Nehemiah. Part 14. A tour of the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah

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The Tree of Life
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Week ending 031812
Nehemiah. Part 14.
A tour of the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah.

We are now ready to continue the rest of the gates that bring out the uniqueness of the Jewish race and the nation of Israel. A close look at each of the gates of Jerusalem give us some great doctrinal insight as well as correlate with the PPOG for the Church-age. Salvation in every dispensation is always the same, faith alone in Christ alone as noted in GEN 15:6.

GEN 15:6, Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

However, the gates have an analogy to the spiritual life for the Church-sage believer. And so the next gate is Gate No. 6, the Fountain Gate, NEH 3:15. (Gate no 6)

NEH 3:15, Shallum the son of Col‑hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate.

The Fountain Gate is put before the Water Gate ... because one cannot have a fountain without water. Water relates to the “Word.”

EPH 5:26, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

A fountain speaks of water under some pressure to be seen ... thus this gate speaks of the moving of the Spirit of God on a person to reveal Himself to them. One’s conversion is likened to a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The Fountain spoke to the heart of the Jewish believer so that they were compelled to open up to the Lord. Following on from this there is the analogy of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit with the gentle pressure of the Spirit bringing the believer to the releases of Himself as a fountain of life beginning to flow from within you.

JOH 7:37-39, Now on the last day, the great {day} of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. 39  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet {given,} because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The flowing of living water speaks of the Holy Spirit as a fountain of life being released within the believer.

PSA 36:9, For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light.

In JER 17:13, the Lord is called the fountain of living water. So, the Fountain Gate speaks of the advance spiritual life available for the believer. Understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential for sustained growth and progress in Christ-Jesus. This Gate corresponds to your full surrender to the Lordship of Christ within. If any rebellion remains through fear, then back to the Dung Gate you must go to rid yourself of the garbage in the soul.

The next gate is the Water Gate (Gate No 7); for example in NEH 8:1, And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.

This gate had to be repaired as well as in NEH 3:26, And the temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

Water is used for life (drinking) and washing our thinking ... water primarily speaks of the living word as Ephesians 5:26 says, the Church is cleansed by the washing of water by the word. This gate is the constant challenge for each one of us to hear what God is saying with His word and a checkup as to how much we truly believe with our hearts. This water gate will lead you to become captivated with what God has done and get excited with what He is doing now. The written word of what God said and did must become the living-word in you revealing more and more His life in you. The Spirit desires to teach us ALL things including how to read the scriptures and hear His indwelling voice unveil His secrets to those who have ears to hear.

Then there is the Horse (Gate no. 8)

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

This is another gate which needed repaired. The ‘horse’ in the Bible usually speaks of discipline, strength, endurance and speed. The horse has to be broken in, as it were. The horse that is not ‘broken’ is not of too much use! When discipline has been worked into its life, a man can ride on him, the horse can pull a cart or chariot and be an asset to any group. The one who is used to ‘break in’ the horse has a special relationship with it. The horse will know the voice of the one that cares and feeds it. God will develop each one of us to be strong, be quick to obey and go wherever He sends and basically be strong for others. We too will know intimately his Master ... learning to recognize His voice and be always ready to do His bidding. The horse-gate dealing of God in our lives will develop our discipline through a sincere willingness to please Him. It concludes with the fact that before God you no longer have any rights.

PHI 1:21, For me, living is Christ, likewise dying is profit.

PHI 3:10, that I may come to know Him, and the power of [behind] His resurrection and the participation of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; - was Paul’s desire.

Next is the East Gate (Gate No. 9) NEH 3:29, After them Za-dok the son of Im-mer carried out repairs in front of his house. And after him She-mai-ah the son of She-ca-niah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried out repairs.

‘East’ speaks of where a new day begins for us. By implication it speaks of yesterday being gone and God’s new purposes coming forth. The sun appears over the horizon to warm the earth and give light to creation. In Genesis chapter one we are given the seven new days depicting God’s great plan of the ages. Looking East carries with it an expectation of something new. In the initial coming forth of Jesus (Matthew 2:2) we are told that the wise men saw His star in the east and they followed it.

Next there is The Inspection Gate (Gate No.10).

NEH 3:31, After him Mal-chi-jah one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner.

The word for Inspection is the noun ‘miphkad’ which means assignment, appointment or numbering. What were you ‘Saved’ for?

EPH 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

ROM 8:29-30, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first‑born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What is your assignment from the Lord? Each one of us has an assignment to fulfill in God’s great plan. God’s people do not get everything all at once together as we have been taught. God has an assignment, His will, for each - we are appointed to a position and it is up to us to open up and walk in it. Have you a revelation to what you have been called?

This gate of Miphkad is for us to be numbered among those who know who they are and why they are here at this time in this tangible realm called earth. Miphkad continuously reminds of our obligation to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil within our thinking and receive the appropriate promises.

The next gate is the Gate of Ephraim; (Gate No 11) NEH 8:16, So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate, and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.

Here we have a gate with a name of a person or tribe. The meaning of the word ‘Ephraim’ is double-fruit and speaks of the first-born who receive a double portion of the inheritance as Elisha did by means of Elijah. Joseph of old was Ephraim’s father and his life depicted the double portion experience for he was the firstborn of Jacob and Rachel. The double-portion is given to the firstborn at the time they are adopted of the Father. The man-child made up of overcomers will progress or grow into the fullness of Christ which is like inheriting the promised land...the kingdom of God.

Finally there is The Prison Gate(Gate No. 12) NEH 12:31, and above the Gate of Ephraim, by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate, and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard. This last gate is like the epitome of our experiences with Christ.

Remember how it was at the end of his life that Paul referred to himself as ‘A prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ’?

For example, in EPH 3:1 and 4:1. A prisoner does not have a will of his own for he can only do what the Jailer decides. “Not my will be done, but Thine” was the example that Jesus gave us. We will experience going through this gate when we know that we have been apprehended (arrested) by Christ-Jesus.

A prisoner always has a broken and a contrite heart and will find himself being changed from glory to glory into the image of God’s only Son. John was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos and it was there that he came forth with such revelation from the heart of God. Remember that in the parable of Joseph back in Genesis ... as a type and pattern ...he went from the prison to the throne.

No prison experience will lead to no throne experience. Being a prisoner declares that one is truly free!

This brief look at the twelve gates that the Lord had Nehemiah record just touches the ‘Headlines’ of God’s dealings with each because of His love for each. Having passed through these twelve gates, one can now reckon that they are a part of the city of God, the New Jerusalem. God must frustrate our energy at its source. He wears down our noble determination through the frustrations of life and He squeezes out of us every piece of our self‑confidence by disappointment and defeat. He allows our goals and dreams fall apart or sink in the swamp of human power and strength. He teaches us through our failures until we learn that most precious of all God’s premises: We can’t. And then, when can‑do becomes can’t, He shows us that He can, and therefore we can.

JOB 23:14, “For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him.”

1TH 5:24, Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

The demands that have been placed on us are now demands on Him; The pressures and problems are His. First of all, just a simple statement of fact, 1CO 3:16 says, Do you not know that you are a temple  of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1CO 6:19-20, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

These passages teach that we are the Temple of God and we are like the New Jerusalem in the analogy. The PPOG is the place of the working of the superior power of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and the different stages of spiritual growth and the P.S.D.’s signified by the gates and the walls of the book of Nehemiah.