Why would Nehemiah say, “The thing you are doing is not good”?
Nehemiah 5:9 (ESV)
9So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?
This puts into words what the nobles and officials demonstrably knew in their hearts to be true. Hearing Nehemiah say this to their oppressors would serve to encourage the masses of the great assembly.
9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?