Nehemiah 5:1-19

Exploitation of others who are less fortunate is one of the ugliest traits that men can display.  Yet, it seems to be so common throughout the history of the world and the children of Israel who returned from exile were no exception.  Some of the people who returned from exile were men of nobility who had apparently achieved a certain degree of wealth while they were in captivity.  Others simply left all they had behind and were starting over in their new land but they had no reserves available to them.  When a famine hit the land, these poor people had no way to support themselves accept by borrowing money and selling their property to those who had reserves.  It was a classic case of the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer.  Nehemiah stood in stark contrast to this type of exploitation in his leadership.

NEHEMIAH CONFRONTED THE RICH FOR EXPLOITING THE POOR: When the plight of the poor people came to Nehemiah’s attention he became angry and immediately confronted the unlawful practices in which the rich men were engaged.  He met with the people and required them to return all of the interest that had been charged on the loans that had been made as well as return all of the property that had been taken due to the inability of the poor people to pay off these unfair loans at such high interest rates.  The noblemen complied with Nehemiah’s instruction and the oppression of the poor ceased.  Unfortunately, in today’s political world, exploitation has become an all too common practice by both the rich and the poor.  The wealth will take advantage of their power and influence to be able to manipulate laws in order to take advantage of those less fortunate and thereby become even richer and more powerful.  There are those who are poor that have no desire to work that expect to be supported by those who have more but they refuse to be productive with their lives.  God has called us to work hard so that we might give generously to others.

NEHEMIAH CONTRIBUTED TO THE POOR BY EXCUSING THEIR TAX: Nehemiah provides a great example of what the Lord expects of us.  He was the most powerful man in the nation and as the governor; he had the right to collect taxes from the people for the purpose of supporting his family and the members of his leadership team as well as for receiving guests from surrounding nations.  However, since he recognized the hardship the people were facing and since he had a personal allowance from the king that was sufficient to meet these needs; He did not collect this tax and supported these needs from his own personal funds.  Nehemiah is a wonderful example of a leader who was willing to serve instead of the world’s pattern of leadership that expects to be served.  Many of today’s leaders use their positions of power in order to promote their own prosperity at the expense of the people that they are supposed to be serving.  God expects us to be faithful servants who give generously to others; not selfish leaders that seek to promote our own agendas at the expense of others.