Greed Imprisons People

The wall building stopped as Nehemiah addressed three complaints fueled by greed.

1. Hunger (Nehemiah 5:3)
   • More workers = more or less .
   • A regional .
   • Nehemiah “consulted.” (Nehemiah 5:7)
2. Taxes (Nehemiah 5:4)
   • King Artaxerxes controlled a vast empire with a vast .
3. Usury, interest (Nehemiah 5:5; Deuteronomy 23:19–20)
   • God chose a childless couple to develop a nation of people through whom He would reveal a way to live successfully and be restored to relationship with God. (Leviticus 25:35–40)

Nehemiah’s solution works today:

1. Take time to and . (Nehemiah 5:7)
2. Talk to those . (Nehemiah 5:7–9)
3. Exercise your ability to . (Nehemiah 5:10)
4. Declare your repentance with a to God. (Nehemiah 5:12)

A tragic shipwreck at Cleveland Harbor on Lake Erie inspired P. P. Bliss to write “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy.”

Personal Notes