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Nehemiah 5 - The Wealthy Israelites Mistreat the Poor · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. How do their faithful listeners? Welcome to the
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  Speaker 1: Bible Explain podcast. We are in a Namiah chapter five today.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to read the entire thing and talk about
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  Speaker 1: some of the internal problems that are happening in Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: during the rebuilding of this wall. In the previous chapters,
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  Speaker 1: we talked about some of the external problems that were
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  Speaker 1: taking place, but now we're going to see that the
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  Speaker 1: Jews were causing some of their own issues and Neamiyah
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  Speaker 1: has to correct all of this, and there were some
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  Speaker 1: pretty bad issues. So we're going to get into Niamiah
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  Speaker 1: chapter five today right after a quick message from a sponsor.
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  Speaker 1: All right, hopefully you got a chance to grab your
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  Speaker 1: delicious hot beverage and also your version of the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: whatever that might be. Let's go ahead and read Niamiah
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  Speaker 1: five the entire thing and talk about the Israelites mistreating
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  Speaker 1: their own and how this was a against the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament laws, and also how Niemiah has to put a
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  Speaker 1: stop to all of this. Again, this is Niemiah five.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the web as usual. Then there
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  Speaker 1: arose a great cry of the people and of their
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  Speaker 1: wives against their brothers. The Jews. For there are some
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  Speaker 1: who said, we are sons and our daughters are many.
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  Speaker 1: Let us get grain that we may eat and live.
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  Speaker 1: There were also some who said, we are mortgaging our fields,
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  Speaker 1: our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain because
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  Speaker 1: of the famine. There were also some who said, we
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  Speaker 1: have borrowed money for the king's tribute, using our fields
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  Speaker 1: and our vineyards as collateral. Yet now our flesh is
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  Speaker 1: as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to
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  Speaker 1: be servants. And some of our daughters have been brought
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  Speaker 1: into bondage. It is also not in our power to
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  Speaker 1: help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.
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  Speaker 1: Then I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles
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  Speaker 1: and with the rulers, And I said to them, you
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  Speaker 1: exact usury every one of his brother I held a
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  Speaker 1: great assembly against them. I said to them, we, after
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  Speaker 1: our ability, have redeemed our brothers, the Jews that were
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  Speaker 1: sold to the nations. And would you even sell your brothers,
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  Speaker 1: and should they be sold to us? Then they held
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  Speaker 1: their peace and found not a word to say. Also,
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  Speaker 1: I said the thing that you do is not good.
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  Speaker 1: Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God? Because
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  Speaker 1: of the reproach of the nations, our enemies. I likewise,
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  Speaker 1: my brothers and my servants lend them money and grain.
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  Speaker 1: Please let us stop this usury. Please restore to them
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  Speaker 1: even today their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and
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  Speaker 1: their houses. Also the hundredth part of the money and
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  Speaker 1: of the grain, the new wine, and the oil that
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  Speaker 1: you are charging them. Then they said, we will restore
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  Speaker 1: them and will require nothing of them. We will do
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  Speaker 1: so even as you say. Then I called the priests
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  Speaker 1: and took an oath of them that they would do
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  Speaker 1: according to this promise. Also, I shook out my lap
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  Speaker 1: and said, so, may God shake out every man from
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  Speaker 1: his house and from his labor that doesn't perform this promise,
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  Speaker 1: even may he be shaken out and emptied. Like this,
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  Speaker 1: all the assembly said amen and praised Yahweh. The people
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  Speaker 1: did according to this promise. Moreover, from the time that
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  Speaker 1: I was appointed to be the governor in the land
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty
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  Speaker 1: second year of art Exerxes the king, that is twelve
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  Speaker 1: years I and my brothers have not eaten the bread
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  Speaker 1: of the governor. But the former governors who were before
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  Speaker 1: me were supported by the people and took bread and
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  Speaker 1: wine from them, plus forty shekels of silver. Yes, even
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  Speaker 1: their servants ruled over the people, but I didn't do
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  Speaker 1: so because of the fear of God. All my servants
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  Speaker 1: were gathered there to the work. Moreover, there were at
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  Speaker 1: my table of the Jews and of the rulers, one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty men, in addition to those who came
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  Speaker 1: to us from among the nations that were around us. Now,
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  Speaker 1: that which was prepared for one day was one ox
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  Speaker 1: and six choice sheep. Also, fowls were prepared for me,
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  Speaker 1: and once in ten days, a store of all sorts
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  Speaker 1: of wine. Yet for all this I didn't demand the
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  Speaker 1: governor's pay, because the bondage was heavy on this people.
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  Speaker 1: Remember me, my God, for all the good that I
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  Speaker 1: have done for this people. So in the previous chapter
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  Speaker 1: we talked about some of the external problems that were
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  Speaker 1: affecting the Jews trying to rebuild this wall, specifically, all
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  Speaker 1: the other nations that hated the Israelites and did not
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  Speaker 1: want them to build the Jerusalem Wall. In fact, we
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  Speaker 1: talked about this one guy named san Ballitt, who was
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  Speaker 1: the governor to the north of Jerusalem, who actually was
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  Speaker 1: going to use the Samaritan army to fight against Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: so that they stopped building the wall because this was
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  Speaker 1: bad politically for all of these different governors around the world,
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  Speaker 1: and plus everybody wanted their piece of that land and
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  Speaker 1: did not want to give it back to the Jews,
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  Speaker 1: even though the Persians specifically gave it back to the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: But unfortunately, there's not just external problems happening in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: There's also some internal problems that we see right here
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  Speaker 1: in this chapter. Now this was affecting, i am sure,
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  Speaker 1: the rebuilding of this wall, but it was also affecting
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  Speaker 1: the unity of Jerusalem and of Jews in general, specifically
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  Speaker 1: because the upper classes were abusing the low and middle classes.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds like, and there are some problems happening, like
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  Speaker 1: a famine was taking place during this time as well.
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  Speaker 1: It says in verse one, there arose a great cry
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  Speaker 1: of the people and of their wives against their brothers,
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  Speaker 1: the Jews. And so these poor people are coming to
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  Speaker 1: Nehemiah with four specific complaints, the first one being there
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  Speaker 1: were some who said, we are sons and our daughters
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  Speaker 1: are many, let us get grain that we may eat
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  Speaker 1: and live. So basically they had no food. They were starving.
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  Speaker 1: Then there were some who said, we are mortgaging our
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  Speaker 1: fields and our vineyards in our houses. Let us get
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  Speaker 1: grain because of the famine. So in order to take
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  Speaker 1: care of their families, they actually had to mortgage out
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  Speaker 1: their land and their houses and basically live in poverty.
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  Speaker 1: And because they had no land, they weren't able to
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  Speaker 1: grow any of the grain necessary to feed their families.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't have enough land to do it, and they
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  Speaker 1: also didn't have enough money to buy the Then the
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  Speaker 1: third complaint in verse four, we have borrowed money for
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  Speaker 1: the king's tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.
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  Speaker 1: So most likely what happened there. You know, the Persian
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  Speaker 1: king art Exerxes was in charge of everything at this point,
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  Speaker 1: and he demanded tribute and taxation obviously from all of
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  Speaker 1: the people. But the governors who existed before Niamayah apparently
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  Speaker 1: were charging the people way too much. That's what Niamiyah
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  Speaker 1: goes into in verses fourteen through nineteen. So the governors
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  Speaker 1: had so much power back in these days that they
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  Speaker 1: could kind of charge the people whatever they wanted. As
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  Speaker 1: long as the king got his tribute and his share,
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  Speaker 1: he didn't really care what the governors did after that.
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  Speaker 1: So the governors could potentially charge exorbitant taxes to all
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  Speaker 1: of these people, forcing them to pay it and then
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  Speaker 1: live very comfortably himself. And Niamiah goes into how nasty
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  Speaker 1: of a practice. This was apparently before Niamiah came as
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  Speaker 1: the newly appointed governor, the other governors were doing this,
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  Speaker 1: and it could be that some of the governors before
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  Speaker 1: Nihemiah also governed Samaria, which could have been why san
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  Speaker 1: ballot in the previous chapter. The governor of Samaria was
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  Speaker 1: so upset that Niemiah was in Jerusalem now because again politically,
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  Speaker 1: that was not good for him, especially if he had
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  Speaker 1: control of Jerusalem and suddenly does not anymore. Now you
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  Speaker 1: might be like, well, what about the governor we talked
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  Speaker 1: about in Ezra Zerubabyl. He was a good governor, Yes
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  Speaker 1: he was, but that was what eighty to one hundred
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  Speaker 1: years prior to Nehemiah showing up. A lot can change
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  Speaker 1: in one hundred years, so we don't know exactly what happened.
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  Speaker 1: To Jerusalem during that time period. But apparently they had really,
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  Speaker 1: really bad governors, and it could be that the Persian
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  Speaker 1: king just didn't care who the governor of Jerusalem was
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  Speaker 1: as long as he got his fair share. So maybe
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  Speaker 1: Samaria at some point in time took control of Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: after Zerubabyl had died and started demanding all these taxes
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  Speaker 1: from the people and gaining political power in Jerusalem and
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  Speaker 1: Israel as a whole. So if that's case, you can
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  Speaker 1: see now why Niamiah threatened them so badly and why
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  Speaker 1: they hated Niamiah and wanted to kill him, because Niamiyah
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  Speaker 1: was the newly appointed governor and he was not going
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  Speaker 1: to give them the power that they wanted. But here's
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  Speaker 1: the fourth complaint that the poor people bring forward in
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  Speaker 1: verse five. Our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers,
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  Speaker 1: and our children as their children. Behold, we bring some
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  Speaker 1: of our sons and daughters into bondage to be servants,
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  Speaker 1: and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage.
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  Speaker 1: It is also not in our power to help it,
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  Speaker 1: because other men have our fields and our vineyards. So basically,
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  Speaker 1: some of these parents were resorting to selling their children
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  Speaker 1: as servants. Now this was allowed according to the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament laws, but with some pretty strong guidelines around it.
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  Speaker 1: Exodus twenty one one through three says this, Now, these
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  Speaker 1: are the ordinances which you shall set before them. If
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  Speaker 1: you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years,
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  Speaker 1: and in the seventh he shall go out free without
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  Speaker 1: paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he shall
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  Speaker 1: go out by himself. If he is married, then his
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  Speaker 1: wife shall go out with him. So this was something
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  Speaker 1: called indentured servanthood. A Jewish person was never supposed to
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  Speaker 1: purchase a permanent Jewish slave. Instead, what they did was
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  Speaker 1: indentured servanthood, where they would basically purchase the services of
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  Speaker 1: a person for seven years, and that person was technically
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  Speaker 1: the slave. But a lot of times families to get
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  Speaker 1: out of debt would do something like this, and even
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  Speaker 1: whole families could do this. Like it wouldn't just be
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  Speaker 1: one individual, but even entire families could go and serve
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  Speaker 1: somebody that's wealthy and basically sell their services for seven years. Now,
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  Speaker 1: after the seventh year, though they were to be let
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  Speaker 1: go completely free. They owed nothing anymore, and this was
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  Speaker 1: a way for them to get out of debt to
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  Speaker 1: curb poverty in Israel. So in Niamiah chapter five, that
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  Speaker 1: is unfortunately what was happening. Some of these parents were
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  Speaker 1: selling their children as slaves just to feed their other children.
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  Speaker 1: But it kind of sounds like these children being sold
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  Speaker 1: were not being released after seven years, and we're being
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  Speaker 1: mistreated as slaves, and that was something that never was
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  Speaker 1: supposed to happen in Israel. So when Niemiah hears all
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  Speaker 1: of this, he is extremely angry. That's what he says
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  Speaker 1: in verse six. I was very angry when I heard
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  Speaker 1: their cry and these words. So they have a point.
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  Speaker 1: These poor people are being deeply mistreated by the Jewish
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  Speaker 1: elders and nobles. He says in verse seven, I consulted
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  Speaker 1: with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers,
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  Speaker 1: and said to them, you exact usury everyone of his brother. Now, Niemiah,
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  Speaker 1: we've discovered in the previous chapters was a very bold individual.
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  Speaker 1: He was not afraid to engage in conflict or in
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  Speaker 1: hard conversations. You can see that from the very first
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  Speaker 1: chapter essentially, So he calls a meeting with all of
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  Speaker 1: these nobles and rulers and he's like What the heck
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  Speaker 1: are you guys doing. You are going against the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament laws by mistreating your fellow countrymen. You are exacting usury,
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  Speaker 1: is what he says. And I had to look up
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  Speaker 1: what usury is, and I feel kind of dumb that
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  Speaker 1: I had to look that up. But it's basically charging
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  Speaker 1: so much interest to almost like a criminal kind of level.
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  Speaker 1: And these poor people were already poor enough. And by
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  Speaker 1: the way, interest was never supposed to be charged on
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  Speaker 1: a fellow Jew. That is what Exitus twenty two twenty
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  Speaker 1: five says. If you lend money to any of my
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  Speaker 1: people with you who is poor, you shall not be
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  Speaker 1: to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest.
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  Speaker 1: So basically you were only supposed to loan them money,
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  Speaker 1: and all they were obliged to do was to pay
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  Speaker 1: you back the exact amount that you lent them. There
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  Speaker 1: was not supposed to be any interest charged to any
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  Speaker 1: fellow Jew because these people, if they needed a loan,
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  Speaker 1: were already poor enough, and how are they going to
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  Speaker 1: pay it back with interest if they couldn't pay it
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  Speaker 1: to begin with. So it's just an unfair system that
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  Speaker 1: God completely forbade. And yet Namiah not only are they
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  Speaker 1: buying slaves and possibly not letting them go, but they're
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  Speaker 1: also charging interest to these poor people and making it
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  Speaker 1: like a business. And Niamiah continues in verse eight, I
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  Speaker 1: said to them, we, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers,
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  Speaker 1: the Jews that were sold to the nations, And would
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  Speaker 1: you even sell your brothers? And should they be sold
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  Speaker 1: to us? So right there you can actually see how
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  Speaker 1: indentured servanthood could be a good thing, because Niamiah admits,
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  Speaker 1: He's like, look, even I redeemed some of my brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters of the Jews. Indentured servanthood, if done the
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  Speaker 1: right way, could have been a very good thing. And
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  Speaker 1: apparently some of the wealthier Jews, like Niamiyah were doing this.
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  Speaker 1: They were paying for poor Jews probably still stuck in
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  Speaker 1: Babylon or Persia, so that these poor Jews could come home.
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  Speaker 1: And this was honestly a really kind thing that Niamiyah
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  Speaker 1: was doing. But all of these nobles weren't doing it
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  Speaker 1: like that. They were purchasing slaves people that they owned.
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  Speaker 1: And that is when Niamiah gets angry. He's like, should
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  Speaker 1: you sell your brothers and should they be sold to us?
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  Speaker 1: As if they're just commodities. So unfortunately, it looks like
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  Speaker 1: some of these nobles were actually selling their slaves as well.
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  Speaker 1: This was completely wrong, and Niamiah continues in verse nine,
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  Speaker 1: the thing that you do is not good. Shouldn't you
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  Speaker 1: walk in the fear of our God? Because of the
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  Speaker 1: reproach of the nations, our enemies. He's like, look, we
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  Speaker 1: have enough problems with all of our enemies trying to
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  Speaker 1: come up against us. We have problems from the north, south, east,
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  Speaker 1: and west. Nobody wants us to build this wall. Are
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  Speaker 1: you going to add to all of these problems by
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  Speaker 1: doing this to the poor people of Jerusalem. And Niami
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  Speaker 1: understood something very important here as well. Not just that
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  Speaker 1: these nobles were going against God's laws, which is bad enough,
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  Speaker 1: but this was causing a divide in Jerusalem, something that
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't have been there. You know, Jerusalem was supposed to
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  Speaker 1: be unifi. One of the reasons why God allowed Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: to be taken over by the Babylonians to begin with
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  Speaker 1: was because of the lack of justice and the mistreatment
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  Speaker 1: of poor people and widows and fatherless. He kept saying
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  Speaker 1: to his people, if you don't act correctly, if you
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  Speaker 1: don't stop mistreating my children, then I am going to
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  Speaker 1: cause the nations to come up against you. And sure enough,
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  Speaker 1: the wealthy Israelites would not listen, and God brought the
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  Speaker 1: Babylonians up. And interestingly enough, if you read through that story,
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  Speaker 1: only the poor people, like the poorest of the poor,
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  Speaker 1: the ones that were being mistreated, they were the only
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  Speaker 1: ones allowed to stay in the land. All of the nobles,
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  Speaker 1: all of the wealthy people got dragged away to Babylon,
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  Speaker 1: and the poor people were allowed to stay in their homes.
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  Speaker 1: But Nehemiah knows his history, and he's like, this is
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  Speaker 1: the exact thing that allowed Babylon to take us over
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  Speaker 1: to begin with. Right now we have enemies on all
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  Speaker 1: four sides of us. Are you going to act like
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  Speaker 1: this and potentially allowed them these enemies to take us
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  Speaker 1: over again. I likewise verse ten, My brothers and my
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  Speaker 1: servants lend them money and grain. Please let us stop
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  Speaker 1: this usury. Please restore to them even today their fields,
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  Speaker 1: their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, and also
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  Speaker 1: the one hundredth part of the money and of the
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  Speaker 1: grain and the new wine and the oil that you
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  Speaker 1: are charging them. So he tells them he says, stop
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  Speaker 1: with the interest, cancel all interest, cancel a good portion
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  Speaker 1: of the debt, give these people their land back. And
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  Speaker 1: by the way, Nehemiah admits several times in this chapter
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  Speaker 1: alone that he was very wealthy, which makes a lot
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  Speaker 1: of sense because he was extremely close to art Exerxes,
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  Speaker 1: the Persian king. He was the cupbearer, and that was
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  Speaker 1: a very prominent position, so he probably had a very
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  Speaker 1: good amount of wealth. And his brothers, like his siblings,
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  Speaker 1: also had an immense amount of wealth as well. They
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  Speaker 1: were lending to all of these people, but they weren't
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  Speaker 1: charging interest, and he tells the nobles that he says, look,
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  Speaker 1: it's a good thing to lend to these people. Let's
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  Speaker 1: not stop lending to them if that's what they need,
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  Speaker 1: but quit with the interest, give them back their land,
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  Speaker 1: let them thrive. And the people will respond to this.
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  Speaker 1: The nobles say, we will restore to them and will
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  Speaker 1: require nothing of them. We will do so even as
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  Speaker 1: you say so. Niamiyah in verse twelve called the priests
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  Speaker 1: and took an oath of them that they would do
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  Speaker 1: according to this promise. So he brings the priests in
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  Speaker 1: for this last part here where he has the priest
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  Speaker 1: basically write up an oath that everybody is going to take. Now.
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  Speaker 1: I should mention right here the priests weren't part of
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  Speaker 1: this meeting initially, which means that they probably were not
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  Speaker 1: doing what the nobles and the rulers of Israel were doing.
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  Speaker 1: They were acting correctly, but they were brought in to
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  Speaker 1: perform this oath, I suppose, in front of God. So
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  Speaker 1: Niamiah in verse thirteen does something kind of weird. It
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  Speaker 1: says he shook out his lap and said, so, may
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  Speaker 1: God shake out every man from his head and from
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  Speaker 1: his labor that doesn't perform this promise, even may he
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  Speaker 1: be shaken out and emptied like this. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: times in the Old Testament you'll see people do this.
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  Speaker 1: They'll perform some sort of act to demonstrate something that
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  Speaker 1: could happen in the future, almost like a object lesson,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose. So when it says that Niamiah shook out
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  Speaker 1: his lap, that probably means his entire garment, because there
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  Speaker 1: were pockets on the inside of these garments where the
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  Speaker 1: men would keep all of their personal belongings, like their
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  Speaker 1: money and whatever else they needed. So Nehemiah took that
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: garment off and shook it out, shook out all of
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: the pockets and emptied them. And he says, just as
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I am doing this to this garment and shaking it
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  Speaker 1: out and emptying it of everything that it has, may
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  Speaker 1: God do this to you. If you do not perform
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: this promise and help these poor people, may you be
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  Speaker 1: shaken out and emptied like this. So all the assembly
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: said amen, and they praised Yahweh, and the people did
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: awarding to the promise. So actually Niami had nothing negative
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: to say about anybody. They actually went home and they
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: canceled all of the debts, which is fantastic. That is
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: exactly what they should have done. And now, in verses
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: fourteen through nineteen, kind of continuing on the same theme,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Niamiah talks about all of the evil governors that came
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: before him. He says, moreover, from the time that I
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: from the twentieth year even to the thirty second year
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  Speaker 1: of art Exerxes the king, that is twelve years, I
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Now that gives a bit of a background as to
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: how long Niemiah was in Jerusalem, for he was there
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: for twelve years and he was appointed as the governor.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Now that makes a lot of sense if you go
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: back to Niamiah chapter two, when he's first talking to
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: King art Exerxes, he mentions to the king that he
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: wants a house to be built in Jerusalem so that
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: he can live in it. That makes a lot of
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: sense if Niamiyah is going to be there for an
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: extended period of time. Art Exerxes apparently granted Niemiyah twelve
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: years to go to Jerusalem and be the governor there
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: and make sure that this wall is built and make
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: sure that the people are safe and everything else. So
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: this was actually a significant length of time that art
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Exerxes gave to Niemiah, even though historically he was not
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: a nice king. Again, I talked about this before, but
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: art Exerxes came to power because he killed his two
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: brothers who were before him. He just murdered him dead
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: so that he could become the next king. Yet, you
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: can see how God was working on art exerxes heart
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: to allow Niemiyah to go back to Jerusalem to build
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: that wall, which is amazing in and of itself. Like politically,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: you would think that a king would not want a
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: city to have its own wall built because they could
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: potentially rebel, and also to allow Niamiyah to go for
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: that length of time. And yet all of this was
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: happening because God was with Niamiah Mayah, and God was
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: with the Israelite people. He promised them that he said,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: you're going to be back in that land and you're
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: going to build it up once again. So God was
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: with his people. But in verse fifteen, Niamiah goes into
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: these nasty governors. He says, the former governors who were
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: before me were supported by the people. They took bread
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: and wine from them, plus forty shekels of silver. Yes,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: even their servants ruled over the people, but I didn't
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: do so because of the fear of God. So all
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: of the previous governors before Nehemiah were completely abusing the
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: people financially. In fact, they were abusing the people so
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: much that even the governor's servants had more wealth than
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the average Jewish individual and were ruling over the people.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: That is how bad everything was in Jerusalem. And Niamiah says,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: from the time that I was the governor for the
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: whole twelve years that I was in Jerusalem. I did
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: not accept payment from anybody because of the fear of God.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: And he continues in verse eighteen to say that he
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: didn't demand the governor's pay because the bondage was heavy
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: on this people. And in verse nineteen he says another
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: prayer to God. He says, remember me, my God, for
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: all the good that I have done for this people. Now,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: it was important for Namiah to write all of this
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: down because you know, governors always get a lot of
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: speculation and a lot of rumors and gossips said about them,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: and Namiah wanted to make it very clear that he
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: cared about the people of Israel, that he was not
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: going to demand payment from them, that he was acting
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: differently than the governor's before him. In fact, Niamiah himself
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: was shelling out money and not demanding a paycheck and
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: getting nothing in return. And he says that he's like
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: I entertained the Jewish people every single night. He says,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the people that were at my table of the Jews
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: and the rulers, were one hundred and fifty men, in
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: addition to those who came to us from among the
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: nations that were around us. And he said that he
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: prepared every single day day a meal for these people,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: one ox and six choice sheep, and also fouls were prepared,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: and once in every ten days a store of all
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: sorts of wine. Yet for all this I didn't demand
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: the governor's pay because the bondage was heavy on this people.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Now we're going to find out that a lot of
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: lies are stated about Namiyah because don't forget, the neighboring
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: nations don't like Namiyah and they want to do everything
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: they can to find some dirt on him or to
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: tell a false report about him. So Niamiyah is writing
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: this down, I believe, to protect himself, saying I am
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: not demanding payment. I am giving of my own finances
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: to this project. I am entertaining people, including the visitors
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: of foreign nations that are coming through. I am entertaining
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: all of these people on my own dime. Neamiyah is
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: certainly writing this down to protect himself. Now, in the
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: next chapters, we're going to talk about even more problems
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: that arise with the rebuilding of this wall, and how
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: it just kind of seems like these poor Jewish people
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: and Niamiyah just cannot catch a break even though they
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: are doing the will of God, So we will talk
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: about that on Monday. But faithful listeners, before I let
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: you guys go, please listen to one last sponsored ad
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: for today. We started the Book of James yesterday and
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: interestingly it kind of correlated actually to Niamiah five, our
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: chapter four today, because yesterday in James we talked about
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: how everybody should be content in the position that they have.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: The rich people shouldn't be trying to get more wealth,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: and the poor people should not be envious of the rich.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: And isn't it interesting that in Niamiah five we talk
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: about almost that exact same topic today. So it's always
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: amazing to me how scripture connects so well with each other.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Faithful listeners, make sure to check out all of the
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: links in the description for everything that I do on
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: the podcast, and beyond that, if you would like to
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: contact me for a prayer or questions or anything else
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: that is on your mind, then you can check out
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the contact information that I have listed in the description
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: of this episode. Also take a look at the related
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: episodes that I have listed there as well. Faithful listeners,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I hope to see all of you guys tomorrow as
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: we continue through James Chapter one. Until then, happy listening
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: and God bless. I just want to take a second
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: with me on the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: you go to lifeaudio dot com you will find dozens
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've got
• 24:32
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