Nehemiah was fresh off the conflict from within the City, now he had to face the conflict from without. As the last bricks were being laid, the enemies round about Jerusalem began to conspire to create problems. All work must be stopped for the good of the enemy!
Really, if you think about it, most projects, church or otherwise, comes down to money. The same was true of the people of the City. After a while, mortgage payments came due. Food bills came due. Money was needed to keep going. The rich people of the city began to take advantage of the situation by charging high interest (from 1 percent monthly, to as high as an annual rate of 20 percent), which actually forced some to sell their children into slavery to pay off the large sums.
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