Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110130.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Nehemiah: Excelling In Leadership In Hard Times
Part VIII: Handling Internal Abuses In God's People By Thoughtful Correction And Exampling
(Nehemiah 5:1-19)
  1. Introduction
    1. Handling external foes to God's people is far easier for a leader than dealing with internal abuses among subordinates; one can more easily lose control of his emotions in dealing with abuses by those he knows.
    2. Nehemiah's wise response to this challenge sets a high standard of conduct for God's leaders today:
  2. Handling Internal Abuses In God's People By Thoughtful Correction And Exampling, Neh. 5:1-19.
    1. Some scholars claim the events in Nehemiah 5 occurred after the city wall was complete, for the calling of a large assembly (Neh. 5:7) would have endangered Israel before her foes were the wall unfinished! Yet, Nehemiah 5:16 reveals it occurred while the wall was being built! (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 683)
    2. Thus, as the wall was under construction, Nehemiah faced the challenge of internal abuses (Nehemiah 5:1), and the reasons for this problem are detailed in Nehemiah 5:2-5 (as follows):
      1. First, since the work on the wall hindered the tending of their crops, the people were facing a food shortage for their families, Nehemiah 5:2; Ibid.
      2. Second, some Hebrews had grain, but they obtained it by mortgaging their properties, Neh. 5:3; Ibid.
      3. Third, others who did not mortgage their properties borrowed money from fellow Hebrews to pay taxes to the king, a fact that was complicated by the lenders charging excessive interest to their Hebrew countrymen in violation of the Mosaic Law, Neh emiah 5:4; Ibid.; Deuteronomy 23:20.
      4. Fourth, some had to sell their children into slavery to repay fellow Hebrew lenders, Neh. 5:5; Ibid.
    3. Nehemiah's response to this troubling state shows us how to handle such internal problems, Neh. 5:6-18:
      1. First, as Nehemiah was understandably very upset at hearing the cries of such abuses among the people with whom he was associated, he took the time to compose himself so as to make productive plans, Nehemiah 5:6-7a. He knew that a quick, wrathful reaction on his part could only make matters worse, so he wisely avoided adding fuel to the fire by forcing himself to make a productive plan of response!
      2. Second, Nehemiah carefully rebuked the leaders for exacting interest that fueled much of the hardship, especially in view of the fact that he had personally paid for the release of Hebrews from Gentile slave owners only to see some of the released enslaved again to fellow Hebrews, Nehemiah 5:7b-8.
      3. Third, Nehemiah directed these abusive lenders to follow his own example of lending without interest to fellow Hebrews, and to restore the seized properties for the sake of hurting the nation, Neh. 5:9-12a.
      4. Fourth, Nehemiah appealed to these leaders take an oath before God to make no more such demands on the people, using a powerful cultural symbol of shaking out his garment to say God would shake out in judgment any who would violate the oath, Nehemiah 5:12b-13a. This appeal was effective, for the whole assembly responded, "Amen" and praised the Lord in response to Nehemiah's word, Neh. 5:13b.
      5. Fifth, Nehemiah greatly exampled caring for others before these other leaders, Nehemiah 5:14-18:
        1. For the 12 years of his first term as governor of Israel, Nehemiah and his men did not eat the food the king allotted to him, food raised by taxing Israel, but he paid for it out of his own pocket, Neh . 5:14,18b. This contrasted greatly with past governors who heavily taxed Israel, Nehemiah 5:15.
        2. Rather, Nehemiah devoted himself to the work of rebuilding the wall, not even buying land, 5:16.
        3. Above this, Nehemiah regularly fed 150 fellow Hebrews at his table at his own cost, as well as the poor who came to him from surrounding nations, Neh. 5:17. This cost him an ox, six choice sheep and some poultry each day, and every ten days an abundance of wine, Neh emiah 5:18a.
    4. To offset such great personal financial cost as an example, Nehemiah asked God to bless him, Neh. 5:19.
Lesson: When facing troubling internal abuses among God's people, Nehemiah (1) first composed his feelings of anger (2) so as to make productive plans before (3) carefully, productively rebuking the wrongdoers. (4) He then exampled the correct action to take, and that at great personal financial cost, (5) leaving God to reimburse him for what it had cost him.

Application: May we who lead God's people heed Nehemiah's example in God's power, Gal. 5:16-23.