Blessing or burden?

Blessing or burden?

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.

Nehemiah 5:15

🏔The governors placed a heavy burden on the people. They took the forty shekels of silver that was allotted to them. In addition to that, they took food and wine.

🤴A governor is given to govern the people and the country. A governor is to help the people lead a better life. He is meant to be a blessing to the people.

💰 But , the governors became selfish and became a burden to the people. The love for money and comfort turned them into burdens. 

🚢 Jonah - a burden on the ship

🙏🏻God wanted Jonah to be a blessing to Nineveh. He wanted them to come to salvation through Jonah. But Jonah did not want that. He boarded a ship that went to Tarshish.

As Jonah failed to do the will of God ,the ship was about to be destroyed.

🏔 Jonah who was called to be a blessing became a burden to the ship.

Jonah was selfish. He did not want his enemy country(Nineveh) to repent when his own country was in sin. 

This selfish attitude caused him to become a burden and not a blessing.

Application

🙏🏻 God wants us to be a blessing in the place where He has placed us.

🙏🏻 When we do the will of God, we become a blessing. 

🏔 But when we become self-seeking, we become a burden to others. 

👩 A wife meant to be a blessing to the husband, becomes a burden when she demands worldly things and comforts for her own interest.

👩‍👧‍👦A mother meant to be a blessing to the children becomes a burden when she neglects to take care of them as she is busy with her own interests.

❓Are we a blessing or burden to those around us?

❓Are we doing the will of God or
❓Are we self seeking?

🙏🏻 May we be a blessing and not a burden to those around us! 

Pride or leading?

Pride or leading?

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.

Nehemiah 5:14

😏 Pride or leading ?🛣

1️⃣2️⃣Nehemiah tells the people about his principle that he has been following for the past twelve years.
4️⃣0️⃣Forty shekels of silver was appointed to governors. A shekel could weigh anything between 8 to 16 grams. But Nehemiah did not take this.

🎺 This may sound like vain glory. But Nehemiah did not say all these to blow his own trumpet.

“He relates more particularly what his practice was,
❌ not in pride or vain-glory, 
❌ nor to pass a compliment upon himself, 

🔆but as an inducement both to his successors and to the inferior magistrates to be as tender as might be of the people's ease.

- Matthew Henry.

🛣 Leading others by sharing your experiences 🛣

We have often encouraged others by sharing our own life experiences. I have been encouraged so much by the sisters on this forum.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Our family does not fail to meet twice a day to pray and read God’s word.
🕯 My mother used to pray till an entire candle burnt out.
⏰ I wake up at 3 am to pray to the Lord.
🎥 I did not let my children watch movies.
🙏🏻I bless my daughter with the Aaronic blessing before she leaves home.

These are some encouraging words I have listened from some of the wonderful women on this forum.

🛣 They were not meant to encourage others and guide them along the right path. They were did with a heart free from pride. 

Application

😊If your words would encourage others, I request you to not stop yourselves.

🕯 Let your words, experiences be a guiding light to them! 

Good promises and good performances

Good promises and good performances 

At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Nehemiah 5:13

🙏🏻The rich Jews made a promise to Nehemiah.
😇They made the promise with a cheerful heart.

“This cheerfulness in promising was well, but that which follows was better: They did according to this promise, and adhered to what they had done*.”

Good promises are good things, but good performances are all in all.

-Matthew Henry

Going back on a promise

Matthew Henry quotes an incident from Jeremiah where the Jews had failed to keep a promise they had made.

🤗King Zedekiah proclaimed emancipation for the Hebrew slaves in Judah.

⛓Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.

Jeremiah 34:9⛓

🙏🏻The people and the officials enter into this covenant and release the slaves.

❓ What happened next?

🤔But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

Jeremiah 34:11 🤔

🙁How terrible the slaves would have felt!

😢To gain their freedom and lose it so quickly!

🤴 In the case of Nehemiah, there was no king.
😇But the people stayed true to the promise they made. 

Application

Promises should never be made lightly. That's why the Bible says, "When a man makes a vow to the LORD ... he must not break his word but must do everything he said" (Numbers 30:2)

💔 Breaking a promise means breaking a person’s heart. 
💔 The Hebrews would have felt heartbroken to be enslaved again!

😇It may be a simple request.
🍪Making a snack your child requested.

But when we don’t live up to the promise we have made, we break a person’s heart and the trust we have earned! 

May we put in a little extra to keep the promises that we have made! 

🙏🏻 Prayer

Thank you, heavenly Father, for always keeping your promises. Help us to keep our word so that we can be faithful like you and people can count on us.  In Jesus, Amen.

A Promise with Praise

A Promise with Praise

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise.

Nehemiah 5:13

😱Curses are always frightening!

😨While reading the “blessings and curses” in Deuteronomy, my heart freezes when I go through the curses part!

💭 We might feel that they were forced into fulfilling this promise with the threat of a curse !

                 But, NO! 

❌That was not the case!

📯 They said AMEN!
📯 They praised the Lord!
🥰 They gave their promise with a cheerful heart! 

🙏🏻 David’s promise and praise 📯

📯 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

Psalms 56:12 📯

🙏🏻David says that the vows/promises he made to God were upon him.
📯He then goes on to say that he will give praises to God for them! 

“ Thy vows are upon me, O God!-not upon me as a burden ⛰ which I am loaded with, but as a badge 🏅 which I glory in ”

-Matthew Henry

📯 Application 📯

🙏🏻 We make a lot of promises.

🔥To God
👩To ourselves
👨🏻To our spouse
👫To our children
👵🏻To people who come to us for help

🙏🏻Sometimes, we give them promises out of pressure and later regret it. 😕

But our Lord does not want us to walk with this attitude.

🙂 He wants us to make a promise / vow with a cheerful heart and fulfill them with the same cheer!

🏅 Let us consider the vows as badges of glory and not as a burden⛰

-Key ideas taken from Matthew Henry Commentary

The Beautiful and the Peaceful End

Nehemiah 5:13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

What a beautiful ending of the conflict! Nehemiah sorted out things that brought conflicts within the people and they all beautifully and peacefully ended the conflict with an Amen and praising the Lord. 

Stephen, the Spirit filled waiter:

Similar situation arose in the early church, a situation where Greek speaking Jews were complaining against the native Jews as their widows were being overlooked in the food distribution.

Acts 6:1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

So, the twelve apostles decided to choose people who would serve the table. And the skill set of the servers they sought for is amazing:

Acts 6:3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

They sought men with full of the Spirit and of wisdom to serve the tables!

They found Stephen and few other men & brought a beautiful end to the conflict.

Acts 6:5-7 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

What a beautiful end these Spirit filled men brought! 

Word of God increased, disciples multiplied, priest became obedient to faith!!

Application:

Dear sisters, as the woman of the family, we face lot of conflicts, misunderstandings within the family. Conflicts with the spouse, in-laws, relatives etc. 

But do we aspire to bring a:

Beautiful and peaceful ending to the conflicts in the family as Nehemiah and apostles did

Or do we:

Kindle the strife?? 

Proverbs says:Proverbs 26:21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

But a Spirit filled woman quenches the fire of strife with the Living waters flowing from her!!

When a person who serves the table, needs to be full of Spirit and wisdom, how much more a wife, a daughter-in-law, a mother-in-law should be filled with the Spirit to lead peaceful family!

May we be sisters, not a wood to the fire of contentions, but be Spirit filled and quench the strife! May the conflicts in our families end beautifully with Amens and with praises to the Lord!!

Nehemiah- firm and loving

Nehemiah- firm and loving

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!”

Nehemiah 5:12

Nehemiah was not happy with the Jews. He wants them to stop their mistakes and return to their brethren what they got from them. Here, Nehemiah as a mother, guides the Jews. He is firm with them yet loving.

🥰 Loving Nehemiah 🥰

🗣Nehemiah had authority to command over the Jews.

🍯But he uses soft, loving words while speaking to the Jews.

Though he was angry with them, he does not show it in his words.

🍯 I pray you, let us leave off this usury. (V.10)

🍯 Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands (v. 11)

Though he had authority to command, yet, for love's sake, he rather beseeches.

🧐 Tough Nehemiah 🧐

He laid them under all the obligations possible to do what he pressed them to.

1. He got a promise from them (v.12)
2. He sent for the priests to give them their oath  that they would perform this promise (v.12)
3. He bound them by a solemn curse or execration, hoping that would strike some awe upon them (V.13)

👩🏻‍🦰 Like a mother 👩🏻‍🦰

Nehemiah wanted his brethren to realise their mistakes, stop them from doing it and mend their ways. He accomplishes this in a motherly way.

👩🏻‍🦰A mother is firm yet loving. She corrects her children when they go wrong.
👩🏻‍🦰 When there is a fight between siblings, she intervenes and brings about peace. 
👩🏻‍🦰  She does not ignore the problems but addresses them.
👩🏻‍🦰  She strives to bring peace between the siblings or other members. 

🧔🏻 All these traits were seen in Nehemiah!

Nehemiah did not use force, he did not compel them. But the things he had in mind were accomplished. 

✨ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Zch 4:6✨

God’s goodness

Nehemiah 5:12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised.

Hearing Nehemiah’s sharp words, the entire group of rich people swore to return back whatever they took unrighteous from the poor. What a great picture of repentance! Bible clearly says it is the goodness/kindness of the Lord that leads us into repentance. (Romans 2:4)

I would like to again look into the story of Zaccheus. Zaccheus actually didn’t have an idea to repent or to follow Jesus. But he had a thirst to know who Jesus was.

Luke 19:3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.

“Seeking” in the original translation is to “to crave, to desire intensely”. When this man just took one step to seek Jesus, Jesus blessed him back bountifully by his presence in the tax collector’s home. This goodness and kindness of Christ lead Zaccheus to repentance.

Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

The Lord didn’t just blessed Zaccheus with salvation but the entire household. Here “house” implies all the members of the household.

Luke 19:9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”

Dear sisters, may be we are praying for the repentance and salvation of a loved one in our family: spouse, children, parents, siblings etc. The story of Zaccheus comes as a great encouragement to us.

When just one of the family members, has a great thirst for the Lord like Zaccheus, it invites the glorious, magnificent presence of the Lord into our home.  And this presence, goodness and kindness of the Lord will definitely lead the entire household into salvation!! 

Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Dear sisters, may we not get discouraged by the current stand of our loved ones, but continue to the pant and thirst for the glorious presence of the Lord at our home, then we don’t stay far from the day, where we proclaim along with our family:

Joshua 24:15“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Ezra and Nehemiah

Ezra and Nehemiah 

Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.

Nehemiah 5:12

Ezra and Nehemiah were both of them very wise, good, useful men, yet, there was a great deal of difference between their management. 

Ezra’s reaction

💑When Ezra was told of the sin of the rulers in marrying strange wives

👕 he rent his clothes, 
😭 wept, 
🙏🏻 prayed,

He was hardly persuaded to attempt a reformation, fearing it to be impracticable,

😊for he was a man of a mild and tender Spirit. 

Nehemiah’s reaction

When Nehemiah was told of as bad a thing

🔥 he kindled immediately, 
😡 reproached the delinquents, 
😠 incensed the people against them, 

He never rested till, by all the rough methods he could use, he forced them to reform,

🧐 for he was a man of a hot and eager spirit.

❓ What do we learn from this?

🥇 God's work may be done, well done, and successfully, and yet different methods taken in the doing of it.

❌ We should neither arraign the management of others nor make our own a standard. 

✨ There are diversities of operation, but the same Spirit.

Rev. Matthew Henry
Blue Letter Bible

Application

😔 Do you feel that you are meek, weak? 
😔 Do you feel that you cannot accomplish things?

✅ The Holy Spirit in you will make all things possible. 

🧐 Do you feel that you are rough and tough?
🤭 Do you feel that you are loud? 

🕊 The Holy Spirit will make others understand your heart. 

✨ “There are diversities of operation, but the same Spirit.”

- Rev. Matthew Henry. ✨

Testing of Repentance

Nehemiah 5:11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.

Nehemiah commands the nobles and the rich Jews to show their repentance immediately by returning back to the poor the ransoms they took. 

When Jesus entered the house, heart and life of Zacchaeus, the tax collector didn’t just regret of all his past wrong doings but proved his repentance by returning back in multiple times what he collected more than he supposed to do.

Luke 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

This is what John the Baptist says:

Luke 3:8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

Luke 3:8 Bear fruits that are deserving and consistent with [your] repentance [that is,conduct worthy of a heart changed, a heart abhorring sin]

Luke 3:8
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

Yes, we come across certain situations in our life where our repentance is tested.

I have always wondered why the Lord places me in the same set of circumstances over again and again,  where I am spiritually weak.

I easily grumble when I am physically weak and tired. But my husband frequently travels, I am left alone to handle everything at home and work which makes me very weak and extremely tired. 

I fume and grumble when people are so mean and does unfair things. And the mean people never change for years, they keep repeating the things they do to me. 

Then I realized these repeated situations are the opportunities where my repentance from grumbling is tested and through which the Master Sculptor keeps sculpting His image in me!!

Dear sisters, do we stand the test of the repentance? 

Does our life, word and deeds prove our repentance when we are repeatedly tested?

May we not lose heart when God places us in the same tough situations over and over again, it is where our repentance is tested and it is where we made are strong in the areas where we are weak. Like a prince of a nation is trained from his childhood for war, God trains us for greater glory through this same, repeated difficult situations.  

Hebrews 12:9-11 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Teachable, correctable Spirit

Teachable, correctable spirit

So they said, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.” 

Nehemiah 5:12

Nehemiah wisely told the truth in love ——-> they received the rebuke ——> admitted they had been wrong.

“ Their teachable, correctable spirit was impressive;
too few are willing to admit they are wrong and to do what is right, especially if money is involved.

David Guzik. "

It is not very easy to accept correction. But *when Nehemiah spoke with the Jews, they accepted their mistake* They were willing to make amends.

David’s correctable spirit

✅ David accepted his sin of adultery when Nathan the prophet rebuked him.

✖️ I have sinned against the Lord

2 Samuel 12:13 ✖️

✅ David accepted his sin of taking a census and asked forgiveness to the Lord.

“ I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

Proverbs 28:13

Application

😇 It takes a lot of strength and grace to accept your mistakes.

David did commit sins. He made mistakes. But when God showed him he was wrong, he was quick to ask forgiveness. 

❤️ He who conceals his sins will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Prov 28:13❤️

🤴 David was a great king, but he was quick to ask forgiveness and reconcile with the Lord.
🧔🏻The rich Jews were wealthy and powerful. But they were quick to admit their faults and make amends.

Confession of Sins

Nehemiah 5:10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest.

Here Nehemiah publicly confessed that he, his brothers and his servants were also lending money to the poor. There are different speculations from the commentators on this verse:

1. Few believe Nehemiah was also lending and exacting interest on the poor Jews

2. Few believe Nehemiah confesses on behalf of his brothers and servants who were exacting interests 

In any case, Nehemiah didn’t hesitate to confess his/his men’s sins. Being a leader, watched, criticised and followed by many,  he sets a great example by publicly confessing that he and his brothers were exacting interest and gives a call to everyone to give it up. 

Great Joy and Great Power:

Dear sisters, May be we are quick to confess our sins to the Lord, but are we confessing to the ones whom we have sinned against? The prodigal son teaches us a lesson on confession:

Luke 15:21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

This confession and repentance brought a great joy in the Heaven!

There is a great power in confessing our sins to the ones we have sin against. 

We see it in James:

James 5:16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

The prayer of the righteous man, who is humble enough to confess, is so powerful!! 

Testimony:

I have already shared this testimony here but was reminded again today. Few years back, I was very much badly treated by a short tempered senior colleague. She was shouting at me very often. Though I didn’t give her back and was silently bearing it, I was shouting and screaming at her in my heart. As I was harbouring these thoughts and fuming inside, I felt completely disconnected with the Lord in my prayers.

As i was struggling in prayers, I had a dream where I saw myself sitting as a lamb before that shouting senior. And suddenly I heard a fierce voice of mine shouting more louder than her,  though my mouth was closed and my face was innocent. This clearly showed me that this internal fuming on her was the reason for the disconnect with the Lord. As I confessed this bitter thoughts to the Lord, the Holy Spirit nudged me to confess it to the colleague.

I was greatly challenged to confess because I was the one getting mistreated and I shouted her only in my heart. Little I knew that my thoughts are words before the Lord!! But I couldn’t afford of losing the fellowship with the Lord for a sorry. Lord pushed me forward.. I held the hands of my colleague and said sorry for being bitter towards her in my heart. This amazed her greatly, she started coming to the prayer cell that I was conducting and started believing in Christ. She shared with her room mate and she started coming her as well & got saved.

What a miracle it is! 

That’s the power of confession of sin! 

It breaks and opens up hard hearts & a makes a way for Christ to invade! 

Praise the Lord!!

Dear sisters, may we not hesitate to confess our sins to one another. 

Nehemiah was watched by many, but still he confessed! 

May we not hesitate to confess privately or publicly, for great will be the joy in the Heaven and greater will be the power in our prayers!!

Avoiding reproach

Avoiding reproach

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?

Nehemiah 5:9

Nehemiah gives them one more reason to stop the unjust actions on their fellow Jews.

🔺To avoid reproach of enemies (NIV)
🔺To avoid being mocked by enemy nations (NLT)
🔺To prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? (ESV)

Nehemiah did not say that the Jews were being mocked/taunted. But he tells that that they need to treat their fellow Jews fairly to AVOID mocks/insults/reproach. 

💭 Nehemiah had a mindful attitude.
👀 He was aware that people were watching what he and the Jews were doing.
👨‍⚖️ He was aware that their actions will be judged.

❓ How can we avoid reproach of enemies ?

 👣 By walking in the fear of the Lord. 

“If you walk in the fear of God, you will not be either covetous of worldly gain, or cruel toward your brethren. Nothing exposes religion more to reproach, than the worldliness and hard-heartedness of the professors of it.”

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry says that not only the people are open to reproach but their religion is also exposed when they people are worldly and hard hearted.

The rich Jews cared about their happiness, wealth and treasures. They were busy collecting treasures and they forgot to see the plight of the poor Jews. They failed walk in the fear of the Lord. This attitude put them at the risk of reproach.

The new mindset

🥳Live for yourself
👗 Wear whatever you want
❌Don’t care about anyone

The trending mindset is taking people away from the fear of the Lord and is exposing them to reproach. May we never fail to walk in the fear of the Lord.

💡 Application

❓ How do we avoid reproach?
👣 By walking in the fear of the Lord

❓ How do we walk in the fear of the Lord ?
📖 By following the Law

When we do this, we will not only avoid reproach but glorify the Name of our Lord!

✨In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matt 5:16✨

A life that challenges the enemy

Nehemiah 5:9So 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?

Enemy, the Mocker:

We all know that the enemy is a great accuser and he is also a great mocker.

We know the story of seven sons of Scava who tried imitating Paul in driving out the demons by invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Acts 19:13
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

They just called upon the name of Jesus, but their lives didn’t backup salvation. And see how the enemy mocked at them:

Acts 19:15-16
But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

The devil mocks at the attempts to bind him, confession of the Lord‘s name, when the life doesn’t backup the confession!!

Our Lord, the Testifier:

But our Lord, on the contrary never accuses us nor mock at us on our failures, but testifies about our righteous lives in the presence of the enemy.

Job 1:8
And the Lord said to Satan, „Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

It is so interesting to see that God didn’t testify about Job’s wealth or his reputation or about the vast cattle & servants he had, BUT ABOUT HIS CHARACTER!!

Unlike the rich Jews, and the sons of Scava, who lead a life of mockery to the enemy, Job lived a life that challenged the enemy!

Application:

Yes dear sisters, only a life that honors God, a life of testimony, will challenge and threaten the enemy! We may try binding devil in the name of our Lord/blood of Christ, we may confess or proclaim scriptures, but does our life of testimony back up our confession??

Scriptures clearly says that:

Revelation 12:10-11
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

We can conquer the enemy only by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony! Without a life of testimony, we will be just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, we will be just beating the air, we become an object of mockery like the sons of Scava.

May we desperately seek in prayers to lead a life of testimony before God and man, then we become real challenge to the enemy!!

Walking in the fear of the Lord

👣Walking in the fear of our Lord

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?

Nehemiah 5:9

Nehemiah speaks about a lot of things, asks a lot of questions. One among them is ,

❓ Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?

🙏🏻When we walk in the fear of our Lord 

📖 We get wisdom(Pro 1:7)
🤝 Prolongs life (Pro 10:27)
💪 Strong confidence (Pro 14:26)
🙌🏻 We will be blessed (Psa 128:1)
💰 Will lack nothing (Psa 34:11)

🤴 King Uzziah

He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.

2 Chronicles 26:5

Uzziah was instructed in the fear of God and King Uzziah sought God.

🏆 As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
2 Chronicles 26:6

King Uzziah was very successful and powerful. This success went to his head and led to pride. This pride led to his downfall (26:16)

The person who was taught to walk in the fear of the Lord boldly went to burn incense on the altar which was forbidden. He failed to listen to the priests too. The Lord afflicted him and leprosy broke out on his head.

He lived in a separate house till the day of his death. 

📖Fearing the Lord is to follow His law

And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always,  that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.

Deu 6:24

Application

So many things can lead us to forget the fear of the Lord

😎Pride
🏆Success
💪Power
😍Desire
🌍 Love for the world

May we be careful and remember King Uzziah and his pride.

May we always remember to walk in the fear of our Lord!

Closing the mouth of lions

🦁 Closing the mouth of the lions


“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.

Nehemiah 5:8

When Nehemiah pointed out the mistakes of the Jews, the people kept quiet. They did not have anything to say!

❓ How did this happen?

When Nehemiah heard all the complaints, he did not lash out immediately.

👬👬 And I held a great assembly against them

Nehemiah 5:7👬👬

There was not one person, but a great assembly against them. So they kept quiet and accepted their mistakes.

As Nehemiah waited on God and took a wise decision, no one was able to stand against him or speak against him.

🦁My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.

Daniel 6:22🦁

Rehoboam and the rebellion

🤴 When the people of Israel approached King Rehoboam to ease their troubles, he gave them a tough answer. This made the whole assembly rise up against him!

😡 Even the people who were for him turned against him!

✅ Waiting on God and giving a wise answer will bring people who were against us to our side!

🛑 Rejecting wise counsel and giving an unwise answer will turn people who were for us against us!

Application

❓When people do not treat you unfairly, how do you react?

❓Do you lash out immediately or do you go to God?
❓Do you pour out your heart to God or to people?

Solving problems among ourselves

When there was a problem, the Jews solved it among themselves. Though there were so many different kinds of people living among them, they sorted it out among themselves.

❓Do we take our problems outside the family?
❓Do husband and wife take out problems outside the four walls?

May our Lord give us the strength and wisdom to handle our trials patiently and wisely!

Patience is a virtue

💓 Patience is a virtue

🤔 *After serious thought*, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So I *called a great assembly against them.*

Nehemiah 5:7

In verse 6, we learnt that Nehemiah became very angry when he heard how the Jews were being oppressed by their fellow ones.

✅ Yes, he became angry. 
❓ But did he react immediately?

                NO!

❓ What did Nehemiah do?

🤔 💭 He gave the issues serious thought
👬👭  He called a great assembly against them

He did not act / react hastily.  He did everything wisely and patiently. He was able to gain success in the situation.

War room

As I was typing this message, I was reminded of an incident from the movie “War room”. The female lead(Elizabeth) gets a call from her friend. The friend says that she saw  Elizabeth’s husband with another woman. The husband comes home the next day. Elizabeth does not lash out at her husband. Instead, she prays for him and in the end, God builds their family beautifully!

Application

As women, we tend to react in anger and do great damage to the already damaged situation. May God give us patience and wisdom to handle situations wisely like Nehemiah!

💓 Love is patient, love is kind.

1 Corinthians 13:4💓


😡A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
😇but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

Proverbs 15:18

Nehemiah’s anger

😡 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.

Nehemiah 5:6 😡

Nehemiah’s immediate reaction to the outcry was ANGER.

❓Why was Nehemiah angry?

📖 People went against the Law

Nehemiah became angry because these money problems were caused, in part, because of the greed of those who wanted to make a profit off of the money troubles of others something Moses’ law clearly said was wrong

 (Exodus 22:25).

💰 If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.  

Exodus 22:25 💰

👬 Caused discord among the Jews

Nehemiah became angry because *these money problems led to a lack of unity among the people of God*. This unity that was more precious than any amount of money.

🛑 Stopped the building of the wall

Nehemiah became angry because these money problems stopped the work of the LORD in rebuilding the walls.

- Ideas taken from the Blue Letter Bible by David Guzik.

Application

📖 Going against the law
👫Discord among people
🛑 Stopping the good work

These reasons made Nehemiah angry.

❓Are our actions making anyone angry?
❓Are our words making anyone angry?

Let us ask ourselves. May we never be the person who will arouse a person’s anger. Rather, *may our words and actions bring happiness and peace to those around us. *

💰The base of all these problems - MONEY.

❓Is money causing discord in our family?
❓Is money robbing our peace?

May God cleanse and heal our hearts.

Daughters sold as slaves

 Daughters sold as slaves

👫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.”

Nehemiah 5:5👫

👧🏻 Some of our  daughters have already been enslaved

Neh 5:5👧🏻

In Exodus, there are laws for giving children into slavery.

🧒🏻 Male child:

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything“

Exodus 21:2

👧🏻 Female child : 

If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.

Exodus 21:7

A male slave will be free after seven years but there were additional rules for female slaves.

Additional rules for female slaves:

🔺If a man sell his daughter— Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. 

🔺But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere.

🔺Should she have been betrothed to him (the owner) or his son, and either change their minds, a maintenance must be provided for her suitable to her condition as his intended wife, or her freedom instantly granted.

-Jamieson Fausset Brown commentary

 ❗️Though the parents were aware of the laws, *they chose to sell their daughters first*.

The Jews favoured the sons over their daughters. *They knew that their daughters will be subject to so many problems - physical, mental and sexual.*

🛑 But they chose to sell their daughters first. 

Today, we live in a world where discrimination between boys and girls is almost nil. But we need to be very careful to not let bad thoughts creep into our mind. May we provide equal opportunities to both the children and bring them up in the way that the Bible shows us.

🏔 Our Father is never partial

💓 We serve a Father who is always loving and never partial. 

🧒🏻He saw Hagar’s tears and provided her needs.
👶🏻He saw Hannah’s tears and gave her a child.
🧑🏻He saw the Shunammite woman’s tears and rose him up.

Ruth,Naomi, Rahab, Esther and the list goes on. We praise God for never leaving us nor forsaking us!

👧🏻For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. 

Romans 10:12🧒🏻

Day and Night

Day and night

At that time I also said to the people, “ Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.”

Nehemiah 4:22

Nehemiah tells the people to stay inside Jerusalem after the day’s work has been completed.

❓Why does Nehemiah tell this?

🛡 To serve as a guard for the people and for the wall. 

When I read this verse, it was quite difficult for me to grasp it.

❓How can a man work 24x7?

🔨 Building in the day

🛡 Guarding in the night 

But it was very important for that crucial situation.

In the previous verse , we saw that the builders worked before the break of dawn and till the stars came out. That is a tough task! Then, they are called to stand guard!

The Proverbs 31 woman 

🌕 She gets up while it is still night 

🌑 Her lamp does not go out at night

Proverbs 31: 15,18

These verses have also been very difficult to follow.

❓How can the Proverbs 31 woman stay up late and wake up early? But she has managed to do it. She has also managed to reap the benefits !

Application

🏢Building the wall is a tough task. Nehemiah and the builders did not waste their time. They worked during the day and stood guard during the night.

🏠Building a home is also a tough task. We are called to work during the day and stand in prayer during the night.

🙏🏻May we ask God for strength and wisdom to build and protect our homes!

From Dawn to Dusk

From Dawn to Dusk

☀So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out .

Nehemiah 4:21 🌟

☀ FROM DAWN TO DUSK 🌟

Building can be done only when there is light. The sun was their light source. They started working as soon as dawn broke.

☀ From the first light of dawn ☀

Dawn refers to the transition from night to day as the sky gets brighter and the morning twilight heralds the beginning of a new day.

✨Dawn occurs before sunrise!

The people were ready to work even before the sun rose! 

🌟 Till the stars came out 🌟

The stars come out in the night, a long time after the sun has set!

The sun shines faithfully in the sky! But the builders were more dedicated! Their working hours was more than the sun’s working hours!

They knew that they cannot work during dark. So they utilised their time to the maximum.

☀ APPLICATION 🌟

🌑யோவான் : 9 : 4 - பகற்காலமிருக்குமட்டும் நான் என்னை அனுப்பினவருடைய கிரியைகளைச் செய்யவேண்டும்; ஒருவனும் கிரியை செய்யக்கூடாத இராக்காலம் வருகிறது .

Night is coming, when no one can work.

(John9:4). 🌑

⏰ A time will come when our children will leave our homes to colleges/work place etc. In the given time, we are called to build them up! 🧒🏻

⏰A time will come when the times will be hard and it will not be suitable to do ministry. Let us work hard to spread the word of God. 📖

⏰A time will come when a chance will not be given to ask forgiveness for sins/correct our hearts. Let us make use of this time to analyse and set our hearts right. ❣

May we always remember the builders who worked from dawn to dusk!

Give ear to warnings

Give ear to warnings

Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bow.

Nehemiah 4: 12, 13

Nehemiah has been hearing

😠Warnings

😡Threats

🤨Ridicule

😏Mockery

😒Discouragement

For a very long time! He had so much to do. But he was always there for the people who wanted to talk with him. When the Jews who lived near the enemies came to Nehemiah, he did not push them away.

🔺He was ready to hear their words

🔺He took their words seriously 

🔺He took necessary measures

As humans, we don't like negative words, negative criticism. But, here we see Nehemiah, a man of God, who was always open to suggestions.

A good leader is always there for his people 

A good leader always listens to the suggestions of his people 

On that day, as he listened to the Jews,

💖He won their hearts

👍He gained their confidence

⚔He was able to provide better protection

APPLICATION

💑As a wife, are you there for your husband even when he is negative? 
❓Do you patiently listen to his problems and offer suggestions? 
❓When your husband wants you to do something for him or change something, are you willing to do it?

👩‍👦‍👦As a mother, do you give ear to your children's problems, doubts, confusions?

❓Do you take measures to comfort them, show them the path?

🏡When people criticize your parenting skills, house keeping skills, do you shut your ears?

❓Do we take time to think about it and consider their suggestions?

🙏 Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days.

Proverbs 19:20🙏

👂 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Proverbs 12:15👂