Social Justice
Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. – Nehemiah 5:19
In continuation of our meditation on Nehemiah’s brand of leadership playbook and what he did that gave him the confidence to pray for God to reward him in line with what he had done for the people, the next thing Nehemiah did after deciding to take on the responsibility of leadership was to pursue social justice by confronting oppression in the land.
The scenario that Nehemiah met upon ascending to leadership was not savory. Majority of the people were living in abject poverty and were barely managing to survive in their own country. Worse still, although they were under the rule of a superpower in the Persian empire, the harsh socioeconomic circumstances of the masses were more from the extortive regimes of their own countrymen than from external sources.
Read this: About this time there was a great outcry of protest from parents against some of the rich Jews who were profiteering on them. What was happening was that families who ran out of money for food had to sell their children or mortgage their fields, vineyards, and homes to these rich men; and some couldn’t even do that, for they already had borrowed to the limit to pay their taxes.
“We are their brothers, and our children are just like theirs,” the people protested. “Yet we must sell our children into slavery to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to redeem them, for our fields, too, are mortgaged to these men.” (Nehemiah 5:1-5 TLB)
All these happened several thousands of years ago when civilization was not as advanced as we have today. Sadly, they still happen in many nations of the world today where greedy people occupy positions of power at the national, state or municipal level and siphon the resources that belong to the people into their own personal coffers and that of their cronies. It is a sad note that many contemporary leaders and government officials still use this dated playbook that represses and exploits rather than enhance and enrich the populace.
One of the first things Nehemiah did as a governor was to confront the perpetrators of this corrupt system. Hear him, ‘I was very angry when I heard this; so after thinking about it I spoke out against these rich government officials. “What is this you are doing?” I demanded. “How dare you demand a mortgage as a condition for helping another Israelite!”
Then I called a public trial to deal with them. At the trial I shouted at them, “The rest of us are doing all we can to help our Jewish brothers who have returned from exile as slaves in distant lands, but you are forcing them right back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their own defense.
Then I pressed further. “What you are doing is very evil,” I exclaimed. “Should you not walk in the fear of our God? Don’t we have enough enemies among the nations around us who are trying to destroy us?”’ (Nehemiah 5:6-9 TLB)
The above helps to know that social justice was one of the standout acts of Nehemiah when he became a leader. He listened to the cries of the people and immediately sought to redress the oppression they were subjected to by calling out the corrupt officials and elites who were feeding fat on the misery of the masses. Any leader who must pray to God for recognition as Nehemiah prayed must be like-minded.
To be continued…
You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!
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