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bigmike

What Made Nehemiah Different
Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the
people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
Nehemiah 5:14-15
Nehemiah gave up a safe, comfortable position in the palace of Persia for a difficult job no one else wanted to take on. He oversaw the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem and the restoration of much of the city. He faced down opposition and ignored the critics who tried to derail the work and even threatened his life. In his time as governor of Israel, he distinguished himself by the way that he treated the people. Rather than taking advantage of the perks that came with his position, as those who had served before him had done, Nehemiah paid his own way. He used his position to benefit others instead of taking advantage of them. The reason he did this was because of how he viewed God.
Nehemiah knew that God had commanded those who had positions of authority to treat people well. Moses wrote concerning those who would have Hebrew servants in time to come, "Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God" (Leviticus 25:43). The more that we recognize God's power and authority, the less likely we are to misuse the power and authority given to us. When we recognize that He is high and holy, and sees all that we do, we will strive to treat others as He commands. We should fear disobeying and disappointing God more than we fear anything else. We should seek to please Him, even if it means making personal sacrifices.
Our treatment of others is directly related to how we view God and how we fear Him.
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