The Gates of Nehemiah. Part 3

Grace Bible Church
The Tree of Life
A Weekly Review
Week ending 121111 

We have begun to note one of the books in the Old Testament which reveal one of the stories that God the Holy Spirit has chosen to have in writing for our instruction.

There are a lot of lessons that we can learn from studying how God worked in the life of this man, how God worked in the lives of those that were scattered in Jerusalem, to rebuild the wall. But really, in the story of Nehemiah, there are two very vital types of walls that are being built. There is a physical wall which is very important for the sake of Jerusalem, and you are going to be absolutely astounded at the spiritual significance of that physical wall. As they built the wall, the wall was built around the gates, and those gates are named in order.

Chapter three concerns itself with the rebuilding of the walls and specifically the ten gates that separated each section. What also stands out is the people that God has recorded as doing the work. Their order and position is very specific and give us insight into the journey that God takes each of His children on. We will see those who are cheats, thieves, liars, and hypocrites. Each of the gates speak of different experiences in our Christian life that we need to come into. Their order and position is very specific and give us insight into the types of theories God takes each of His children on.

The Sheep gate, in NEH 3:1,32. It was called the sheep gate because this was the gate which the sheep and lambs used in the sacrifices which were bought through. This speaks of the very first experience we come into in our Christian life – that is, a realization that Jesus was the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. The sheep gate therefore speaks to us of the Cross and the sacrifice that was made for our sins. Everything starts and ends with our Lord’s death on the Cross.

The Fish Gate – NEH 3:3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

It was called the fish gate because the fisherman of Galilee would bring their catch in through this gate to be sold. For us, it speaks of evangelism as we have been called to be “fishers of men”. It is a natural progression in our Christian life that after seeing that Jesus dies for our sins, that we would want to tell others about it. Even 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”.

The Old Gate. The Old gate was next and 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.

Then the Valley Gate. 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 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. 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.

Then comes the refuse gate.

The Dung or Refuse gate. Again there is quite a distance to this gate indicating that the valley experience can carry on for some time. But the result of that experience is clearly seen in the dung gate. This is the gate that they would take all the refuse and rubbish out of Jerusalem, down to the valley of Hinnom to be burned. 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. 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.

Then there is the Fountain Gate (verse 15)

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 and true faith comes forth, then the fountains begin to flow and it doesn’t take long! This speaks to us of the living waters of the Holy Spirit that cleanse our lives and empower us for our Christian life.

The Water Gate.

The water gate is a picture of the word of God and it’s effect in our life.

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.

The Horse Gate. NEH 3:28, Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.

The horse gate speaks to us of warfare as horses were used in battle and became a symbol of 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. The last three gates are also prophetic I believe of the end times return of Jesus Christ. You will notice that all three gates are very close together and so are the events which they symbolize. Prophetically, the horse gate speaks of the day of the Lord and the end time judgment as recorded in the book of Revelation chapters 6-19.

The East Gate (verse 29) – The east gate has been set-aside especially by God and was known by Jews for one particular event – the coming of the Messiah!

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. (ZEC 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 is 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 (2TI 4:8). Prophetically this gate is very close to the horse gate because the day of God’s wrath ends with the coming of the Lord Jesus as described in Revelation 19.

The Inspection Gate (verse 31) – The final gate is the inspection gate. This gate speaks to us of the bema seat of Christ 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. Prophetically this gate also speaks of the judgment of the nations that takes place when Jesus returns. This is recorded in the sheep and the goats judgment in MAT 25:31-46.