Money Problems | Sunday, June 26, 2022

Hi, everybody. If we've never been introduced before, my name is David Guzik, and I'm a friend of your pastor, Miles DeBenedictus, and of course, his whole family. It is a great joy for me to come and be with the Cross Connection family this particular weekend.

Here online, I'm going to continue into Nehemiah chapter 5, as we've been making our way through the book of Nehemiah. We come to chapter 5 today, and it is truly my privilege to bring you something from God's Word. When we open up to Nehemiah chapter 5, I want to begin with a little preface, a beginning thought. We know that the book of Nehemiah, in the big picture, is about a building project—the need to build the walls around the city of Jerusalem after it had been conquered by the Babylonians several decades before the time of Nehemiah.

So, it is really about rebuilding. It is the most common thing in the world for a building project to have money problems. Nehemiah chapter 5 begins with money problems, but not the kind that we normally think of associated with a building project. Notice it here in Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 1, where we read, "And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren."

One fascinating thing about Nehemiah chapter 5 is how it regards the work of building the walls. You'll see what I mean about that in just a moment. Nehemiah chapter 4 ended on a note of tremendous victory. The people of God were doing the work of God, and they did it despite significant obstacles. I love that verse at the end of Nehemiah chapter 4, where it talks about them working with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. They were both fighting and building at the same time, and they were not going to let anything stop them.

Their enemies could not stop them. However, in Nehemiah chapter 5, there is really no mention of working on the wall. As far as Nehemiah chapter 5 is concerned, the work of building the wall around Jerusalem has stopped. It stopped because, as we see in verse 1, there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. The work ceased due to strife among God's people—arguing, disputing, and disagreement. The enemy could not halt the work of God in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem through any direct attack, as we observed in Nehemiah chapter 4. But the work did stop when God's people were not unified and when they weren't working together.

This situation indicates that one group was fighting against another group among their Jewish brethren. Again, in verse 1, we read about the great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. When God's people are fighting each other, they are not fighting the real enemy, the enemy of our souls, nor are they effectively accomplishing God's work.

What was the reason for this kind of strife among God's people? Simply put, it was due to money problems. I will read to you verses 2 through 5 of Nehemiah chapter 5, which state: "For there were those who said, 'We, our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live.' There were also some who said, 'We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and our houses that we might buy grain because of the famine.' There were also those who said, 'We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children, and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. Some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and our vineyards.'"

Those four verses, Nehemiah chapter 5, verses 2 through 5, basically describe four different reasons for the financial trouble and the strife that was at its root because of financial disputes and difficulties among the people of Jerusalem.

Now again, I want to emphasize that Nehemiah is not primarily a book about money. It is primarily a book about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and bringing the people of God into a place of peace, security, and blessing. Yet money problems directly affected the rebuilding work, not in the way we would normally think. Most building projects have a money problem; there is not enough money to pay for the building project. But that was not the situation here in the book of Nehemiah.

If you remember, going all the way back to Nehemiah chapter 2, the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem seems to have been paid for by the king of Persia, who provided the necessary building materials for Nehemiah. You'll find that back in Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 8, and he sent him with royal guards, as noted in Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 9. Nehemiah's money problems were different. There was enough money to do the work of rebuilding the walls, but the money problems he faced arose among the people and harmed the unity among the people of God. Because the people of God were not unified, they were not working together to see the work of God done.

As I mentioned, I suggest to you that these four verses, verses 2, 3, 4, and 5, give us four reasons for the money problems they were suffering in Jerusalem at that time. Here's the first reason. If you look at verse 2, it says, "Let us get grain that we may eat and live." I am kind of supposing from that that the people were saying to Nehemiah, "Hey, we've been working on the walls a lot." Doesn't chapter 4 describe that in a beautiful and powerful way? They were saying, "We need time to go raise our crops. We need time to go address the other things that we're addressing."

We need the time. We've been spending too much time, at least so to speak, working on the walls. We need to spend some time providing for the needs of our household.

Every once in a while, I'll meet somebody who feels that they have a call to ministry, and who am I most of the time to doubt somebody's call for ministry? However, if a person feels called to ministry and they're not providing for the needs of their family, then that's a problem, biblically speaking. The Bible puts a very high priority on the ability of people to provide for the needs of their own household.

This could have been part of the problem, again indicated by verse 2, which states, "Let us get grain that we may eat and live." That's the first reason. The second reason is found in verse 3. At the end of verse 3, they mention the famine. People had money problems because there was a famine, which obviously made food more expensive. It was so expensive that some people had to mortgage their property just to provide food.

So first, they were giving a lot of their time and attention to the work of rebuilding the walls. Secondly, it was because of the famine. Third, if you'll notice, verse 4 mentions the king's tax. This sounds familiar, doesn't it? People had money problems because the government kept taxing them, even though they weren't working as much and the cost of living went up. The king's tax, the government taxes, were a significant reason why there were money problems among the people of Jerusalem.

That's the third reason. Take a look at verse 4 to get an idea of the fourth reason. In verse 4, we have that phrase where they say, "We have borrowed money," and then in verse 5, it states, "Indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves." People had financial problems because they had taken out loans that they couldn't keep up the payments on. The loans they had taken out to live cost them interest, and they were in default. In the ancient world, when you were in default, somebody had to become a slave to somebody else.

Oftentimes in families, it was the children who suffered. That's why it is described in verse 5 that they were forcing their sons and daughters to be slaves. People had to go into servitude simply to work off their debts. Some individuals in Nehemiah's day had to give their children as servants to their lenders to pay off what they owed.

Now, what kind of debt and what kind of interest are we talking about here? Well, Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 11, uses the phrase "the hundredth part," which likely means they were charging 12% interest a year. In those days, that was considered not only an excessive interest rate but also went against a general principle in the Bible that we will discuss later: you should not profit from other people's misfortunes.

Let's return to our four reasons why they were experiencing financial trouble. Number one, they were focused on building the walls and not on providing for their families. Number two, there was a famine. Number three, they faced high taxes. And number four, they had too much debt, and the interest was overwhelming them.

Friends, you know how it is. It's not unusual for money problems to create strife and completely disrupt what God wants to do. If Nehemiah and the people around him did not find a way to manage their money and their financial issues, the work of God would be halted. By the way, I want to emphasize that the work of God could have been stopped without a single arrow being fired by the enemies of God. This was hindering the work of building the wall in a way that the obvious enemies of God could never achieve.

You see, friends, sometimes we want to separate what we do with our money from our own walk with God. We compartmentalize our lives, don't we? We create mental divisions: here is my responsibility before God, and here is what I do with my money. We sometimes convince ourselves that these two areas will never intersect. That is a huge trap from the evil one.

Friends, what you do with your money reflects your spiritual life, not just your financial life. Building a house is a spiritual decision, not just a financial one. Taking a job, choosing a career, and deciding how much money you should make are all matters that directly affect your walk with God, both now and into the future. If we don't handle our money with the right kind of heart and make financial decisions with an eye to eternity, we can make mistakes that will affect the work of God in our lives for years.

Let me give you one essential aspect of handling our money rightly before God. I want to emphasize that this is only one principle. There are several other principles about handling our money the way that God would want us to. One important aspect of dealing with our money rightly before God is being a giver. Being a giver to the work of the Lord helps us to always remember that God and His kingdom come first.

The New Testament tells us that our giving should be regular, thoughtful, proportional, and private. You'll find all those principles in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Additionally, 2 Corinthians chapter 9 tells us that our giving must be generous, freely given, and cheerful. God cares about our giving and how we give.

However, you must also understand that money problems are rarely only money problems. Sometimes we think that our only money problem is that we don't have enough of it. We believe that if we had more money, our money problems would go away. Friends, that's not true. This is proven to be false when you look at the lives of many people who win the lottery or come into unexpected riches. If they had money problems before and didn't know how to handle their money or glorify God with it, they are unlikely to know how to do so now.

To handle their money after they received all that money, the problems soon showed up, often bigger than ever. What happened now in response to these issues? We had these four areas, and I will repeat them for the sake of clarity. They were focused on building the walls and not on providing for the people. There was a famine, high taxes, and too much debt, with the interest rates killing them.

So, what was Nehemiah's reaction? Nehemiah, known for his passionate nature, became very angry when he heard their outcry and these words. His anger stemmed, in part, from the fact that these financial problems were caused by the greed of those who sought to profit from the money troubles of others. This was something that the Law of Moses clearly condemned in its commands against what we refer to as usury. Usury involves excessive or improper interest, and God instructed that one should not profit from the financial struggles of others.

Nehemiah's anger was justified, as these money problems were causing strife among the people of God and halting the work that needed to be done. It is important to note that there is no mention of the work on the walls in Nehemiah chapter 5. These financial issues were stopping the work of the Lord in rebuilding the walls, which must have been frustrating for Nehemiah. After the great victory in Nehemiah chapter 4, these money problems were now pushing the pause button on the progress in chapter 5.

So, what was Nehemiah going to do about it? As a great leader, he decided to confront those who were in the wrong. I will read to you Nehemiah chapter 5, verses 7 through 11.

Here we go. After serious thought, maybe we should stop right there. Isn't that good to begin with? Nehemiah got angry in verse 6, but before he did anything, he gave it serious thought. When Nehemiah says "serious thought," you just know that he was praying about it as well. He wasn't only thinking about it; he was thinking about it and praying about it.

After giving the situation serious thought, he did not respond in the anger of verse 6. After the serious and, I would assume, prayerful thought of verse 7, it says, "After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers and said to them, 'Each of you is exacting usury from your brother.' So I called a great assembly against them. I said to them, 'According to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren, or should they be sold to us?' Then they were silenced and found nothing to say."

Then I said, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury. Restore to them now, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain and the new wine and the oil that you have charged them."

I love it. He thought very carefully about this. He considered the four causes of their money problems: they were focused on building the walls and not on providing, there was famine, high taxes, and they had too much debt, with the interest killing them. The only thing that Nehemiah could really do anything about was the last problem: the interest and the debt.

I'll be honest with you; I don't know if that was the worst of the four problems, but it was the one that Nehemiah could do something about. So he addressed that first. He knew that the work of rebuilding the walls had to go on, at least in some way.

Nehemiah couldn't really do anything about the famine. He couldn't make it rain, and he certainly couldn't tell the king of Persia to stop taking taxes. However, what he could do was address those among the people of Jerusalem who were making an unfair and unrighteous profit off the unfortunate circumstances of others.

So, what did he do? In verse 7, Nehemiah says, "I rebuked the nobles and the rulers." Nehemiah was no coward. Being the cupbearer to the king exposed him to important and prestigious people, so the nobles and rulers in Jerusalem didn't intimidate him at all. He could confidently say, "Listen, I was cupbearer to a king." When people were in the wrong, Nehemiah confronted them. He told them the truth, and the result was very positive. I assume he told the truth in love. It's one thing to tell the truth; it's another to ensure that it is conveyed with love.

What did he tell them? In verse 7, he pointed out their great crime: "Each of you is exacting usury from your brother." Some translations simply say "interest," but I prefer the word "usury" because it refers to interest on a loan that is either too high or should not be charged at all. The Bible states, in Exodus 22:25, that it is wrong to profit from someone's financial need. If someone requires money for the most basic necessities of life, they should be given assistance, not loaned money at interest.

I believe that even in a biblical economy, loaning money at interest is permitted for things that are not absolute necessities. However, God's people must always exercise great wisdom and self-control when borrowing money. I don't have to tell you how many of us have gotten into trouble by overextending ourselves and borrowing too much.

We borrowed without really any ability to repay. If that had happened to you back in Nehemiah's day, you or some of your children would have been sold into slavery until those debts were repaid, until someone was able to redeem you. That's what he is talking about in verse 8 when he says, "We have redeemed our Jewish brethren."

Nehemiah noted that when Judah was conquered, many Jews were sold as slaves to foreigners, and many of them had been bought out of that condition of slavery by their fellow Jews. Because of that whole history, it was very wrong to have Jews being sold into slavery to their fellow Jews because they couldn't pay off these high-interest loans. Instead of doing that, they should have, as stated in verse 9, "Should you not walk in the fear of our God?"

Isn't that where a lot of business deals go wrong before God? There is often no regard for God's will or wisdom. As I speak to you today, I don't know what you do for a living. Maybe some of you are in business, buying and selling, making deals. Praise the Lord! I think there are wonderful kingdom opportunities for people in the realm of business. However, you must do your business honestly and in a way that honors God.

When we act with our money and in our business in ways that do not give regard for God's will or wisdom, if our only concern is whether we can make the deal and if we are going to make some money from it, while leaving aside whether it is right or wrong, we are in a bad place.

What is the answer? Verse 11 indicates the answer. Nehemiah told them, "Restore now to them even this day." He was not asking the nobles and the rulers to feel really bad about this. He didn't even say, "Stop what you're doing." What they had to do was set right the wrong that they had done. If money had been charged unfairly, or if collateral for a loan was taken unfairly, they needed to make amends.

They had to restore those things. They had to set them right, and they had to do it immediately. Look at it again in verse 11: "Restore now to them even this day." Now, that's quite a line for Nehemiah to lay down before these nobles and rulers among the Jewish people in Jerusalem at that time. I can't tell you if Nehemiah was nervous or not; I kind of suspect that he was not. But even if he wasn't nervous, surely he was curious as to how they would respond.

So, I want you to check out verses 12 and 13 and see how they responded. Here we go again. Nehemiah chapter 5, verses 12 and 13, where we read: "So they said, 'We will restore it, and we will require nothing from them. We will do as you say.' Then I called the priests and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, 'So may God shake out each man from his house and from his property who does not perform this promise. Even thus he may be shaken out and emptied.' And all the assembly said, 'Amen,' and praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise."

I love this. What a tremendous response! Did you see what the nobles and the rulers said? Verse 12 begins simply: "We will restore it." Nehemiah told them the truth in love. He confronted them, saying, "Guys, you're in the wrong here. You're affecting the peace and the financial health of the community. You're indirectly stopping the work of rebuilding the walls. You have to get this right." He lovingly but truthfully confronted these brothers, and they received the rebuke.

Sometimes, I think there's no greater miracle among the people of God than a rebuke received. I can imagine, if you'll just give me the sake of imagination for a moment, that Nehemiah did not deliver this rebuke perfectly; there was something wrong in it. The time of day was wrong.

The tone of his voice was too loud or too quiet. It was a little too clear, a little unclear. I don't know. I'm going to speculate that whatever the rebuke was that he gave, no matter how good it was, it wasn't perfect. Instead of trying to poke holes in it, these brothers, these godly men said, "You're right. We're wrong. We're going to do the right thing. We were wrong before. We will set it right." Their teachable, correctable spirit was very impressive.

Sometimes, I think the greatest miracle among God's people today is a rebuke that's actually received. To give strength to this, did you see what Nehemiah did in verse 13? Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 13 says that Nehemiah shook out the fold of his garment and said, "So may God shake out each man." He took his robes, shook them, and declared that may God do this to every man who does not perform the promise.

Nehemiah wisely knew that their words were not enough; their actions had to be followed through with real action. Happily, it was done. Did you see that there in verse 13 at the end of it? It says that the people did according to this promise. There was something wonderful about this public oath that Nehemiah had them take. If you'll notice, he had them take it before the priests and the whole community. The wisdom in doing that was that it made these rulers and nobles accountable. They made the promise publicly, and if they failed to live up to the promise, they would be accountable to the whole community.

Friends, isn't it true that oftentimes we need accountability to help us do what our spirit is willing to do, but our flesh is weak to do? I just want to give you a little word right here, right now. Perhaps accountability is a missing step in your life right now in dealing with an area where you're having a hard time doing what's right.

I don't know what that area might be. It could be any number of things, but maybe what you need is greater accountability. Being honest with a brother or sister, as appropriate, and telling them about the struggle you're having, while asking them to hold you accountable and check in with you frequently, is a gift from God.

Now, let's continue and see something else that Nehemiah did that was very important. In verses 14, 15, and 16, Nehemiah explains how he did not tax the people. Beginning at verse 14, he states, "Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year until the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes, 12 years, neither I nor my brethren ate the governor's provisions. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued the work on the wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work."

I want you to notice this: Nehemiah could not stop the king's tax mentioned in verse 4. However, he could choose not to make the taxes worse by taxing the people for his own support, even when he had the right to do so. Friends, Nehemiah was there as a legitimate government official. He had the right to be supported by taxes from the people he served, but he said, "No, on this occasion, I'm going to give up that right. I'm not going to do it because I want to see the work of God furthered."

This reminds me of something we find in the New Testament with the Apostle Paul. He is another great example of someone who had the right to be supported but didn't always take that right.

Because when it was better for the cause of the gospel for him to not take the right, he would not be supported. If you take a look at the ministry of Paul in its entirety, there were times when he did receive appropriate support as a minister of God, and there were times when he refused appropriate support as a minister of the Word of God. He made his choice based on whatever would be more effective for doing the work.

Paul encountered situations, especially in his church planting and evangelistic work, where it was better for him to be very public about the fact that he would not receive anything from the people he ministered to. However, there were other situations where he did accept support because he judged it was better for the work of God for him to be able to give his full attention to the task at hand. I think that's a very relevant principle when dealing with the question some people ask about whether pastors or ministers should be supported today.

Again, I think it's a question of what is better for the cause of the gospel. I could envision certain circumstances where it would be better for a pastor or minister to refuse financial support, but for the most part, whenever it is possible, it's better for a pastor or minister to be able to devote himself full time to the care and teaching of God's people. That is legitimate support. However, if the circumstances arose that it was better for the cause of God for him to not receive support from the people of God, then he should be willing to do that.

As a matter of fact, he should be able to say what Nehemiah said. Did you notice that there in verse 15? He said, "I did not do so because of the fear of God." Nehemiah could say this because it didn't really matter to him what others did. If there were 50 other governors in different provinces of the Persian Empire who taxed their people excessively and enriched themselves from it, Nehemiah would say, "I don't care what they do. I did not do so because of the fear of God." Nehemiah lived under another standard, and we should be willing to live under that same standard that Nehemiah did.

We should be able to say, whenever we are confronted by the sins that the world around us takes for granted, words that echo Nehemiah's. We should be able to say, "I did not do so because of the love of Jesus." Friends, you could also say, "because of the fear of God." That's fine too, but you could add to it, "because of the love of Jesus."

As a matter of fact, not only did Nehemiah refuse to impose additional taxes upon the people, he was generous to them. In verses 17 and 18, we read, "And at my table were 150 Jews and rulers." That must have been the biggest table of all time! No, that's just a little joke. He doesn't mean a literal table; he means the people that he provided for.

Verse 17 continues, "And at my table were 150 Jews and rulers beside those who came to us from the nations around us." Now, that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also, fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days, there was an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet, in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's provisions because the bondage was heavy on this people.

You see, Nehemiah did not only refuse to take what he could have; he also gave when he didn't have to. He received a lot of food from the king's provisions, which he could have sold for his own profit. Instead, he gave it away to be an example of generosity, feeding as many as 150 people regularly. He could have taken even more from the governor's provisions, but he didn't.

Nehemiah was a great example for what he did not take, and he is also a great example for what he did not keep—in other words, his generosity. He did all of this, as you'll notice at the end of verse 18, because the bondage was heavy on this people. Nehemiah, in his own life, lived the way that he told the nobles and the rulers to live.

Remember when he talked to them earlier? He said, "Don't make money off the misfortune of your brethren." He stated, "No, I'm not going to do that." Nehemiah did what every godly leader must do. He never expected more of his followers than he expected of himself.

Now, Nehemiah chapter 5 concludes with a little prayer in verse 19. You see that prayer? "Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people." I'm sure that there are some folks who think, "Wow, Nehemiah, kind of a proud prayer to pray." I don't think it's a proud prayer. He's just saying, "God, remember me. Remember me for good. I've tried to do good. I've done good for the people. Remember me."

Nehemiah did a lot of good. We see it just in this chapter. He cared for the poor and hurting. He boldly confronted injustice. Sometimes, the people who get a lot done in this world don't care a lot about other people, but Nehemiah wasn't like that. He cared for the poor and hurting. He boldly confronted injustice. He set captives free.

Here's number four: Nehemiah sacrificially served. Let me use a phrase that might sound familiar to you. Nehemiah did not come to be served, but to serve. Let me ask you a question. Does that remind you of anyone? The Gospels tell us that Jesus spoke those same words over Himself. He said the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.

You see, in all of these ways, Nehemiah is an amazing example of Jesus. Nehemiah cared for the poor and hurting; Jesus cares for the poor and hurting. Nehemiah boldly confronted injustice; Jesus boldly confronts injustice. Nehemiah set captives free; Jesus sets captives free. And Nehemiah sacrificially served. He did not come to be served, but to serve.

And Jesus spoke those same words over Himself. We can look at this and say, what a tremendous example for us. It is indeed an example for us, and we should take it as a good one. However, let me add something to this. It's something for us to receive: let Jesus serve you. Let Him set you free.

I will conclude with this: let Jesus set the rules for how you handle money—how you make it, spend it, and give it. If you get that money thing right, things can move forward. The building work can resume, which is currently on pause here through Nehemiah chapter 5. There may be things in your life right now that God is waiting for you to get right under His lordship regarding money. Then, things can move forward.

In doing all this, we will look to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. Let me close with a quick prayer here, and then we can finish.

Father in heaven, we thank You. We thank You that what we see in part in Nehemiah, we see in perfection in Jesus Christ. So we say, Lord, we ask that You would serve us. It sounds funny for us to say that, but You came to serve us. You came to serve us by setting us free. You came to serve us by giving us life. You came to serve us by taking away our sin. You came to serve us by giving us power to live honoring lives to You.

So, Lord, we receive Your service, and we ask that You would fill us with the same heart, conforming us to Your glorious image. God, I especially pray that You would help us to get the money thing right—how we make it, how we spend it, and how we give it. Help us to do that in a way that brings You honor, and we know that will bring freedom into our lives. Do it, Lord, we pray in Jesus' wonderful name.

Amen.