Heard Their Outcry
“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 and said to them, ‘We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!’ They were silent and could not find a word to say. So I said, ‘The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations, our enemies?’” Nehemiah 5:6-9
Insight
Nehemiah was frustrated at what he had to witness - one of the most toxic attributes that humanity can practice: oppression. Unfortunately, this unsightly trait is ingrained in us due to the brokenness our sin created. We show partiality every single day with our sports teams, political parties, the Scriptures we follow and obey, and the most unfortunate of all, with humanity.
During Nehemiah’s time, a group of people were being oppressed because of their lack of wealth. Even though they were human beings, they were given partial treatment because they did not have money, therefore, they were viewed as possessing no value. They had no voice.
Nehemiah responded and fought for those who had their voices and value taken away. Even though Nehemiah was not poor himself, there was something about seeing others treated with such little value that stirred him to step in. He called out the evil that was being practiced and fought to restore the value of life to those who were oppressed.
Nehemiah was unknowingly foreshadowing one of the most important distinctions seen in the life of Jesus. Jesus stepped into a culture that struggled with partiality; a world where one group held all the power, and everyone else had no voice or value. The heart of Jesus broke over how others were mistreated, rejected, and disregarded because of their race, gender, beliefs, and/or finances. Jesus spent His life giving the oppressed their value and their voice back. He saw those who culture treated as invisible. Jesus pushed against the idea of a power-structure. He established, for the first time ever, an equal playing field for humanity.
No longer could a person be considered partial, or less than anyone else, because of something as trivial such as finances, background, or appearance. The New Covenant Jesus brought into humanity was that every single life is priceless. Jesus reminded humanity of how much God thinks of them. Since God created humanity, and He alone gets to define it, God says that humanity is priceless. So, no matter what any other person has to say, our value is, and will forever be, defined by God and God alone.
So, here we are 2,000 or so years later and partiality is still a reality. Partiality is especially clear with our black brothers and sisters. It is a truly heart-breaking reality that some would consider a group of people as less because of their skin color. I have welcomed the breaking of my heart in this season. It has allowed me to get a grasp of what being Jesus in this world looks like. It has stirred me to listen to our black brothers and sisters, and to hear their voices. It has also stirred me to join alongside them and find a way to give them their value and their voice back.
For those of us who follow Jesus, we know there is a better day to come. We believe there is going to be a day when all of humanity is fully reconciled from partiality. Revelation 7 tells us that one day, “... a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, … and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (vv. 9-10).
While we know how incredible this coming day sounds, for followers of Jesus, we should not wait. Jesus gave us His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to live with us in every moment. He planted in us the desire to see unity here and now. So, for every Jesus follower hurting in this season by the partial treatment of humanity, I hope our response is: We do not wait, and we will not wait. We will listen, we will learn and we will give our black brothers and sisters their voice and their value back.
Reflection
Take some time to wrestle with the tension we may have in this season.
What steps can you take here and now to help give value and a voice to those who are oppressed?
Prayer
Father, thank you for completely wrecking our systems and exposing our partial treatment of other human beings. May our hearts break and hurt at the state of humanity. But may we use that hurt as a reminder that we know something greater exists. Help restore the value of life in our eyes, and help us give a voice back to those we have silenced, mistreated, or ignored. Thank you for your patience and love, as You mold us into a unified people. I love You Father, and pray in Your holy name, Amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.
