For The Glory Of God

“Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?” (Ne 5:9 AV)

 

The reproach of which Nehemiah is addressing the nobles and elders of Israel is their financial abuses inflicted upon their fellow Jewish citizens.  They were not permitted to loan money upon usury.  If they were to loan money to a fellow Hebrew, it was to be an interest-free loan with no collateral held in escrow.  At the end of every fifty years, all loans were forgiven.  When they began to lord over their brethren, it became a poor testimony to the heathen around them.  When the elders and nobles acted just like the world and their lending practices, the heathen could cast further accusations against them.  The question is what we want to entertain today.  The accusation is immaterial.  This could be any wrong that they did in the face of the heathen.  The point is that what we do does matter when it comes to the world’s reaction to it.

One of the challenges to taking Teenagers to a foreign mission field is helping them understand their actions have consequences beyond what they are accustomed to.  Almost fifteen years ago, we took a group of seven teenagers to Ireland for a missions trip.  I enlisted the counsel of my sister-in-law who was born in Ireland but raised in England.  She gave me some tips on what to do and not do and how the rest of the world perceives Americans.  We were also counseled by a couple who were veterans of teen-aged missions trips.  They counseled these kids had to listen and do exactly what they were told for several reasons.  The first would be for the sake of the testimony of the host Missionary.  They were not to behave inappropriately to bring reproach to the Missionary and damage his efforts on the field to which we went.  There was another equally pressing issue at hand.  That being, we could not be a reproach to the lost.  If we were, it could mean serious legal problems.  So, we trained them to be completely obedient at all times.  What we did and how we did it mattered.

Now, I know what you might be thinking.  Those involved in reproaching Israel were not going to convert anyway.  Sanballat and Tobiah were not going to submit to Jewish tradition and religion, becoming a proselyte, and abandoning their own families and culture as a result.  This was not going to happen.  So, why would it matter?  Even if the lost are not impressed enough with our testimony to come to Christ as a result, it is still the right thing to do.  When we live in accordance with the word of God before God and man, God gets the glory.  It may turn to the salvation of a few.  But not the majority.  Yet, living in obedience to God’s word is a testimony against the rebels that God is real and expects obedience.  It is worth it regardless of the results.  Nehemiah instructed the nobles and elders to make it right.  They had to go back and restore collateral, erase the terms of the loan, a relieve their poorer brethren of a burden they could not possibly meet.  If the heathen see no difference, then God is not a real God.  How we live may influence some to come to Christ.  But if not, for the rest, the glory of God has shone upon them.  That is the point.