Let us briefly consider some practical applications of the gates. But this graphic firsthand description of the scene by nehemiahs brother, including the news of things after the ban by artaxerxes, devastated nehemiah. The next two months will determine the direction of our church. The gates of jerusalem have a very clear spiritual meaning. Jerusalems gates in the book of nehemiah have very clear spiritual meaning, which. The symbolism of nehemiahs gates of jerusalem part 3. Nehemiah comes and he sees the devastation, a terrible devastation. The fountain gate message 8 the spiritual application of the gates.
The book of nehemiah opens with the account of nehemiah receiving a report about jerusalems distress. What wasis the importance of the gates of jerusalem. Jerusalems gates spiritual meaning the western wall bible. At the end of the third day, accompanied with a few attendants, he made, under covert of night, a secret survey of the walls and gates nehemiah 2. The city pictures the living together of the people of god. Nehemiah 19 new international version niv nehemiahs prayer. Book of nehemiah definition of book of nehemiah by the. Nehemiah meets the task in chapter three of the book of nehemiah, nehemiah and. Ten gates are mentioned in chapter 3, and their names are significant. Nehemiah is identified in one aggadah with zerubbabel, the latter name being considered an epithet of nehemiah and as indicating that he was born at babylon. Did this mean that certain rich and influential men did not financially support. Live it well is a call to stewardship born from being a follower of jesus. The wall and gates had been destroyed over 140 years before. Reading them, he would know the plans god had for this city, nehemiah had gods vision on his heart when he was moved to rebuild the walls and gates of jerusalem.
When the jewish people returned to their homeland after the babylonian captivity, jerusalem lay in ruins. What i mean by that is he likes to hide important truths in places that you wouldnt initially expect to find them. Nehemiah, the son of hacaliah, is the jewish patriot whose life is recorded in the biblical work named after him. The wall of jerusalem according to the book of nehemiah jstor. The last line of the book of nehemiah is what we all hope for. The gates and walls of nehemiah tentstake ministries. Now ultimately these gates are what you would see in the book of revelation, the twelve gates. These gates reflect the restoration of kingdom principles in the lives of gods people d. As i have said before the word of god is ever living and ever speaking to us through each word on these pages. Mar 22, 2008 ten gates are mentioned in chapter 3, and their names are significant. Nehemiah is cupbearer to king artaxerxes book of nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding jerusalem during the second temple period. The dictionary defines a gate as a movable structure controlling entrance or exit. When the wall was rebuilt, it probably encompassed the same area as before, except it may have excluded the kings gardens in the southeast. However, rabbi isaiah di trani, in his commentary to the book of nehemiah, writes as factual that nehemiah was a kohen.
The book of nehemiah takes bible readers to the end of the historical account in the old testament, some 400 years before the birth of christ. Nehemiahs task was to rebuild the walls and the gates of the city of jerusalem. When nehemiah arrived, he made a detailed inspection of the walls and gates nehemiah 2. The book of nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the bible, originally part of the book of ezra, but split off into its own volume by the church in 1448. Nehemiah is the perfect book for us to walk through as we begin live it well.
All that we know about him from contemporary sources is found in this book. Only two gates persist with the same name to the present day. Jan 02, 2020 when nehemiah arrived, he made a detailed inspection of the walls and gates nehemiah 2. Nehemiah meets the task in chapter three of the book of nehemiah, nehemiah and his helpers have undertaken to. Nehemiah, ezra and the levites institute the feast of booths, in accordance with the law. Nehemiah would have been able to read the writings of zechariah and haggai the prophets in jerusalem. The horse gate message 10 the spiritual application of the gates. Pdf jerusalems gates and towers in the book of nehemiah. Biblicalhebrew names have always fascinated me and, in scripture, they. The gates of jerusalem in nehemiahs day when the jewish people returned to their homeland after the babylonian captivity, jerusalem lay in ruins. Those who had returned to their countrynow only the province are, in the question, the jews that had escaped. Nehemiah appoints officials and sets guards on the wall and gates. Nehemiah assembles the people and has ezra read to them the law book of moses. Introduction the spirit of god describes the days of recovery in the book of nehemiah for our exhortation and encouragement.
As to the former the terms used have a deep pathos. The walls and gates continue as the chaldeans left them after their conquest of the city, the jews not being in a. At different times in history there were different numbers of gates, but theyve all basically been the same. Nehemiah was one of the most underrated heroes in the bible, cupbearer to the powerful persian king artaxerxes i longimanus. Spiritual meaning of sheep gate is death and offering the lamb the lord. Summary of the book of nehemiah the story of the bible.
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. I will discuss the horse gate, the east gate, and the inspection gate in part 4. A young christian having experienced the sheep gate, then the fish gate, soon sees the need for experiencing the old gate. Nehemiah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The spiritual meaning of the gates of jerusalem with. Nehemiah 3 commentary james burton coffman commentaries. A visual tour through the gates of jerusalem studying the meaning of the names of the gates and the people who built them pastor melissa. The old gate is one of the many gates of the wall of jerusalem, located on the northern side. Nehemiah s primary purpose was to document for posterity and the official records the names and accomplishments of the people who worked on the wall. Another factor that ties this chapter irrevocably to the person of nehemiah is the frequent mention of the great beams used for the doors of the various gates. The temple, the city walls, and the gates had been destroyed as a result of the three invasions of nebuchadnezzar and his forces in 606 bc, 597 bc, and 586 bc. I went out by night by the gate of the valley that is, the jaffa gate, near the tower of hippicus.
In the month of kislev in the twentieth year, while i was in the citadel of susa, 2 hanani, one of my brothers, came from judah with some other men, and i questioned them about the jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about jerusalem. The first point is to understand the meaning of jerusalem. They said, the remnant that are left in the province in judea, which was now made a province under the persian kings. Nehemiah described a number of geographical locations. I went out by night the footmen who accompanied him directing and leading him in the way. Nehemiah is the cupbearer to artaxerxes, king of persia. Its focus is on the names of those who set the gates and rebuilt the walls surrounding each gate. Nehemiahs question and his friends answer refer first to the people and then to the city. This account is contained in the book of nehemiah, a book which. Ten gates to spiritual growth nehemiah 3b faithlife sermons. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in. He wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed for days, entreating god to do something. Nehemiah 1, asking of the jews, and of jerusalems condition was told, the remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of jerusalem is broken.
His design was to go around the city, to observe the compass and condition of the walls and gates, that he might make sufficient provisions for the work. He listed 10 gates that were repaired along with towers and important structures. It was through the valley gate that nehemiah left the city to inspect the wall that had been broken down and the gates which had been burned by fire nehemiah 2. Hanun and the people living in zanoach repaired the valley gate and they rebuilt 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the dung gate nehemiah 3. In an individuals life the rebuilding of the walls is a picture of reestablishing the strength of that life.
He was governor of persian judea under artaxerxes i of persia 465424 bc. Sep 28, 2014 the fountain gate message 8 the spiritual application of the gates. Nehemiah named twelve gates to the city of jerusalem. Day after day, from the first day to the last, ezra read from the book of the law of god. The faithful servant nehemiah faces enemies from without and resistance from within.
Over the centuries, every time the walls of the city were expanded outward, the appropriate gate would simply follow the wall, yet, each gate remained in the same general proximity as the earlier gate that it replaced. It is not far from the spring of siloah siloam, the kings pool, and the kings garden. The fountain gate sermon by monte brown, nehemiah 3. In the book of nehemiah chapter 3 we can find this kind of exemplary. Dec 18, 2012 in nehemiah chapter 3, we find examples of this. In the bible is also exemplary teaching, in which some issues of the old covenant have spiritual meanings in the new covenant.
Nehemiah is governor of jerusalem from for 14 years, from 444 b. It was repaired by the jebusites during the wall rebuilding in the book of nehemiah. Each is a symbol representing an aspect of our christian walk. The book of nehemiah begins then, where any true salvation or revival has to start with a realisation of your spiritual condition. Likewise the daily life of the believers ought to be constantly governed by the word and will of god. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls and gates of jerusalem in 52 days 6. Meaning, origin and history of the name nehemiah behind. According to the book of nehemiah in the old testament he was a leader of the jews who was responsible for the rebuilding of jerusalem after the return from the babylonian captivity. The sheep gate is the first gate mentioned in nehemiah. Instead of shrugging it off, nehemiah weeps for his people and cries out to god for mercy. Book of nehemiah definition of book of nehemiah by the free. Nehemiah chapter 3 describes the building of the walls and gates of the city.
Bible study book of nehemiah chapter 1 the fall of mankind. The meaning the fountain gate is located at the southern end of the old wall. And so we come to the gates and walls of jerusalem and listen to their paean of praise, lift up your heads, o ye gates. Only nehemiah had the kings permission to bring these, presumably from the forest of lebanon. Book of nehemiah synonyms, book of nehemiah pronunciation, book of nehemiah translation, english dictionary definition of book of nehemiah. Biblicalhebrew names have always fascinated me and, in scripture, they always have prophetic significance. The description in the book nehemiah about repairing the wall and the gates starts at the sheep gate and ends at the sheep gate neh jerusalem bible jerusalem israel religious studies bible studies unit studies bible mapping bible commentary spiritual meaning bible study tools. Book of nehemiah an old testament book telling how a jewish official at the court of artaxerxes i in 444 bc became a leader in rebuilding. The gates of jerusalem in nehemiahs day israel my glory. Let us briefly consider some practical applications of the gates i n nehemiah 3. Sep 28, 2014 the book of nehemiah list ten of the twelve gates that needed repaired. This leads us to a life of meaning and purpose as we experience god in the work he is doing. Nehemiah chapter 3 outlines the rebuilding of the gates and walls of jerusalem in the days of ezra. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.