Friday, July 25

Friday

Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.  I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.  Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.  But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels[a] of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we[b] did not acquire any land. Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.  - Nehemiah 5:12-18

I love Nehemiah 5:12 because it shows that they really wanted to do what was right and didn’t have to wait and think about it: “We will give it back and we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” Since the brokers promised to obey, Nehemiah made them take an oath in the presence of the priests. This was a way of saying that the promise was not just between the bankers and the builders but between them and the Lord. Nehemiah then concluded this special business meeting with three actions in (5:13) that lifted up the seriousness of what they had decided to do:

• Nehemiah shook out the folds of his robe, which symbolized what God would do if they broke their vow.

• Next, the congregation responded with a collective “amen” which was a solemn assent to what had been said. The word literally means, “So be it” and it made the entire assembly a part of the decision.

• Then they praised the Lord in unison. What started as a great cry of outrage led to a confrontation which led to a commitment to change and concluded with shouts of praise in a corporate worship service.

In describing his own lifestyle during this period, Nehemiah’s memoirs tell us how he behaved. He was motivated by two biblical principles during the 12 years he was the governor in the land of Judah. He was devoted to the Great Commandment as spelled out later by Jesus in Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Before thinking about how he could make a profit, he considered what was pleasing to God. In (5:15) he describes how previous governors got wealthy at the expense of the people. When comparing himself with what others did, Nehemiah stated, “But out of reverence for God I did not act like that.”

In Nehemiah 5:17-18 we see that he did not live extravagantly but instead lived generously by providing meals for others and not using his expense account to do so. Because he loved and revered God, he also loved the people he was called to serve.

That’s a great example for us to follow as well. Start first by focusing on God and your relationship to Him. As you do, you will have more love and compassion for others – even for those you have conflict with.

Jeff Frazier