The Nehemiah asked one-tenth of the people living in the outlying areas to move inside the city walls of Jerusalem to prevent large areas of the city from being vacant. However, only a few people volunteered to move as many did not want to for several reasons: 1) non-Jews often excluded Jerusalem residents from trade due to their religious beliefs, 2) moving and rebuilding homes represented a major financial investment, and 3) living in Jerusalem required stricter obedience to God's word due to greater social pressure and proximity to the Temple.

3. The exiles who returned were few in number
compared to Jerusalem’s population in the
days of the kings. And because the walls had
been rebuilt on their original foundations, the
city seemed sparsely populated. Nehemiah
asked one-tenth of the people from the
outlying areas to move inside the city walls to
keep large areas of the city from being vacant.
Apparently these people did not want to move
into the city. Only a few people volunteered,
and Nehemiah determined by sacred lot who
among the remaining people would have to
move.

4. Many of them may not have wanted to live in
the city because
1. non-Jews attached a stigma to Jerusalem
residents, often excluding them from trade
because of their religious beliefs;
2. moving into the city meant rebuilding their
homes and reestablishing their businesses, a
major investment of time and money;
3. living in Jerusalem required stricter
obedience to God’s Word because of greater
social pressure and proximity to the Temple.
LIFE Application

12. Nothing clever, nothing
conceived, nothing contrived,
can get the better of GOD.
Proverbs 21:30
The Message

13. Quiet down before GOD, be
prayerful before him. Don’t
bother with those who climb the
ladder, who elbow their way to
the top.
Psalm 37:7
The Message

15. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is
beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not
everything builds others up. Do not seek
your own good, but the good of the other
person. Eat anything that is sold in the
marketplace without questions of
conscience, for the earth and its abundance
are the Lord’s. If an unbeliever invites you to
dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is
served without asking questions of
conscience.

16. But if someone says to you, “This is from a
sacrifice,” do not eat, because of the one who told
you and because of conscience — I do not mean
yours but the other person’s. For why is my
freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I
partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for
the food that I give thanks for? So whether you eat
or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the
glory of God. Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks
or to the church of God, just as I also try to please
everyone in all things. I do not seek my own
benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may
be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:23-33