NOTES for Neh 5:1-19
Nehemiah is forced to turn away from his building concerns in order to put an end to injustice. On that occasion the growing social conflict was resolved by easing the people’s burdens, but how many times over thousands of years have those called to govern society, and even those called to church ministry, only made the situation worse!
If we regard the solution of earthly problems as something unworthy of the attention of the “spiritual” people we imagine ourselves to be, then we abandon a merciful attitude toward our neighbors and therefore act against God’s will. Our inaction allows forces hostile to the faith to present themselves as champions of justice who care for the people. Even today we encounter far too often an artificial opposition between “lofty spiritual interests” and “lowly material concerns,” but this division is artificial and does not correspond to biblical teaching. The biblical attitude toward both sides of reality leads instead to their harmonization.
It is precisely this attitude that guides Nehemiah in his actions: for him, care for the oppressed people is inseparable from carrying out the work of God entrusted to him.