In the Law of Moses, the Lord provided for the poor of the land.[1] However, according to my previous study, this seems to have been something that was forgotten by the rulers and nobility of the province of Judah, after they had come out of captivity in Babylon. Nevertheless, during the days when Nehemiah had first come to Jerusalem as the king’s governor, when the promise of the wall surrounding the city (cp. Daniel 9:25) was beginning to be realized, the iniquity of the land’s elite was unveiled. Greed is a sin that is often overlooked in folks even today. Oh, we may see it and, perhaps, make jokes about how stingy someone is, especially the rich who accumulate their wealth, unjustly, off the backs of the poorer folk of society.
It seems that all things in life are made to work for the wealthy. The laws of the land are made to favor them. Civil servants become biased in their favor, when disagreements arise, or when city charters need to be amended in order for the projects of the wealthy to be permitted to go forward, etc. It seems that wealth begets wealth (and favor), and poverty begets poverty (and disfavor). What can be said about such things?
When Nehemiah heard of the total disregard of the rulers and the nobility of the land for the Law of Moses, he became very angry (Nehemiah 5:6). Nevertheless, he stepped back, as it were, to control his anger in an effort to bring about an acceptable solution of this terrible predicament. While he did rebuke the rulers and the nobility of the land, he reminded them of their responsibility to obey the Law of Moses, if they expected the Lord to work for them in the face of so many enemies in heathen lands. Moreover, he rebuked them in the presence of a great assembly, many of whom were, probably, not among the poor, who had been mistreated. Presumably, most of the assembly represented what we might call public opinion, and the response of the rulers and the nobility to Nehemiah’s demands might affect future business matters and support for future projects etc. (Nehemiah 5:7).
Nehemiah told those guilty of wrongdoing that he and those with him had redeemed the poor who were indebted to the heathen, and, now, would they sell their brethren to the heathen and, thus, require Nehemiah and his party to buy them back from the heathen. In other words, would they continue to show their irresponsibility to their brethren and continue in their rebellion against the Law of Moses (Nehemiah 5:8-9)? Moreover, Nehemiah also reminded them that he had not used his right to demand of them money and supplies for his services, so he demanded that they stop lending to their brethren for interest, and restore to them what they never should have taken and amend what they had overcharged them (Nehemiah 5:10-11). Obviously, embarrassed over being exposed, they agreed to submit to Nehemiah’s demands (Nehemiah 5:12).
Finally, Nehemiah made the priests swear that they would do according to this promise, for the priests were the judges in matters of disagreement. Moreover, he shook the clothes of his lap as a curse against anyone who forsook the agreement they had made before the whole assembly, saying, “So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor who refuses to perform their oath…” and all agreed to the curse, and praised the Lord, and did as they had promised that day (Nehemiah 5:12-13).
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[1] Originally, upon entering the Promised Land, each family was given land in which to live and use for one’s living, and the land was to remain in his family forever. If one had to sell his land to pay debts or to provide food for his family due to laziness, mismanagement or drought, the land could be sold, but not forever. It was to be returned to the man or his living descendants during the year of jubilee (50 years). In fact, the sale of the land was calculated with the number of years before the jubilee year in mind. So, 20 years prior to the jubilee year, would net more money or goods for the poor than only 5 years prior to the jubilee year. Moreover, every 7th year was a year of forgiveness of debts and servitude. A man might ‘sell’ himself to the wealthy to work his land for him, but in the seventh year he went out free, and this would also include any of his children, if they had to be ‘sold’ for one’s living. In other words, it wasn’t slavery, but it was a promise to work for 1 to 6 years in exchange for food and shelter, but in the 7th year the man and his family went out free. This was how things were supposed to work out, but it didn’t always hold true, because of greed. The land wasn’t always returned in the 50th year, and the debts weren’t always forgiven in the 7th year, so many men and their families were condemned to remain in poverty indefinitely.
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