievously heavy tribute. The inevitable result of all this was debt and its miserable consequences.

Just as in the early history of Athens and later at Rome, the troubles to the state arising from the condition of the debtors were now of the most serious character. Nothing disorganises society more hopelessly than bad arrangements with respect to debts and poverty. Nehemiah was justly indignant when the dreadful truth was made known to him. We may wonder why he had not discovered it earlier, since he had been going in and out among the people. Was there a certain aloofness in his attitude? His lonely night ride suggests something of the kind. In any case his absorbing devotion to his one task of rebuilding the city walls could have left him little leisure for other interests. The man who is engaged in a grand scheme for the public good is frequently the last to notice individual cases of need. The statesman is in danger of ignoring the social condition of the people in the pursuit of political ends. It used to be the mistake of most governments that their foreign policy absorbed their attention to the neglect of home interests.

Nehemiah was not slow in recognising the public need, when it was brought under his notice by the cry of the distressed debtors. According to the truly modern custom of his time in Jerusalem, he called a public meeting, explained the whole situation, and appealed to the creditors to give back the mortgaged lands and remit the interest on their loans. This was agreed to at once, the popular conscience evidently approving of the proposal. Nehemiah, however, was not content to let the matter rest here. He called the priests, and put them on their oath to see that the promise of the creditors was carried out. This appeal to the priesthood is very significant. It shows how rapidly the government was tending towards a sacerdotal theocracy. But it is important to notice that it was a social and not a purely political matter in which Nehemiah looked to the priests. The social order of the Jews was more especially bound up with their religion, or rather with their law and its regulations, while as yet questions of quasi-foreign policy were freely relegated to the purely civil authorities, the heads of families, the nobles, and the supreme governor under the Persian administration.

Nehemiah followed the example of the ancient prophets in his symbolical method of denouncing any of the creditors who would not keep the promise he had extracted from them. Shaking out his mantle, as though to cast off whatever had been wrapped in its folds, he exclaimed, “So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied.” {Neh 5:13} This was virtually a threat of confiscation and excommunication. Yet the ecclesia gladly assented, crying “Amen” and praising the Lord.

The extreme position here taken up by Nehemiah and freely conceded by the people may seem to us unreasonable unless we have considered all the circumstances. Nehemiah denounced the conduct of the money-lenders as morally wrong. “The thing that ye do is not good,” he said. It was opposed to the will of God. It provoked the reproach of the heathen. It was very different from his own conduct, in redeeming captives and supporting the poor out of his private means. Now, wherein was the real evil of the conduct of these creditors? The primitive law of the “Covenant” forbade the Jews to take interest for loans among their brethren. {Exo 22:25} But why so? Is there not a manifest convenience in the arrangements by which those people who possess a superfluity may lend to those who are temporarily embarrassed? If no interest is to be paid for such loans, is it to be expected that rich people will run the risk and put themselves to the certain inconvenience they involve? The man who saves generally does so in order that his savings may be of advantage to him. If he consents to defer the enjoyment of them, must not this be for some consideration? In proportion as the advantages of saving are reduced the inducements to save will be diminished, and then the available lending fund of the community will be lessened, so that fewer persons in need of temporary accommodation will be able to receive it. From another point of view, may it not be urged that if a man obtains the assistance of a loan he should be as willing to pay for it as he would be to pay for any other distinct advantage? He does not get the convenience of a coach-ride for nothing, why should he not expect to pay anything for a lift along a difficult bit of his financial course? Sometimes a loan may be regarded as an act of partnership. The tradesman who has not sufficient capital to carry on his business borrows from a neighbour who possesses money which he desires to invest. Is not this an arrangement in which lending at interest is mutually advantageous? In such a case the lender is really a sort of “sleeping partner,” and the interest he receives is merely his share in the business, because it is the return which has come back to him through the use of his money. Where is the wrong of such a transaction? Even when the terms are more hard on the debtor, may it not be urged that he does not accept them blindfold? He knows what he is doing when he takes upon himself the obligations of his debt and its accompanying interest; he willingly enters into the bond, believing that it will be for his own advantage. How then can he be regarded as the victim of cruelty?

This is one side of the subject, and it is not to be denied that it exhibits a considerable amount of truth from its own point of view. Even on this ground, however, it may be doubted whether the advantages of the debtor are as great as they are represented. The system of carrying on business by means of borrowed capital is answerable for much of the strain and anxiety of modern life, and not a little of the dishonesty to which traders are now tempted when hard pressed. The offer of “temporary accommodation” is inviting, but it may be questioned whether this is not more often than not a curse to those who accept it. Very frequently it only postpones the evil day. Certainly it is not found that the multiplication of “pawn-shops” tends to the comfort and well-being of the people among whom they spring up, and possibly, if we could look behind the scenes, we should discover that lending agencies in higher commercial circles were not much more beneficial to the community.

Still, it may be urged, even if the system of borrowing and lending is often carried too far, there are cases in which it is manifestly beneficial. The borrower may be really helped over a temporary difficulty. In a time of desperate need he may even be saved from starvation. This is not to be denied. We must look at the system as a whole, however, rather than only at its favourite instances.

The strength of the case for lending money at interest rests upon certain plain laws of “Political Economy.” Now it is absurd to denounce the science of “Political Economy” as “diabolical.” No science can be either good or bad, for by its nature all science deals only with truth and knowledge. We do not talk of the morality of chemistry. The facts may be reprehensible, but the scientific co-ordination of them, the discovery of the principles which govern them, cannot be morally culpable. Nevertheless “Political Economy” is only a science on the ground of certain presuppositions. Remove those presuppositions, and the whole fabric falls to the ground. It is not then morally condemned, it is simply inapplicable, because its data have disappeared. Now one of the leading data of this science is the principle of self-interest. It is assumed throughout that men are simply producing and trading for their own advantage. If this assumption is allowed, the laws and their results follow with the iron necessity of fate. But if the self-seeking principle can be removed, and a social principle be made to take its place, the whole process will be altered. We see this happening with Nehemiah, who is willing to lend free of interest. In his case the strong pleas for the reasonableness, for the very necessity of the other system fall to the ground. If the contagion of his example were universal, we should have to alter our books of “Political Economy,” and write on the subject from the new standpoint of brotherly kindness.

We have not yet reached the bottom of this question. It may still be urged that, though it was very gracious of Nehemiah to act as he did, it was not therefore culpable in others who failed to share his views and means not to follow suit. In some cases the lender might be depending for a livelihood on the produce of his loans. If so, were he to decline to exact it, he himself would be absolutely impoverished. We must meet this position by taking into account the actual results of the money-lending system practised by the Jews in Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. The interest was high-“the hundredth part of the money” {Neh 5:11} -i.e., with the monthly payments usual in the East, equivalent to twelve per cent annual interest. Then those who could not pay this interest, having already pledged their estates, forfeited the property. A wise regulation of Deuteronomy-unhappily never practised-had required the return of mortgaged land every seven years. {Deu 15:1-6} This merciful regulation was evidently intended to prevent the accumulation of large estates in the hands of rich men who would “add field to field” in a way denounced by the prophets with indignation. {e.g. Isa 5:8} Thus the tendency to inequality of lots would be avoided, and temporary embarrassment could not lead to the permanent ruin of a man and his children after him. It was felt, too, that there was a sacred character in the land, which was the Lords possession. It was not possible for a man to whom a portion had been allotted to wholly alienate it, for it was not his to dispose of, it was only his to hold. This mystical thought would help to maintain a sturdy race of peasants-Naboth, for example-who would feel their duty to their land to be of a religious nature, and who would therefore be elevated and strengthened in character by the very possession of it. All these advantages were missed by the customs that were found to be prevalent in the time of Nehemiah.

Far worse than the alienation of their estates was the selling of their children by the hard-pressed creditors. An ancient law of rude times recognised the fact and regulated it in regard to daughters, {Exo 21:7} but it is not easy to see how in all age of civilisation any parents possessed of natural feeling could bring themselves to consent to such a barbarity. That some did so is a proof of the morally degrading effect of absolute penury. When the wolf is at the door, the hungry man himself becomes wolfish. The horrible stories of mothers in besieged cities boiling and eating their own children can only be accounted for by some such explanation as this. Here we have the severest condemnation of the social system which permits of the utter destitution of a large portion of the community. It is most hurtful to the characters of its victims, it dehumanises them, it reduces them to the level of beasts.

Did Ezras stern reformation prepare the way for this miserable condition of affairs? He had dared to tamper with the most sacred domestic ties. He had attacked the sanctities of the home. May we suppose that one result of his success was to lower the sense of home duties, and even to stifle the deepest natural affections? This is at least a melancholy possibility, and it warns us of the danger of any invasion of family claims and duties by the church or the State.

Now it was in face of the terrible misery of the Jews that Nehemiah denounced the whole practice of usury which was the root of it. He was not contemplating those harmless commercial transactions by which, in our day, capital passes from one hand to another in a way of business that may be equally advantageous to borrower and lender. All he saw was a state of utter ruin-land alienated from its old families, boys and girls sold into slavery, and the unfortunate debtors, in spite of all their sacrifices, still on the brink of starvation. In view of such a frightful condition, he naturally denounced the whole system that led to it. What else could he have done? This was no time for a nice discrimination between the use and the abuse of the system. Nehemiah saw nothing but abuse in it. Moreover, it was not in accordance with the Hebrew way ever to draw fine distinctions. If a custom was found to be working badly, that custom was reprobated entirely, no attempt was made to save from the wreck any good elements that might have been discovered in it by a cool scientific analysis. In The Law, therefore, as well as in the particular cases dealt with by Nehemiah, lending at interest among Jews was forbidden, because as usually practised it was a cruel, hurtful practice. Nehemiah even refers to lending on a pledge, without mentioning the interest, as an evil thing, because it was taken for granted that usury went with it. But that usury was not thought to be morally wrong in itself we may learn from the fact that Jews were permitted by their law to practise it with foreigners, {Deu 15:3-6} while they were not allowed to do any really wrong thing to them. This distinction between the treatment of the Jew and that of the Gentile throws some light on the question of usury. It shows that the real ground of condemnation was that the practice was contrary to brotherhood. Since then Christianity enlarges the field of brotherhood, the limits of exactions are proportionately extended. There are many things that we cannot do to a man when we regard him as a brother, although we should have had no compunction in performing them before we had owned the close relationship.

We see then that what Nehemiah and the Jewish law really condemned was not so much the practice of taking interest in the abstract as the carrying on of cruel usury among brothers. The evil that lies in that also appears in dealings that are not directly financial. The world thinks of the Jew too much as of a Shylock who makes his money breed by harsh exactions practised on Christians. But when Christians grow rich by the ill-requited toil of their oppressed fellow-Christians, when they exact more than their pound of flesh, when drop by drop they squeeze the very life-blood out of their victims, they are guilty of the abomination of usury in a new form, but with few of its evils lightened. To take advantage of the helpless condition of a fellow-man is exactly the wickedness denounced by Nehemiah in the heartless rich men of his day. It is no excuse for this that we are within our rights. It is not always right to insist upon our rights. What is legally innocent may be morally criminal. It is even possible to get through a court of justice what is nothing better than a theft in the sight of Heaven. It can never be right to push any one down to his ruin.

But, it may be said, the miserable man brought his trouble upon himself by his own recklessness. Be it so. Still he is our brother, and we should treat him as such. We may think we are under no obligation to follow the example of Nehemiah, who refused his pay from the impoverished citizens, redeemed Israelites from slavery in foreign lands, lent money free of interest, and entertained a number of Jews at his table-all out of the savings of his old courtier days at Susa. And yet a true Christian cannot escape from the belief that there is a real obligation lying on him to imitate this royal bounty as far as his means permit.

The law in Deuteronomy commanded the Israelite to lend willingly to the needy, and not harden his heart or shut up his hands from his “poor brother.” {Deu 15:7-8} Our Lord goes further, for He distinctly requires His disciples to lend when they do not expect that the loan will ever be returned-“If ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive,” He asks, “what thanks have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much.” {Luk 6:34} And St. Paul is thinking of no work of supererogation when he writes, “Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” {Gal 6:2} Yet if somebody suggests that these precepts should be taken seriously and put in practice today, he is shouted down as a fanatic. Why is this? Will Christ be satisfied with less than His own requirements?

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary