5:1 It was a profound and precise blessing for God to plant Nehemiah among his people at this time. They were newly freed from imprisonment and oppression but with their newfound freedom, they began to oppress and impression themselves. They were spiritually fragile but also morally; deficiencies in their faith exacerbated their moral deficiency.
5:2-5 It became difficult for some parents to feed their families. Families mortgaged their land, vineyards and houses to be able to afford grain. Other families borrowed money to pay for the king's tax on their lands. Some even sold their children into slavery for money! Acts of such desperation were evident of one thing: individual and national neglected relationship with God.
The people of Israel were not adhering to the commandments of God! Their negligence of His instruction caused desperation:
"The prolonged period of working, watching, fear, and weariness inevitably led to trouble among the people in Jerusalem. There were three groups of complainers, each introduced with the phrase 'there were those who said'. The first group had large families, and did not have enough food to eat. The second group had large mortgages to pay and could not buy food. The third group had large taxes to pay and had been forced to mortgage their land and even to sell their children. The people's basic problem is pinpointed in the words 'against their Jewish brethren'. The people were not complaining merely about poverty and high taxes; the were grumbling about each other... in short, this was a class conflict.
From the perspective of the law, there were two problems here (1) usury, lending money and charging interest, and (2) slavery. It was not wrong for a Jewish person to lend money with interest to a non-Jewish person (Deuteronomy 23:19-20), not was it wrong for a Jewish person to lend money to a fellow Jew. However, the Law did prohibit usury (Exodus 22:25). Also, a Jewish person could hire himself out to someone, but not as a slave (Leviticus 25:35-40)."
NKJV Study Bible
All of their problems were due to their unwillingness to work together, justly, under the commandments of God. So often the people in the Old Testament (and people in general) did not even need enemies to ruin their lives, they were successful at doing that themselves. They were not living as a righteous family and because of that, they caused serious social ramifications.
5:6 Nehemiah became furious when informed of the situation. His reactions toward his people were always visceral; he was entrenched emotionally, which qualified him as an excellent servant of God but also one who truly felt the weight of his purpose.
5:7 Nehemiah contemplated the problem: although his emotional reactions were always heated, he did not hastily act on that explosive energy. He consistently remembered to approach all problems with collected thought.
5:8 Once he identified the problem, Nehemiah confronted (rebuked with stark truth) the nobles and rulers. They could not defend themselves because they knew they were wrong; they were not doing their part to obey and distribute the word and blessings of God.
The verse says they "found nothing to say" and that implies that at least for a moment, they searched. It is no wonder that Nehemiah was so angry! It is a severe detriment to our lives when we search for a way to defend our corrupt behavior. When we are wrong, we need to admit it and claim it in order to gain control of it before it gains control over us.
5:9 Nehemiah spoke plainly: What you are doing is not good.
It would have been easy to react differently, even flagrantly. The behavior of the nobles and rulers was abysmally cruel and selfish. Instead, Nehemiah chose to approach them with the simple truth that their behavior was right and they needed to right it. He explained that with so much and so many nations against them, it would be prudent for them to listen to God.
5:10-11 Nehemiah was not a hypocrite: he followed the word of God that he commanded his people to also follow. He told the nobles and rulers to restore the property, grain and money to the people they took it from. They were not permitted to become rich off of other people's desperation and remain within the kingdom of God.
5:12 They made an oath to Nehemiah that they would restore what they had unlawfully taken.
5:13 But Nehemiah remained disgusted with their behavior and shook his fold of his garment: “So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” It was a comfort to Nehemiah (and should be to us) that God responds to injustice. Nehemiah was furious at the actions of the upper-class but understood that ultimately, God had the power over them. We do our best but ultimately pray for God's presence and power within whatever our situation is.
5:14 Nehemiah served as governor for ten years but never received the income of a governor. From his God-granted leadership position, Nehemiah served, and so did the people with him. Nehemiah's actions were a precursor, symbolic of the life of Jesus.
5:15 God gives us power and position, skill and opportunity in order for us to serve the kingdom and thus the well-being of the (fellow) children of God. The unrighteous men who "served" as governor before Nehemiah did not actually serve the people at all. They used their position to increase their power, property and wealth, even if it meant placing burdens on the people.
Nehemiah admits that his reverence of God kept him humble. None of us are perfect; we are tempted each day in both minor and major ways to give in to ungodly behavior and decisions*. But like Nehemiah, our respect for God should be more persuasive than anything else. He served righteously not because it came easily to him to do it, but because of Who it came from.
*Our daily struggles with temptation are not always huge things like murder and corruption! Often our struggles with temptation are expressions of impatience, frustration, anger, vengeance. Sometimes our struggles are choosing trust over worry; forgiveness over hate; time dedicated to scripture instead of some other entertainment.
Humans are not robots. Our choices and actions are initiated by nano-seconds to lifetimes of thought. God does not expect us to easily or even naturally make the right choices, but ultimately we need to make them. To do that, we have to decide what has power over us: the word of God or the will of our temptation.
5:16 Nehemiah and the people with him chose to be in Jerusalem as workers rather than beneficiaries. Choose to be in God's kingdom as a worker rather than a beneficiaries. Nehemiah did not procure wealth and property; his mission was not to increase his authority. He built a wall around Jerusalem but beneath it, amid it, within it, he established a foundation of faith and for that reason, true protection was constructed.
5:17-18 Nehemiah chose to live and eat modestly; he chose not to live decadently around people who were impoverished. God helps us to perceive the reality of our surroundings; decadent things lose their appeal when juxtaposed life: Nehemiah witnessed the struggle of the people around him to live and his meager provisions became more than enough.
5:19 "Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people." We do not actually have to make this statement to God. He knows who we are. He knows the motivation and reason behind everything that we do. God is keenly aware of where we chose to store our treasures during our lifetime, Matthew 6:21. Nehemiah chose, through a modesty and faithfully effortful lifestyle, to store his treasures in heaven. His heart was with his people in the midst of the plight and God surely saw that.
