Sunday School Lesson

1. Nehemiah 5: 1-13
Justice in God’s Community
January 18, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

2. January MemoryVerse:
Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth,
“Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.

3. What’s the number one thing?

4. http://www.colindye.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-Glory-of-God-in-Christ-Jesus.jpg
The Glory of God!

5. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God.

6. http://kazyoung.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Challenge.jpg
We have three challenges that the
Education
Department has
placed before
us in 2015:

7. Three challenges for 2015
1) Memorize the monthly memory verse
2) Share your faith with one person each
month and
3) Ask Sunday School class members to
share how they have seen God at work
during the week.

8. http://www.saigonocean.com/giaitri/logo-vui88.jpg
It ought to be necessary for us to have to
wait in line to do the third challenge,
however, sometimes waiting in line is just
not necessary!

9. Nehemiah 5:1-13
Bible Exposition Commentary
OldTestament
BE Series
WarrenW. Wiersbe

10. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-irjGFw3ddMM/UlWdE8vDrrI/AAAAAAAAAa0/1HIO93A36ek/s1600/Ezra_Nehemiah.jpg
444 BC

11. Nehemiah 5:1-2 NKJV
1 And there was a great outcry of the
people and their wives against their
Jewish brethren. 2 For there were those
who said, “We, our sons, and our
daughters are many; therefore let us get
grain, that we may eat and live.”

12. Stop!Thief!
When Satan fails in his attacks from
the outside, he often begins to attack
from within; and one of his favorite
weapons is selfishness.

13. http://impactsocialnetworking.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/selfishness.png

14. http://www.themcmakens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/stylized-template-rotating-web-mcmakens-spiritual-warfare.png
If Satan can get us to think only about
ourselves and what we want, then he
will win the
victory before
we realize
that he is even
at work.

15. http://ellenlandreth.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/27-selfish.jpg
Selfishness means putting myself at
the center of
everything &
insisting on
getting what
I want when
I want it.

16. http://dkingnu.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/my-way-or-the-highway.jpg
It means exploiting others and taking
advantage
of them just
so I can
have my
own way.

17. https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608010633287827623&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0
Thomas Merton said:
"To consider persons and events and
situations only in
the light of their
effect upon myself
is to live on the
doorstep of hell."

18. http://cdn.theresurgence.com/files/2011/01/27/20110127_psalm-51-understand-the-depth-of-your-sin_medium_img.png
Nehemiah chapter 5 reveals to us the
depths of sin in the human heart and
how each of us must learn to love
our neighbors
as ourselves.

19. This moving drama has three acts:
1. A great cry (Nehemiah 5:1-5)
2. A great assembly (Neh. 5:6-13)
3. A great example (Neh. 5:14-19)

20. 1. A great cry (Nehemiah 5:1-5)
In the midst of a "great work" (4:19) for a
"great God" (1:5), a "great cry" (5:1) was
heard among the Jews.
They were not crying out against the
Samaritans, the Ammonites, or the Arabs,
but against their own people!

21. http://www.instonebrewer.com/visualSermons/churchdiscipline/AncientJews.JPG
Jew was exploiting Jew, and the
economic situation had become so
desperate that even
the wives (who
usually kept silent)
were joining in the
protest.

22. Four different groups of people were
involved in this crisis.
First, as we have already seen, there were
the people who needed food but who
owned no land (v. 2).
Then, in verses 3-5, are the others.

23. Nehemiah 5:3-5 NKJV
3There were also some who said,
“We have mortgaged our lands and
vineyards and houses, that we might
buy grain because of the famine.”

24. 4There were also those who said,
“We have borrowed money for the
king’s tax on our lands and vineyards.

25. 5Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our
brethren, our children as their children; and
indeed we are forcing our sons and our
daughters to be slaves, and some of our
daughters have been brought into slavery. It
is not in our power to redeem them, for other
men have our lands and vineyards.”
Nehemiah 5:2-5 NKJV

26. The population was increasing; there
was a famine (v. 3); and the people
were hungry.
These people could not help
themselves so they cried out to
Nehemiah for help.

27. The second group was composed of
landowners who had mortgaged their
property in order to buy food (v. 3).
Apparently inflation was on the rise,
and prices were going higher.

28. http://www.financialhelper.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/debt_woes.gif
The combination of debt and inflation
is enough to wipe
out a person's
equity very quickly.

29. The third group complained because
the taxes were too high, and they were
forced to borrow money to pay them
(v. 4).
• In order to borrow the money, they
had to give security; and this meant
eventually losing their property.

30. The Persian king received a fortune in
annual tribute, very little of which
ever benefited the local provinces.
The taxes did not support local
services; they only supported the
king.

31. The fourth group was made up of
wealthy Jews who were exploiting
their own brothers and sisters by
loaning them money and taking their
lands and their children for collateral
(Lev. 25:39-40).

32. Parents of Jewish boys and girls had to
choose between starvation or servitude
for their children!
• It was not unlawful for Jews to loan
money to one another, but they
were not to act like money lenders
and charge interest (Deut. 23:19-20).

33. They were to treat one another with
love even in the matter of taking
security (24:10-13; Exodus 22:25-27)
or making a brother a servant
(Leviticus 25:35-46).

34. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jUnHQ2pWupA/UsbJc627m4I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/Zr6PWo9lo8s/s1600/Earth+is+the+lords.JPG
Both the people and the land
belonged to the
Lord, and He would
not have anybody
using either one
for personal gain.

35. One reason for the "Year of Jubilee"
(Leviticus 25) was to balance the
economic system in Israel so that the
rich could not get richer as the poor
became poorer.

36. http://www.pray4zion.org/images/graphics/yearofthejubilee.jpg
All debts had to be forgiven in the
fiftieth year, all land restored to its
original owners,
and all prisoners
and all servants
set free.

37. These wealthy businessmen were
selfishly exploiting the poor in order
to make themselves rich.
They were using their power to rob
some and to put others into bondage.

38. http://www.zekefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/greed-title-still.jpg
Greed was one of the sins the
prophets had denounced before the
Babylonian Captivity
(Isa. 56:9-12;
Jer. 22:13-19;
Amos 2:6-7; 5:11-12).

39. http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/01/09/aa010993769da1546a0dd345f217285a.jpg
God has a special concern for the poor
and will not
hold those
guiltless who
take advantage
of them.

40. This moving drama has three acts:
1. A great cry (Nehemiah 5:1-5)
2. A great assembly (Neh. 5:6-13)
3. A great example (Neh. 5:14-19)

41. Nehemiah 5:6-13 NKJV
6 And I became very angry when I
heard their outcry and these words.

42. 7 After serious thought, I rebuked the
nobles and rulers, and said to them,
“Each of you is exacting usury from
his brother.” So I called a great
assembly against them.

43. 8 And I said to them, “According to our
ability we have redeemed our Jewish
brethren who were sold to the nations.
Now indeed, will you even sell your
brethren? Or should they be sold to us?”
Then they were silenced and found
nothing to say.

44. 9Then I said, “What you are doing is
not good. Should you not walk in the
fear of our God because of the
reproach of the nations, our enemies?

45. 10 I also, with my brethren and my
servants, am lending them money and
grain. Please, let us stop this usury!

46. 11 Restore now to them, even this day,
their lands, their vineyards, their olive
groves, and their houses, also a
hundredth of the money and the
grain, the new wine and the oil, that
you have charged them.”

47. 12 So they said, “We will restore it, and
will require nothing from them; we
will do as you say.”
Then I called the priests, and required
an oath from them that they would do
according to this promise.

48. 13Then I shook out the fold of my garmentand
said, “So may God shake out each man from his
house, and from his property, who does not
perform this promise. Even thus may he be
shaken out and emptied.”
And all the assembly said, “Amen!” and praised
the LORD.Then the people did according to this
promise.
Nehemiah 5:6-13 NKJV

49. 2. A great assembly (Neh. 5:6-13)
It is one thing to confront foreign
enemies and quite something else to
deal with your own people when they
fight one another.

50. Young Moses learned that it was
easier to dispose of an Egyptian
master than to reconcile two Jewish
brothers (Exodus 2:11-15).
Nehemiah showed true leadership in
his responses to the problem.

51. Anger (Nehemiah 5:6).
This was not the flaring up of a sinful
temper but the expression of
righteous indignation at the way the
businessmen were oppressing their
own brothers and sisters.

52. "In your anger do not sin"
(Ephesians 4:26, also see Psalm 4:4).
• Nehemiah was not a politician who
asked, "What is popular?" or a
diplomat who asked, "What is
safe?" but a true leader who asked,
"What is right?"

53. His was a holy anger against sin, and he
knew he had the Law of God behind him.
• Moses expressed this kind of holy anger
when he broke the stone tables of Law
(Ex. 32), and so did Jesus when He saw
the hardening of the Pharisees' hearts
(Mark 3:5).

54. It is important to note that the building of
the wall did not create these problems; it
revealed them.
• Often when a church enters into a
building program, all sorts of problems
start to surface that people didn't even
know were there.

55. http://www.whitehallbfc.org/images/headline/headline_building.jpg
A building program is a demanding
thing that tests our faith, our
patience, and our priorities; and while
it brings out the best
in some people, it can
often bring out
the worst in others.

56. Consultation (Neh 5:7).
"I consulted with myself" means
literally "My heart consulted within
me" or you could call it: "putting my
heads together."

57. Actually, Nehemiah put his heart and
his head together as he pondered the
problem and sought God's direction.
He got control of his feelings and his
thoughts so that he could give
constructive leadership to the people.

58. "He who is slow to anger is better
than the mighty, and he who rules his
spirit than he who takes a city"
(Proverbs 16:32, NKJV).
• If a leader can't control himself, he
will never be successful in
controlling others.

59. http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/123561200.png

60. Nehemiah decided to call a great
assembly (Nehemiah 5:7) and publicly
confront the people whose selfishness
had created this difficult and painful
situation.
See Galatians 2:14 -

61. http://www.drdavewhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Galatians-2.14-when-to-publicly-confront.jpg

62. Galatians 2:14 NKJV
14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the
gospel, I said to Peter before them all,
…

63. Theirs was a grievous public sin,
involving the whole nation; and it
demanded public rebuke and
repentance.

64. Rebuke (Neh. 5:7-11).
Nehemiah's rebuke of the exploiters
consisted of six different appeals. First, he
appealed to their love by reminding them
that they were robbing their own fellow
Jews, not the Gentiles (v. 7).

65. The word "brother" is used four times
in this speech.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity!" (Psalm 133:1)

66. "Let's not have any quarreling
between you and me," Abraham said
to Lot, "for we are brothers"
(Genesis 13:8, NIV).

67. His appeal was based solidly on the
Word of God, for the Law of Moses
forbade Jews to exact interest from
one another.

68. The Jewish nation went into
Babylonian Captivity an agricultural
people, but some of them came out a
mercantile people, having learned
how to use money to make money.
• They went from being sheep
keepers to being shop keepers.

69. There is certainly nothing wrong with
lending money (Matthew 25:27),
providing you don't violate God's
Word and exploit those who are
helpless.

70. It is remarkable how much the Bible
has to say about the right and wrong
use of money.
• It is also remarkable how many
professed believers ignore these
truths and use their resources
without consulting the Lord.

71. • They think that because they tithe,
or give offerings to the Lord, they
can do what they please with the
rest of their income.

72. • They forget that we are stewards
of all that God gives us, not just of
what we give Him; and that He will
hold us accountable for our
stewardship.

73. In his third appeal, Nehemiah
reminded them of God's redemptive
purpose for Israel (Nehemiah 5:8).
• In the past, God redeemed Israel
from Egypt; and more recently, He
had redeemed them from Captivity
in Babylon.

74. But this verse informs us that
Nehemiah and others of the leading
Jews had helped redeem some of
their people, and now their fellow
Jews were putting people into
bondage just to make money.

75. These selfish money lenders were
tearing down everything that God and
Nehemiah were trying to build up.

76. Free people have lives governed by
truth and motivated by love but the
Jewish brokers were motivated by
greed and were ignoring the truth of
God'sWord.Their selfishness put both
themselves and their creditors into
bondage.

77. Israel's witness to their Gentile
neighbors (v. 9) was the fourth appeal
Nehemiah presented to the guilty
money lenders.

78. http://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/a-light-to-the-gentiles.jpg?w=450
God called Israel to be a "light to the
Gentiles" (Isa. 42:6; 49:6),
but their conduct was
certainly anything but a
witness to their pagan
neighbors.

79. How could some of the Jewish citizens
build the city wall on the one hand but
enslave their neighbors on the other
hand?
• If we truly fear the Lord, then we
will want to honor Him before
those who don't believe in Him.

80. Paul used a similar approach when he censured
the Corinthian Christians for taking one another
to court.

81. "Dare any of you, having a matter against
another, go to law before the unrighteous, and
not before the saints?... But brother goes to law
against brother, and that before unbelievers!" (1
Cor 6:1, 6, NKJV)
• Far better to lose money than lose the
privilege of your witness to the lost.
• You can always earn more money, but how
do you restore a damaged testimony?

82. "The fear of our God" is not the servile
dread of a slave toward a master but
the loving respect of a child toward a
parent.
To fear the Lord means to seek to
glorify God in everything we do.

83. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1QQy0M16Z3Q/UCGNOE5OuyI/AAAAAAAAAI4/hqLU6KRlxJQ/s1600/The-greatest-visible-evidence-of-the-fear-of-God-is-obedience-to-God_-e1343146179902.jpg

84. The primary problem was that what
was happening would obstruct their
ultimate mission to the Gentiles.

85. To "walk in the fear of our God"
means "to live in awe of and devotion
to God and with kindness and
integrity toward men" (Deut 10:12;
Lev 25:36; Neh 7:2).

86. Such a life-style would be a witness to
the Gentiles and would fulfill the
election of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3;
Isaiah 42:6-9).

87. It means listening to HisWord, honoring it,
and obeying it. (James 1:19)
"The remarkable thing about fearing
God," wrote Oswald Chambers, "is that
when you fear God, you fear nothing else,
whereas if you do not fear God, you fear
everything else."

88. Because Nehemiah's life was
motivated by the fear of the Lord
(Neh. 5:15), he did not fear what the
enemy might do (vv. 14, 19).
The fear of the Lord moved Nehemiah
to be a faithful servant of the Lord.

89. To walk in the fear of God, of course,
means to walk by faith, trusting God
to deal with your enemies and one
day balance the accounts.
It means claiming Matthew 6:33 and
having the right priorities in life.

90. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Inspirational-Images/large/Matthew_6-33.jpg

91. "The fear of the Lord leads to life, and
he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
he will not be visited with evil"
(Proverbs 19:23, NKJV).

92. In Nehemiah 5:10-11, Nehemiah
appealed to his own personal practice.
He was lending money to the needy,
but he was not charging interest or
robbing them of their security
(Exodus 22:25).

93. Exodus 22:25 NKJV
25 “If you lend money to any of My
people who are poor among you, you
shall not be like a moneylender to
him; you shall not charge him interest.

94. Unlike some leaders, Nehemiah was
not saying, "Do what I say, not what I
do!"
He was not a hypocrite; he practiced
what he preached.

95. In fact, this chapter will conclude with
Nehemiah pointing out all that God
had enabled him to do for his people
(Nehemiah 5:14-19).
He was a great example as a believer
and as a leader.

96. This practice had been going on
before Nehemiah arrived on the scene
and now the people were in despair as
they tried to balance the family
budget.

97. "The hundredth part" in verse 11 was
the interest charged for the money,
probably applied monthly, making a
total of 12 percent interest a year.

98. A man of action, Nehemiah told the
brokers to restore both the interest
and the security they had taken from
their fellow Jews, as well as the
property they had claimed in
foreclosure.

99. This drastic step of faith and love
would not immediately solve all the
economic problems of the people, but
it would at least keep the problems
from getting worse and it would also
give the suffering people opportunity
to make a fresh new start.

100. Nehemiah's sixth appeal was to
remind them of the judgment of the
Lord (vv. 12-13).
• The brokers promised to obey, so
Nehemiah had them take an oath
in the presence of the priests and
the other officers of the city.

101. • This meant that their promise was
not only between them and their
neighbors, but between them and
the Lord; and this was a serious
thing.

102. "When you make a vow to God, do not
delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure
in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better hot
to vow than to make a vow and not
fulfill it" (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, NIV).

103. The great assembly was concluded with
three actions that emphasized the
seriousness of the occasion.
First, Nehemiah shook out the folds of his
robe, symbolic of what God would do with
the money lenders if they didn't fulfill their
vow.

104. Shaking your robe or the dust off your
feet was a typically Jewish act of
condemnation (Acts 13:51; 18:6;
Matthew 10:14).

105. Then the congregation responded
with a collective "Amen," which was
much more than a Jewish ritual.
It was their solemn assent to what had
been said and done at the assembly
(see Nehemiah 8:6 and Deut. 27:14).

106. http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/so-be-it.jpg

107. The word amen means "so be it"; in
other words, "May the Lord do all that
you said!"
It was an act of worship that made the
entire assembly a part of the decisions
that were made.

108. Then the whole congregation together praised
the Lord.
Why?
Because God had enabled Nehemiah to help
them begin to solve their problems, and he had
directed the money lenders to acknowledge
their sins and make restitution.

109. This great assembly was not an
"economic summit"; it was a worship
service where Nehemiah had lifted a
financial problem to the highest
possible level.

110. God's people need to follow
Nehemiah’s example and deal with
every problem in the light of the will
of God as declared in theWord of God.

111. http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/1/3/0/1/4/2/9/Amen-37893061682.png

112. http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/so-be-it.jpg
Next week

113. Next week:
Nehemiah 6:1-19
Be Faithful in Adversity

114. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

115. Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death,
died in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second
death explained in Revelation 21:8.

116. Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

117. Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

118. Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus
as our Savior.

119. Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart
one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD
shall be saved.”

120. If you have questions or would like to know more,
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-
979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/