Denying Our Rights
Devotions for Growing Christians
Denying Our Rights
Nehemiah 5:14-19 - “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. 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.
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. Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 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. Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.”
Read all of Nehemiah 5
Background
In 539 BC the Persian emperor, Cyrus, issued an edict that allowed the Jewish people in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple. The Jews had been held captive in Babylon since Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, destroying the beautiful Temple that King Solomon had built in Jerusalem. After Cyrus granted permission for the Jewish exiles to return, about 50,000 Jews traveled back to their homeland in 538 BC. After a delay of about 20 years they rebuilt their Temple of the Lord, but the wall around Jerusalem remained in ruins. The book of Ezra tells us that some attempts were made to rebuild the wall before Nehemiah's time, but these results were feeble and futile.
The events in the book of Nehemiah occurred almost 100 years after the first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem. Nehemiah lived in Susa, the Persian capital. He was a descendant of the Jews who were exiled almost 150 years before. He had attained the enviable position of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. In those days cupbearers were not menial servants who brought the king's favorite beverages to him! No! They were trusted officials of high rank who were responsible to make sure that the king's drinks were not poisoned - an easy way of doing away with an unguarded king!
When Nehemiah got the report that the walls around Jerusalem were still in ruins, and the Holy City was thus open to enemy attack, he was very concerned. After much prayer, he took advantage of an opportunity from the Lord to ask the king for permission to return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the city's wall. In a marvelous answer to prayer and display of divine providence, permission was granted! In addition, the king made Nehemiah governor, and gave him money and supplies to accomplish the task. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in about 445BC. After an inspection of the ruined walls, he challenged and organized the fearful and lethargic citizens to rise up and build.
The people of Jerusalem rose to the challenge! In a great show of determination and hard work they were able to finish the project of rebuilding the wall in 52 days - an amazing accomplishment! Parts of Nehemiah's wall can still be seen in Jerusalem today in the ancient City of David archaeological excavations.
Doctrinal / Teaching Point
There’s teaching in a number of different areas in the book of Nehemiah.
1. History. There’s a lot of late Old Testament history in Nehemiah. We learn of the geo-political conditions that prevailed for the Jewish people during the closing days of the Old Testament period. This is important - not only because of certain intertestamental prophecies that were fulfilled, but also because these conditions set the stage for the coming of the Messiah.
2. Spiritual wall-building. There are lessons for spiritual wall-building that come to us from Nehemiah. In ancient times, walls protected cities from enemies, and provided safety and security for the citizens. Just as God wanted the city of His Temple to be well-defended, with strong and secure walls, so He wants the temple of His Holy Spirit today to be protected by strong spiritual walls. Each individual believer today is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). And all believers together as the Church are also the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).
So we see that spiritual wall-building is important both on an individual level and a community (local church) level. Building strong spiritual walls should be a priority for individual believers, for Christian families and fellowships, and for the Church in general. Unfortunately, just like the people of Jerusalem in Nehemiah's day, too many Christians today are content to live with weak or broken spiritual walls.
Satan, as the enemy of our souls, will do everything possible to prevent us from building strong spiritual walls. He wants us to be content with living in spiritual insecurity. He doesn't like to see churches that carefully proclaim the entire Word of God, and churches that disciple and care for the flock. Satan doesn't want to see Christians who know God's Word well enough to recognize and reject theological error, or detect and avoid subtle temptation to sin. Satan doesn't want committed Christians who can defend the faith and stand up against threat of persecution and personal attack. He doesn't want strong and secure Christian families, where the children are protected from evil influences, and the Word of God is consistently modeled and carefully taught.
The efforts of Israel's enemies to stop the wall from going up illustrate Satan's various tactics to tear down our spiritual walls. And Nehemiah's responses to overcome the opposition are biblical principles for overcoming Satan's opposition to spiritual wall-building today. So building strong spiritual walls is a major theme in the book of Nehemiah, and there are many lessons for us learn.
3. Spiritual Leadership. Nehemiah is a great book from which to learn the biblical principles for Christian leadership. And these principles are not only important for our leaders - they’re important for all believers!
a. Nehemiah had vision. He saw that a job needed to be done. Rather than look for someone else to do it, he took action, looking to God for strength and direction. Every Christian can see jobs that need to be done and can take action, just as Nehemiah did.
b. Nehemiah was a motivator. Nehemiah was able to lead other people to accomplish God's will. By personal example, by challenge, and by exhortation, Nehemiah motivated the people to rise up and build the wall. Thus Nehemiah is a model of a spiritual leader - a godly leader, whom people are willing to follow.
c. Nehemiah set the example. In Nehemiah 5, we see one of the foremost principles of Christian leadership: A leader must set the example at all times and under all conditions - even to the point of setting aside his or her own personal rights.
Nehemiah did just that! As governor of the province of Judah with authority from the Persian emperor, Nehemiah could have collected exorbitant taxes and taken a huge cut for himself. And as governor, he could have lived in luxury and just directed the project of rebuilding the wall without getting his own hands dirty. And finally, Nehemiah could have manipulated the project for his own advantage in order to make a name for himself - maybe even inscribing his name in stone on the wall!
But Nehemiah did none of these things. He didn’t tax the people. He didn't sit back and "call the shots," He worked on the wall himself beside everyone else. When he reprimanded the wealthy people for taking advantage of the poor, he set an example by selflessly providing for the less fortunate - out of his own pocket! He denied his own perfectly legal rights, because he wasn’t out to make a name for himself, but to bring glory to God. No wonder Nehemiah was greatly used by the Lord!
Practical Application
Go the extra mile!
Like Nehemiah, we can bring glory to God by making sure we go "the extra mile," and deny our own personal rights.
We have little choice but to deny our rights if we’re in an inferior position and can't selfishly take advantage of the situation, even if we wanted to. But we glorify God when we are in a position of authority, and could easily be demanding of others for our own personal gain or prestige. We glorify God when we choose to set aside our personal interests for the sake of God's kingdom.
Denying our rights may cost us in terms of status, time and money - and it may not even be appreciated by the very people we’re trying to help! So don't look for thanks or reward in this life! It's nice if these benefits come our way, but more often than not, they’re like that hoped-for yearly financial bonus. Maybe next year! We should do what Nehemiah did. Just turn the whole matter of thanks or reward over to the Lord! "Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people"(5:19).
Denying our rights is not just a biblical principle for Christian leaders - it's a principle for all believers. Most of us have far less to give up than Nehemiah did when he denied his personal rights to serve God and His people. But the Lord asks us to deny our rights in every area of our lives.
We need to read Philippians 2:3-4, and ask ourselves some questions. Does my life bring glory to God if I only deny myself in the interests of others at church, but I’m selfish and demanding at home? How much glory does God receive when I serve and put others first in my Christian fellowships, but I don't deny myself in the interests of my co-workers on the job, or even my own family? Denying our rights at home is probably the hardest of all, because that's where all the masks come off, and that's where it's easiest to push others around. We are to treat others with love and respect in every area of our lives.
Our supreme example of denying personal rights is the Lord Jesus. Read Philippians 2:5-11, and spend a little time thinking about how much the Sn of God gave up. How much He denied His personal rights, when He became Man - forever - so He could take away the penalty of sin for you and for me! As His followers, we should be actively working at developing His humble attitude of putting others first and serving others. We should be willing to lay aside our personal rights, our petty preferences and our selfish ambitions, and be willing to serve others in all areas.
Let's deny our rights - and glorify God!
- Dave Reid