Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Please open your Bibles. We are studying in the book of Nehemiah in Hebrew, Nehemiah, chapter 5. Shabbat Shalom, this man of God, by the name of Nehemiah, was one of the Jewish individuals who came back to the land of Judah, the land of Israel, and he so badly wanted to help rebuild the walls of the city of Yerushalayim, which were broken down, and the gates which were burnt with fire. He was a godly man, a Jewish man, a Jewish man who loved the God of Israel, loved the people of Israel, and wanted a restoration of the nation, and the walls set up, and the gates are placed in a right way, back where they belong.

Because the Jewish people were mocked. They were discouraged. They were dispersed. They were scattered. Even though they came back already when Zerubavel and Ezra brought some of the Jewish people back to the land, but still there was a problem. There was many needs among the people of Israel. So by the time we are here today in this ministry meeting, we have already covered four chapters. And today I am going to read chapter 5, and by the grace of God, I will try to cover the whole chapter, if it is possible. Let's follow please. Nehemiah, Nehemiah, Nehemiah, chapter 5, verse 1. And there was a great cry of the people and their wives against their brethren, the Jews.

For there were that said, we, our sons and our daughters, are many. Therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. Some also, there were that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards and houses, that we might buy corn because of the dearth. There were also that said, we have borrowed money for the king's tribute and that upon our land and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. And Lord, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already. Neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

And I was very angry when I heard their cry in these words. Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers, and said unto them, ye exact usually every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. And I said unto them, we after our ability have redeemed our brethren, the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen. And will ye even sell your brethren? Or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer. Also I said, it is not good that ye do, ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies?

I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn. I pray you, let us live of this usually. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses also. The hundred parts of their money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, we will restore them, and will require nothing of them. So will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise also. I shook my lap, and said, so God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise.

Even thus, be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen. And praise the Lord. And the people did according to this promise. Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver. Yea, even their servants, bear rule over the people, but so did not I, because of the fear of God.

Yea, also I continued, in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land, and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table, and hundred and fifty of the Jews, and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen, that are about us. Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox, and six choice sheep, also fowls, were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon these people. Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for these people.

Let me just remind you, brothers and sisters, because it's always good to make a recap for a moment. Nehemia came back with quite a few Jewish people from Bavil, and he began to build the walls and the gates of the city of Jerusalem. Symbolically, we applied this to us, it is a man that is spiritually exercised before the Lord, and he wants to build the walls around the people of God, to protect the people of God, to be a blessing to the people of God. And we mentioned how often we need these kind of brothers and sisters, that the Lord will raise from among the body of Messiah, that will be the kind of men and women that will say, I want to serve the Lord, I want to live for the Lord, I want to be a blessing to the people of God.

No matter what the cost, I want to be a servant of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Well, Nehemia was this kind of a man. He lived in Bavil, he's actually perhaps never seen the city of Jerusalem. But he heard that the condition was so bad there, and he was so burdened as a cupbearer to the king, the king saw his face that he was sad. And the king told him, what do you want? And he said, I want to go back to my people's land, to Israel and to Jerusalem, and I want to build the wall, and I want to build the gates. Well, he went.

And the king assisted him. God blessed him. He came to the land of Israel, and what does he see? Everything is broken. Everything is burnt with fire. Everything was in such a condition that he determined to do something about it. And so in chapter 3, we saw Nehemia building with the Jewish people, the remnant that came, and many others who joined them. And they were building the walls, and they were setting up the gates. And as things climbed up, and it was already halfway through, enemies began to attack these Jewish people. Just like I mentioned that in our history as a nation, since 1948, when the people of Israel trying to build the land, and to work the ground, and to build always these enemies against the people of God, the people of Israel.

And you and I, as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, will find out very quickly that whenever you want to do something for the Lord, the enemies will attack any work of the Lord that is being done. Satan is opposing God's work. The world is against God's people. And the human nature, the flesh, is constantly rising up. Well, in chapter 4, we heard about those enemies. You remember in chapter 4, verse 1 and 2: "And it came to pass when Sanballat heard that they builded the wall." He was wroth, he was angry, and he took a great indignation, and he mocked the Jewish people. Notice what it says in verse 7.

It says here: "But it came to pass when Sanballat and Tuviyah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, that they were very wroth, very angry." See, they had enemies from without, who opposed the building of the walls of Jerusalem and the gates thereof. But you see, brothers and sisters, this is exactly how Satan works. He is sometimes coming as a roaring lion, 1 Peter, chapter 5 and verse 8. He is desiring to devour the people of God. And this is the enemies without. But now when we come to chapter 5, we learn another lesson.

It's not only the enemies without that attacks us. Here we have a second problem. And we know it very well in every congregation, in every local assembly, in every local church. You will find out that it's not only the problems of those that hate the believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. But we find out that because of self-will, and unbrokenness before God, and because of pride, and because I'm going to do my thing, we've been broken before the Lord, and instead of caring for the welfare of the people of God, we began to abuse them. And we began to sow things that are not right with the Lord.

And here you find it. It didn't only happen in our Jewish people's history. It happened in the present day church age in which you and I live in today. And that's why there are so many broken churches and broken groups and company of people who are divided and are scattered. Why? It's not only because of the fault of them that are without. It is also the problem that is within. It's why God is constantly appealing through the apostles, whether it is Peter, James, John, Jude, and the apostle Paul. They are appealing to the heart and the consciences of the believers and telling them, Brethren, be submissive to the Lord.

Seek to be a blessing to God's people. Don't hurt each other. Recognize that you are to build each other up. We are brethren. We are part of the body of Messiah. Well, here in chapter 5, we can see the issue is rising up. You notice immediately in chapter 5, verse 1. Here is the internal conflict among the Jewish people in the land of Israel. It began. And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren, the Jewish people. Now notice you have husbands and wives and brothers and sisters. We call them in Hebrew, Achim, brethren. Here they began to cry one against each other.

Why they were crying? Apparently there was a problem. The Hebrew word for crying. The Hebrew word for crying. The Hebrew word for crying. The Hebrew word saakat. The cry of the nation and their wives. Why they were crying? And they were lifting up their voice because they were exasperated. There was a problem among the people of God. Not now from San Balat and Tuviyah and also the others. It's not with them from without right now. Now we see some things that have happened from within among the Jewish people. Like things happen among the believers in the Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah. When there are friction among the brethren.

Turn with me to Psalm 133. This is a very important verse. And we often sing that. And yet we don't practice this in reality often times. Psalm 133. The psalmist of Israel says, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." In Hebrew we say, "Hineh matov umanaim shevet achim gam yachad." How pleasant. And how good when the brethren are dwelling together in unity. Maybe they don't agree with each other on every little thing. But their desire is to have unity. By the way, Psalm 133 is a prophetic psalm that speaks about the future of Israel. Israel as a nation will one day be restored as a nation.

And there will be a harmony and unity among all the Jewish people worldwide during the Messianic Kingdom. Notice in this Psalm 133 verse 2, "It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard of Aaron's beard and went down all the way to the skirts of his garments." This ointment is when Aaron was anointed and the oil was running down his head and down his beard all the way to his skirts. And it is a representation of Aaron who is a type of the Mashiach Yeshua. And when Israel as a nation will accept him, all the nation of Israel ultimately will be blessed when that oil of gladness, when the oil of the Holy Spirit of God will anoint the nation and the nation will be restored.

That is yet in the future. But God loves to see it in the present. He wanted to see it among Israel historically and he wants to see it among us today. Not to wait for tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow will come. When you and I will have no longer this sin nature to hurt us and to harm one another. That will be done away with. When we are going to get a new body, a glorified body. No more sinful nature with us. That is yet future. But the Lord wants us to enjoy it today with his help. Notice it says at the end of verse 3, For there the Lord commendeth the blessings, even life forevermore.

When God's people submit to his will, there is blessing among the people of God. By few or by many. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity. But it didn't happen here. The remnant returned back to the land. And so in verse 1 you already see, beloved brothers and sisters, what have existed there that there was a cry to God, one against the other, because of the reasons it comes up. We are going to see it in a moment. Just turn with me to Isaiah chapter 5, in verse 7 especially it says, For the vineyard of the Lord of Host is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is his pleasant plant.

He looked for judgment, but behold there was oppression. He looked for righteousness, but behold there was a cry. Here is the same word, a cry, tzaka, litzok, to shout, to cry, because of the pain that was imposed upon someone else of these Jewish brethren. And so after the internal conflict among our Jewish people of all in the days of Nehemiah came about, here you find the complaint of one against the others. Some who complain against their brethren. What was the complaint? Verses 2, 3, 4, and 5 we find out the complaint. Number 1 in verse 2, some said we needed food for our daughters and our sons. Apparently they didn't have sufficient enough means to sustain themselves because there was a famine, a drought in this land at that time, and they were saying we need to get food for our family so we will be able to sustain ourselves.

But look what happened. The second point that we find out in verse 3 now, there were some that said we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, houses, that we might buy corn, in Hebrew the word dagan, food really, because of the dearth or the famine. Apparently there was a famine in the land, so food was scarce, limited, so they had to mortgage their homes, their vineyards, their houses, their lands in order to buy some food for their families. But who did they mortgage the land to? To their own brethren. And their own brethren should have treated these individuals who became poor, right, because of the condition in the land.

But they end up now abusing their place by oppressing their brethren. They're brethren. Look at the next verse. Look at the next verse. For the third psalm we read, psalm said, we have borrowed money. Notice that, and I'm reading now verse 4. And there were those who said we have borrowed money for the king's tribute and against our land and our vineyards. Now you see, they had to pay tribute to the king of Persia, so they borrowed money against their homes, their vineyards, their houses, so they would be able to pay. And therefore they became poor. And now you can see how some have abused the condition that prevailed in the days when Nehemia and the people of Judah were building the walls.

The wall is almost done, and so on, they were continuing on. But while they were working together, some have abused their own brethren. And you see, here's the actual cry, the complaint itself is found in verse 5. Our children became slaves. Notice that? And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, and our children as their children. And lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, in Hebrew avadim, slaves. And some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already. Neither is it in our power to redeem them. For other men have our lands and our vineyards. See, brothers and sisters, what really happened is simply this.

Some of them who came back with Nehemia. Others who were already living in the land, they began to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem. They were putting the walls stone upon stone upon stone upon stone, setting up the gates. They were enemies from without. They had to deal with them to protect themselves with ammunition and so on. But now we find out that as they were working, they had to mortgage their lands to others who perhaps were better off. And those others, instead of making life easy for their brethren, they abused it. And they were charging them mortgage. And they perhaps, notice he used this expression here, we had to mortgage our land.

To put mortgage is simply to borrow something against your property. So imagine what happened. In no time, these people, because of the famine, because of the work that they have had, they became poor. And some of the brethren abused this situation. And instead of easing things for their brethren, who were working together and building the walls of Jerusalem, they have actually began to charge them. And to lend the money against their property to the extent that these people became so poor. And notice by the time we read verse 5, they brought even their children into bondage, into slavery. In other words, Jewish individuals made another Jewish individual a slave.

To the extent that they abused their position or their place or the power that they may have had. And that was forbidden by God under law. When God gave the people of Israel instruction of how to treat the poor, the poor would never supposed to be abused and to take usury out of him after the born brethren. They should have never have done that. And you see what happened, brothers and sisters? When things are not being done right, even the relationship between the brethren became from bad to worse. And the frictions and the problems among the people of God. And here is that complaint. You know, it's very similar to what the Apostle Paul warned the believers in various local assemblies.

In the early days of old. You remember in the church age, there was a friction between the widows that came from outside of the land and the widows in the land. There were a friction because they did not treat each other right. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, some people were taking other brethren to court. And then in other passages in scriptures, in the book of James, the wealthy were not treating the poor in the right way. This happened also in the early days of the church age. Just the same like it happened in the days of our nation, Israel. And that's what was the complaint. You see what happened?

Look, the lesson that we learn from this is simply that. If Satan does not succeed to defeat the work of the Lord from without, he began to work from within. If he is not successful to attack God's people as a roaring lion from without, he is successful in many ways to discourage the people of God from within, and he is appearing as an angel of light. That is exactly what happened. And so we find out that these individuals were so discouraged in fighting or disagreement with each other. As verse 1 began, there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren.

The cry lifted up to God. And you know, this is a great lesson for us in our relationship with each other. We are to treat each other in a right way, dear brothers and sisters. We are brethren. You know, Abraham said to Lot, when Lot and Abraham's herdmen were fighting, Abraham said to Lot, Lot, we are Achim. And if we are brethren, why should we fight with each other? And that is why it is so encouraging to see the kind of an attitude that this man by the name of Nehemia have had as a person who wanted to be a builder among the people of God.

Let me just read a verse or two. Turn to Deuteronomy Sefer Dvarim in the Tanakh. Deuteronomy chapter 23. Moses instructed our people of all, the people of Israel, as they were in preparation to enter into the promised land. In verse 19, he said, Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother, usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Verse 20. Unto the stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury, that the Lord thy God may bless thee, in all that thou settest thine hand to, in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

You see what happened? Specifically this is in relation to the poor in the midst of the nation of Israel. If a person wants to extend his business and extend his land, and he needs to borrow more money in order that he will increase his business, it's another story to take usury. But for the poor that literally had to borrow money for the governor against their land, to them you have to treat them differently. God is so gracious in providing a way whereby we can deal with the people of God, and especially the poor that were in the midst of the nation of Israel. For them the treatment ought to be different.

Now one more verse. Ezekiel. Read with me that verse. It's a very important verse as well. Ezekiel chapter 22 in verse 12 says this: In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood. Thou hast taken usually an increase, and thou hast greedily gained all thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. In other words, when greed gets to the extent that one even abused the poor, that is extremely offensive to the Lord. And so the complaint we have in verses 2 to 5 of Nehemiah chapter 5. So now, look at these brothers and sisters. In verse 6 to verse 13, Nehemiah's response to their wrongdoing. Look at this man.

What an example he can be for all of us as we study about this man by the name of Nehemiah. It says now in verse 6, first of all, you find out the anger of Nehemiah. I was very angry when I heard their cry in these words. Now you know brothers and sisters, if you and I want to be honest, many times we are angry at things that we should never be angry at. But at the things that we should be angry at, we are not angry at. We are angry when we get hurt. We are angry when somebody does something wrong to me. We are angry when somebody steps on my toes.

We are angry because I didn't get my own way, right? But here we find out Nehemiah, he is not angry for himself. But here what we have righteous indignation. He was angry because of the way that these people have treated their brethren. In Hebrew it says, "Vayichar li meod." I was very angry. It really grieved me. Because I see how the brethren treat each other. These are all Jewish people. We are all among our people Israel. We are all building the wall. We all care for the welfare of the nation. Well, what is going on? So you see the reaction. And by the way, in Psalm 7:11b it says that God is angry every day with the wicked.

But this is righteous indignation. In Yeshua we read about him in the Gospel. That he himself was also, in the Gospel of Mark 3:5, angry with the people in their unbelief and the rejection of his Messiahship. In Ephesians 4:26 we read that we also are to be angry. Be angry and sin not. Let the sun not go down upon your wrath. A believer is to be angry but righteous anger. Does it bother you when some believers are not being treated right? When we see things that are done wrong? It's so easy to say, you know what, it's not my problem. And we do so. It's not my problem.

It's their problem. But here's a man who cared for the brethren. He could not fix the whole Persian Empire. But he at least sought to be a help to the little community of these Jewish people in the land. And you know, brothers and sisters, just for encouragement for us. You know, I've been visiting various congregations and assemblies and I see how the people of God are so discouraged. What do we do about it? Well, it's not me. I don't care. Let them have their own problem. I have my own. But here is a man who says, listen, yes, I have my own problems. But I also want to be a help to the brothers and sisters.

I want to be a blessing to the people of God. You know, beloved brothers and sisters, if we are not going to be an encouragement to the people of God, God is going to hold us accountable. We're going to have to deal with God about this. If we are hindering each other, if we are not building each other, maybe we can fix everything. But at least we should seek to be a help to the people of God in some small measure. There was a man who wrote a booklet. It's called, you are either help or you are hindering. You and I have to ask ourselves, are we a help or are we a hindrance?

And we want to be a help. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10, we could see how Paul was appealing to the Corinthians and wanted them to see that it is so important to have a spiritual ministry, a spiritual service. And God can bless the ministry of the people of God if they serve the Lord with the right attitude. Here's a man whose name is Nehemiah, the comfort of the Lord. He wanted to be a comfort to the people of God. And so you notice in verse 6, he was angry. And it says here in verse 6, And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. And so in verse 7 now, notice this, you find out the steps that he took.

He was a very methodical individual. He was thinking things through. He was a man of God. First of all, we find out that he consulted with himself. You see, it says in verse 7, And I consulted with myself. He perhaps took some time to be on his knees before the Lord. And he's saying, Lord, here's the situation. What can I do? How can I be a blessing to the people of God? Here's the problem, Lord. What shall I do? He consulted with himself. But that's the thought here is that he really made it his own. And I'm sure, as he was a man of prayer, he was praying to the Lord, to the God of Israel, the God of heavens, asking for assistance.

Secondly, notice that in verse 7b, Nehemiah rebuked the leaderships. You see, he came to the leaders. Notice it says in verse 7b, And I rebuke the nobles and the rulers. You see, that's the second thing that he does. He's coming to the leaders and he says, Hey, you brethren, you're the leader here. Don't you think that this is not right? Now, mind you, it's so easy to be placed as a leader and they think you can fix all the problems. But you know very well, perhaps the leaders were responsible in those things. Perhaps they participated in the way that they have treated their own brethren.

And then thirdly, you notice that in verse 7, that Nehemiah, after he challenged them, he rebuked the nobles, the rulers, and he said unto them, You notice exact usually every one of his own brethren. He's challenging them. The Hebrew word for usually is the word Masah. Masah is a load. We use the word usually or interest, but it's much more than an interest. It became such a load on the people of Judah. You know, if you're going to make more trouble to someone, it becomes so heavy that he will cave. How much can a person take? So Nehemiah says, you know, that word Hebrew is not so much you exacting interest, but the thought is it become you exacting a Masah, a load that they cannot carry.

Notice it says, Nehemiah set up the congregational meeting. It says in verse 7, See, and I set a great assembly against them. So what did he do? He did the proper order. He thought about it, prayed about it, challenged the leaders who were involved in that, and then he gathered the assembly together and he set up an assembly to deal with the situation. It reminds me to Matthew chapter 18. It had been said that Matthew chapter 18 is not practiced hardly at all among the people of God because of the fact that most of the time we don't want to deal with an issue and we don't need to speak to anybody else.

We know it's in our own heart. In Matthew chapter 18, we read in verse 15, Moreover, if thy brother had trespassed against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Secondly, if he shall hear thee, you have gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, number two, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And then if he will neglect to hear those two and three, then he says, tell her to the assembly, to the congregation, that if he neglect to hear the congregation, the assembly, the church, the ecclesia, then let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican.

You know, that's the order. The problem with us is simply this, that we don't practice this. If somebody did something to me, if we do one to another, instead of dealing with it and saying, listen, brother, you have wronged me, or listen, brother, I have wronged you. And then everything is over. We can continue on. We don't need to spread it. But you see, we love to spread it. We use the phone calls, the internet. We use everything, all the means that we can, so everybody will know she did that, he did that, they did that. That's the way we are. Instead of saying, listen, I've got to go to my brother, and I've got to tell my brother, brother, please let us correct this, and let it done away with it.

And then if it doesn't work, then call another brother, another sister, two or three witnesses, and then try to work it out. You know how many people, how many friendships we lost because we haven't simply gone through this procedure? How divided the people of God become because we haven't followed this procedure? But here Nehemiah did that. And it seems to me that it's working here because you notice that if you go back to Nehemiah in chapter 5, you notice that after he did that, in verse 8 and 9, he's now explaining the wrong doings to the rest of the congregation and to those that have done wrong, and he's explaining what's happened here.

He says, notice verses 8 and 9, "And I said unto them, we after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen. And will ye even sell your brethren? Or shall they be sold unto us?" See, he was explaining the problem. He said, look, we helped our brethren who had a need. We redeemed them. We gave something in order to deliver them from the condition that they had been. And now, are we going to sell our brothers and sisters? He says, should we do it? Is that the right thing? And so look what it says here. And thank God the way the response was, because it says in verse 8b, "Then they held their peace, their shalom, and they found no answer, nothing to answer.

They knew they were wrong." It says in verse 9, "And I also said, it is not good that ye, what you are doing, art ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies." You see, brothers and sisters, listen, when God's people don't behave right to each other, what do you think the unbeliever says outside? He says, "You know this God, and you want me to follow your Yeshua, your Jesus, right? You want me to follow your God, when you yourself don't even follow your own God, whom you claim to follow after. Don't give me this," they may say.

How many times people say to us, because the way we behave, and you call yourself a believer in Yeshua, the Mashiach? Just keep him for yourself. I don't need him. And you know, sometimes our behavior, bring a reproach, by the heathen, who are the enemies of God. And it is to our own shame. It's not only Israel, our people historically, but also the body of Messiah, present day, also, to our own shame, our own behavior, bring about a herpa, a reproach, by those who oppose the things of God. Turn with me to 2 Peter 2. It says in verse 1 and 2, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring indemnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." And notice what it says in verse 2, "And many shall follow their pernicious ways, and by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of." You see, the unbelieving world do not understand what the believers know from the word of God.

They see it by the behavior of the believers. And so because false teaching, false practices, false things coming among the people of God, what's happening? The people are following in this direction, many follow, and then there are many reasons that things are going from bad to worse, and the way of the truth shall be spoken against. You see, that's what happened. It's what happened historically among our nation Israel, and it's the very same thing happening among the professing church, the assembly, those who claim at least to belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. You remember when sin comes into our life, we end up to hurt the Lord, and hurt the people of the Lord.

And we often fail, and you can read in 2 Samuel chapter 12, when David committed this sin, the prophet said to him, the reproach, the nations are looking at that. And then, when we read in Romans chapter 2, about the privilege that the Jewish people have had, but when the Jewish people, the people of God, do not submit to the word of God, it brings a reproach upon the name of the Lord. And when the body of Messiah, when you and I today do not follow the Lord, and fight among the people of God, it brings a reproach by the unbelieving world, and they say, who needs it?

You keep it for yourself. I don't want your Yeshua, your Jesus, if that's the way it is that you behave. And so, in verse 10 of Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah points to the fact, that he could charge interest to others, but he didn't. To the poor, that is. We read in verse 10, he says, "I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants might exec of them money and corn, I pray to you, let us leave of this Yeshua." He said, "I could have done it myself." But I didn't. I didn't abuse the poor. Again, we have to distinguish between the poor and those who wanted to extend their wealth, but the poor were the one that he was concerned about, and those who at least became poor here now.

And so, in verse 11, Nehemiah called for the wrongdoers to restore that which was taken from those individuals of their brethren who became poor. You notice it says in verse 11, "Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, their houses, their monies, their corn, their wine, and their oil that ye exact from them." He says, "Return this back to them." And notice he used the word, "Even this day, today, no delay." "Deal with it now." "Restore to them that which belonged to them, which you took wrongfully." He says, "Restore to them because you were harming the work of the Lord," he is saying.

You notice, by the way, the list: "Lands, vineyards, olive yards, houses, money, corn, wine, oil." See that? They have took from this pool of their own brethren so much to the extent that they exasperated them, so they cry to God. And by the way, you notice it says, and I just go back to verse 9 where it says, "Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God?" You know, they should have had the fear of God. You know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, because of the sin nature that we have and the carelessness that we have, we don't have the fear of God. It's not so much they've been afraid of God, but the reverence towards God.

We don't reveal God. And when we don't reveal God, our conscience are hardened, and we become so callous. We just simply don't care. And that is not pleasing to the Lord. And the Lord wants us to have a tender conscience and to be sensitive to our brothers and sisters and helpful. And we need to learn that. And we are not pointing fingers because we know our very own heart how at times we are wrong and we don't walk in the fear of the Lord. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5: "Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh." If we are walking guided by Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God, He assists us to be less and less walking in the flesh, but walking like, in some small measure, like our beloved Mashiach, the Messiah, Yeshua Himself.

Well now, back to our chapter in Nehemiah, chapter 5. Now notice in verse 12: Look at the wrongdoers' response. They respond in the right way. That's the way we should always respond when we are wrong. It says: "Then said they: We will restore them, and we will require nothing of them, so that we do as thou sayest." Nehemiah, we understand, we realize, you have spoken to us, the Lord has spoken to us, we are going to act in the right way. We are going to take a decision here. We are not going to try to find an excuse, "Oh, I didn't do it, I did this." You know, like things that we sometimes find, trying to get out of this, and say, "No, I didn't do it, the noise did this, and she did this, and they did it." No.

Nehemiah challenged them, he told them here are the facts, they responded in the right way, and they said, "We will respond, we will do the right thing, we will restore this to them, and we will do as you say, we will require nothing of them." And therefore, you see, those people were relieved. They don't have now to worry about all the usury, all the interest that they owe to this other well-to-do person. They are poor, they have to continue to build the wall. And so, in verses 12b, Nehemiah called now the priests, the spiritual leader to make a promise, to make a commitment. In Hebrew, the word "Oath" is "Shvua", to make an oath.

And we read in verse 12b, I called the priests, the Kohanim, and took an oath of them that they should do according to this promise. And notice verse 13, And I shook my lap. And I said, "So, God, shake out every man from his house and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied." And all the congregation said "Amen." And they praised the Lord, and the people did according to the promise. You see, that word for "Shaking" is an interesting word in the Hebrew. It is "Chatzani Na'arti." It's like shaking not so much the lap here, but the garment.

In other words, everything is going to be emptied. And by doing this act of shaking the garment, he's symbolically saying, "If you will not follow through the promise, the oath that you have made, may the Lord will shake you from all your belonging, as I'm shaking now this garment upon my body." And symbolically he's saying, "God will empty those who will not follow through with the oath that they have made." And so, you can see how interesting Nehemiah responds to the wrongdoers, but you can also see that they have responded in a right way, and they began to be restored again. And it's so beautiful, brothers and sisters, when the believers are seeking to encourage each other, to treat each other in a right way, to build each other up, to use their gifts, and whatever they have for the assistance of the building of the body of Messiah, there is a blessing.

But if not, there will be the cry, and the lack of joy, and the divisions among the people of God. But in this case, by God's grace, Nehemiah was successful to influence his brethren. And so, now in conclusion, from verse 14 to verse 19, Nehemiah himself became an example of selflessness. He shows us by example. What an example we have in this man. And so we see, first of all, that Nehemiah himself did not eat the bread that belonged to him, the bread of the governor, that belonged to him for 12 years. You see, he became the governor of Judea. In Hebrew, it's called pecham. It's a kind of a difficult word.

We don't usually use that word in Hebrew, pecham, but if you read the text in Hebrew, the word is pecham. And he became the governor of Judea for 12 years. But he did not use the privileges that were his. Apparently, he was a well-to-do man. He had means. But he didn't abuse things. He could have had more and more and more. He was such an example. Look at this. I'm reading now verse 14. "Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be the governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor." He was a governor.

You see, he was a governor. He was supposed to get a salary, you might say. He was working hard. That was his job. And he says, "Listen, I did not use neither me nor my servant the bread, the food that belonged to the governor. I did not abuse it. I did not take it." Then in verse 15 he says, "The former governors before him that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and they have taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver. Yea, even their servants bear rule over the people, but so did not I because the fear of God." Yirat Elohim.

You know, he was different. He deserved to get so much because that was his job. That was his work. In other words, it's not from the people so much, it's from the governor, but the people pay the taxes, the taxes go to the government, the government will pay the governor a certain salary. But Nehemia says, "I didn't take it." For twelve years. Imagine how twelve years passed by from the time that they migrated from Babylon and from Persia, back to the land of Israel. Twelve years they are there, and he didn't take anything that was belonged to him by right. Now, of course, he was not poor.

He was well-to-do, so obviously he didn't have that need, but you could see that he was not selfish to the extent that it doesn't matter what. I'm going to get my thing, what belonged to me. Then notice verse 16 and verse 17, Nehemia continue in building the wall while he was there. He himself participated in the building of the wall. Notice it says in verse 16, "Yeh also, in addition to that, I continue in the work of the wall. Neither bought we any land, and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table 150 of the Jews and the rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen, that are about us." And in other words, what he's really saying, "Not only did I continue to build the wall, but I was actually feeding every day 150 Jewish people, brought many of the Gentiles that came from around." He must have been a well-to-do man.

Can you imagine to feed 150 people breakfast, lunch, and dinner? He could be even more well-to-do if he would only take that which belonged to him as a governor, but he didn't. He didn't take usually from the others. And not only that, he took 150. Can you imagine in his, I don't know what kind of a home setting, what kind of a tent he had, to feed 150 Jewish individuals for breakfast? And then to feed them for lunch? And then to feed them for supper? And then on top of it, as it says in verse 17, "And beside, in addition to those that came unto us from among the heathen, that are about us." It could be other Jewish people who lived among the heathen, or it could be also some of the non-Jewish, the Hebrew word here is the goyim, the Gentiles whom he fed at his home, at his own place.

Look at the selflessness of Nehemia. It was a great example. Of course, to remind you, he was not poor, but he used his wealth for the blessing of the Jewish people and others around them. And finally, brothers and sisters, verses 18 and 19 in conclusion of Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah daily's provision for himself and for the Jewish people was this. Listen to that. In verse 18, "Now that which was prepared for me daily, one ox, six choice sheep and fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days, store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because that the bondage was heavy upon these people." In other words, every day he needed to have one ox killed, he needed to have six choices of sheep killed, he needed to have fowls, birds, you know, all kinds of fowls to eat, you know, whatever was allowed for him to eat.

And also, every ten days, all sorts of wine was prepared for the 150 Jewish people who came, because the Gentiles that came and him and his servants every day. And yet, he says, notice he makes a note, all this need, I didn't require the bread that belonged to the governor. I did not demand it. I did not press upon having this myself. Why you didn't demand it? Because the bondage was heavy upon these people. He had grace and mercy. You see, he learned, you might say, if he was a follower of Yeshua the Messiah, he learned of him. Like we read in Matthew 11, "Learn of me," Yeshua the Messiah said to his disciples.

"Nechemia, learn from those that have gone before him, and men and women of God, from among our people of all, the people of Israel, you have learned of them, you have learned from the ways of the Lord, that he was such a blessing to the nation of Israel." What a commendation we have here. And what an example that he is now giving to the nation of Israel. And in conclusion, in verse 19, he is praying. And you and I might say, "Look, this is a very selfish prayer." But it was not selfish prayer, beloved brothers and sisters. He wanted to please God. And he wanted the blessing of God.

He said in verse 19, He said, "Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for these people." Now you and I might say, "Why did he pray such a prayer?" "Oh, God, you know, look what I have done for these people, and therefore I want you to bless me." Well, look, God promised that there will be a blessing to those who bless the people of God. He will reward those who follow him and obey his commandment. There is a reward that is promised to the people of God. And he simply wanted that God's pleasure will be set upon him. "God, think upon me." In Hebrew, the word is "zichroli" or "zichrali." "Zecho." "Remember God, the way I behave towards the people of God." And you see, God will never forget every act that we have done that was for Yeshua, the Messiah.

Everything that is done for the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, God will remember and he will reward us whenever we do any good deed, you might say, that is pleasing the Lord and is a blessing to the people of God. And with this, I want to close with one verse in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6, where the apostle said in verse 10, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your works and labor of love which ye have showed towards his name in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister." God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love. And brothers and sisters, listen.

Even when we are sometimes being treated wrongly, we are still to do good. We are still to seek to be a blessing. We are still to build. We are still to edify, even though we don't get the right response at times. We are called for that. And God is not unrighteous. He is faithful and he is going to remember everything that we have done. Because one day is coming and we are going to stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of the Mashiach where all believers are going to be there. And whatever we have done that was for the glory of the Messiah, for the blessing of God's people, we are going to be rewarded.

And the Lord is going to use that reward for the Messianic Kingdom when we are going to reign and rule with our blessed Lord Yeshua who one day will come back to take his rightful place restoring Israel and blessing this world as he intending to do so in a future day. May the Lord help us and encourage us to be like this man by the name of Nehemiah.