Nehemiah 5 – PROBLEMS WITHIN
When things are going well in a church, Satan will often bring attacks from the outside.
Perhaps a member will be falsely accused, or government will try to interfere. In many countries persecution will take place. When Satan fails to cause problems from outside the church, he will try to cause problems within the church. If Satan can cause unrest, unhappiness and strife within the church family, he will succeed in slowing down or halting the work of God.
When Nehemiah was leading the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, Satan tried to stop the work from the outside (Nehemiah 4). When that didn’t work, he tried by causing problems within the group that was doing the building.
THE COMPLAINT OF THE POOR Vss. 1-5
Vs. 1 talks of two different groups of people working on the walls. There were the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Notice that Nehemiah calls them “brethren”. Even though they had different financial status, they were still bound together as fellow Jews. They were related through their ancestor Abraham. They were related in the sense of nationality. They were related in the mutual worship of their God. Today, we must remember that fellow Christians, no matter what their financial status, are our brothers and sisters. John 1:12 tells us that all believers are children of God. If all believers are children of God, then we are related in Christ!
The poor Jews had some specific problems:
1. There was a shortage of food. Vs. 2
2. There were those who mortgaged their property. Vs. 3
3. There were those who borrowed money. Vs. 4
4. Because of the money loaned, the rich Jews were taking over the lands of the poor Jews, and some of the poor Jews’ children were being sold into slavery because of the debts. Vs. 5
THE CONFRONTATION OF THE OFFENDERS Vss. 6-11
Nehemiah confronted those who were sinning against their brethren.
He pointed out their sin in a great public assembly. Vss. 6-10
He demanded that they make things right! Vs. 11
THE CORRECTION OF THE PROBLEM Vss. 12-13
Those who were doing wrong were convicted and promised to fix the problem.
THE CONDUCT OF NEHEMIAH Vss. 14-19
Nehemiah practiced what he preached. As governor, he did not require the traditional payments. He did not needlessly add to the financial burden of the people, although he could have. The reason he acted this way was because of his fear for the Lord (Vs. 15).