Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people. Nehemiah 5:17-19 ESV

Last time we listened in as Nehemiah shared how living on mission, completing the work assigned him, kept him from distractions. Today we see him recounting the ways he served the folks he sought to lead.

Nehemiah begins with his table (shulchan – table, by implication a meal) which is one of the most intimate places to start. Who we share a meal with is very significant. It is difficult to remain enemies with someone after you have broken bread together, even for a government official entertaining Gentile nations surrounding (sabib – all around, every direction) Jerusalem. The likelihood of each person around Nehemiah’s table agreeing on politics is very, very low. But this did not stop our governor from hosting all who came (bo – abide) to Jerusalem (el – towards, adjacent, together) at his own expense.

How about us? We may not be government officials, but most of us can probably think of those with whom we inherently disagree, whether politically, relationally, or spiritually. What is our genuine disposition toward each other in those situations? How often do we consider abiding together over a common meal and listening to each other? Are we willing to show such hospitality at our own expense – perhaps the expense of our time, our reputation with others, or our finances?

There is something so humanizing about breaking bread together, acknowledging we require sustenance to keep on. That none of us can survive without an outside source. We are needy creatures, all of us together. What if we took such intimacy and applied it to areas in which we can all grow? I believe it would make a difference, perhaps not in changing each others’ minds, but in uniting our inherently diverse hearts toward each other in our common humanity. The worst thing that could happen during our tenure here is for us to become callous toward fellow image bearers.

Nehemiah goes on to explain why he did not demand (baqash – seek, request, require) the governor’s food allowance despite such lavish hosting: the heavy burden (abodah) already hovering over the folk (am). To demand a tax to pay for political banquets on top of famine-poor families serving to rebuild the wall would not exactly promote unity and good will. Mind you, Nehemiah was totally within his rights to request this tax. But love often relinquishes rights. Sets aside what might be rightfully ours in order to put others ahead of ourselves. Lets go of demands and trusts the Author of Love to supply needs.

Nehemiah’s final memoir section in these verses intrigues me. He addresses Elohim, Creator God, to remember (zakar – call to mind, keep in remembrance) for his good (towb – beautiful) all he has accomplished (asah) for the people. He wants to be remembered for the beautiful. Don’t we all? To be remembered for the hardest seasons, worst decisions, broken choices would be horrible. Oh, praise, praise Him our Creator God doesn’t do that in Christ.

The fact that He was God with skin on, died a criminal’s death a perfectly innocent man, and came back to life – never to die again – means He can do this. He can be just in forgiving unjust people. And because He now lives inside of us, we too are remembered for the beautiful. His beauty disarming all our fears masquerading as rights. We can lay it all down, over and over if necessary, as we immerse ourselves in all His beautiful splendor.

What a duty and delight. Let’s remember His beauty.

“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.”

Nehemiah 5:16 NIV

“I had work to do; I worked on this wall. All my men were on the job to do the work. We didn’t have time to line our own pockets.”

Nehemiah 5:16 The Message

Last time we saw Nehemiah working through his personal leadership integrity in writing. He compared how the previous governors laid heavy taxation burdens on the people, but out of reverence for God, he refused to act that way. Today we see one more way Nehemiah sought integrity and one more reason.

Nehemiah and all his men helping him had work to do. They didn’t have time to “line their own pockets,” obtaining land they didn’t need. There’s something about being on mission with God. A sense of purpose that, along with holy reverence of Him, helps keep us on track, avoiding pitfalls and distractions.

The Hebrew word for work here is melakah and we’ve seen it on here before. It can mean anything from craftsmanship to cattle; from business to property to service. It is dignified and varied and worth our focus.

The other Hebrew words surrounding this are fantastic as well. All (kol – the whole, totally) my men assembled (qabats – to rally) and continued (chazaq – to strengthen, take stand) to (al – hovering over) work. Or: the whole of my fellow workers rallied together and a spirit of purpose hovered over us to strengthen the work.

How about you? Do you have a beloved community in which a God-given spirit of purpose unites you all? It doesn’t have to be fancy, you know. It could be your close-knit family loving each other and opening your hearts to those outside of your unit. Or a group of friends who have become a close-knit family. Or fellow prisoners seeking to encourage each other. Or a neighborhood united to better each other’s existence. Or a Bible Study seeking to know God’s Word better and falling into purpose as you begin to love and live life together.

Unlike Nehemiah, we don’t seek to build walls, do we? During our time on earth, our charge is to build bridges. To seek reconciliation with God and each other. It’s such beautiful craftsmanship, a worthy charge. Not to mention a sense of purpose that can help us keep our integrity in tact. He is worthy of our reverence and His call on our lives worthy of pursuit.

I love that I’m typing this on Resurrection Sunday. No more sacred act of reconciliation purpose ever existed than the God-Man becoming sin so we could become righteousness.

“Tell me did the enemy panic as You took up that cross?

Tell me did the darkness cry mercy as You rolled back that rock?

I know Your life is the life in mine

And I know Your love is the reason why…”

His love and hovering purpose built the ultimate, unattainable bridge between God and people. It is finished. And now? Enduring power to lean into the Spirit’s working in each of our walks.

I’m so glad He’s Alive.

“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.”

Nehemiah 5:14-15 NIV

Last time we watched Nehemiah hold the people accountable to their vow. Today we see his personal leadership accountability: Not just asking followers to do certain things, but going above and beyond to do those same things. Not expecting more from others than we ourselves are willing to give.

“Also (not only asking them to follow through on their vows) since the charge was laid upon me to be governor, neither I myself nor my brothers ate the food allowance. The preceding governors before me let heavy burdens hover over the folk, by taking away forty shekels daily in addition to the food allowance.

Also (not only did they put heavy burdens on the folk) but they bullied people unmercifully and took advantage of them.

But I did not do this for fear/reverence before the face of Elohim.”

We as citizens, ordinary folk, have integrity to fulfill. But if God has set a charge upon us to lead others, the bar is raised. More is at stake and, although we all have influence, more people’s lives are affected in leadership decisions. So, do you? Have a charge from God set upon you to lead others? If so, you cannot do it alone. We must be immersed in His Word and His Spirit – and deeply known & accountable to others. We all know our hearts’ capacity for duplicity is endless.

But not just our personal integrity is in question here, is it? There is also the way in which we seek to influence others. Jesus’s way was not the way of the world. He insisted our role is never to lord any power over others. There are many ways to place heavy burdens on people we seek to servant lead: comparison, graceless striving, withholding benefits, flaunting successes, performance-based standards. But I think the most obvious is leading with a lack of love. Turning people into business transactions and service into accomplishments.

It’s how we take away others’ humanity. Which is necessary to do if we have an agenda more important than love. But God’s agenda is always rooted in love. And we celebrate this week, the world over, how such love drove Him to sacrifice all. And because He did that, we are set free. Nothing more to prove, no need to dominate, no reason to lord over. His yoke is easy, burden light. Unforced grace.

Nehemiah compares his actions with his predecessors, coming up favorably. If you are able to do that, wonderful. What a gift of grace. If you are not, you are in good company. Some of us have learned the hard way through failure. But the good news is all of us can have a similar motivation as we run our race: Fear or holy reverence (yirah) before the face of Elohim, Creator God.

This reference isn’t even to Covenant Yahweh. It’s to a Creator Who made us all. Out of the simple reverence that we are created beings who cannot take credit for making ourselves, we can be rightly humbled. He is God and we are not. Reminding ourselves daily of that basic fact can save us from much misplaced pride.

In our positions of influence, let’s bow down and let the daily burial come. Let’s pour ourselves out like the Master we follow. The Savior Who washed feet and wept for those who killed Him. The rest of it fades, friends. It won’t satisfy. We were created for sacrificial love by a Sacrificial Lover.

May we be swept away this Holy Week.

“’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.

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.”

Nehemiah 5:12-13

Last time we saw the charge Nehemiah brought before the assembled people: to return their brothers’ property and then some. To make reparations. Today we see the people’s response.

“We will give it back (shub – return, restore) and not require (baqash – investigate, demand) anything more. We will do (asah – accomplish, make/do in the broadest sense) as you say (amar – call, challenge, charge).”

The people agreed. They had heard Nehemiah’s plea for them to remember how God had brought them back to Jerusalem and agreed they should not be capitalizing on each others’ hard times. They would return the mortgaged land and demand no more from their brothers. They would accomplish the charge.

But Nehemiah isn’t finished. He brings in the priests to make it official. The assembled people were to take an oath (shaba – swear, vow) that they would follow through. Then, taking it one step further, our governor turns the pockets inside out (naar– shake) of his robe (chotsen – front of garment) saying, “So (kakah – thus, in this manner) may Elohim, Creator God, shake every man from his home and labor (yegia – possessions, product, wages, fruit) who does not keep (qum – arise, stand firm, fulfill, take his stand) this promise.

Basically, may each man be fruitless if he fails to stand firm on his vow.

God takes our vows seriously. He takes the way we follow through and how we treat each other personally. And He sees you as you do this, friends. As you follow through to peacefully protest unjust laws and as you look for others unlike you to befriend. As you do the awkward work of racial reconciliation in your real life and as you love those under your roof. As you pray for God to dislodge bondage and bigotry in your heart and as you lay down your life for your neighbor. It all matters. And the work may look as varied and broad as the definition of asah. But as we are obedient to each step in our lives, He weaves it all together as a whole, beautiful tapestry in our generation. Our time.

The people said, “Amen,” to Nehemiah you know. They acknowledged the rightness behind their vow though it would cost them. And they did as they promised. They in this section of the verse is our Hebrew word am – folk. Just regular Joes, following through on their promise. And they praised Yahweh. Praise here is halal – to shine.

Being faithful to our word is justice, friends. Loving our neighbor as ourselves shines a lovely light on our glorious Covenant God. Agreeing to righteousness even though it costs us says more about the Spirit empowering us than we know. Though our dazzling Savior doesn’t need our praise, what a joyous duty to participate in making His Name shine.

Let’s praise Him.

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? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! 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.”

Nehemiah 5:9-11 NIV

Last time we listened in to how Nehemiah began the public assembly against those charging interest to their fellow countrymen. Today we get to hear more.

“The way you’re walking (halak – to go) is not good (towb – beautiful). You should walk in the fear of (yirah – awesome, reverence) Creator God (Elohim) and avoid the cherpah (disgrace, shame) of the watching nations.”

We’ve chatted on here before about the importance of God’s chosen people walking in a way that shows off His beautiful character to those who do not know Him. God’s flawless Law was given to His people Israel to highlight mercy, peace, and justice. Shalom. The way those with more were not only becoming creditors to those with less, but were also exacting interest from them highlighted the opposite. Revering God’s awesome character and reminding themselves of those watching were two good ways to keep the people on track. But Nehemiah continues.

“I (ani – I myself), along with my brothers and servants, are also lending (nashah – becoming creditors) money (keseph – silver) and grain (dagan). But let us please (na) abandon (azab – loose oneself from) exacting interest (mashsha – usury, lending on interest).”

I am touched by the use of na (please) in this section. As governor, Nehemiah might have been able to force the matter among the people. But he wasn’t. He entreating, exhorting the people to love their fellow countrymen over profits and bottom lines. Over doing what may have technically been legal but was thoroughly unloving and disunifying.

Finally Nehemiah finishes this section with a way forward: reparations.

“Restore (shub – return) this very day (yom) their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you (attah – you yourselves) are charging them (nashah) — one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”

I find it intriguing that in the middle of repairing the city wall, Nehemiah and the people find themselves repairing relationships. And not just returning what was taken but giving back a percentage of the money made on unloving business dealings.

There are so many personal and communal and societal applications that can be made for us here. If industries are making profits but hurting people, there will be a price to pay. If “I’m sorry’s” were said but no fruit has been produced in keeping with repentance, relationships will remain unreconciled. If governments historically and systemically have dehumanized any group for any reason and nothing has been done to correct generational wrongs, relationships cannot be made right. And if the Body of Christ stops doing wrong but doesn’t learn to do right, we will not be highlighting Spirit-filled unity to the watching world.

Friends, justice matters. Today let’s gather to worship the Only One of perfect justice. The One Who made flawless reparations He never owed for a broken humanity. But let’s not stop there. Let’s ask His perfectly just heart to beat in us. Ask Him to show us, teach us the next right thing in our personal and corporate lives. Though we wait until perfect Shalom reigns, we can be imperfect agents of it here and now.

And many will see, be drawn, and worship.

“[At the public assembly] I told them, ‘We did everything we could to buy back our Jewish brothers who had to sell themselves as slaves to foreigners. And now you’re selling these same brothers back into debt slavery! Does that mean that we have to buy them back again?’

They said nothing. What could they say?”

Nehemiah 5:8 (MSG)

Last time we watched Nehemiah react, then respond to the news of Jews enslaving fellow Jews. He ended with calling a public assembly against those not living in line with God’s just laws. Today’s verse tells us what he said in the assembly.

“We anachnu (we ourselves) have done everything we could (day – ability, sufficiency, overflows, what’s needed) to buy back our brothers (ach) who were sold (makar) to the nations (goy – Gentiles). Now you will even (gam) sell these same brothers back into debt slavery?”

Why do you think it mattered so much to Nehemiah that the Jews were practicing the law this way? Hadn’t the rich helped those with less when taxes were due? Didn’t they buy the land from those who had to sell so they might eat? And yet, when Nehemiah leveled these statements at them, this group was silent (charash – altogether, cease, hold tongue) and found (matsa) no (lo) answer (dabar – assertion, proposal).

Even savvy businessmen, wealthy landowners, had no proposal to offer Nehemiah when faced with these accusations. In light of all they exiles had been through, and the miraculous way Yahweh brought them back to Temple and their home, none of their logical arguments added up. No matter what rights they felt they had, or how scrupulous they’d been in their business dealings, they quieted right down.

Has this ever been you? Full of all kinds of interior defenses about the whys and wherefores of your behavior…only to finally stand before someone affected by it and lose all righteousness? I have. And, friends, how much more when we stand before our Creator God? The only One with overflowing sufficiency, Who has gone to every length possible to buy us back?

So in the strength and love of this Redeemer may we live in line with His justice toward fellow image bearers. Where we need to lay down our rights, let us do so in light of all He’s laid down for us. Where we are perhaps scrupulously following the letter of the law, may we instead turn to love and scandalously go the second mile. Where we need to care for those outside our tribe, may we ask for His heart to beat in us. And where we’re desperate for help or answers, may we find those named after the Highest Name to be among the most thoroughly and graciously giving.

Because freely we have received.

“I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, ‘You are exacting interest, each from his brother.’ And I held a great assembly against them.”

Nehemiah 5:6-7 ESV

Last time we explored what happens when God’s people aren’t living in line with His just and compassionate laws: the poor in bondage to high interest and children being sold into slavery. Today we see Governor Nehemiah’s reaction and response to all he has heard from the people.

The phrase used for Nehemiah’s reaction is very (meod – force, abundance, exceedingly) angry (charah – kindled, burn with anger). He was exceedingly burning with anger when he heard how affairs were being conducted among God’s people. Remember when Ezra had a similar reaction? After hearing the exiles had disobeyed and married foreign wives who taught them to worship other gods, Ezra was distraught. Nehemiah is too hearing the peoples’ outcry (eaqah – distress, lamentations).

So we see Nehemiah’s reaction was to be kindled with anger. But, just like Ezra, he followed up with a response. His first response is to take “counsel (malak – consult) with (al – hovering over) myself (leb – heart, inner man, center [of anything], courage).” He took his kindled anger inward, to the center of all he knew to be just and true, and took courage.

I think we need to pause here for a moment. Because I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life when, to take something to my own self for consultation, would have ended in disaster. When my inner man was far from aligned with God’s perfect ways and the center of my life wasn’t reflecting His mercy. Like everyone else, it is a daily struggle to hand over my will to His perfect one and ask His Spirit in my spirit and His Word in my mind to be what guides.

But, friends, I believe we also need to know that when we are doing that the best way we know how, there will be times when our reaction to injustice will be kindled anger. Particularly on behalf of others. Righteous indignation is part of God’s perfect character toward a fallen, imperfect world. And in those times, we must take courage.

After consulting within himself, Nehemiah took the next step: bringing charges against the nobles and officials. To bring charge against is rib or rub – contend, defend, plead case, rebuke, reprimand. And why? You (attah – you yourselves) are hurting (nasha – deceive, delude, lend on interest) your own relatives by becoming a creditor (ashah) against them (al – hovering over). You are deceiving your own countrymen with your deceptive interest rates hovering over them.

Friends, this is a reality in our lives today. A privileged few holding generations of power over others. A small group of elite taking advantage – no, systematically operating against – the larger masses. Whether intentional or not, if we are not swimming against this current we will be swept along with it. And when that happens groups begin to organize:

“Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.” (NLT) 

“And I held a great assembly against them.” (ESV)

We cannot be too busy or uninterested to listen to these cries. We are all connected by our common humanity and what we do affects each other. So we deal with injustices as they arise. But mostly, we refuse to ignore the one and only basis for righteousness and justice: A holy and righteous God Who set within us as creatures made in His image the moral compass of understanding right and wrong. And we all fall short.

The only reason we understand injustice is because we are made in the likeness of the Just One. The only One who can burn with anger and it be fully righteous. Who then took on that righteous wrath we could never have borne ourselves.

It’s Lent, you know. A time for those of us who believe Jesus to prepare our hearts to celebrate the glorious Resurrection. The present reality and the future promise when the Kingdom we’ve been praying to come will be here in completeness and never ending majesty. May we listen and love and serve and take courage during this time given to us. To speak up where we need to and sit down and listen when it’s right. To move toward each other – particularly when we disagree.

He has shown us the perfect example of love and courage on behalf of our brothers and sisters. May we love well.

Remember, at this time the Jews in Jerusalem were not obeying all Yahweh had prescribed in His law. Therefore, though it said to not treat a fellow Jew like a slave in His compassionate commands, there was no guarantee that was how the daughters of these families were being treated. The word used for the phrase sold into slavery is kabash – to subdue, bring into bondage, trample underfoot.

Several other words underscore these men’s concern. In Hebrew the verse begins with hinneh – look! behold! see! As in, “Governor Nehemiah, this is what has become of our families.” And not only that but, “we are helpless to do anything about it.” Helpless is ayin a particle of negation -no, bereft, powerless. We have no power (el – God, mighty and yad – hand, powerful help alongside) because our fields and vineyards are mortgaged (acher – belong to another).

When cultures fall into chaos everyone suffers. But it is often hardest to watch children take the brunt of it. They have little control of how adults are managing affairs yet the consequences of adult management fall squarely on them. Not only in the present as children, but in the culture and its issues they inherit as they become adults.

In addition to children, those without economic means also struggle in times of chaos, becoming subservient to those with more. “In times of dire need the wealthy usually have enough stored up to feed themselves. It is the poor who suffer because of the huge rise in prices caused by scarcities.” (source)

Hmmm. Children and the poor. Both groups that are mightily defended by our God in Scripture.

Friends, we too live in a time of ignoring God’s laws, allowing our children to inherit a form of slavery and the poor among us suffering most. Fortunately we are not helpless to do anything about it, nor is our God powerless.

It is never too late to repent and turn as individuals, as the Body of Christ, as a nation. To choose to honor fellow image bearers rather than attack. To love one another and seek just laws. To pray for mercy and ask Him to use us as agents of His perfect justice and tenderhearted mercy.

This is our day, the time appointed to us. May we live as if we belong to the same family.

Something needs to be done. Mass shootings like this are not normal and we know it. I say this as someone who understands the 2nd Amendment, married to a man who fully believes in the right and exercises gun safety. But most of this has nothing to do with the Constitution. And something needs to be done.

I don’t know what, which makes it difficult to express my thoughts on this subject. But I do think we should be laying down our lives for fellow human beings, not watching fellow human beings lose their lives so we can demand our rights. And certainly not – when presented with a clear choice – putting man’s law ahead of God’s.

And inspired by this article, I’m particularly frustrated with what every thoughtful person must intuitively know: there has to be some middle ground on which we are not even trying to walk together. And, meanwhile, people are dying.

So where do we go with this? Let’s start with some fabulous questions from this tweet:

1. Who has to give up what in order to change?
2. What are this person’s/community’s competing loyalties complicating this surrender?
3. How will you come alongside the person/community you hope to change?

I love this because there’s something here for everyone. If you want change, what are you going to do to come alongside a group requiring change? If I know I’m the one who needs to shift, I get to be honest about what makes that difficult. What will I have to die to? No one is off the hook here. Communal responsibility. What will help us move forward if we hope to make actual legislative and actual heart change.

Gun reform laws matter. We know this and can seek to work together so this doesn’t continue. Otherwise there will be blood on our hands.

As Dr. King said, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

And, believers? Let’s ask His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Pray. Pray against the idol of nationalism, toxic masculinity, weapons as idols and self love over agape love. Pray against corporate injustice and greed that reveres a bottom line over human lives. No matter how long it’s been an issue, no matter how long it may take to turn a giant ship around, we pray.

Because here’s what I know: like I told my husband last night, if our boys were carried out bleeding on a stretcher…or some of my special needs kiddos were shot in their wheelchairs…or the 3 and 4 year old babies I currently help with were being buried in tiny caskets this weekend…I wouldn’t care one bit how long it would take to turn this ship around. I would be screaming at the top of my lungs we’re about to hit an iceberg and doing whatever it took to fix it.

This is the reality of fellow image bearers this very day in our country. Make it matter that much to us, too, Jesus.

Because to do nothing in the face of such evil is to be complicit with it.

“Others said, ‘We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.’

And others said, ‘We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.'”

Nehemiah 5:3-4 NLT

Last time we took a look at the larger political landscape affecting our rebuilders, focusing on how the famine impacted large families’ ability to eat. Today we see two other groups and their hardships during a drought: landowners who had to mortgage their property and those who had to borrow money to pay taxes to the king.

The Hebrew word for mortgaged is arab – given in pledge, exchanged. And borrowed is lavah – join, abide with, cleave, unite, remain. If those two definitions don’t sound like a serious venture I’m not sure what does. The people had to give their vineyards and homes in exchange for food and unite themselves to those with greater means just to pay taxes (middah – garment, a feminine form of mad – measurement, cloth, robe, stature). And remember, while these taxes were ultimately going to the king, they were conducting these transactions not with the government but with their fellow Jews. And their brothers were likely not honoring God in the compassionate way He instructed His people to deal with each other.

How about us, Believers? In what way are we keeping a record of wrongs with each other, exchanging harsh, public words to feel superior? Or cleaving to each others’ faults, racking up debts no one but the Ransom from Heaven can truly pay?

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”

Romans 13:8 NIV

“When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other ‘don’t’ you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.”

Romans 13:9-10 MSG

Friends, no doubt there was government oppression at play in our rebuilders’ situation. But the focus here is on how kinsmen, countrymen, brothers were taking land from those who needed it and charging high fees on loans to those who couldn’t repay. This was not following what our generous Yahweh had commanded, nor what was loving.

Let’s release each other in our day. Just open our hands and allow God to work in His Bride. Marvel in our differences and how He uses the variety of expressions of church worldwide to show off His character. And allow Him room to work in areas in which we are needy or are not releasing our brothers and sisters from debt. None of us could pay the price He did. Let’s stand in awe then turn around and love like Him.