And said, I beseech you, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
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Bede
AD 735
Now there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. And there were some who were saying, 'Our sons and our daughters are too numerous; let us take corn for their price, and let us eat and drink'. And there were others who were saying, 'Let us mortgage our fields, our vineyards and our homes, and let us get grain during the famine'. Still others were saying, 'Let us borrow money for the king's tax, and let us give up our fields and vineyards', and so on. The people desired to construct the city wall but were being hindered from the holy work by the severity of the famine. This famine had been caused not only by a scarcity of crops but also by the greed of the rulers, since they were demanding greater taxes from these people than they were able to pay. We see that this occurs among us in the same manner every day. For how many are there among God's people who willingly desire to obey the divine commands but are hindered from being able to fulfil what they desire not only by a lack of temporal means and by poverty but also by the examples of those who seem to be endowed with the garb of religion, but who exact an immense tax and weight of worldly goods from those whom they claim to be in charge of while giving nothing for their eternal salvation either by teaching them or by providing them with examples of good living or by devoting effort to works of piety for them?1 Would that some Nehemiah (i.e. a 'consoler from the Lord') might come in our own days and restrain our errors, kindle our breasts to love of the divine, and strengthen our hands by turning them away from our own pleasures to establishing Christ's city!
