Sermon Tone Analysis

Dealing with Conflict

Nehemiah 5:1–19

As we continue in our series through the Book of Nehemiah, we’ve learned that Nehemiah confronted a different challenge in each chapter:

• In chapter one, he was faced with a personal challenge.

When he heard about what was happening in Jerusalem, he sat down and wept and then broke out into prayer.

• In chapter two, his challenge was political.

When the King asked him what he needed, he prayed a “popcorn prayer” and boldly made his requests.

• In chapter three, he confronted an administrative challenge by putting the right workers in the right place for the right reasons.

• In chapter four, he dealt with the challenge of discouragement.

The workers were afraid of the enemies and convinced they couldn’t work anymore.

Nehemiah rallied the troops to come together under pressure.

As we come to chapter five, this same group is starting come apart because of some complaints.

The workers now face a new enemy who is harder to conquer than any of the previous ones and the timing couldn’t have been worse because the walls are almost done!

Nehemiah has to stop and put down his hard hat so that he can turn his attention from the building of the wall to the walls that were being put up between the workers.

While their external enemies helped to bring the people together, internal conflict threatened to divide and destroy them.

It’s much easier to conquer an enemy who attacks us than it is to forgive and restore a friend who hurts us.

So, we are going to read Nehemiah chapter 5, but before we do that, let’s pray.

Pray!

Let’s first look at:

The Complaints Nehemiah Heard

There’s a word in verse 1 that sets the tone for chapter 5, it’s the word, “against.”

Trouble’s brewing and tension mounting.

Let’s look at the complaints Nehemiah heard in verses 1-5.

In the midst of a “great work” for a “great God,” in 5:1

Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

This wasn’t just a little disagreement or a minor problem.

They weren’t crying out against the enemies.

They were crying out against their own people!

It’s like when there is a hurricane or some other natural disaster.

In the aftermath, we get a glimpse of the greed of some people.

While there were many who try to help, there are others who see this as an opportunity to take advantage of those in need by price gouging and stealing.

That’s similar to what we see in our text.

The city of Jerusalem is in ruins and the people are powerless to help themselves.

Taxes are high and because of a long drought there is a bad famine.

Most of the people have been working wholeheartedly to build the walls but there are others who are only acting out of greed.

And what they are doing is bringing about widespread poverty and injustice.

There were four different complaints that Nehemiah heard:

Hunger

There were people who owned no land but needed food.

The population was increasing, the families were growing, there was a famine, and they were hungry.

They were working so hard on the wall that they didn’t have time to plant or take care of their crops.

Debt

There were people who owned land but had mortgaged it just to buy food.

Inflation was on the rise and prices were going higher and many had their homes repossessed by the moneylenders.

Taxes

Another group complained that taxes were too high (imagine that!).

Many people were forced to borrow money just to pay their tax bills.

Some of us might have to do the same thing in a couple of months!

Slavery

The wealthy were making loans with outrageous interest rates and taking land and even children as collateral.

Families had to choose between starvation and bondage.

When the crops failed because of the famine, the lenders took away their property and sold their children into slavery.

While it was not against God’s law to loan money to one another, they were not to act like pawn shop owners or bankers who charge high interest when lending money to fellow Jews.

This is clearly stated in Deuteronomy 23:19-20:

First are the complaints that Nehemiah heard and next we see:

The Appeal Nehemiah Made

Nehemiah heard their complaints in the first five verses.

Now, in verses 6-13, we see the appeal that he made to stop the conflict.

Verse 6:

6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.

He’s hot!

It wasn’t just that Nehemiah had a short fuse or a bad temper.

This is what the Bible calls “righteous anger.”

Moses expressed this kind of anger when he broke the stone tablets of the Law in Exodus 32 and Jesus was filled with anger when he saw the Pharisee’s hard hearts in Mark 3:5 and when he cleared out the Temple in Luke 19.

While Nehemiah was very angry, verse 7 says that he took the time to think before he accused the nobles and officials.

Instead of just ripping into the people in the heat of the moment, Nehemiah paused, took a deep breath and thought about it for a while.

He did what Proverbs 16:32 challenges us to do:

After thinking things over, Nehemiah decided to publicly confront the people whose selfishness had created the conflict.

Since it involved the whole nation it demanded public reprimand and repentance.

This warning consisted of six different appeals:

He appealed to their love

Nehemiah reminded them that they were robbing their own countrymen not the Gentiles.

He uses the word, “brother” four different times in his speech.

Psalm 133:1 must have been in his mind:

He reminded them of God’s redemptive purpose

While God’s people had been redeemed from Egypt and most recently from Babylon, and Nehemiah himself had bought back some of the Jews who were in slavery, their fellow Jews were putting people into bondage just to make a few dollars.

His appeal was based on God’s Word

Nehemiah calls them on the carpet: “The thing that you are doing is not good.”

As we’ve already seen, they were going against God’s clear commands.

They needed to remember their witness

Israel was to be a light to the nations but their behavior was dark and shady.

They were to “…walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies.”

Because they weren’t right in their relationship with God, they weren’t able make a positive impact on those around them.

He appealed to his own actions

Nehemiah lent money but he didn’t charge interest.

He had integrity when he told the other moneylenders to stop what they were doing:

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.”

Finally:

He appealed to the judgment of God

Verse 12 shows that they really wanted to do what was right and didn’t have to wait and think about it:

12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them.

We will do as you say.”

Since they promised to obey, Nehemiah made them take an oath in the presence of the priests.

This was a way of saying that the promise was not just between the lenders and the workers but between them and God.

Nehemiah closed this special business meeting by showing them the seriousness of what they had decided to do:

Nehemiah shook out the folds of his robe, which symbolized what God would do if they broke their vow.

Next, the congregation responded with a group “amen” which meant they accepted what had been said.

The word literally means, “So be it” and it made the entire assembly a part of the decision.

Then they praised the Lord in unison.

What started as a great cry of outrage and conflict led to change and finished with shouts of praise.