Nehemiah 5:1-13

Nehemiah has motivated the Jews to overcome 100+ years of inertia. They are rebuilding their crumbled walls while summoning courage to resist foreign opposition. That is hard enough, but they continue to face decades-long oppression from their own rulers: exorbitant interest, high taxes, demands for collateral, even slavery. What kind of courage is needed to rise up against such oppression? And will the people have the motivation to do so?

Have we, too, grown so used to the way things are – in our country, our society, our jobs – that we don’t think we can effect change? Have we given up, assuming greed always wins, injustice always prevails, the poor always oppressed? What can shake our complacency and motivate us to effect change because, honestly, it is scary to challenge authority. 

Sometimes it takes an outsider to shake us up. Nehemiah, a Jew but still an outsider, gets angry with the status quo (5:6). Railing against authority, while that does demand some level of bravery, effects little if any change. Carrying a sign of protest might require courage, especially today, but it is going to take moral, godly courage to effect change. Bravado just makes people on both sides mad. So Nehemiah stops to “ponder” the people’s “outcry and charges” (5:6).

Nehemiah – and we – must make leaders cognizant of the problem. “So I called…a large meeting to deal with them” (5:7). This requires courage as the danger is real; inflame the situation, and Nehemiah will make it worse for the people. Haven’t we all walked that tightrope with others? Nehemiah – and we – must then get leadership sensitive to the problem, even if only to avoid “the reproach of our Gentile enemies” (5:9b). Nehemiah shows the leaders how far away from God their hearts are: “shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God?” (5:9). Righteous anger tempered by prayer results in Nehemiah calmly laying out the charges against them. “They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say” (5:8). In fact, the rulers even promise to “give [everything] back…and not demand anything more” (5:12). 

Nehemiah didn’t effect change with bravado, brash accusations, or political compromise. With godly courage against powerful leadership, he elevated the needs of the oppressed, focused on God’s law, and called the leaders to repentance. 

Where are you tempted to get angry and accuse, to rail against injustice? Bravado on social media won’t effect change, although it may make you feel better. Ask God for courage to confront peacefully as you aim for reconciliation and change.