Nehemiah’s Generosity

What this episode covers

The Lord preserved me from a lot of heartache by keeping me single throughout high school. However, it wasn’t for a lack of interest. I remember somewhere near the end of my sophomore year, talking to a girl I was interested in getting to know better. She was sharing with me her excitement about going to Summer Camp because it always brought her closer to God. I asked her why she felt the need to wait several months for Summer Camp before drawing near to God. The conversation abruptly ended and I’m pretty sure that was the last time I spoke to her. I had grown skeptical of “mountain top experiences” in the years I belonged to Jr. High and High School Youth Groups. You know what “mountain top experiences” are right? They are spiritual encounters you have whenever you get away from the noise of the city and focus your attention solely upon your spiritual life. They are generally characterized by deeply emotional responses including professions of faith and rededications. The problem I had come to learn over the years was that—for many people—those responses were short-lived. We call them “mountain top experiences” because they feel like life transforming encounters, but they are prone to fade like the face of Moses once we return to the valley. I may not have been the most tactful Christian in high school, but I think I was right about this one… Nehemiah seems to come full circle in this chapter. Last week, we saw what appears to be his admission of guilt in Judah’s corrupt lending practices (10). But here we find him to be entirely generous with his resources. He does not accept the benefits afforded to him as governor because of the undue burden it would have placed upon the people. Not only do we see Nehemiah’s repentance, but we also see a similar response from those he has just rebuked! Unfortunately, it is all too common for the people of God to pay lip service to the spiritual purposes of God. Emotional reactions of faith and repentance are not only few and far between, but they are oftentimes short-lived. Unlike “mountain top experiences,” if repentance is a way of life, The fruit of true repentance should always characterize the believers walk with God. Read Nehemiah 5:1-19. The Promise of the Rich (12-13) Possibly the most remarkable aspect of this passage is the way the social elites respond to these accusations. They actually had consciences. They felt conviction for sin. God had apparently softened their hearts to respond to Nehemiah’s rebuke with complete agreement. Not only would they restore everything they had taken, but they would cancel the debts as well (12). Nehemiah doesn’t stop there. He calls upon these nobles and officials to take a ceremonial oath before the priests (12b). He doesn’t merely take their word for it, he ensures that the whole city understands the promise that had been made. In other words, there was now social and religious accountability for these men to follow through on their promise. Beyond that, Nehemiah calls a curse upon them should they go back on their commitment. He grab his garment where it had been folded over to form a pocket and shook it out in front of everyone so that the contents would fall out. As he demonstrated this gesture he said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied” (13a). May these nobles and officials lose their homes and jobs and be left with nothing if they go back on their word! Once again, the people responded with agreement. In fact, “all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord” (13b). This is a picture of true repentance. Not only were they correcting the physical wrongs they had done against their neighbor, but they also recognized the spiritual sins they had committed against God. They are so convicted of their sin that they praised the Lord in response to a curse that had been called upon them. They agreed wi

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