The
Gates
of Spiritual
Progression
Nehemiah
3:1-8 ‘Then Eliashib the high
priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they
consecrated it and hung its doors… Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish
Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next
to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to
him Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs… And
Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old
Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and its bars… And
next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored
Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.’
If you have been a Christian
long enough you’ll know that God likes to hide things. What I mean by that is
He likes to hide important truths in places that you wouldn’t initially expect
to find them... until you start to dig that is! Nehemiah chapter 3 is one of
those places. On the surface it is a chapter discussing 10 different gates of
Jerusalem and the specific builders that helped rebuild them. But that’s just
the surface. When you lift the lid and look a little deeper you find that God
has hidden within those gates significant spiritual truth for both an
individual’s Christian life as well[1] as His prophetic plan
for the ages. Now that’s quite a big call I know but stay with me! The order
and position of each gate is also very specific and gives us insight into the
journey that God takes each of His children on as well as the journey of the
church as a whole until the return of Jesus Christ. So for each gate we will
explore it’s meaning for both the personal and prophetic significance. The
layout and positioning of these gates can be seen in the picture below.
The spiritual meaning of the gates of Jerusalem
As mentioned, the gates of
Jerusalem have both a personal and prophetic aspect. I’ll use a table to
display this so that you can read which ever column you want.
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The Gate of Jerusalem
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Personal Significance
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Prophetic/Historical Significance
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Sheep
Gate
(Neh 3:1,32)
The very first
gate mentioned is the sheep gate. It was called the sheep gate because this
was the gate which the sheep and lambs used in the sacrifice were bought
through.
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Personal
aspect: No prizes
for knowing that this speaks of the very first experience we come into in our
Christian life – that is, a realisation that Jesus was the Lamb of God that
takes away the sins of the world. The sheep gate then speaks to us of the
cross and the sacrifice that was made for our sins. It is the starting point
of everything but you will also notice if you read the entire chapter that
the sheep gate is also mentioned at the very end once we have come full
circle. That is because everything starts and ends with Jesus’ death on the
cross.
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Prophetic
aspect: This gate
points to the first coming of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago to be the Lamb of
God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is the sacrifice foretold in
this sheep gate. He is the door by which everyone must enter to be saved (John 10:7-9).
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Fish
Gate
(Neh 3:3)
The Fish gate was mentioned next. It was called the fish gate because the
fisherman of Galilee would bring their catch in through this gate to be sold.
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Personal
aspect: For us,
it speaks of evangelism as we have been called to be ‘fishers of men’ (Matt 4:19). It is a natural progression in
our Christian life that after seeing that Jesus died for our sins, we would
then want to tell others about it. Surveys have shown that believers who have
been saved less than two years win the most people to the Lord. Their simple
testimony of what Jesus has done in their lives qualifies them to be great
‘fishers of men.’ So this is the next step in the Christian life.
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Prophetic
aspect: This gate
speaks of the church in the first century (the apostolic era) where believers
on fire for God sacrificed all and went out to turn the world upside down
with the message of Jesus Christ! And that is what happened. Starting with
the Jews and then travelling out to the Gentiles in the then known world, the
Apostles and disciples of the Lord truly were ‘fishers of men’ and the growth
of Christianity spread rapidly during the first century.
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Old
Gate
Following
from the Fish gate was the Old gate. Nehemiah is the only book in the Bible
where it is called the Old gate and it may have been one of the original
gates made.
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Personal
aspect:
This speaks to us of the old ways of truth. A young Christian having
experienced the sheep gate, then the fish gate, soon sees the need for
experiencing the old gate. This means learning the old ways of truth that never
change. Jeremiah
6:16 states ‘Thus
says the Lord, Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where
the good way is and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.’ Too
many Christian’s today want something new. The latest teaching, the latest
experience... Or they try to change truth to make it acceptable with what the
world thinks is right ‘today’ (which may not be the same as what it thinks
‘tomorrow’.) But the Ancient of Days calls us back to His long established
ways that do not change and remain the same yesterday, today and forever.
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Prophetic
aspect: Prophetically
this speaks of the period of the Church Fathers around 100-325 AD (sometimes
known as the Ante-Nicene era). This was a period where a defence of the faith
and the truth of God were further established to counter attacks and
persecution from unbelievers.
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Valley
Gate
Several
valleys surround Jerusalem and this gate apparently opened out to the valleyof
Hinnom.
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Personal
aspect: Examining
the picture above you notice that there is a long distance before you come to
the next gate, which is the valley gate. For a new Christian the Lord allows
a ‘honeymoon’ type period where He teaches you and His presence is strong in
your life. This can go on for some time as indicated by the positioning of
the old and valley gates. But sooner or later the valley gate must come. The
valley gate speaks to us of humbling and trials – valley type experiences
used by the Lord for our personal growth. Never easy but the Christian needs
to remember that in the natural nothing really grows on the mountain tops,
but it certainly does down in the valleys. So it is in the spiritual. Never a
nice experience but it always produces fruit.
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Prophetic
aspect: In the
history of the church the valley gate would speak of the humbling and
suppression of the true church following on from when ‘Christianity’ was made
a state religion under Constantine (~390AD). Pagan rituals were adapted and
brought into the ‘church’ and spiritual regression ensued. This long period
continued with the ‘dark ages’ and the further establishment of Roman
Catholicism as the face of ‘Christianity’ to the world.
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Dung
(Refuse) Gate
All of
Jerusalem’s refuse and rubbish was taken out through the dung gate, down to
the valley of Hinnom, where it would be burned.
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Personal
aspect: Again
there is quite a distance to the next gate indicating that, unfortunately,
the valley experience can carry on for some time. But the result of that
experience is clearly seen in this next gate – the dung gate. This is where
the rubbish is removed and this is what happens in our own life. Valley
experiences are used by the Lord to clear away the rubbish so that true
faith, refined by the fire, can come forth and produce fruit. Clearing away
the rubbish in our lives is never easy but the benefits of this experience
can be seen in the next gate. You will notice also that at this point of your
Christian life there is a dramatic ‘turning of the corner’ that takes place.
From the diagram above, up until this point we have been moving downward and
the experiences have been hard, but having come to this point there is a
sharp turn in the road and we begin to move upward again.
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Prophetic
aspect: The dung
gate speaks of the rubbish that became established within the ‘church’ during
the dark and medieval ages leading up to the reformation. Some of doctrinal
‘rubbish’ that needed removing included the teachings of indulgences,
purgatory, salvation by various sacraments and works, exaltation of Mary as
the ‘Mother of God’ and the man-made church hierarchy and papal authority.
There was a lot to be removed!
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Fountain
Gate
The
fountain gate is located near the pool of Siloah and was often used by the
people for cleaning before proceeding on to the temple.
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Personal
aspect: You will
notice from the picture that the fountain gate is located extremely close to
the dung gate. In other words, after a valley type experience where rubbish
in our lives is cleared out through the dung gate, true faith comes forth and
the fountains begin to flow quite quickly! This speaks to us of the living
waters of the Holy Spirit that cleanse our lives and empower us for our
Christian life. Jesus said: ‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture
has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." ( John 7:38)
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Prophetic
aspect: In church
history, this speaks of the period beginning with the reformation
(1517-1600). It was a time when the truth of God’s word was established again
as Bibles were printed for the common man to read and the key truth of
salvation by grace through faith opened the fountains of salvation to flow
again.
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Water
Gate
The Water
Gate led down to the Gihon Spring which was located adjacent to the Kidron
Valley
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Personal
aspect: The next
gate we arrive at is the water gate. The water gate is a picture of the word
of God and its effect in our life. Eph 5:26 states ‘… having washed her by
the water of the word.’ Psalm 119:9 states that it is only through
God’s word that we can be clean. It is no coincidence that this gate was
located next to the fountain gate as the two often go together. The Holy
Spirit is the one who makes the word of God alive to us personally, allowing
cleansing, encouragement and direction to take place in our life.
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Prophetic
aspect: From
1600-1900 the word of God made a dramatic impact in the lives of many around
the world. Some of the great men of God preached the word including John
Bunyan in the time of the Puritans, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles
Spurgeon, D.L Moody among others. The preaching and cleansing of the word
went forth into countries and continents previously starved of the word
through men such as Hudson Taylor, Adoraim Judson and William Carey.
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Horse
Gate
The horse
gate was close to the King’s stables and the men of Jerusalem would
ride their horses out of this gate to war.
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Personal
aspect: The horse
gate speaks to us of warfare as horses were used in battle and became a
symbol of war. Revelation
19:11 ‘I saw
Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness does He judge and make war.’
Spiritual warfare, as we will see in this entire study on Nehemiah, is a
requirement of every Christian because we are all in a battle whether we know
it or not. It is also interesting that the horse gate follows the water
(word) gate for as the word goes forth the spiritual warfare is sure to
increase!
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Prophetic
aspect: Horses
speak of speed and war. From the 1900’s onwards both of these certainly
apply! The speed of medical, technological, industrial and scientific
advancements was beyond comparison. And yet with it came two world wars,
countless wars between nations and constant ethnic unrest. For the church it
has been one battle after another with the rise of the cults, Biblical
criticism. Modernism and liberalism leading to an increasing apostasy within
the church. The ultimate fulfilment prophetically of the horse gate will be
in the Tribulation – the Day of the Lord as described in Revelation 6-19.
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East
Gate
The East
gate is located on the opposite side of the Mount of Olives.
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Personal
aspect: Ezekiel
44:1-3 ‘… the
gate that looked toward the east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, ‘This
gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for
the Lord God of Israel has entered by it.’ The east gate opens and looks
toward the Mount of Olives and we know that when Jesus returns He will return
to this mount. (Zech 14:4). He will then enter Jerusalem by the east
gate. The east gate then speaks of the return of Jesus Christ. For our Christian
life it shows us of our need to live with this hope and to long for His
return. A specific crown is even given to those who do this (2 Tim 4:8).
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Prophetic
aspect: Please
take note how the last three gates (Horse, East and Inspection gate) in the
picture are very close together because so are the events which they
symbolise. Prophetically the east gate is very close to the horse gate
because the day of God’s wrath ends with the coming of the Lord Jesus to
Jerusalem on earth. (See Zech chapter 14).
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Inspection
Gate
Also
known as the Miphkad gate. The word in Hebrew has a military connection and according to
tradition it was at this gate that David would meet his troops to inspect
them.
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Personal
aspect: The final
gate is the inspection gate. This gate speaks to us of the examination of our
lives by the Lord. This occurs in this life as indicated by Paul in 1 Cor 4:4: ‘For I am conscious of nothing
against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me
is the Lord.’ The ultimate fulfilment is at the Bema seat of Christ (as
spoken of in 1 Cor 3:10-15, 2 Cor 5:10) where our lives are inspected
and rewarded appropriately. In our Christian experience we should be living
with this in mind. We are called to live our lives with eternity in view,
caring more for the things of eternity than the temporal that we see around
us.
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Prophetic
aspect: Following
the return of the Lord there is a judgement of the nations that will occur as
well. This is recorded in the sheep and the goats judgement in Mathew
25:31-46. From here he will separate all the people who survived the
tribulation into those that can enter into His kingdom on earth (sheep) and
those that are to go into everlasting destruction (the goats). And then the
Lion of Judah shall reign in His Messianic Kingdom!
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The lives and attitudes of the workers.
There are a few more
important points that can come out of a chapter like this, which should be
stated. So far we have looked at the gates and their spiritual meaning, but
there are other points from the lives of the workers that we can learn from.
Team Effort
Reading through the chapter
one of the first things that we see is that the whole process was a team
effort. If the walls and gates were going to be rebuilt then everyone would
have to play their part. Now this is but a picture of how the church is meant to
operate. No, the pastor is not meant to be a one man band that does everything
while the others rest and sit in their padded pews. We all have different
giftings but it is for the edification of all.
Eph 4:11-13 ‘And He gave some as apostles, and some as
prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building
up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature
which belongs to the fullness of Christ.’
You will notice that the
giftings that people have are for the equipping of the saints in their works of
service. This is what we learn from Nehemiah. Some may have been gifted in
particular areas and they were to work in those areas, but all helped in
whatever way they could.
Everyone had something to offer
‘And next to him Hananiah,
one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the
Broad Wall.’
Maybe you are unsure of your
gifting and what God is calling you to do with your life. Maybe you don’t think
you have anything to offer. If that is you then remember Hananiah! You see, he
was a perfumer by trade and yet he was still willing to get in there, get his
hands dirty and help do his part by repairing part of the wall. Now if a
perfumer can build a wall then you also can help in someway in the building of
the church!
Rebuilding often began at home
Vs 10,23,30 ‘Next to them
Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house… After them
Benjamin and Hasshub carried out repairs in front of their house… After him
Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired
another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs
in front of his own quarters.’
One of the things this
chapter reveals is that often the workers began rebuilding the walls of
Jerusalem outside their own home first. They did think of others and knew that
collectively they would contribute to the wall as a whole; yet individually
they still wanted to make sure their own home had a solid wall of protection
surrounding it. The principle for us is to make sure we have taken care of our
lives at home first before we are used to help others. We have to make sure
that we are not different people in and outside of church, nor are we any
different when we are at home alone when no-one can see us. One of the things
that Jesus hated the most was the play-acting of the Pharisees. They liked to
be seen as ‘spiritual’ among the people while in reality they were actually
white washed tombs Jesus said. Let us all mimic Nehemiah’s men and make sure
that our home life is taken care of first before any ministering or service to
others is under taken.
The work was voluntary
Yep! No one got paid or were
even coerced into rebuilding the walls. They all volunteered knowing that the
glory of God’s name was at stake. And what’s more they didn’t expect to be
rewarded for their work! I heard Charles Swindol speak on the radio recently
and he mentioned that ‘one of the biggest areas of discouragement comes when
Christians think that they get their rewards in this life.’ I would have to
agree with that. We should check our motives in the work that we do to ensure
we are not doing it to receive temporal rewards here and now. We should all
live with eternity in view. This brings me to the last but very encouraging
point.
God is a recorder of names
What else can we get when we
read a chapter such as this? Well, we can be encouraged that God takes the time
to record names. He’s a recorder! The Bible doesn’t just say ‘and lots of
people made repairs to the wall.’ No, it specifically names each person that
made repairs and that has been recorded for all of eternity! I love the verse
in Malachi that says
‘Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,
and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was
written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. “And
they will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own
possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Mal 3:16,17
Our lives and actions are
recorded by the Lord for our rewards in the life to come. Nothing is done for
the Lord in vain on this earth, even if no one else sees it. So don’t lose
heart in your work for the Lord knowing that ‘God is not unjust so as to forget
your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having
ministered and in still ministering to the saints.’
[1] I first wrote this study in 1998 (or thereabouts).
When I studied this chapter I could see that there were personal and prophetic
aspects to the gates and noted what I saw. What I didn’t realize however is
that all of the gates have both a prophetic and personal significance.
Specifically, I didn’t realize that in the gates there is a progression
throughout church history from the first coming of the Lord to His return at
the end of the age! Pretty cool stuff! So now (2014) I thought I’d update this
study with the new insight that I have. A book that helped me see that all of
the gates have prophetic significance in the plan of God for the ages was ‘Messianic
Psalms’ by Norbert Lieth. This book (which I recommend) is not on this topic
specifically but has a page or two about the gates of Jerusalem which helped
extend my understanding on what God was prophetically showing and motivated me
to ‘dig’ a little deeper in this chapter once again.
