Rebuilding the Broken - Week 5

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday          Galatians 2:1-11

Tuesday         Matthew 7:1-5.

Wednesday   James 3:14-18

Thursday        II Timothy 2:23-26

Friday             Nehemiah 5:9-19

Saturday        Nehemiah 6:1-3 

Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us stay focused, and to receive gentle correction when we need it.  AMEN

READING:

As often happens when we set about doing some good work in the Lord, problems arise. So far, the challenges from outside have been on display. Now, we see challenges from within. What’s happening here?

First, there is an injustice happening within the community. Some within the Jewish community in Jerusalem are unable to get grain to feed their families and others have to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on their fields. And their fellow Jews are profiting from their desperate situation, as Nehemiah makes clear in verse 7. This is explicitly forbidden in the Torah in Leviticus 25:35-37.

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.

Second, injustice provokes anger from Nehemiah (verse 6). There is such a thing as righteous anger. When wrong is perpetrated, anger is an appropriate response. Rage is not anger. Rage is losing control of one’s emotions. Anger is one’s emotions channeled.

Third, Nehemiah reflects before he responds (verse 7). He “heard their outcry and these charges” and became angry. But he did not respond or confront anyone until he “pondered them in [his] mind.” Good example.

https://seedsoffaith.substack.com/p/seeds-for-09252024-nehemiah-51-8