What is mankind?

So far, we’ve laid a foundation for the biblical pro-life ethic, covering major themes and passages. From now on we’ll attempt shorter posts about single passages, adding color and depth to the framework. Nehemiah 5 is one such passage that adds depth to our understanding and demonstrates how pervasive the ethic is throughout scripture.  In Nehemiah 5, we have a picture illuminating once again how God cares about the physical needs of His people, which was the subject of our previous post , and and has been the subject of several others. In this case, He provided that care through His law and through the people He positioned as leaders. The people protest properly (Neh 5:1-5)  “Our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children.” The people returning from exile found life back home to be very difficult. They were not only disillusioned, but were becoming desperate. The situation was dire, truly a matter of life or death. Three groups came together fo...