Theological Commentary: Click Here
Today we see
how Nehemiah handles internal issues.
Many of the poor common Hebrew people come to him with complaints. They don’t have enough food. They are having to ask the wealthy for money
and are being charged interest. They are
having to sell their land – their inheritance – in order to get money. They are even having to sell their own family
in order to buy food. Because of the
interest, it is even harder to get back out of debt once they are in it.
We see
Nehemiah deal with this threat, too.
Nehemiah could tell the poor that this is just how the world works and
that they need to accept it. However, in
this case Nehemiah understands that there is an error happening. God’s people
should not take advantage of one another!
We should not be caring more about the things of this world than we do
about the people of this world!
Therefore,
Nehemiah goes to the leaders and tells them that they are misbehaving. Nehemiah stands up for what is right. He doesn’t take the popular route, he takes
the righteous route. That’s what
leadership does.
The people
listen and follow. They recognize
Nehemiah’s wisdom and his solid footing according to God’s ways. They back down and make restoration. This time, the people are willing to give up
their worldly gain to do the right thing.
It doesn’t
always happen this way, but one thing is for sure. If nobody stands up for righteousness, people
will think of themselves more often than not.
Leadership must be willing to stand up for what is right or nobody will.
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