A Courageous Soul / Division & Personal Sacrifice / Nehemiah 5

Introduction: The “Fine Print” of Faith

Well, if you have your Bibles, turn to Nehemiah chapter five. We’re going to be there today. And, look, I don’t appreciate all the hate mail I’m getting about the whole Raiders comment. Look, you just need to know it’s not my fault that they’re that bad. I’m sorry. At least I didn’t call you a Redskins fan or something; that’s even worse. But it’s been interesting this last week. You have to be careful with Raider fans. They’re nasty people sometimes—they start dressing up with spikes and coming at you! So, I’m going to quit while I’m ahead.

You can pursue what God has for you. You can begin to live out the truth that you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. And that’s great. It will be exhilarating, it’ll be a kick in the pants, and it will set your faith on fire. It will be one of the most fantastic experiences you’ve ever had. But you need to know there’s some fine print.

Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

External vs. Internal Conflict

Last week, we looked at the initial opposition in chapter four. It came first in the form of external pressure. Remember, you had Sanballat and his little playground buddy, Tobiah, who began to rally three gangs—the Arabs, the Ashdodites, and the Ammonites—to oppose the wall. They were talking smack like junior high kids stealing lunch tickets and pizza pockets. They were arguing and mocking the building. The real problem the people had wasn’t the workload; it was the fear that they were actually going to get killed by this opposition.

Yet, you capture a theme throughout that chapter: even though there’s all this opposition, it’s external. It almost feels like you handle it differently. You see Nehemiah just pushing through it. We talked jokingly last week about the idea of just “shaking the haters” when they oppose you from the outside. Regardless of who tries to throw water on the flames of your passion, because it’s external, you’re going to be okay. All the opposition was trying to do was bring confusion to the builders.

Nehemiah 4:8 (NASB)

All of them conspired together to come [and] fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

In chapter five, we’re going to see another form of opposition, but this one’s going to feel different. Truthfully, this one hurts. The opposition you’re going to see in chapter five is not from the outside. It’s a theme you’ll find throughout the whole Old Testament: the worst enemy to the people of God is the people of God. When something comes from the outside in, you can handle it. But boy, when conflict comes and division happens internally, it can be catastrophic. It just rips the joy right out of you. In chapter four we saw unity, but in chapter five we see incredible distraction.

The Outcry of the People

A group of men rises up in chapter five who are financial opportunists. They see an opportunity in the market to take advantage of their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. In verses one through five, the complaints arise. It’s what the Bible calls a “great outcry” of the people and of their wives. They’re picketing. They’re on strike. They’ve got their signs painted, they’re walking around, and they are finally boycotting the rebuilding of the wall.

What’s happening? For the previous thirty days or so, these men haven’t been home. Instead, they got their swords and brought their sons to the wall as Nehemiah commanded. They’ve forsaken their home life for the cause. Now the wives are looking around going, “Hey, wait a minute.” In the absence of the men, shady guys had risen up and begun to take advantage of their vulnerable position. For those of you who are married, you know there’s “upset,” and then there’s “Mama upset.” That’s a whole other level! These wives are appealing to Nehemiah because this is personal. This is family. Their own people are doing this.

Nehemiah 5:1 (NASB)

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

Violating God’s Economy

There were four things setting up this perfect storm. First, the families were very large, and they were having a hard time feeding their kids. Second, they were mortgaging their fields and vineyards just to eat. They didn’t have cash or grocery money. Third, the money being loaned to them came with a high interest rate. Sound familiar? When times are bad, some people just rip everyone with interest. Finally, these loans were coming from their own Jewish brethren, resulting in people having to sell their children into slavery to cover the debt. Nehemiah, of course, is going to frown upon this.

This was a violation of the Law of God. In the Old Testament, you didn’t rely on the government to feed your neighbor; you helped feed your neighbor because that’s what you do. If you had a field, you would reap it to the edge, but not all the way. You’d leave some for the poor to glean so they could survive. The people of God take care of the people of God. We see this in the Book of Acts as well, where they sold property to give to anyone as they had need.

In the Law, it was forbidden to give money to a brother and require interest. You could do that to pagan nations, but not to your family. In God’s economy, it’s a faith-based, provision-driven economy. It’s not a grasping economy. It’s not like Monopoly where you’re trying to get all the properties and dominate the world. God says, “I will provide for you. You work hard and be content.”

Jesus told an incredible story when asked about the greatest commandment. He quoted Deuteronomy and said the most important thing is to love God with everything and love your neighbor as yourself. The Pharisees asked, “Who is my neighbor?” to justify themselves, and that’s where the Good Samaritan story comes in. The point is that we should live with neighbor-love.

Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB)

And He said to him, ’‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ’This is the great and foremost commandment. ’The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

The Pattern of the Enemy Within

I wonder if Nehemiah had a handle on his Hebrew history. As you watch the Old Testament, you see God calling a people for His own possession—a distinct, holy people. When they lived set apart, they were invincible. But then you see the internal rot. Moses goes up to receive the Law, and the people are downstairs making a golden calf.

In the Book of Numbers, the first ten chapters are all about organizational structure. If you’re a high achiever, you’ll love it. But in chapter eleven, they start to move, and the first thing they do is grumble. Then Miriam and Aaron—Moses’ right-hand people—turn on him. Then the spies come back with a bad report, and the people say, “We can’t do it.” Congratulations, that bought them forty years of U-turns in the wilderness.

Later, they come across the Moabite King, Balak. He sees them and realizes he can’t defeat them militarily, so he tries to curse them. When that doesn’t work, they find another way. They send in temple prostitutes to entice the Hebrew men to worship Baal. The greatest enemy wasn’t the army outside; it was the sin among them. It was the same with Achan at the battle of Ai. They got whipped because there was sin in the camp.

Dealing with Anger and Conflict

Look at Nehemiah’s response when he hears about the oppression of the poor. He says, “I was angry when I heard the outcry.” Is it okay to be angry at sin? Absolutely. But remember Ephesians 4: “Be angry, and do not sin.”

Nehemiah 5:6 (NASB)

Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words.

Ephesians 4:26 (NASB)

BE ANGRY, AND [yet] DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

That is hard to do. The anger of man never accomplishes the righteousness of God. I’ve paid the “dumb tax” on this myself. I once met with a man who was having an affair. I was very, very angry because I loved this guy and he knew better. He tried to justify it, and I got more angry. I finally stood up, got in his face, poked his chest, and called him a name I can’t say in church. I cussed him out.

In that moment, I lost the opportunity to restore a brother. For the next six months, he didn’t stew on his sin; he stewed on my behavior. Because I allowed my anger to turn into sin, the issue became mine.

Nehemiah is sharper than that. Look at verse seven. He says, “I took counsel with myself.” That means he stopped and counted to ten. He cooled off. When you have those words on the end of your tongue and you’re looking at your spouse, just hold it. Go for a drive. Do anything but say what you want to say. When we react in emotion, it’s like shrapnel. But Nehemiah pauses to respond rather than react. He gains composure. That is upper-division leadership.

The Art of Restoration and Accountability

Nehemiah brings charges against the nobles and officials. He deals in both grace and truth. We often swing the pendulum to one extreme or the other, but God is comfortable in a “both/and” world. Nehemiah is gracious, but he points out the sin. He calls a town hall meeting because the nobles were the ones who would have sat in judgment in a court.

Confronting sin is a lost art in the church. People say, “Don’t judge!” But they forget the rest of the passage: “Lest you be judged.” It means you must live by the same standard you use to judge. Paul says judgment needs to begin in the house of God. We are called to be accountable to one another.

Galatians 6:1 (NASB)

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; [each one] looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

There are two extremes. One is an “uber-gracious” environment where nobody says anything about anything because “we’re all sinners.” That’s sick. The other is being a Pharisee. We have to learn the art of restoration. Jesus in Matthew 18 lays out a painstaking process for church discipline. It starts one-on-one. If they repent, you’ve won your brother.

Matthew 18:15-20 (NASB)

’If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ’But if he does not listen [to you], take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. ’If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ’Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. ’Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ‘For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.’

We all have issues. If having issues meant we could never talk to a brother about sin, nobody would ever say anything. But the Bible says to take the log out of your own eye so that you can see clearly to help your brother with the speck. It requires inventory and personal holiness. We often fail here because our relationships are too shallow for healthy reproof. Do you have anyone in your life who loves you enough to tell you the truth?

Nehemiah confronts them: “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God?” He reminds them that their behavior gives the enemies a reason to taunt them. It’s not about you; it’s about how God is reflected in your life.

Leading by Personal Sacrifice

If you are truly going to pursue a holy discontent, it’s going to call for personal sacrifice. For twelve years as governor, Nehemiah never took the food allowance or privileges due to him. He took lower compensation so his team could have more. He forsook his rights to make the mission happen.

Very seldom will a holy discontent end up in your own personal gain. You don’t pursue it to pad your pocket; you do it to please God. Nehemiah even ran a soup kitchen out of his own house, feeding 150 people at his own table to lighten the load on the workers. He served to please God, not for the praise of men. He simply prays, “Remember me, O my God, for good.”

Nehemiah 5:19 (NASB)

Remember me, O my God, for good, [according to] all that I have done for this people.

Closing Challenge: A Call to Holiness

How much was accomplished on the physical wall in chapter five? Nothing. In chapter four, Nehemiah was ready to build even if it killed him. But in chapter five, the building stops. Why? Because the greatest enemy is the one inside, not the one outside. Nehemiah knew that if there was sin in the camp, God would lift His hand.

If there is holiness in the camp, God’s hand is on it. And if God’s hand is on it, who can be against it? But if we are playing around with sin—binging on porn, hitting the clubs, mistreating our families—and then coming to church to feel better, we are in trouble. How long are we going to mess with it until we realize that what we are doing is not good?

The mystery of the church is not the building or the worship style. It is the Spirit of God energizing sinful people who pursue Christ, uproot sin, and walk closely with Jesus. Can you imagine what would happen if we did that? If we identified the sins in our life and uprooted them viciously?

Our character and integrity will not be shaped in a day, but they are shaped daily. I am so excited to see what God might do in a revival that is less about emotion and more about obedience to the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Father, we think of all that could be. Nehemiah looked at the people and said, “The thing you are doing is not good.” They repented, and the hand of God stayed with them. The work was done in fifty-two days—an absolute Red Sea miracle. Not because of Nehemiah, but because of the God they served. Help us to recognize that the greatest enemy we face is inside the wall. Give us the courage to have deep relationships, to shine light in the darkness, and to not feed the “little lions” of sin that grow to devour us. We want to be a people who honor You. In Christ’s name, Amen.