Nehemiah’s Unselfish Example
Nehemiah 5: 14-19
Nehemiah’s unselfish leadership DIG: What changes in the governor’s office does Nehemiah enact for the sake of his people (5:14-19)? How did Nehemiah protect himself so he wouldn’t be accused of being selfish or unfair? What does he hope to gain in return for his personal sacrifice? How do you suppose he made ends meet?
REFLECT: Nehemiah shows us that loving God and others may require personal sacrifice. What privileges and rights are you ready to give up so that God’s work may prosper? When have your spiritual beliefs really cost you something? What are some examples of unselfishness that you have observed this past week?
445 BC During the ministry of Nehemiah (to see link click Bt – The Third Return).
Compiled by: The Chronicler from the Ezra and Nehemiah Memoirs
(see Ac – Ezra-Nehemiah From a Jewish Perspective: The Nehemiah Memoirs).
Evidently, when Nehemiah later wrote his memoirs regarding his years in Jerusalem, he reflected on his leadership position and included them here. It appears that he included these verses in the narrative at this point because of their relationship to the events described in the previous file (see Cf – The Complaints of the Poor Israelites).
In the tenth example of leadership in the life of Nehemiah, successful leaders lead by example (see Bt – The Third Return). Nehemiah was entitled to collect taxes from the people in Judah because he had been officially appointed as the king’s representative. Yet he didn’t. He refrained from taxing Jews in order to serve as an example to them of self-sacrificial love. Moreover, from the day when I was appointed to be the governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artakh’shasta – twelve years – neither I, nor my relatives have eaten the bread allocated to the governor. The earlier governors during the days of Zerubbabel, those preceding me, placed heavy burdens on the people, and took bread and wine from them, in addition to forty shekels of silver. Their attendants also lorded over the people. But I did not do so, out of fear of God. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, without even buying a field. All my attendants were gathered there for the work (Nehemiah 5:14-16). Nehemiah dealt with issues that came up, but his central focus was always on completing the work ADONAI had called him to do. He was not there for personal profit, and he did not waste his time buying land or striving to further his career. He was there to build the wall. . . and build he did.251
Furthermore, 150 Judeans and officials, as well as those that came to us from the nations around us, were at my table. Now, each day one ox and six choice sheep, as well as some fowl, were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundance of every kind of wine was prepared. Despite all this, I did not require the governor’s food allowance, because the work was already heavy on this people. Nehemiah’s role as governor carried certain social obligations, just as any important political official is expected to entertain influential guests today. The costs were quite high for such obligations, and previous governors had not hesitated to make the Jews pay the bill through taxes. But Nehemiah met his obligations out of his own pocket, refusing to add to the financial burden of his fellow Jews (Nehemiah 5:17-18).252
Leading by example, Nehemiah had set an example of generosity. He wanted those who had developed a lifestyle of greed and opportunism to develop a lifestyle of generous giving. But what were the motives that drove Nehemiah to generous giving for the sake of the Kingdom of God? Two specific things are mentioned here: his fear of God (Nehemiah 5:15), and his compassion for the suffering of his people (Nehemiah 5:18).
Nehemiah feared God more than he feared men. He lived for the glory of ADONAI, seeking in everything that he did to bring his life into conformity with the Torah. He loved YHVH because YHVH had shown His love to him. He took the TaNaKh seriously as though Ha’Shem Himself was speaking directly to him.
Following Shavu’ot, the early believers practiced a generous lifestyle (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Ao – The New Covenant Community Begins), sharing their possessions with the needy as though they did not own them. It is interesting that the reason for their behavior was that fear came upon every soul (Acts 2:43). The LORD was more than merely a theological proposition to them; the LORD was everything to them. They saw the need to have a light touch on the things of this world. And the absence of fear was the reason the nobles and officials treated the poor and the needy so badly (see Cf – The Complaints of the Poor Israelites).
But there was a second motivation for Nehemiah’s generosity: the people’s poverty brought forth in him a deep sense of compassion. He did not demand of them what they could not pay because the work was already heavy on this people (Nehemiah 5:18). His calling was to minister to an economically depressed community from the lifestyle that he had known as a servant to the most powerful man in the world. As a relatively wealthy man, Nehemiah saw that it was his duty and joy to share his bounty with others. The poverty of the people moved him.
Nehemiah displayed a shepherd’s heart. He was a leader, and he needed to ask the people to engage in the hard work of building the wall of Jerusalem. But he was also a pastor. He loved his people. He had compassion on them. His heart was moved by the sight of their distress and need. In that respect, he exhibited a spirit like that of Yeshua, who, when He viewed the city of Yerushalayim from a distance, saw the people as sheep without a shepherd, and wept (Luke 19:41). Glimpses of Messiah’s heart are seen in Nehemiah. They are only glimpses, of course, but as we keep on turning the pages of the Bible, another Shepherd-Ruler comes whose heart melts at the sight of our desperate need.
This section ends with another one of Nehemiah’s prayers. This is the sixth of twelve prayers recorded in Nehemiah (9:5ff, 1:5-11, 2:4, 4:4, 4:9, here, 6:9, 6:14, 13:14, 13:22, 13:29, 13:31). He prayed: Remember me for good, O my God, for all that I have done for this people (Nehemiah 5:19). Only a man who truly knows ADONAI speaks of Him in this way. Was Nehemiah flaunting about all his good works? Hardly! We are justified by faith apart from works of the Torah (Romans 3:28), for God counts righteousness apart from works (Romans 4:6). But what Nehemiah was talking about was the fruit of his ministry, not the root. We are saved by faith alone, apart from works, but that faith is never alone . . . it is always accompanied by good works (James 2:14-26).
Nehemiah was not bragging about his accomplishments, but professing his sincerity. He was saying, “I have attempted to live in accordance with the way You have desired. I have not done that perfectly. Where I have sinned, I claim the forgiveness that you promise to those who confess and repent of their sins, who trust in the promise of salvation offered in the blood of sacrifice made for sinners like me. But You have also promised never to leave us or forsake us. You have promised to direct our paths. I have acted in good faith.”
It takes courage to pray like that! To be so in touch with one’s heart that we can believe that we can come before our Father in heaven and tell Him, “I have done what you asked! I may not have done it with the absolute purity that You require, and for that I plead the blood of Jesus Christ. But I have done it with sincerity, poor and feeble though it was! Now remember me. I have done this for no other reason than to bring You glory.” That is a bold prayer indeed. And it is the kind of praying that comes from a redeemed heart without reservation for the glory of God.253
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