In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, You exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them”, and in chapter five and verse eight of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “we after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews”, where we read,
And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
The verse reads, “And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen;” Nehemiah began with the words, “and I said unto them” or “and I, Nehemiah, uttered, declared and proclaimed to them, the nobles of Judah”, “we after our ability” which means “we, Nehemiah and the people of Judah, in keeping with the abundance of our, Nehemiah and the people of Judah's, sufficiency” “have redeemed” or “have acquired, bought, possessed and obtained” “our brethren the Jews” which means “our, Nehemiah and the people of Judah's, kindred, kinship and relatives the Jehudaites or Judaites who were descendants of Judah”. Nehemiah shared how the told the “nobles in Judah” that they possessed and obtained their kindred and relatives, the Jewish people, in keeping with their own sufficiency.
The verse goes on to say, “and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us?” Nehemiah continued with the words, “and will you even sell your brethren” or “and shall you, the nobles of Judah, also and indeed merchandise for a price your, the nobles of Judah's, kindred, kinship and relatives”? “or shall they be sold unto us” which means “or will they, the kindred, kinship and relatives of Judah, exist as to merchandise to us, Nehemiah and the nobles of Judah”? Nehemiah asked the nobles of Judah whether their kinship and relatives were to be merchandised and exist as commodities to them.
Finally the verse says, “Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.” Nehemiah concluded this verse with the words, “then held they their peace” or “at that time they, the nobles of Judah, became speechless, silent and quiet”, “and found nothing” which means “and discovered not one thing” “to answer” or “to respond”. Nehemiah ended this verse by sharing how his words caused the nobles of Judah to be quiet and without anything to say in response.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how he reminded the nobles of Judah about all of the Jewish people being freed from the captivity in Babylon, and he questioned them as to whether they should at this time merchandise their fellow Jews afterward. This caused them to become speechless, and they were unable to discover any answer to Nehemiah's questions. In other words, these nobles became convicted within their hearts and minds, and they understood they were wrong. God does the same for us when He reveals the sin that is within us. When we feel the conviction of His Holy Spirit, and realize God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, we may believe in Him to be forgiven of our sins. When we understand that God raised Jesus from the dead three days later, as we put our faith and trust in Him, He will grant us everlasting life as well. God loves us, will expose our sins to us, teach us to trust in His Son Jesus and forgive us and grant us eternal life when we surrender to Him.
Next time Nehemiah says, “it is not good that you do”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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