UBF Daily Bread

LIVING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

Passage: Nehemiah 5:1~13

Key verse: 9

Nehemiah Helps the Poor

5 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. ²Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”

³Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields,^(A) our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”^(B)

⁴Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax^(C) on our fields and vineyards. ⁵Although we are of the same flesh and blood^(D) as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery.^(E) Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”^(F)

⁶When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. ⁷I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!”^(G) So I called together a large meeting to deal with them ⁸and said: “As far as possible, we have bought^(H) back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.^(I)

⁹So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach^(J) of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest!^(K) ¹¹Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest^(L) you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”

¹²“We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”

Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath^(M) to do what they had promised. ¹³I also shook^(N) 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,”^(O) and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This is a life that honors God. When we love our brothers and sisters as Christ has loved us, it is a testimony to the whole world that we are God’s people. This has always been true. Many of the Jews in Nehemiah’s day were suffering due to a famine and they did not have enough grain to feed their families. They mortgaged their properties to pay the king’s tax and sometimes had no choice but to sell their own children into slavery. The rich were making a profit from the plight of the poor by charging them interest and making their situation even more difficult. Nehemiah confronted the nobles and officials and declared “What you are doing is not right.” They were not honoring God.

Nehemiah called the nobles and officials to repent by returning all the property and interest they had taken from the poor and they agreed to do it. To hold them accountable, Nehemiah made the nobles and officials swear before the priests that they would keep their promises and pronounced a curse before God if they didn’t do it. He wanted them to live before God and for the glory of God. The nobles and officials did what they promised and praised God. Repentance leads to joy.

Prayer: Lord, help us to love one another.

One Word: Walk in the fear of our God