BEING ACCOUNTABLE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

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

When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: “As far as possible, we have bought 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.

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

“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 to do what they had promised. I also shook 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,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.

Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

Nehemiah 5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the Israelites set out to rebuild the gates and walls around Jerusalem, there were no shortage of enemies in the surrounding areas that caused concern and unrest among the people. But as Nehemiah Chapter 5 opens we find there are internal problems in Jerusalem as well.

For “men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews” with “some…saying, ‘We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.’ Still “others were saying, ‘We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine” and “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

Issues within the Jerusalem social structure were placing a strain on an already stressed community.

This brought great distress to Nehemiah who was angered “when (he) heard (the) outcry and…charges.” After pondering them in his mind, Nehemiah “accused the nobles and officials” saying, “You are charging your own people interest!” And so Nehemiah “called…a large meeting to deal with” the accused. At the meeting, he started by scolding the nobles and officials saying, “As far as possible, we have bought 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!” Indeed, the people of Israel had left one bondage in Babylon to enter another at the hands of their own in Jerusalem.

We know Nehemiah was striking the right chords in his accusations because we read where the nobles and officials “kept quiet” during his accusations “because they could find nothing to say.”

Nehemiah wasn’t done with his verbal attack because he continued saying, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”

The latter diatribe hit right at the heart of the matter at hand. For it wasn’t bad enough that the Israelite leaders were doing this to their fellow Jews but they were doing it in the presence of God in His holy city and against His chosen people. Nehemiah was not only holding the nobles and officials accountable to him and the other Jews but he was also reminding them of their accountability before God, a God who we should be fearful before knowing of His judgment which could fall upon us when we decide to violate His commandments.

The accountability approach worked because the nobles and officials all said, “We will give it back…and we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” To seal the deal, we read where Nehemiah “summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised” after which he “shook out the folds of (his) 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!’ ” And the “whole assembly” responded by saying, “Amen,” and then “praised the Lord” before the people went forward and “did as they had promised.”

This passage underscores the importance of God’s people holding one another accountable. No believer is perfect and we all have our flaws. Satan has a way of getting us to behave in ways that are contrary to God’s word whether we’re talking about the things we do alone or the things we do in the midst of others. Born into sin, we are all afflicted and prone to fail. When that happens, it’s critical to have a brother or sister to lovingly point out our errors and help guide us back to the behavior God expects and demands. In Nehemiah, we see this in perfect action as he calls out the nobles and officials for the sinful way they were violating their fellow Jews.

Back to our scriptures where we find Nehemiah “appointed to be…governor in the land of Judah” in “the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes”. What did Nehemiah do in leadership? He practiced what he had preached to the nobles and officials prior and did not take from the people as his predecessors did. We read where Nehemiah wouldn’t eat “food allotted to the governor” and refused to place a “heavy burden on the people” by taking “forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine.” These actions had been performed by the “earlier governors” who had preceded Nehemiah.

No, Nehemiah refused to do any of these things. He practiced what he preached. There was no room for double standards with Nehemiah. And he didn’t adopt this attitude through his own inclination but rather “out of reverence for God.”

That’s really where the rubber meets the road…for Nehemiah and for all of God’s people, you and I included. We should be always acting in a way that shows our reverence for God. Or in other words, we should be always acting in a way that glorifies God. God will hold us accountable for that and we should check one another to ensure we’re walking the right path when it comes to living in a way that pleases God.

When we do this, then hopefully we can turn to God like Nehemiah and ask Him to remember us with favor for the way we have treated others and glorified Him in the process.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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