The Interest of Others

“What you are doing is not right.  You are demanding interest from your own countrymen.”  Nehemiah 5: 10,7

In the middle of working on the wall, Nehemiah had to pause and handle some people problems—issues that would never have come up if God’s Law had been lived out.  God’s people had been instructed to take care of each other and not take advantage of each other, but around Jerusalem, just the opposite was taking place.  The difficulties of living in a war-torn land under a foreign king’s command had created desperate times for many Jewish families, and the ones in charge were charging for their charity.

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers”(Neh 5:1).  Those with lots of kids needed lots of food, and some were mortgaging fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain(Neh 5:2-3).  Others had sold their sons and daughters as slaves to pay property taxes and had no way of buying them back because of the liens they had taken out to buy lunch(Neh 5:4).

When Nehemiah heard the charges, he got charged up.  “When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry”(Neh 5:6), but he held his tongue until he had used his head.  “I pondered these things in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials”(Neh 5:7).  Nehemiah accused them of charging interest to their countrymen and of selling their brothers to the Gentiles.  At his indictment, “they kept quiet, for they could find nothing to say”(Neh 5:8).

They had no defense, for God had written the rules in black and white.  “Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest”(Deut 25:5)  “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him…Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countrymen may continue to live among you”(Lev 25:35).  The people of Jerusalem knew this Law but were choosing to ignore this Law to make a little—or a lot—of profit. 

Nehemiah didn’t pull punches or try to be politically correct when he spoke the truth—“What you are doing is not right” (Neh 5:9).  He immediately demanded that the leaders hand back the property, houses, and interest they had earned from their loans.  The nobles and officials took an oath to return what they had taken, and they did.  “At this, the whole assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the Lord.  And the people did as they had promised”(Neh 5:13).

This passage is not meant to create a debate on the morality of interest in modern times, but God’s principles still apply.  No one should be taken advantage of—especially when they’re down and there’s no way out unless you step in.  When that happens, especially with other Christians, the question should never be, “What can I get out of someone?” but instead, “How can I help someone out?”  If we’re not careful, we can “exact usury” in many ways besides the monetary. 

In dealing with others, it’s best to remember that interest out of someone is never as good as interest in someone.

“Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4