Neh 5:2-5 | KingComments | STEP | The call of the afflicted is a call to God for righteousness ( ). God gives them justice through Nehemiah ( ), who also heard the cry. God sees “the tears of the oppressed” ( ). In we hear three complaints, expressed by three different groups. 1. The first complaint concerns a lack of food ( ). 2. The second complaint concerns the loss of property by exchanging that for food ( ). 3. The third complaint concerns the loss of property in order to pay taxes ( ). is a summary of the suffering one experiences. It is a great thing that among the people there are families with many sons and daughters. A people without sons and daughters dies out. But if those sons and daughters are not fed, the people also die out. That is the danger that threatens here. The country has become overcrowded by the returning of large families. As a result, there isn’t enough food for everyone. Has the land not yielded enough? Perhaps the fields have not been cared for, partly due to the enthusiastic building on the wall, so that there is no yield. There is work and fighting to be done, but agriculture also has to be considered. You can only work and fight if you regularly feed yourself with the yield of the land. For us it means that we must take the necessary time to feed ourselves with God’s Word and its rich fruit. Fortunately, there are still Christians who dedicate themselves to the church in addition to their regular daily tasks. They are also often away from home and family in the evenings. The downside is that the wife and children receive less attention than in an ‘ordinary’ family. A lot is invested in other families. That is also necessary, but there are limits. This work for the Lord, this battle that must be fought, must not be at the expense of one’s own family. In such situations there is a danger that those who stay at home will starve to death. The complaining begins. First, which is to be hoped for, against the so often absent husband and father. If he doesn’t listen, which is not to be hoped for, the wife and children look elsewhere for a listening ear. Well if they do that to people like Nehemiah. Unfortunately they are not always there or they are not looked for and they seek salvation with others who abuse the situation. There is a breach between the man and his wife and children, a breach that is not healed lightly.

‏ Nehemiah 5:2-5

The Need to Stay Alive

The call of the afflicted is a call to God for righteousness (Jam 5:1-6). God gives them justice through Nehemiah (Neh 5:6), who also heard the cry. God sees “the tears of the oppressed” (Ecc 4:1).

In Neh 5:2-5 we hear three complaints, expressed by three different groups.

1. The first complaint concerns a lack of food (Neh 5:2).

2. The second complaint concerns the loss of property by exchanging that for food (Neh 5:3).

3. The third complaint concerns the loss of property in order to pay taxes (Neh 5:4). Neh 5:5 is a summary of the suffering one experiences.

It is a great thing that among the people there are families with many sons and daughters. A people without sons and daughters dies out. But if those sons and daughters are not fed, the people also die out. That is the danger that threatens here. The country has become overcrowded by the returning of large families. As a result, there isn’t enough food for everyone. Has the land not yielded enough? Perhaps the fields have not been cared for, partly due to the enthusiastic building on the wall, so that there is no yield.

There is work and fighting to be done, but agriculture also has to be considered. You can only work and fight if you regularly feed yourself with the yield of the land. For us it means that we must take the necessary time to feed ourselves with God’s Word and its rich fruit.

Fortunately, there are still Christians who dedicate themselves to the church in addition to their regular daily tasks. They are also often away from home and family in the evenings. The downside is that the wife and children receive less attention than in an ‘ordinary’ family. A lot is invested in other families. That is also necessary, but there are limits. This work for the Lord, this battle that must be fought, must not be at the expense of one’s own family. In such situations there is a danger that those who stay at home will starve to death.

The complaining begins. First, which is to be hoped for, against the so often absent husband and father. If he doesn’t listen, which is not to be hoped for, the wife and children look elsewhere for a listening ear. Well if they do that to people like Nehemiah. Unfortunately they are not always there or they are not looked for and they seek salvation with others who abuse the situation. There is a breach between the man and his wife and children, a breach that is not healed lightly.

Mortgaging Properties

Another group has properties such as fields, vineyards and houses, but no grain. In order to stay alive there is nothing else to do but mortgaging these properties to the rich, who do have grain, in order to get it that way. Everything the rich can earn anything from, they demand as security. What the fields and vineyards yield, will also end up in the pockets of the rich. In this way, the rich will also have access to all the valuables present in the house. In this way, the rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer.

This second group of complainants has possessions, but no food. Driven by hunger, they have to mortgage their property. This means they have lost the real pleasure of it. Someone can become so mentally impoverished that he surrenders what he still possesses in terms of spiritual wealth. In exchange for some spiritual food for the maintenance of his spiritual life he surrenders himself to someone who only wants to enrich himself at his expense.

They own fields, but they have not cultivated them, so that there is no fruit. If they mortgage them, they even lose the opportunity to get fruit from them. They do have vineyards, but they don’t produce enough to buy corn for them. They have lost the joy the wine speaks of. They do have houses, but even the rich demand them in exchange for grain. In this way, their environment will be controlled by those to whom they are indebted.

Whoever becomes dependent on people for (spiritual) food will lose everything: his hope, his joy and his home.

Money for Tax

Yet another group lost the use of the fruit of their fields and vineyards. They had to borrow money to pay tax. The king, who let Nehemiah go, still has his grip on the land, as it is still under his authority. The people are still subject to a strange ruler. This pressure is especially felt in the high taxes (cf. Ezra 4:13 ; 20 ; Ezra 6:8 ; Ezra 7:24). Partly because of this there is not enough money left to buy food.

Paying tax to a foreign ruler must make the people realize that this is the result of their unfaithfulness. The fact that money has to be borrowed for this makes them slaves in two ways. They are servants of the king of Persia and now also of the man from whom they have borrowed money.

As members of the church, we are strangers and sojourners on earth. We are reminded to be in subjection to the governing authorities (Tit 3:1; Rom 13:1). In that position we are told: “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax” (Rom 13:7). But it is not God’s intention that we make ourselves dependent on others to fulfill our obligations. If we do, we will lose our spiritual freedom and sell ourselves to people from whom we expect salvation.

Children Hired Out as Slaves

The misery painted in the previous verses led to even greater misery. Earlier Nehemiah addressed the people with encouraging language to fight against the enemy for the freedom of “your sons and your daughters” (Neh 4:14). Now it appears that those same sons and daughters are made slaves by their own flesh and blood, as it were, behind his back! The people in debt have seen no other way out. And the leeches show their complete insensitivity by simply accepting this extreme means of settling the debt. He who is overcome by greed for money, loses every sense of humanity and will stop at nothing (1Tim 6:9-10).

The mentioned abuses are found among the people of God, among members of the same people. They complain their need to Nehemiah. Surely it should not be the case that one member rules over the other and abuses him. But there are always people who try to take advantage of the misery of others. They use the misery of others to gain for themselves. For such people it means nothing that the other is family, of the same flesh and blood.

The victims are powerless. They are in a position that makes it impossible for them to do anything to get themselves out of this situation. Yet there is a way out. That is: face the situation honestly, acknowledge the cause and bring it to the right person.

In the church it also happens that some members try to favor themselves at the expense of others. Favoring oneself can be material, but also spiritual. Someone who seeks recognition and honor also seeks his own benefit. This should not be the case, but our hearts are no better than those of the Israelite of old. The dispensation may have changed, but man by nature has not changed. Lying to each other and stealing from each other occurs even in the church to whom the highest blessings are spoken (Eph 4:25-28).