¹ Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt]. ² For there were some who were saying, “We, along with our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore allow us to get grain, so that we may eat and survive.” ³ There were others who were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to buy grain because of the famine.”

⁴ There were also others who were saying, “We have borrowed money on our fields and vineyards for the [Persian] king’s [heavy] tax. ⁵ Now our flesh (skin) is the same as that of our brothers (relatives), and our children are like their children, yet here we are forcing (selling) our sons and our daughters to be slaves; and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are powerless [to redeem them] because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

Nehemiah 5:1-5 (AMP)

Within the ranks

Nehemiah is now presented with the next test of his leadership. This time, however, it doesn’t originate from the environment nor their enemies; it comes from within! The “under resourced” Jews among them were being taken advantage of by the wealthier ones. Their complaints:

• “Let us get grain that we may eat and live” – they were close to starving and needed basic sustenance for life in the midst of a famine
• “We are mortgaging our fields…” in order to get food and pay taxes
• “We have borrowed money” to pay property taxes
• “We are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves”. They were resorting to the lowest levels just to live – even selling their kids to slavery. 
• “We belong to the same family” – the real kicker – the mistreatment was coming from fellow Jews!

Peek at Nehemiah’s character

Nehehemiah was very wealthy and powerful. As we’ve seen so far, his stellar character kept him on task and above reproach. Some leaders can stay on task but cave into the lust of the flesh and/or selfish pride. Surely Nehemiah was tempted in this same way, but, through diligent devotion to the Lord and His Word and exercising self control, he was able to keep these desires in check.

Are you in a leadership position? Are you dealing with complaints of those you lead? How can you respond to those complaints? What steps should you take? Consider Nehiah’s previous response and what we’ll see tomorrow.