Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
http://youtu.be/NK8VWcw8BOM
(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Nehemiah 5:1–5, “And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.”
Nehemiah obeyed the Lord in good faith, with a pure heart. However, there was a drought in the Land and the Jews were suffering from lack of food. There was every imaginable kind of obstacle standing in their way, as they tried to rebuild the walls of the city. The Lord was teaching the returnees that they too, had to obey the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly, it wasn't enough for them just to come back to Jerusalem. (compare Mal 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”) On top of the drought, they had to pay taxes and were even borrowing money to pay these taxes.
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