Do as you had promised!

[Nehemiah 5:1-13]

One Sunday, my husband went to evening worship alone. And that day he passionately loved his wife until late at night. Satisfied with her mood for the first time in a while, his wife looked at her husband with her proud eyes and said: ‘What are you doing today?’ The next morning, assuming that what happened last night must have been influenced by the pastor's sermon, the wife bought an expensive fruit basket and went to see the pastor. ‘Thank you, Pastor. And the sermon last night was really good. Was it a sermon about ‘Love your wife as yourself’? Then the pastor shook his head excitedly and replied: “It wasn’t. It was a sermon on ‘Love your enemies’” (Internet). What's the point of this humor? Of course, the key to this humor is the wife's delusion, that is, she thought her husband loved her as himself. But she found out that her husband considered her as his enemy and loved her. However, looking at it from another angle, we can pay attention to the fact that the deacon's husband listened to the sermon and put into action the words of "yourself" and "enemies."

If we look at Nehemiah 5:13, “… At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.” I would like to listen to and meditate on the words of the three types of people in today's text under the heading “Do as you has promised!” I hope and pray that there will be God’s work in which the community becomes more and more becoming one through the practice of God's word.

Listen to the first group of people, the men.

Look at Nehemiah 5:1 – “Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers.” Here, the word “a great outcry” means ‘to cry out loudly’, and it refers to ‘cry out loud’ in the midst of grief/pain. A great cry (5:1) was heard among the Jews in the midst of doing great work (4:19) for the great God (1:5). This cry was not from the external enemies, the Samaritans of Sanballat, or Tobiah and the Ammonites, Geshem and the Arabs and the Ashdodites. This cry is not from other internal enemies, but from fellow Jews. They were none other than nobles and rulers (v. 7). Until then, the people of Judah, who had united and devoted themselves to rebuilding Jerusalem, now grumbled against each other. How difficult it must have been for even the wives, who were usually silent in their cries, to come forward and cry together. Because at that time, women did not come forward and mostly stayed behind. What difficult things were the people of Judah facing? Food shortages due to population concentration, excessive taxation, and selling children as slaves were the hardships the people of Judah were facing. Understandably, many Israelis flocked to Jerusalem for the construction of the city of Jerusalem, which caused the problem of population concentration. Since a large population was concentrated in one place, food was naturally scarce (Fensham). In addition, as all hands were concentrated on the construction of the wall, the number of people doing farming decreased, and food production was greatly reduced. Also, it is now in a state of war. Outside, they were looking for an opportunity for invasion by tribes from neighboring regions who were displeased with the building of Jerusalem's walls, or by people from other countries. In this situation, it was almost impossible to open the gates of Jerusalem and go out to farm. And to make matters worse, a famine came. ‘Also, the Medes and Persians, the most powerful nation in the world at that time, were taxing excessively on all their subjects. The people of Israel, unable to withstand such pressure, had to pawn their fields, vineyards, and animals’ (Lee). The brutality of these circumstances was that many Jews survived only by selling their children into slavery to wealthy Jews (who opposed the rebuilding of the walls) in order to buy food (White). This indicates that the rich at that time disobeyed God's word (Exod. 22:25-27; Deut. 15:7-15). According to the law, they were to lend money without interest to their poor brother, and they were not to mortgage the poor man's goods for a long time. However, the rich in Nehemiah's time did not obey this law, so the poor got into trouble and complained (Park). The complaints of these people of Judah were essentially four: (1) ‘We must eat to live!’ (v. 2), (2) ‘We are all mortgaged!’ (v. 3), (3) ‘The tax is to the point of death!’ (v. 4), (4) ‘Their children have everything they want, but why should our children be servants? Aren't we all one nation? But we also don't know what to do’ (v. 5) (White). In a word, the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls would bring ruin to the poor people of Judah and should therefore be abandoned. This was Satan's work. In the end, it was the work of Satan who wanted to prevent the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, which was the final goal. What we need to pay attention to here is the second half of Nehemiah 5:5 – “… but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” In other words, even if the poor Jewish people wanted to redeem their enslaved children with fields or vineyards, they did not have the ability to do so because their fields and vineyards were pawned by rich Jews (v. 3). The poor people of Judah who had no power, who did not have the ability to redeem their children sold as slaves, were seriously crying out.

How should we respond to the words and cries of powerless brothers? We must hear their cries and look after them. The reason is because the Lord hears their cry and looks upon them. Look at 1 Samuel 9:16 – “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me.”

Listen to the second man, Nehemiah.

Look at Nehemiah 5:6 – “When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.” If Nehemiah had been a politician, he would have handled matters in the direction of gaining popularity by asking the question, “What is popular?” Or, if he were a diplomat, he would have chosen the safe road between rich and poor Jewish people, asking the question, ‘What is safe?’ However, a true leader chooses the right path by asking the question, 'What is right?' That's why Nehemiah saw the sins of the people of Judah and harbored holy anger. Nehemiah was angry because he knew that these problems had arisen because the rich people of Judah disobeyed God's word. Also, while the country was now in such a difficult situation, he was enraged when he learned that a terrible tragedy had occurred in which people were exploited and enslaved. In other words, the same people made each other slaves and servants, taking advantage of this time of hardship (Lee). How did leader Nehemiah solve this problem?

Nehemiah planned in his mind.

Look at Nehemiah 5:7a – “I pondered them in my mind ….” When Nehemiah was angry, he planned it in his mind rather than venting it. In other words, he pondered in front of God and planned ‘What shall I do?’ This is truly constructive leadership. Nehemiah tried to get God's consent and act in God's way to right the wrong that had offended God even more than it had offended himself (White). Nehemiah's actions remind us of Proverbs 16:32 – “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” A leader who cannot govern himself will never succeed in governing others.

Nehemiah accused nobles and officials.

Look at Nehemiah 5:7b – “… and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, ‘You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!’ ….” What we can see here is that Nehemiah first went to the nobles and officials who were responsible for the wrongdoing. Obviously, he should address the matter publicly. But first in private he made clear his attitude to the wrongdoers. I don't think this is an easy move. Hearing the poor Jews and now hearing the rich Jews and their leaders, Nehemiah could have tried to see both sides. If Nehemiah had been like that, he wouldn't have been able to rebuke the nobles and the officials. Even if he tried to rebuke, his heart must have weakened. But Nehemiah didn't. He did not know how the relationship between the nobles and the officials would develop in the future. But he clearly and implicitly expressed his clear and implicit opinion, “You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!” (v. 7). Here we see Nehemiah rebuking the nobles and officials, appealing them on two facts:

First is brotherly love.

Nehemiah referred to the poor people of Judah whom they were exacting as “your own countrymen” (v. 7).

Second, based on the word of God, he appealed to the nobles and officials.

That is, the Mosaic Law forbade Jews from charging interest on each other. Look at Exodus 22:25 – “"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.” Nehemiah first held “a large meeting” to deal with the issue in a public setting, since it was a public issue after exonerating nobles and officials who had done wrong in private. Now, instead of personally rebuking the nobles, he tried to rebuke them in public. Look at Nehemiah 5:8-9: “and said: ‘As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!’ They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say. So I continued, ‘What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?’” Nehemiah pointed out that this trial was made worse because the leaders of the day were unjustly exploiting the people. Not only that, but he pointed out the lack of 'brotherly spirit', taking advantage of this difficult time to lend money and enslaving the children of those who could not repay. Also, he pointed out that the Gentiles were looking at them, and 'if we live this way, don't we cover the glory of God?' In other words, all problems arose because they did not have a fear of God and did not fear God (Lee).

Nehemiah solved the cause of the problem.

How did he solve the problem? He appealed to rich Jews to stop charging interest. Look at Nehemiah 5:10 – “I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop!” Whether Nehemiah here is presenting himself as a good example, or whether he too is confessing that he once erred, his words alone are not clear. If he and his men were lending money for interest, he now exposes his fault by confessing it and proposing to stop doing it from now on (White). Leaders make mistakes. The distinguishing characteristic of a leader according to the will of God is his willingness to openly deal with all his mistakes, applying the same standards to himself as he applies to others. Never shrink from doing so. It may feel embarrassing. But it is the most honest path that leads to freedom (White). Also, Nehemiah appealed to return the things he had taken from his poor brothers, the people of Judah. Look at verse 11: “Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them--the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil.” This is true repentance. To realize that I am wrong, to immediately stop doing that wrong, and to make amends if I can. When should I do it? ‘Even today,’ we must forsake our sins and repent. This is what Pastor Dong-won Lee heard when he attended a revival meeting: ‘What kind of place is hell? It is a place where people say, ‘Oops’, because they procrastinate while trying to fix it, but eventually fail to realize it’ (Lee).

Listen to the third group of people, the nobles and officials.

The first reaction of the nobles and officials who had heard Nehemiah's rebuke was silence (v. 8). In other words, the nobles and officials could not find words to exonerate Nehemiah. This implies that they were admitting their wrongdoing. It makes no sense to redeem the poor people of Judah, brothers who had no power to redeem them, from the hands of the Gentiles with all their might, and then make them their slaves again. The purpose of redemption is nothing but the sin of binding the people of Judah, their poor brothers, to their power. Nehemiah knew this, pointed it out, and excused himself, so the nobles and officials had nothing to say. They knew they were committing a sin. The second reaction of the nobles and officials is given in the first half of verse 12: “’We will give it back,’ they said. ‘And we will not demand anything more from them. ….’” They told Nehemiah that they would do as he advised. In other words, they promised Nehemiah that they would give back to the poor Jewish people (fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, one hundredth of money, grain, new wine, or oil) without asking for anything. At this time, Nehemiah summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials to take an oath to do what they had promised (v. 12). And then Nehemiah gave a solemn warning to the nobles and officials: “I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. …’ (v. 13). This was a symbolic action. Shaking off the folds of the robe means that if the oath was not kept, a curse would come and all possessions of those who did not keep the oath would be destroyed. Then all the congregation said “Amen” and praised the Lord, and the people did as they had promised (v. 13).

If we look at Nehemiah 5:4, we see the word, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax ….” This word refers to the fact that around 2500, in the time of Nehemiah, the Jewish people had to pay taxes to the Medo-Persian government, the most powerful nation in the world at that time. This word also applies to our church now. We have to pay taxes on church buildings that our church owns. But now, our church finances do not have the ability to pay taxes. Personally, I believe this is a great opportunity for our church. In other words, I believe it is an opportunity to build a stronger church by filling the “gap” that appears in rebuilding the church, which is the body of the Lord. I remembered the words of 1 Chronicles 29. David, who so desperately wanted to build the temple of Jerusalem, knew through his son Solomon that God was accomplishing that work, and prepared with all his might (v. 2) for that great work (v. 3). When he set an example, “Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly” (v. 6). At that time, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly” (v. 9). As the senior pastor of Victory Presbyterian Church, I will have to set an example like David. I would like to pay the taxes that our church must pay by providing financial resources first. As I told you today, I will put it into action. At that time, I hope that our church leaders will be able to support the material happily. Also, I hope that the whole church will have one mind and one will and give it to the Lord with a joyful heart in filling the “gap” shown in the work of rebuilding the church, which is the body of the Lord. Look at 1 Chronicles 29:14 – “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” Look at verse 17: “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.”