{"id":2811,"date":"2019-07-08T22:13:19","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T05:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=2811"},"modified":"2019-07-08T22:17:17","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T05:17:17","slug":"nehemiah-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=2811","title":{"rendered":"Nehemiah Five"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Nehemiah Five <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Now there was\na great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.\n2 For there were those who said, \u201cWe, our sons and our daughters are many;\ntherefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.\u201d 3 There were others who\nsaid, \u201cWe are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might\nget grain because of the famine.\u201d 4 Also there were those who said, \u201cWe have\nborrowed money for the king\u2019s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 Now our\nflesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet\nbehold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our\ndaughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our\nfields and vineyards belong to others.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6 Then I was\nvery angry when I had heard their outcry and these words. 7 I consulted with\nmyself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, \u201cYou are\nexacting usury, each from his brother!\u201d Therefore, I held a great assembly\nagainst them. 8 I said to them, \u201cWe according to our ability have redeemed our\nJewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your\nbrothers that they may be sold to us?\u201d Then they were silent and could not find\na word to say. 9 Again I said, \u201cThe thing which you are doing is not good;\nshould you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the\nnations, our enemies? 10 And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are\nlending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury. 11 Please,\ngive back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive\ngroves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain,\nthe new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.\u201d 12 Then they said,\n\u201cWe will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as\nyou say.\u201d So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do\naccording to this promise. 13 I also shook out the front of my garment and\nsaid, \u201cThus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions\nwho does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.\u201d\nAnd all the assembly said, \u201cAmen!\u201d And they praised the Lord. Then the people\ndid according to this promise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nehemiah\u2019s Example<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>14 Moreover,\nfrom the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah,\nfrom the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for\ntwelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor\u2019s food\nallowance. 15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the\npeople and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even\ntheir servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear\nof God. 16 I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any\nland, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there\nwere at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who\ncame to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared\nfor each day was one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me;\nand once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all\nthis I did not demand the governor\u2019s food allowance, because the servitude was\nheavy on this people. 19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that\nI have done for this people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Setting: &nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the middle of attempting\nto complete God\u2019s work, Nehemiah is confronted with opposition. &nbsp;In the previous chapter, there were external\ninfluences that attempted to create fear within the ranks.&nbsp; This chapter continues the story but from a\ndifferent direction, his fellow Jews.&nbsp;\nThere are several conflicts from within the nation and the city, where\ncertain members are pursuing their own profit at the cost of others.&nbsp;&nbsp; Google defines Selfishness as:&nbsp; adjective &#8211; <em>(of a person, action, or motive) lacking consideration for others;\nconcerned chiefly with one&#8217;s own personal profit or pleasure<\/em>.&nbsp; I found a phrase that I kind of like \u2013 it was\nthat certain things are \u201cLike hemlock in the furrows\u201d.&nbsp; (Hosea 10:4b)&nbsp;&nbsp; Here are a few stories along that theme:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>One would not expect to find poison in the\nfurrows of the field. One would expect something edible such as green\nvegetables. Yet, God says that for His people, that which is poisonous is\nintermingled with that which is good.<\/li><li>Picture the child of the farmer playing in the\nfield, thinking that he has found something to make a whistle with, cutting the\nstalk, placing it in his mouth, feeling horribly sick to his stomach and then\ndying. Hemlock in the furrows of the field!<\/li><li>Imagine a wife seeing what appears to be parsley\ngrowing amidst the corn and the wheat, deciding to garnish a salad. See her\nbringing it into the house, washing it, taking a leafy stalk to eat as she\nprepares the meal, bending over in pain, agony, and horror, crying in anguish.\nHemlock in the furrows of the field!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Selfishness is that poison within a\nfamily or a church that can kill.&nbsp; In\nthis chapter we have an illustration of some of the work of poison and how to\nremove it from where it doesn\u2019t belong.&nbsp;\nThere is a place for hemlock, and the roots have been used to make\nmedicine, mainly for breathing problems such as bronchitis, whooping cough and\nasthma.&nbsp; But obviously in very low doses\nand under the care of knowledgeable pharmacists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note the three problems that arose\nin Jerusalem, they were <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Hunger\n\u2013 verse 2<\/li><li>Debt\n\u2013 verse 3<\/li><li>Taxes\n\u2013 verse 4-5<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Not many things have changed.&nbsp; Along with those three problems, almost as if\nthese are three different groups of problems for people, there is a fourth\nproblem, but this is not those who have a problem, but those who are causing\nproblems.&nbsp; Wealthy Jewish leaders who are\nloaning out their money and demanding steep payments in return.&nbsp; This is probably best called\nexploitation:&nbsp; <em>the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit\nfrom their work<\/em>, most often the rich over the poor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Nehemiah, who is attempting to\nboth accomplish a task (build the wall) and keep the Jewish people united, does\nwhat a leader must do \u2013 He confronts the troublemakers.&nbsp; Look at his process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>First,\nhe admits how he really feels about the situation.&nbsp; <strong>I was\nvery angry when I had heard their outcry. <\/strong>&nbsp;Do you know that many people almost refuse to\nadmit they are dealing with trouble to themselves?&nbsp; Seems a no-brainer.&nbsp; But if there is something that touches us\ndeep down, we first must acknowledge that we are troubled by this.&nbsp; Otherwise, how will we admit that there needs\nto be a change?&nbsp; <\/li><li>He\nconsults with himself.&nbsp; <strong>I consulted with myself. &nbsp;<\/strong>This is another thing we don\u2019t seem to do\nwell.&nbsp; To think things out and determine\nthe best path.&nbsp; For me, I react probably\ntoo quickly.&nbsp; Others perhaps not at all,\nbut Nehemiah discussing this, consults with himself. &nbsp;How many times have we wished that we had\n\u201cthought things through\u201d?&nbsp;&nbsp; Well,\nNehemiah takes the time to do this.&nbsp; It\ndoesn\u2019t say how he does this, and it would be great to know how he does this,\nbut let me recommend this: consult with James 1:5 <strong>If any of you lacks wisdom, let him\nask of God<\/strong>,<\/li><li>Then\nhe contends with the source of this problem.&nbsp;\nNehemiah <strong>contended with the\nnobles and the rulers and said to them.&nbsp; <\/strong>&nbsp;He calls out the issue clearly so that other\ncan see the destructive actions that are taking place.&nbsp; He tells the nobles and the rulers.&nbsp; Remember that during this time, Nehemiah was\nsurrounded by people who wanted to kill him, to stop the progress on the\nrebuilding of the wall \u2013 do you think some of these nobles and rulers didn\u2019t\nperhaps entertain the idea of handing Nehemiah over to the bad people from\naround the city who wanted him killed?&nbsp;\nThe next chapter tells us a little about that. <\/li><li>He\nchallenges the leaders to confront the truth of what they are doing \u2013 He states\nit clearly:&nbsp; \u201c<strong>We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were\nsold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be\nsold to us?<\/strong>\u201d &nbsp;We have liberated out\nbrethren once from slavery, would we enslave them again to ourselves?&nbsp; And their response was \u2013 well\nmiraculous.&nbsp; If what I know about Jews is\ntrue, this is a miracle:&nbsp; <strong>Then they were silent and could not find a\nword to say<\/strong>.&nbsp; Can I tell you\nsomething that still amazing me, and the fear is that I can guilty of the same\nthing \u2013 we tend to find offense with what others do and don\u2019t see when we do\nthe same thing. <\/li><li>Nehemiah\ndoesn\u2019t say to stop loaning, but to stop the usury.&nbsp; (Usury &#8211; <em>is,\nas defined today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans\nthat unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind.\nA loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest\nrates or other factors<\/em>.) Wikipedia.&nbsp;\nI think in some cases, credit card interest could fall into this.&nbsp; In the days of the Jews, what they used to do\n(and I remember this from Bible College days) was they put the interest up\nfront but never on an annual basis.&nbsp; So\nif you wanted to borrow $100, you owed $112 from the beginning and there was no\naccrued interest.&nbsp; <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The nobles and the rulers repented\nof their selfishness.&nbsp; See their\nresponses in Verse 12.&nbsp; Seems to me to be\na revival in the city of Jerusalem.&nbsp; They\nsaid they would give it all back and they praised the Lord, and they followed\nthrough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The last part of this passage is\nthere to remind us that Nehemiah wasn\u2019t working to improve the Jerusalem and\nimprove his own personal riches.&nbsp; He\nasked God to remember him for his sacrifices, and didn\u2019t look to man to be\nreimbursed.&nbsp; I think this is a very\ninteresting lesson to put into perspective.&nbsp;\nIt is a lesson in the contrast between those who looked to get rich off\nthe situation, and his refusal to have questionable motives. Worship seeks the\npleasure of God over all else. Selfish people want to be noticed by people.\nNehemiah wanted to be noticed only by God.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Illustrations this week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quote\nfrom Davey: <br \/>\n<br \/>\nI believe that\nfrequently the worst enemy of the church is the church. The thing that often\nkeeps the church from moving forward is the church. The thing that keeps the\nchurch from reaching the world is the world inside the church. The thing that\nkeeps believers from growing in Christ is other believers who have not matured\nspiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Absence\nof Selfishness:&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story of Tim Forneris, the twenty-two year old computer\nanalyst who works part time as groundskeeper for the St. Louis Cardinals. He\nwas the one who retrieved Mark McGwire\u2019s 62nd home run ball. Then, to the shock\nof the American culture, gave Mark McGwire the ball, instead of selling it to\none collector who had offered one million dollars for the record setting home\nrun baseball. It was mind boggling that someone would do that, instead of\ncashing in on his good fortune. In fact, one well known columnist called him, \u201chonorable\nbut rather foolish.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Time magazine ran Tim\u2019s response, which shed light on his\nperspective, <em>According to the columnist,\nmy first sin was the impulse decision to give the ball back to Mr. McGwire\nimmediately. But my decision was, by no means, made on an impulse. I had thought\nover what I would do, if I got the home run ball, and discussed it with my\nfamily and friends. What influenced my actions were my family and my\nbackground. I have always been taught to respect others and their accomplishments.\nIn my opinion, Mr. McGwire deserved not only the home run record for his work,\nbut also the ball. Life is about more than just money. It is about family and\nfriends. I believe some possessions are priceless. To put an economic value on\nMr. McGwire\u2019s hard work and dedication is absurd. And being able to return it\nto Mr. McGwire was an honor. I would not have traded that experience for one million\ndollars.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\norigins of the Alaskan Dog Sled Race<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every year in Alaska a 1,000-mile dogsled race, run for prize\nmoney and prestige, commemorates an original \u201crace\u201d run to save lives. In\nJanuary of 1925, a six-year-old boy showed symptoms of diphtheria, signaling\nthe possibility of an outbreak in the small town of Nome. When the boy passed\naway a day later, Dr. Curtis Welch began immunizing children and adults with an\nexperimental but effective anti-diphtheria serum. It wasn\u2019t long before Dr.\nWelch\u2019s supply ran out, and the nearest serum was in Nenana, Alaska\u2014674 miles\nof frozen wilderness away. A group of trappers and prospectors volunteered to\ncover the distance with their dog teams. Operating in relays from trading post\nto trapping station and beyond, one sled started out from Nome while another,\ncarrying the serum, started from Nenana. Oblivious to frostbite, fatigue, and\nexhaustion, the teamsters mushed relentlessly until, after 127 hours in minus\n50-degree winds, the serum was delivered to Nome. As a result, only one other\nlife was lost to the potential epidemic. Their sacrifice had given an entire\ntown the gift of life and birthed a race to commemorate the sacrifice of those\noriginal dog sledders.&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But if there is something that touches us deep down, we first must acknowledge that we are troubled by this.  Otherwise, how will we admit that there needs to be a change?  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[135],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2811"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2814,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions\/2814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}