My motherland, Nigeria is fifty today. Happy Independence to all my fellow Nigerians out there. It’s a pleasure to bring you this special edition of “I Heard a Word” and I know it will bless your heart.
I’ll be taking my text from Nehemiah Chapter 5 from verse 1 through to 11.
The book of Nehemiah opens up with an interesting scene of a man among the Jews of the exile to Babylon; cup-bearer and wise adviser to the king. He requested to go back to his father’s land so he could rebuild the city walls. He was going to rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, re-establish, renovate – To restore! What a passion, what a vision, what a mission that was!
To successfully accomplish this task, he would need to partner with the people of his land but these people would not be able to fully cooperate as they are being oppressed. They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.” Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.” And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”
On hearing this, Nehemiah called a public meeting to deal with the problem. At the meeting he said to them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense. Nehemiah continued: Each of you is exacting usury from his brother and what you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? Stop, please!
Oh that a Nehemiah will arise among us and address our people like this.
Nehemiah further said: Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.”
Restore!
Leviticus 25: 8-55 describes the fiftieth, or Jubilee, year. It is the year in which all Israelites who had sold themselves into slavery were set free, and all land that had been sold restored to the original owner. This meant that no Israelite could ever be in permanent slavery; nor could any of them permanently lose their inheritance.
With every man’s possession returned, and their lands redeemed, people could now return to their lands and families; “free at last” they chant as they blow their trumpets in celebration. See, they now have a reason to rejoice!
Before the building of the walls could continue, Nehemiah and his people resolved their problem. Justice was restored as the Jews who were exploiting their fellow Jews promised to give back everything and demand nothing more from them.
I believe this to be significant to their success in completing the wall. Those who had been made poor through the exploits, would have not been able to physically or psychologically contribute much to the project. Just what would you expect from a hungry and homeless man? Selah!
By restoring one to another their fields, vineyards, and homes; the weak and poor could eat, rest, gain strength and join forces with their strong and rich fellows to build. If the walls could not be restored, they would be prone to attacks and subject to dangers; it meant they had no protection and any attempt of the enemy could penetrate and hit them.
Nigeria is:
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.
And aims:
To build a nation where peace and justice shall reign.
We can begin again from today. Restore!