Stopping Exploitation

KEY VERSE: “I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother.” — Nehemiah 5:7

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 5:1-12

NEHEMIAH WAS NOT only a great builder, but, being appointed by the king to be governor. of Judea, he ruled wisely and with equity. This is shown particularly in chapter five. It seems that the Israelites themselves were oppressing one another as opportunity afforded. Nehemiah was angry over this. He consulted with himself, the narrative states, and then rebuked the nobles and the rulers in the words of our Key Verse.

He instituted a reform which did away with this evil, calling attention to his own example, in that as governor he had not accepted the remuneration that ordinarily went with that office. He realized that he would be taking money raised by taxation in Judea from his brethren. Furthermore, at his own table he fed “an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers,” besides those who came to Judea “from among the heathen.” (vs. 17) These sidelights reveal the true character of Nehemiah.

Another problem Nehemiah had to deal with was the propensity of the Jews to return to their old sins of ignoring the Law, particularly in this instance, in not properly observing the Sabbath. The Jews themselves, as well as “men of Tyre,” brought their wares and sold them to the people in Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day. (Neh. 13:16) Nehemiah “contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath Day?” Forthwith he commanded that the gates of the city be closed when it “began to be dark before the Sabbath.” —vss. 17-19

But this did not stop the evil, for the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged without Jerusalem. (vs. 20) Apparently the people of the city were willing to travel out to these merchants and purchase what they thought they needed. Perhaps the merchants, as well as those who bought their wares, thought this would be an acceptable compromise with the requirements of the Law.

But compromise with the Lord is never acceptable. Nehemiah knew this, and took a strong stand against it. He said to them, “Why lodge ye about [Margin, “before”] the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you.” (vs. 21) We read that from “that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath.” Courageous faithfulness had won.

Later, and, evidently also under direction of Nehemiah, a group of the leaders in Israel drew up a special covenant outlining various obligations to the Lord. The points mentioned in this covenant were not new, being included in the Law Covenant mediated by Moses. Perhaps the makers of this covenant concluded that these points called for special emphasis. Nehemiah was the first signer of this auxiliary covenant; and tradition has it that the signers as a group formed the basis for what later developed into the Jewish Sanhedrin.—Neh. 9,10

Nehemiah’s last work of reformation was a cleansing of the Temple from occupation by non-Jews, and by priests who had married heathen wives, and by seeing to it that the services of the Temple were properly conducted. Through all his faithful service, Nehemiah sought nothing for himself except the favor and blessing of the Lord. In connection with several of his courageous acts, he uttered a simple prayer to his God. It appears in the last verse of his book—“Remember me, O my God, for good.”

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