Participants:
Series Code: LGS
Program Code: LGS019405A
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00:01 Hello, I'm Andrew Russell, Welcome to Let God Speak.
00:02 Nehemiah traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem, and became governor 00:06 there. When he arrived in Jerusalem he was confronted by 00:09 some serious issues. The rich were oppressing the poor and it 00:13 had reached crisis proportions. The book of Nehemiah records 00:17 what happened. 00:19 ♪ ♪ 00:44 Well on our panel today we have Colin Hone and Steven Groom. 00:47 It's great to be with you again gentlemen. Why don't we begin 00:51 now with a word of prayer. Let's pray. Loving Father, we want to 00:55 thank you Lord for this opportunity to sit at your feet 00:58 Lord, to hear the words of life. Lord we know that your word 01:02 speaks to us and helps us to apply those things in our life, 01:05 Lord that would see us blessed as a people. And so we just 01:09 thank you Father as we learn from you. In Jesus' name, amen. 01:13 Well, when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, the first thing that 01:19 he did was he led the people to build a protective wall around 01:23 the city of Jerusalem so that they could defend themselves. 01:28 But all was no well in the Jewish community and so I want 01:32 us to begin today just by reading from Nehemiah chapter 01:38 five verses 1-4. It says: And there was a great cry of the 01:42 people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews 01:46 for there were those that said we, our sons and our daughters 01:51 are many. Therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat 01:56 and live. Let's read verse three now. It says: Some also were 02:01 there that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards 02:04 and houses that we might buy corn because of the dearth. The 02:10 dearth is a scarcity, a famine, or a shortage. There were also 02:14 those that said we have borrowed money for the king's tribute and 02:19 that upon our lands, vineyards Collin, maybe you can start us 02:24 off. What's happening here? 02:26 Well a story like this one in Nehemiah really says it all. 02:29 There's an outcry of the people against their own people, the 02:31 poor against the rich, it's the poor against the rich. 02:33 Interesting, yes. 02:34 It's always the poor against the rich and what was happening they 02:37 were having to sell their houses or take mortgages out on their 02:41 homes, on their vineyards just to pay the taxes, to pay for 02:45 grain to get food. So that was one of their main problems. 02:49 Okay. What do you think the basis of this problem was? 02:52 Well, tax and the famine. They had a famine and also they had 02:56 to pay tax to the Persians as well. So this made the problem 03:00 worse. And what was happening they started borrowing money 03:07 from the rich Jews and that was sending them 03:08 spiraling down to poverty. 03:10 That's right. So here's the situation now and it's a time in 03:12 the life of Israel where you know the city was destroyed by 03:16 Babylonian invasion. Now the Persians have come; they've 03:20 taken over from the Babylonians and Nehemiah has access, or has 03:24 a right now to go and rebuild. Isn't that right? But he gets 03:29 there and these existing problems within the Jewish 03:33 community. So thank you for sharing. Now was that the only 03:35 problem? Anything else there? 03:38 Well if we look at verse three it says that they mortgaged 03:42 their land and vineyards and has the main problem as mentioned 03:46 in the second half of that list is the famine. So there was a 03:50 severe famine which put a burden on the people and this 03:56 is because of the tax. The Persians had a 350 talents of 04:01 silver annual tax of the people and they didn't consider the 04:06 famine in that. They still required it even though they 04:09 were going through hard times. And so because of that they had 04:13 to mortgage their fields, vineyards and homes in order to 04:17 get the grain for food, seeds, and to pay the tax. 04:21 Mortgaging your home is not something you'd usually want 04:24 to do is it? I mean, we can still do that in this day and 04:28 age but you know to take a loan out against your home, you'd 04:31 usually want to make sure that's a small loan that can be easily 04:35 repaid or if you're going to do it you got to make sure that 04:38 you're able to pay the loan or you'd lose your home. 04:41 And that's a problem. So once they paid their debt, because of 04:45 the famine they weren't able to bring in income to pay off the 04:50 loan so the next year came and that annual tax was still there 04:56 and they then had to give their children to their creditors to 05:02 work off the debt. So they're caught in a spiral of deepening 05:08 poverty. Slavery was a culture norm. For the Jews, they would 05:12 get their children back, or their servants back after seven 05:17 years. But this is what the Persians were doing. 05:18 Very confronting the situation. We see that in verse 05:20 five don't we. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, 05:24 our children as their children and lo we bring into bondage 05:28 it says our sons and our daughters to be servants and 05:30 some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already. 05:33 Neither is it in our power to redeem them, or to get them back 05:38 okay for other men have our lands and vineyards. So... 05:43 In Australia we might say that we're of the same nationality or 05:48 the same people. I think that's what's it's saying 05:50 in the beginning of verse five. 05:52 And this is what Nehemiah walks into. This is what he walks into 05:56 So Colin what's his attitude toward all this when he sees 05:59 all this. 06:01 He was, it says that he became not just angry, but very angry. 06:03 He was really upset. And he'd gone there to build the city and 06:07 the walls to secure it and all of a sudden he's dealing with 06:11 problems of slavery and debt against their own people. So he 06:15 was really angry the way that the people were being treated, 06:19 the poor people were treated. 06:21 As you would be when he was coming to do something. I'm 06:28 thinking of the situation as it reflects in the life of Israel 06:32 as God's purpose seems to play out. And I'm thinking of a verse 06:38 in the book of Leviticus. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 25, go 06:43 with me there. Open your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 25 and 06:48 let's read verses 35 to 37. Notice here this is the 06:54 instruction that God had given the children of Israel as a 06:59 nation early on. It says: And if your brother is poor and falls 07:05 in decay with you shall relieve him. It says, yes, even though 07:11 he be a stranger or a sojourner that he may live with you. Take 07:16 no usury off him or increase but fear your God that your brother 07:21 may live with you. You shall not give him your money upon 07:26 usury nor lending your victuals for increase. So here's 07:31 something that God had already instructed. You know when you 07:34 see someone poor amongst you and even if he's a stranger, 07:39 you're not to give him a loan with interest which is going to 07:43 make it even harder for him to repay seeing that he's already 07:46 poor. And Nehemiah, he walks into this situation where this 07:50 is actually what's taking place amongst God's own people. 07:54 Can we talk a little bit more about what upsets Nehemiah 07:58 here, Steven. 07:59 Now clearly they were breaking this law here weren't they. 08:02 They were taking advantage of the situation and the poor 08:06 people because of the famine couldn't pay it back. 08:09 Yeah, yeah. So God had put in laws to protect poverty, against 08:14 poverty. He had many different ways of protecting it. 08:16 For example the poor could go and glean off the fields so they 08:19 could eat. He had a system where they could be redeemed from 08:23 their own land. They weren't to charge interest when they took 08:25 loans and even if they had to sell themselves into slavery 08:29 they still had an opportunity to be redeemed _ or on 08:32 the jubilee they'd be released. So God put in this practice. And 08:36 yet this Jews of this day, in Nehemiah's day, weren't 08:38 practicing that. They were charging interest, taking slaves 08:43 and there was no redemption. So Nehemiah was reminding them of 08:47 God's way of dealing with this. 08:48 What does that say about God? Doesn't that tell us that He's 08:52 compassionate? 08:53 He's for the poor and the Lord said Blessed are the poor. 08:57 He's compassionate. So could we say that actually Nehemiah now 09:01 is reflecting that compassion as well. Yes. Yes. There's clearly 09:06 injustice taking place here but Nehemiah is reflecting now God's 09:10 compassion. 09:11 It's common with the Old Testament prophets isn't it? 09:13 They're champions for the poor and needy and the marginalized. 09:17 They're speaking out against that injustice. 09:20 As Jesus was. 09:21 Do you notice in verse 38 God also reminds them, Leviticus 09:25 chapter that we were just reading, 25:38. He reminds them 09:29 that I brought you out of slavery and you did nothing to 09:32 come out. I redeemed you, reminding them that you were 09:36 slaves yourself and I brought you out of slavery and gave you 09:39 everything and now you're treating people different than 09:42 the way that I treated you. 09:43 Should you not have compassion on others as I had compassion 09:46 on you. Exactly, yeah. 09:47 So is there an ideal here that God wants us to alter. 09:54 Yes love. Nehemiah 5:9, let's have a look at that, verse 9. 10:02 Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. Then I 10:11 said, What you are doing is not good. Should ye not walk in the 10:14 fear of God because of the reproach of the nations of our 10:19 enemies. He wanted them to be an example. 10:23 Say how could we do that? 10:25 The challenge is to be Christian during difficult times 10:31 I mean, it's all right to be Christians and have love during 10:35 fair times, but in this time of famine when people are 10:37 struggling for existence, that's a challenge and they obviously 10:41 weren't living up to their God, God's standards. 10:44 Absolutely. There's a wonderful text in Micah 6:8. Why don't we 10:49 go there. Let's read Micah 6:8. Maybe you can read that for us 10:54 Steven. Yes this is the standard that 10:57 God would have us meet and His people in the Old Testament as 11:01 well. He said: He has shown you O man, what is good and what 11:05 does the Lord require of you but to do justly; that's the 11:10 same as righteousness, to be righteous, to love mercy; to be 11:14 merciful to the poor and the marginalized and to walk 11:20 humbly with your God. They're obviously breaking these rules 11:22 Nehemiah saw the problem and he confronted them on this 11:26 issue. And how did Nehemiah then handle 11:28 this problem, Colin? 11:30 What he does is he calls a great assembly, he calls a great 11:33 assembly together because he wants to deal with this 11:36 publicly in front of all the people. So he calls great 11:39 assembly and this is how he decides to do it. You can read 11:44 that in Nehemiah 5:8. He then tells it exactly. And I said to 11:49 them according to ability we have redeemed our Jewish 11:51 brethren who were sold to the nations. So they had redeemed 11:55 according to our ability. Now then will you even sell your 11:57 brethren? He's like he's condemning them or should they 12:01 be sold to us. Then they were silenced and found nothing to 12:04 say. He's called them out on it. 12:07 How could you do this? How could you do this? It's amazing how 12:12 when you lose sight of God, you can really lose sight of His 12:18 character and to really decide how that applies with my own 12:21 life, isn't that right? 12:25 They lose sight of God and they start looking at the 12:27 environmental things 12:28 and struggle to just try and survive without God. 12:30 That's right. I've been asked the question, you know. Is it 12:34 okay for a poor person to steal. I don't know if you've 12:37 ever come across that. Yeah. As people contemplate some of 12:39 these themes, is it okay for a poor person to steal? And we 12:43 find in the government God had principles that God desires to 12:47 uphold and we ought to trust him no matter what that He will make 12:52 a way, He will provide. How did they respond to Nehemiah in this 12:57 Steven. How did the people respond to Nehemiah saying how 13:01 could you do this? 13:02 Let's continue in verse 9 says What you are doing is not good. 13:05 Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the 13:07 reproach of the nations, our enemies? 13:09 And in the end I think stating they did, they said I_ 13:14 didn't they? They said we're going to do what you say. 13:16 We're actually going to do what you say, which is amazing. 13:19 They'd been convicted by his words, so much they said we'll 13:24 do what you say. 13:25 They were silent at first, weren't they? They didn't know 13:28 what to say first. 13:30 In verse eight at the end they said nothing. How could they say 13:33 anything. They knew they were guilty. That's right 13:37 So it ends with their silence. 13:40 And in verse nine to 11 meanwhile this is what they 13:42 should do. So they're silent and he convicts them and says this 13:46 is what you should do. You shouldn't lend money and take 13:49 interest from people. Restore what you've taken from people 13:52 to this day. 13:53 Their vineyards, their olive groves, their houses, also a 13:56 hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil 13:59 that you have charged them, 14:02 Okay, so all this stuff that you've taken, restore to them. 14:05 he says restore it now. So it's one thing to say it but actions 14:10 speak louder than words. 14:11 But you notice something restore all not just a part. It had to 14:15 be fully restored, back to the original. Yeah. 14:18 So did they do it? 14:20 Well, they did. They said, read verse 12. So they said, We will 14:24 restore it and we will require nothing from them; we will do 14:28 as you say. Exactly as you say. And so they did it. Amazingly 14:34 they actually did it. 14:35 Ah, praise God, praise God. I think of the story of Zacchaeus in 14:40 the New Testament who when also brought to the knowledge of what 14:44 he did wrong, he went back and he restored to the people that 14:49 he defrauded what was rightfully theirs again. 14:51 He said four times, four times. 14:54 Isn't that wonderful that God brings to you where you're 14:58 going wrong so He gives you an opportunity. The Jews were doing 15:01 wrong here requiring this usury and tax and all these 15:05 things. God gives them a chance through the prophet Nehemiah 15:09 and they have an opportunity and they repent so they're restored 15:15 their relationship with God. I think that's wonderful. 15:16 Imagine the joy in that day when all the debts were restored. 15:19 Imagine today if they came back and said all your debts are 15:21 finished. Imagine the joy there would be in the people... 15:25 Isn't that true with us. When we're close to people, I mean, 15:29 I don't lend my money with interest to my family. 15:32 It's really coming back to God's ideal isn't it. 15:35 to the compassion that God has for people. 15:38 It's love. If you love your neighbor as yourself why would 15:41 would you try and take advantage of their bad situation 15:45 Their poverty. That's right. 15:48 When Nehemiah in verse 12 went on to do something more 15:51 than this. What did he do, Colin? 15:53 Well, he got all the praise from the latest, the very ones that 15:56 you read in verse one of chapter five, because it says against 16:01 their Jewish brethren, the rich, which probably would have been 16:03 the leaders and the priests. And so he got them to publicly 16:07 declare that they were going to do what they said they were 16:09 going to do. Make a formal oath in front of all the people. That 16:13 was a very wise thing to do. Not just so they had a board 16:18 meeting. I want you to publicly tell the whole people this is 16:21 what you're going to do. So it's on record. 16:24 Um, good to put it out there isn't it. It's good that they 16:30 say today. It's good to put it out there. Steven, did he go 16:31 further beyond that? 16:33 Yes he adjures the living God. He does further than just 16:36 asking for a promise. He promises through 16:39 adjuring God. I'd like to read from Nehemiah 5:13. It says: 16:47 Chapter 5 verse 13. Then I shook out the fold of my garment and 16:55 said, So may God shake out each man from his house and from his 16:59 property who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he 17:04 be shaken out and emptied. So this is a very serious issue and 17:10 he's asking God to... It's like a parable as he shakes out the 17:15 fold of his garment it is so those people who don't do this 17:18 be shaken out from the people. 17:21 How binding is an oath in the life of Israel? 17:25 The people were familiar with it. It is calling God as a 17:30 witness to act upon those who don't follow it. We get the 17:34 example from Deuteronomy chapter 23 and verses 21 to 24. 17:58 Twenty one. When you make a vow to the Lord your God you shall 18:00 not delay to pay it, for the Lord your God will surely 18:04 require it of you and it would be sin to you. But if you 18:08 abstain from vowing it, it shall be a sin to you, that which has 18:13 gone before your lips you shall keep and perform for you have 18:18 voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what have promised with 18:22 your mouth. So notice it says you have voluntarily vowed. 18:26 They didn't have to do it but it's a way of showing the 18:30 seriousness about this issue and they promised and they said God 18:33 we will act, if not we allow you to punish those who do not 18:39 perform this. 18:40 You know the consequence was pretty serious. You made an oath 18:44 you had to keep it. God was like witnessing that oath so you had 18:48 to be very careful of what oath you made. 18:50 Also Numbers 30:2 makes it clear If a man makes a vow to the Lord 18:55 of swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement 18:58 he shall not break his word. He shall do all that proceeds out 19:02 of his mouth. So he's basically promising. 19:05 As Deuteronomy says, you make an oath and you don't keep it, it 19:09 calls it a sin. It you don't make the oath, it's okay. 19:13 Why did then Jesus say not to make an oath, Colin, could you 19:18 read the words of Christ. 19:20 So in Matthew 5:37 Jesus is forbidding oats in a sense. He's 19:23 saying be careful making oaths. Almost forbidding it. You know, 19:28 because verse 34 says but I say if you don't swear at all 19:31 neither by heaven, for it is God's throne. And then it goes 19:34 on in verse 37. But let your yes to yes and your no be no. 19:38 For whatever is more than this is from the evil one. Let Yes of 19:43 no. And the wise man in Proverbs 19:45 Solomon says why will you condemn yourself with your words 19:50 Now if we promise things we can't do then we are condemning 19:52 ourselves. And so there's really the crisis 19:55 really the principle of honesty. Isn't that right? Sometimes 19:58 we look at the principle and then we have the practical. 20:01 An oath is an outworking of the practical, but if you follow the 20:04 principle you don't need to make the oath. You don't need to make 20:07 the oath. Yeah. What sort of standard could we say here 20:11 Colin that Nehemiah set for himself in all this? 20:15 Well Nehemiah himself, let's be honest. He was the governor. 20:18 As the governor you had certain rights you could take from the 20:22 people. He didn't take it. He didn't take what was due as the 20:26 governor. He expected high standards from others and set 20:28 the same standard for 20:30 himself. He financed his own living for example. And I think 20:34 that's just amazing. Nehemiah 5:14 he talks about it. He says: 20:39 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their 20:42 governor in the land of Judah from the 20th year until the 20:45 32nd year, okay for 12 years, from King Artaxerxes, neither 20:50 had I nor my brothers ate the governor's provisions; what was 20:54 deserved. And he talks about the former governors did it, they 20:56 took money, they took bread but he says but we wouldn't do it. 21:00 So he's setting an example to the people that he wasn't going 21:02 to. He lived by example. And I admire him for that. 21:05 Especially you think of the struggles with the famine and 21:09 I can think of Paul in the New Testament. He could have taken 21:13 he's certainly allowed to take money but he says I'm going to 21:18 work at my trade as a tentmaker and I'll not burden the people. 21:22 The laborer is worthy of his hire but there's such integrity 21:26 here in Nehemiah isn't there. And Paul as well. Because this 21:30 integrity to put others first. 21:32 Because it's one thing to say to others, hey listen, I want you 21:35 guys to do all this, but I'm not doing it myself. Yeah. So he's 21:39 setting an example. 21:40 I would say he goes and even exceeds what many others would 21:45 do here by not taking what is due to the governor. But that's 21:49 not all. Nehemiah goes further. In verse 16, Steven, I wonder if 21:52 you could read that for us. Let's find out. He goes a bit 21:56 further here in verse 16. Nehemiah 5:16. 22:00 Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did 22:03 not buy any land. All my servants were gathered 22:07 there for the work. He wanted to show that he was sincere. He 22:11 didn't have an ulterior motive you know of taking the best land 22:15 or anything like that. So he wavered his right so to speak 22:19 for the good of the nation. 22:21 He could definitely. He was always a welcome man being a 22:25 governor. He could have easily gone and put land for himself 22:27 on the church. He could have lent money and get all the 22:31 things himself and a right probably to do it as governor. 22:34 But he didn't do it. 22:37 What a wonderful example for leaders of our nation as a 22:40 Christian. It's almost what Christians 22:43 refer to as what's an incarnation ministry, isn't that 22:46 right. As Jesus himself came down to reach men as men. 22:50 Nehemiah he comes, you know, he really gets amongst the people 22:53 He becomes a partaker of the suffering really. He is willing 22:58 to forego his own comforts and experience to some extent what 23:04 they've experienced. He wants to let them know that he's there 23:07 with them through it all. That must have been so encouraging. 23:10 A little type of Christ, wasn't he? 23:13 That's what I love about when we look at things from the Old 23:17 Testament even before Christ comes on. And we see it in the 23:19 people of the New Testament as well. We see the character of 23:22 Christ being played out in the life of his people. And we see 23:25 these types of Christ. It's almost like God through his 23:29 grace as He works in the life of His people He's pointing to 23:33 the one that is going to come. There's different aspects there. 23:37 It's by His Spirit really. Yes. So Steven what is Nehemiah... 23:42 it says he accepted no wages. 23:45 Um yes. If we go to chapter five verse 18, last part, it says 23:54 that yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor's 23:58 provisions because the bondage was heavy on this people. 24:02 Bondage? Bondage. The bondage of the famine and the taxes they 24:06 were paying and everything else. He didn't want to be a further 24:10 burden. To gain respect from this people it had to be like 24:13 that didn't it. Yeah that's right. To share in people's 24:16 burdens then you can reach them and be part of them. 24:18 Well, it's tough enough as it is the way you've been treated. 24:22 I'm not going to add to that burden. It was just like Christ 24:28 in a way. 24:29 It's in times like this that people's real religion comes out 24:31 isn't it? That's when you show help to your neighbor. Yeah. 24:38 So we could apply that to our day. How do we apply that to our 24:42 day? Oh let's say we're _ family 24:47 mentioned before. When people in our family have times of 24:49 trouble, friends and that, you don't... You help them out but 24:53 you don't get money or expect interest out of it. Take 24:59 advantage of them in business transactions. To deal honestly 25:01 this is what God's looking for. They affect His character, they 25:06 affect Nehemiah. 25:07 And not just our family but also anyone, isn't it, when you run 25:10 across people who are struggling how do we deal with them? 25:12 Yeah, so there really is a world that needs to be ministered to 25:16 even today. I think sometimes in western countries we kind 25:19 of... We don't see much of that suffering that we hear about in 25:23 other parts of the world until you visit there, until you take 25:27 the time to investigate. But we can certainly make a difference 25:31 no matter where we are. Let's read our final text, Philippians 25:36 chapter 2, Let's go to Philippians 2:4-7 here as Paul 25:41 speaks of Jesus Christ himself. 25:43 This is a perfect example of what we were talking about, 25:46 incarnation ministry, and Jesus' mind set as he reached the 25:50 marginalized and the poor. 25:51 Colin would you read verses 4-7 for us. 25:55 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, they 25:58 were not to look at just their own interests, but also for the 26:01 interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was in 26:05 Jesus Christ. I imaging he's saying king of the universe, 26:07 you know, ruling over the whole universe, who being in the very 26:10 form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God 26:13 but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a 26:16 bond servant and coming down in the likeness of men and being 26:22 found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became 26:24 obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross. 26:26 Jesus himself comes down, humbles himself and he's saying 26:29 we should do the same. That's right. 26:32 By his own example He went beyond what we have to do. 26:35 Most of us won't have to go on a cross. 26:39 This really goes against really how much of the world practices. 26:42 Much of the world's practices I should say to take upon himself 26:50 no reputation, to esteem others better than himself. I mean this 26:54 is how God created us to be. This is how things ought to be 26:59 and Christ gives to us that example today. We can read 27:02 about it. We can see Christ even through the story of 27:05 Nehemiah. Thank you gentlemen. We'll have to leave at that 27:08 today. Jesus and Nehemiah both impacted their whole world. God 27:13 is calling us to follow the same model of investing ourselves in 27:17 the lives of others. We can be world changers. I believe it. 27:22 Nehemiah was. Jesus said let your light so shine before men 27:25 that they may see your good works and glorify your Father 27:28 who is in heaven. That's Let God Speak for today. You can 27:32 see all our past programs on our website 3abnaustralia.org.au 27:37 Sabbath school teachers can find notes on that website also. If 27:40 If you'd like to sent an e-mail send it to 27:41 lgs@3abnaustralia.org.au. Do join us again next time. 27:46 God bless. 27:47 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2020-02-10