Are You Fair to Those Who Are Different? (Neh 5:12-13)

And I called the priests, and made them take an oath to do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD.

The last prayer passage dealt with outside pressures and crises. This one addresses some internal problems having to do with the rich taking advantage of the poor. In a modern Western society that has no abject poverty, what can we learn from this prayer?

Background

The amount of rubble and garbage was slowing the repair of the wall, and so the scale of the task was causing the workers some disheartenment. Their families, worried about their safety, wanted them back home. Part of the concern was coming from the wives of the workers—since their husbands were off in Jerusalem having to work on the wall, they were responsible for everything having to do with their families. As they stretched out, it made things more difficult on them. 

Three groups of people complain about the hardships—some leading to possible destitution, loans with high interest, and even selling their children as slaves!

Nehemiah became angry on hearing this. He calls the “nobles and the officials” to a public hearing, but his argument against them is less about the law and more about morality. Referring back to Jewish history, he notes that the Jewish people had been rescued from slavery and their debt-slavery redeemed—but these Jewish officials were putting their own brothers back in that situation! Second, Nehemiah points out how this must look to the other nations, and thus dishonors God. Finally, Nehemiah notes that he and his family have been part of the problem, too, for he is an official appointed by the Persian king himself. 

He proposes two solutions to the other nobles and officials. First, he recommended that they should return any lands seized because of lack of payment due to the families—with no conditions. Second, he also urges the return of any interest collected on loans, and perhaps the cancellation of the loans themselves, or at least that such loans should cease in the future (v10). 

The nobles and officials agree, and Nehemiah then shook out all the belongings he kept in his cloak, saying that if anyone went back on this pledge, God would “shake everything” from them. He made them take an oath to that effect—a vow. 

The nobles and officials, and perhaps all the assembled people, did the same thing as a sign of their loyalty to the pledge. Their response is then to say Amen and praise God. 

Meaning

The complaints appear to come from three different socio-economic groups. First, the families who owned no land were the hardest hit because they had no income while the men were working on the wall. Since it was taking so long, they were in danger of becoming destitute (v2). Second, families who owned land, but had mortgaged it to nobles or officials to get through the difficult time. But, again, with it taking longer than expected, paying the mortgage was becoming difficult, and they were facing the sole option of selling their children as servants (hoping to redeem them later) or losing the land and becoming destitute (v3). The final group seems to be those who are landowners, too, but they do not have the assets or income to pay their taxes, so they are borrowing money to pay taxes (v4). Verse 5 seems to sum up the unfairness of this situation: while their husbands are doing the work to protect the city, the families suffer and the officials and nobles are unaffected.

This explains Nehemiah’s anger—in the past, it was foreigners who enslaved God’s people. But now it was their own leaders oppressing them! His solutions are simple and logical: make it easy on the people, it costs the officials almost nothing, and the city gains protection through the wall being built.