Treasures
In the year 445 BC, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Nehemiah, a Jewish man in captivity who was royal cupbearer to the king, embarked on a courageous mission to rebuild Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the city of his fathers and the once great capital of Israel, before they were conquered and forced to serve as captive slaves of Babylon for many years. The Medo-Persians under King Cyrus subsequently overthrew Babylon, establishing a vast empire which lasted for more than 200 years. Cyrus, who was both a friend and patron of the Jews, issued a decree in the first year of his reign in 537 BC that the Jews could begin their return to Israel, their homeland.
Some 100 years later, little progress had been made to restore Jerusalem. The once towering walls still lay in heaps of charred and blackened ruins, and the gates of the city remained broken down and burned with fire. Burdened by the sad plight of his people, Nehemiah persuaded King Artaxerxes to allow him to return to Jerusalem. Because of his faithful service as cupbearer as well as his friendship with Artaxerxes, the king appointed Nehemiah as governor of the province of Judah (Nehemiah 5:14). He also gave him his own official letters of recommendation as well as considerable material and financial support for the construction of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:4–8). This was nothing short of a miraculous answer to Nehemiah’s ardent and desperate prayers.
Soon after Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem, he rallied the nobles and people of the city to unite under his leadership to rebuild the city (Nehemiah 2:17–18). At first everything went well, and the work progressed rapidly. Soon the city walls were going up, despite enemy opposition. But other serious problems came to light that had to be dealt with.
During this time, a great drought had begun to strangle the land. Food production had dropped disastrously and many of the rank-and-file Jews who lived off the land were suffering greatly. The famine, however, was not the only cause of their hardship. Certain well-to-do nobles and Jewish moneylenders in Jerusalem took advantage of the impoverished state of the people to exploit them.
Due to the drought, which brought food production nearly to a standstill, families that normally grew their own crops were forced to buy provisions until drought conditions improved. Then greed-driven profiteers offered them loans, charging interest rates to make profits (Nehemiah 5:2). To obtain these loans, many of the families out of desperation were forced to mortgage their own fields, vineyards, and homes to the moneylenders (Nehemiah 5:3). Others had already mortgaged their properties in order to pay taxes to the Persian government, which were levied every year throughout all the provinces (Nehemiah 5:4).
Some were in such dire straits that, after having already mortgaged their lands and still being short of necessary food, they were forced to sell their own children into slavery to survive. Worse yet, because of the high interest on their loans, it became impossible to clear their debts, and soon the moneylenders foreclosed on their mortgages, assuming the ownership of their lands. Now there was no hope of buying their children back into freedom (Nehemiah 5:5).
The situation was dire and had reached the breaking point. Already some of their leaders had expressed their concerns that the work on the walls had become too difficult. “The strength of the workers is giving out,” they cried. “There is so much rubble and debris that we will never finish. And our enemies are threatening to attack us at any moment!” (Nehemiah 4:10–12). The situation was grim and the people were losing hope.
Up to this point Nehemiah had been able to inspire faith in the men to continue building the walls despite the challenges. His indomitable courage and perseverance had been contagious. But now he recognized an adversary that threatened to destroy all that he and his people had dreamed of and worked for—the evil enemy of greed that placed at risk the success of their mission.
The workers and their wives angrily protested against the oppression perpetrated by wealthy members of the community who had forced them into economic slavery (Nehemiah 5:1). “We are brothers of these wealthy men, and already we have been forced to sell some of our sons and daughters just to live. But we are helpless to redeem them, for our fields and lands have been confiscated by these men.”
When Nehemiah heard of the injustices being committed and the exploitation of the poor, he was outraged and determined to bring charges against the nobles and officials guilty of this oppression (Nehemiah 5:6–7). Calling a public trial before a great assembly, Nehemiah dealt sternly with the profiteers.
“What is this you are doing?” he demanded. “You are charging your own people interest. Do you not remember that in the laws God delivered to Moses it is forbidden to lend money to one of our own people in order to make profit by it?” (Exodus 22:25–27; Deuteronomy 23:19–20).
As the trial continued, Nehemiah proclaimed with indignation, “We, as far as we are able, are doing all we can to buy back our brethren who have been sold to the nations with our own money. But you are forcing them back into slavery again! How often must we redeem them?” (Nehemiah 5:7). A hush came over the crowd, but the guilty ones were silent, as they had nothing to say in their own defense (Nehemiah 5:8).
These noble men and officials knew that it was unlawful to demand interest on loans. Furthermore, the lender was obliged to consider the financial condition of the borrower and his ability to pay back the loan. That was God’s plan to help the poor and to avoid their being extorted from what little they had. In Deuteronomy, God’s people are commanded to give generously to the poor, and God promised that He would bless those who do so in all their work and in everything they put their hand to (Deuteronomy 15:10–11).
Nehemiah pressed his point further before the assembly. “What you are doing is wrong in the sight of God! Should you not walk in the fear of our God? Don’t we face enough danger from enemies among the nations around us that are trying to destroy us, without danger to the community coming also from within?” (Nehemiah 5:9).
Nehemiah went on to state that he and his workers and servants had also been lending money and grain to the people, and declared, “But now let us stop this business of charging interest” (Nehemiah 5:10). He then demanded that the nobles and officials accused of exploiting the people return their fields, vineyards, olive orchards, and their houses to them that very day. He also demanded that they repay the interest they were charging the people when they lent them money and food (Nehemiah 5:11).
The accused men, confronted by Nehemiah before the whole assembly, agreed to his demands. The common people looked on in astonishment as the men who had so coldheartedly taken advantage of them promised to assist their brothers both financially and materially without interest and return to them their lands. Nehemiah, not taking any chances, summoned the priests and required the offenders to make a public vow to carry out their pledges, which in that time served as a binding contract (Nehemiah 5:12).
Nehemiah then shook out the folds of his robe and declared, “If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this out of your homes and your property and possessions!” This sort of pronouncement was a way of compelling commitment to the agreed-upon course of action. All the people shouted “Amen” and praised the Lord with great rejoicing, and every one of these men did as they had promised (Nehemiah 5:13).
After confronting this and other threats and trials and tribulations, the wall was at last completed. And because of the people’s obedience to the Lord and His chosen leadership, a great spiritual revival swept through the hearts of all the people (Nehemiah 8:1–13).
It would have been difficult for Nehemiah to rally the people to this final victory had he not been an example to them of obedience and love for God and his people. During the 12 years that he had reigned as governor of Judah, he had understood and empathized with the plight of his countrymen and their difficult living conditions. Because of this, he refused to accept any wages from the government, unlike the previous governors who placed heavy burdens on the people (Nehemiah 5:15).
He himself persevered in the work of building the wall, along with all his servants. “I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall.” He pointed out that he asked for nothing from the people because of the burden this would impose (Nehemiah 5:16–17).
Nehemiah was a wonderful example of championing the cause of the poor and oppressed. He was not afraid to confront those who were taking advantage of the common people of his day for personal gain. The common people had an important role to play in the restoration of Jerusalem, as they were the ones who formed the main body of the workforce and defense of the city, which they did at great personal sacrifice.
We read throughout the Old Testament that God’s people are called to care for the needy and to generously give to the poor. “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him” (Proverbs 19:17; Proverbs 14:31). “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land’” (Deuteronomy 15:11).
Jesus was the greatest example of caring for people in need, as He walked in love and compassion among the poor, the needy, the outcasts, and the afflicted. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And He has called us as Christians to do the same (Matthew 25:34–40).
From a dramatized Bible story series published by the Family International in 1987. Adapted and republished June 2026.
