"Getting it Right"
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
When the Jewish people had ignored clear guidelines from God on proper treatment and resources for the poor, Nehemiah and others rallied the resources to buy back their brothers and sisters from bondage.
Royalty in Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 54 - Nehemiah Bravely Rebukes Selfishness
Royalty in Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 55 - Union With the World Hinders God’s Cause
Imagine leaving a foreign country where you had been enslaved. One day you start a journey thinking you are going to freedom, only to become a slave to those who call you family when you arrive. It’s not too farfetched because this is exactly what happened to many of those who returned to their homes in Judah. It wasn’t exactly the same kind of slavery. A conquering army didn’t attack and take prisoners, but people were being enslaved by the greediness of others. In today’s lesson, we will explore some principles which will help us to live a more Christlike life.
In your chat, messenger, or by text, have everyone private message you the most obscure (hard to figure out what it is) item they own or that is in their house. When everyone has sent their item, read the items aloud one at a time to the group, and have the group guess who the item belongs to.
The people in Judah were no longer slaves to a foreign monarch, but their lives were far from perfect. Why would their own countrymen take advantage of them? How did they end up in such a dire situation? Where would their help come from?
Read Nehemiah 5:1-5.
1 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”
3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
4 Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”
Read Nehemiah 5:6-8.
6 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. 7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them 8 and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
Read Nehemiah 5:9-11.
9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? 10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! 11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
Read Nehemiah 5:12.
12 We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.
Read Luke 19:1-7.
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
Read Nehemiah 6:10-13.
10 One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
Our society, both within and outside the church, is divided. Many people have decided that civility is out of fashion. In our lesson today, we learned that Christ calls us to a different standard of living.
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
As we consider Nehemiah 5 and 6, we see upfront relationships and resolve, trust vs. treachery, and trials and triumph. Nehemiah is a representative for all the challenges and concerns within Israel, and the onslaught against Israel. According to the Jewish law, an Israelite was prohibited from charging interest on loans to poor fellow Israelites. An outcry arose among the oppressed people because this law was being neglected (Nehemiah 5:1–5). Usury was the loaning of money at excessive rates of interest. Nehemiah demanded that the practice of usury cease and that confiscated property be returned. If calculated on a monthly basis, the interest would have amounted to 12 percent per year. Nehemiah served his first term as governor of Judah from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, or 445–432 B.C. As a man of integrity, Nehemiah did not use his position of authority for self-enrichment (Nehemiah 5:15). Instead, he provided hospitality for 150 Jews and officials who had no place to live in Jerusalem.
Continued opposition to the building of the wall consisted of three plots against Nehemiah. First, the enemy tried to lure Nehemiah away from Jerusalem where he could be kidnapped or put to death (Nehemiah 6:2). Ono was a village situated about twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem. Second, Nehemiah was accused of rebelling against Persian rule (Nehemiah 6:5–6). Third, they tried to lure Nehemiah into breaking the Jewish law by entering the temple (Nehemiah 6:10–13)—a privilege reserved only for priests. Tobiah, Nehemiah’s enemy, sought to infiltrate Jewish ranks by marrying into the family of a Jewish noble, Shecaniah (Nehemiah 6:17–18). His son also followed this pattern.
Although Nehemiah declined to meet with his enemies not simply because he was choosing priorities, but also because he suspected that his well-being was at risk, his answer to his potential detractors can still remind us how we should respond when we face potentially distracting opportunities. For example, Nehemiah said “no” to his enemies by stating his priorities and commitments: “I have a big job right here, and I won’t take on anything else right now.” He remained focused on the task at hand. I imagine that Nehemiah would have responded similarly even to friends wishing to throw a party in his honor. As we digest this Relational Bible Study, may we seek God for the strength and boldness to stand up for truth and justice, and remain resolute in our pursuit of God’s purposes.
What makes family relationships complicated?
Read Nehemiah 5:1 through 6:19
Nehemiah Helps the Poor
1 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”
3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.
4 Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”
6 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. 7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them 8 and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? 10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! 11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
12 “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. 13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!”
At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
14 Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
17 Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.
19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.
Further Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates—2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
5 Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter 6 in which was written:
“It is reported among the nations—and Geshem v says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”
8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
10 One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me. 15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
Opposition to the Completed Wall
16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
17 Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. 18 For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. 19 Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
1. What created the internal strife among the Jews?
2. How did Nehemiah solve the issues?
3. What type of leadership did Nehemiah model?
4. What role did Sanballat and Geshem play in Nehemiah’s life?
5. What plot did Sanballat and Geshem use to try and sway Nehemiah?
6. What were the reactions of Israel’s enemies to the finished wall?
7. What are your thoughts and feelings on economic injustice?
8. What kinds of opposition have you faced when following God?
Nehemiah 5 and 6 are very compelling passages. How bravely Nehemiah, as a wise and faithful governor, stood his ground against the attacks of enemies abroad. Here we have him no less bold and active to redress grievances at home and, having kept them from being destroyed by their enemies, to keep them from destroying one another. We see the effective course which Nehemiah took both to reform the oppressors and to relieve the oppressed. We also see the good example which he himself, as governor, set for them of compassion and tenderness. Yet we see the utter resolve to be real with the tricky adversaries of Israel who worked tirelessly to thwart his God-appointed mission.
The cries of oppressed poverty being stilled, the building of the wall went forward with vigor and finished with joy, notwithstanding the restless attempts of the gates of hell to hinder it. The work was finished in a short time. Such as these were the struggles between God’s people within and their enemies who sought to strike from without. But great is God’s cause, and if his people remain real with each other, and resolute to accomplish His purposes, success is inevitable. May we be inspired by these thoughts and spurred to keep focused on God’s mission.
How do you feel when you stare at injustice? Is it very easy for you to be distracted? What about being a role model for compassion? How do you feel when you overcome obstacles to achieve something great? Below, find some application activities. These offerings are simply to provide ideas for your usage or to prod you on to ideas of your own, as you impact the lives of teens for God’s glory.
Text a friend, a trusted adult, or a church leader the following questions and get permission to use their responses as discussion starters to create your own online discussion group (in a private space) about what compassion really means.
Take some notes and come to the next class prepared to share about your interaction with that friend.
Topics:
Homelessness, community violence, domestic abuse, economic hardships. You may even want to discuss global issues such as poverty, hunger, the COVID-19 pandemic, or human trafficking.
Nehemiah was undeterred by the many potential distractions from his adversaries without and within. Therefore, he completed his God-appointed mission.
