What we learn last week: There will be oppositions in ministry.
• We cannot stop what people will say but we can choose not to allow their words or deeds to discourage us from doing what is good and right, what is the will of God.
• We choose not to be distracted; we FOCUS on what God calls us to do.
• We learnt from Nehemiah to be quick to PRAY, not as a last resort. We PRAY and FOCUS on what God wants us to do. We let God be the Judge.
• When we are hard-pressed, remember to ask for HELP. We look out for one another (hear the trumpet call for help) and seek to RALLY together in support of each other.
In any crisis, REMEMBER HIM (Nehemiah says) - our great and awesome God!
• Jesus: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
• 1 John 5:4-5 “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
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The pressure intensifies in chapter 5. Nehemiah was confronted with yet another problem.
• In fact, this could well be the biggest threat yet, the toughest problem – internal strife.
• It was a fight WITHIN the wall, not without. You can unite to fight a common enemy outside, but what can you do when you fight among one another?
Very often, the greatest problems we face in life come from within – within the home, within the office, within the church, within a nation (like what we saw in Egypt recently).
• This is the kind of problem I fear most. It is emotionally draining and it saps you of all the energy you have in fighting your enemy from without.
• It is like psychological warfare. You can be defeated even before you take the first step out of camp or take up your weapon.
• Let’s read about this new problem in NEHEMIAH 5:1-13.
Doing God’s work isn’t easy, right? Nehemiah had to handle challenges from all fronts – back in the palace he has to contend with the King, then the logistics of building the wall, enemies from without and now internal squabbling! Like siblings rivalry in the home.
• If the Evil One cannot break you with ridicule and attacks from the outside, he will work from within.
• He will sow seeds of distrust, rivalry, discontent and strife WITHIN our walls.
The people were coping with very basic needs. They were experiencing food shortages, and big families with many children to feed were struggling to make ends meet.
• A famine aggravated the situation. Food prices went up. The poor were hard hit.
• People had resorted to mortgaging their fields, vineyards, homes to buy grain.
The poor ones had to borrow money to pay taxes. They sought their fellow countrymen for help, the rich ones who had returned from exile, but they charges exorbitant rates.
• The worst-off ones had to even force their children into slavery, sell them as slaves. At least, in this way they had some money, and their children can be fed (by their owners).
This wasn’t an oppression that comes from the Persians or some foreigners but their own.
• Their suffering was brought upon them mainly by their own people. The rich among them were exploiting the poor ones.
• Nehemiah recalled in verse 8 – in the past, our people were sold to the Gentiles as slaves and we had to pay to redeem them back. “Now they were selling our own brothers into slavery, and had to pay our own people to get them back!”
Is this right? Nehemiah challenged them to think. He had called for a meeting of all the nobles and officials.
• He was VERY ANGRY at these charges. But he did not react in anger.
• Verse 7: “I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I TOLD them…”
• God has really blessed Nehemiah with the wisdom to size up situations and understand the need of the moment. We have seen that in the past few chapters.
• Pray for such wisdom. James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” His ability to handle so many various challenges so well comes from his habit of praying for God’s help.
• Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.”
After hearing what Nehemiah said, verse 8 says “They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.”
• They knew something was not right. They had not acted with kindness towards the poor (especially), which was also taught in the Scriptures.
• Instead they had taken advantage of the situation for selfish gains. They saw the poor as a means to helping themselves get rich. They charged exorbitant rates, confiscated lands, and even gladly accepted kids from poor families as slaves.
We see how one can be so driven by self-interest to be blinded to the needs of others.
THINKING ONLY FOR THEMSELVES
One afternoon, a man was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw 2 men eating grass by the road side. He ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate.
"Why are you eating grass?" he asked one man.
"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied.
"Oh, come along with me then."
"But sir, I have a wife with 2 children!"
"Bring them along! And you, come with too!" he said to the other man.
"But sir, I have a wife with 4 children!" the second man answered.
"Bring them as well!"
They all climbed into the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limo. On the way, one of the poor fellows says "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."
The rich man replied, "No, you don't understand, the grass patch at my house is about a metre tall!"
He was just making use of them to serve his need. He cared little about them.
A farmer was single and wanted a wife. He put an ad in the newspaper: "Man 35, wants woman about 25, with tractor. Send picture of tractor."
This set me thinking, how do I usually relate to people?
• Do we usually think about what we can get out of them, or do we think about their needs?
• Do we generally extend grace and show mercy, or are we preoccupied by self and our own desires? Do we usually give or take?
Nehemiah says this is a shame to God’s Name. “Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentiles enemies?” (v.9)
• Should you be more concerned about the glory of God and your testimony before the Gentiles?
• The call was simple – care for one another. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)
Nehemiah got them to see the light. They realised their sin and repented in v.12.
• They took an oath before God that they would not do it again.
• Nehemiah himself practiced what he preached – he shared about it in Neh 5:14-19.
Nehemiah was motivated by a reverence for God and a love for the people.
• He could have taken advantage of his position as appointed governor to enjoy what was due to him, but he has chosen not to. It was his right but he let it go.
• He did not tax the people, but instead share what he has with them. He lived out of his own means and offered what he has to feed those who were less fortunate.
He does not need to but he wants to, to honour God and to bless the people.
• This was Nehemiah’s example; it was also the example of Jesus.
• Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, and to give away His life [as a ransom for many] (Matt 20:28).
• This is our calling; this is the way of Christ. We are called to give, not take; to be a blessing to others. We are to live to make a difference.
Mother Teresa: “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”
• We want to be a somebody to at least someone (if not everyone) because we have been blessed by God.
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These problems did not arise because of the re-building of the wall.
• The construction did not cause them. They were there all along, but working together on the wall kind-of brought these grievances to the surface.
• Every work of God will have its share of people problems, difficulties, and challenges.
• The last thing we need is people on the inside contending with one another, selfishly seeking to do things their own way.
• Eph 4:2-3 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Pray that God will bless us that way, and grant each of us a humble spirit and unselfish heart, that we may join together, and stay together, in build up God’s work and glorify His great Name!
