Meaning of gates in the book of nehemiah

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 3 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on. The book of nehemiah is designed to teach us that only with gods help can we actually change ourselves and recover from the damage and ruin of the past. Nehemiah 19 new international version niv nehemiahs prayer. Nehemiahs question and his friends answer refer first to the people and then to the city. The gates of jerusalem have a very clear spiritual meaning. Nehemiah named twelve gates to the city of jerusalem. The faithful servant nehemiah faces enemies from without and resistance from within. They said, the remnant that are left in the province in judea, which was now made a province under the persian kings.

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. The wall and gates had been destroyed over 140 years before. Nehemiah is the perfect book for us to walk through as we begin live it well. The gates and walls of nehemiah tentstake ministries.

However, rabbi isaiah di trani, in his commentary to the book of nehemiah, writes as factual that nehemiah was a kohen. When the wall was rebuilt, it probably encompassed the same area as before, except it may have excluded the kings gardens in the southeast. 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. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls and gates of jerusalem in 52 days 6. Nehemiah comes and he sees the devastation, a terrible devastation. 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. 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. The spiritual meaning of the gates of jerusalem with. A young christian having experienced the sheep gate, then the fish gate, soon sees the need for experiencing the old gate. Jerusalems gates spiritual meaning the western wall bible. 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. Let us briefly consider some practical applications of the gates.

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. Nehemiah assembles the people and has ezra read to them the law book of moses. Its focus is on the names of those who set the gates and rebuilt the walls surrounding each gate. Nehemiah is the cupbearer to artaxerxes, king of persia. The fountain gate message 8 the spiritual application of the gates.

It is not far from the spring of siloah siloam, the kings pool, and the kings garden. And it came to pass in the month chisleu, in the twentieth year, as i was in shushan the palace, that hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of judah. The horse gate message 10 the spiritual application of the gates. The symbolism of nehemiahs gates of jerusalem part 3. Nehemiah meets the task in chapter three of the book of nehemiah, nehemiah and. The building of the wall and gates begins from the sheep gate in nehemiah 3, because everything begins from the offering of the lamb jesus christ. 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.

He listed 10 gates that were repaired along with towers and important structures. 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. The wall of jerusalem according to the book of nehemiah jstor. Summary of the book of nehemiah the story of the bible. These gates reflect the restoration of kingdom principles in the lives of gods people d. The meaning the fountain gate is located at the southern end of the old wall. Ten gates are mentioned in chapter 3, and their names are significant. Nehemiah, ezra and the levites institute the feast of booths, in accordance with the law. Nehemiah described a number of geographical locations. When nehemiah arrived, he made a detailed inspection of the walls and gates nehemiah 2. These last three gates are prophetic, and symbolize the second coming of jesus christ, and the end of the present age. I would like us to look at all twelve gates and gleam insight from each of these gates.

The first point is to understand the meaning of jerusalem. Those who had returned to their countrynow only the province are, in the question, the jews that had escaped. The last line of the book of nehemiah is what we all hope for. In the bible is also exemplary teaching, in which some issues of the old covenant have spiritual meanings in the new covenant. Bible study book of nehemiah chapter 1 the fall of mankind. It was repaired by the jebusites during the wall rebuilding in the book of nehemiah. As i have said before the word of god is ever living and ever speaking to us through each word on these pages. Spiritual meaning of sheep gate is death and offering the lamb the lord. Nehemiah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The gates of jerusalem in nehemiahs day when the jewish people returned to their homeland after the babylonian captivity, jerusalem lay in ruins. I will discuss the horse gate, the east gate, and the inspection gate in part 4.

Book of nehemiah definition of book of nehemiah by the. The sheep gate is the first gate mentioned in nehemiah. Meaning, origin and history of the name nehemiah behind. Nehemiahs task was to rebuild the walls and the gates of the city of jerusalem. 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. Sep 28, 2014 the fountain gate message 8 the spiritual application of the gates.

Only two gates persist with the same name to the present day. The fountain gate sermon by monte brown, nehemiah 3. But theres a spiritual meaning to whats been left in ruins when he rebuilds the gates. Nehemiah would have been able to read the writings of zechariah and haggai the prophets in jerusalem. 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. Pdf jerusalems gates and towers in the book of nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of the most underrated heroes in the bible, cupbearer to the powerful persian king artaxerxes i longimanus. Ten gates to spiritual growth nehemiah 3b faithlife sermons. In the book of nehemiah chapter 3 we can find this kind of exemplary. Instead of shrugging it off, nehemiah weeps for his people and cries out to god for mercy. Now ultimately these gates are what you would see in the book of revelation, the twelve gates.

He enumerated ten of them counterclockwise in chapter 3 beginning with the sheep gate 3. The book of nehemiah begins then, where any true salvation or revival has to start with a realisation of your spiritual condition. The city pictures the living together of the people of god. What i mean by that is he likes to hide important truths in places that you wouldnt initially expect to find them. 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.

He was governor of persian judea under artaxerxes i of persia 465424 bc. This account is contained in the book of nehemiah, a book which. The walls and gates continue as the chaldeans left them after their conquest of the city, the jews not being in a. What wasis the importance of the gates of jerusalem. Live it well is a call to stewardship born from being a follower of jesus. Did this mean that certain rich and influential men did not financially support. The book of nehemiah opens with the account of nehemiah receiving a report about jerusalems distress. The next two months will determine the direction of our church. 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. He wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed for days, entreating god to do something. 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. Dec 18, 2012 in nehemiah chapter 3, we find examples of this.

Nehemiah is governor of jerusalem from for 14 years, from 444 b. 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. The old gate is one of the many gates of the wall of jerusalem, located on the northern side. Nehemiah 3 commentary james burton coffman commentaries. Sep 28, 2014 the book of nehemiah list ten of the twelve gates that needed repaired. Nehemiah is cupbearer to king artaxerxes book of nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding jerusalem during the second temple period. When the jewish people returned to their homeland after the babylonian captivity, jerusalem lay in ruins. Nehemiah, the son of hacaliah, is the jewish patriot whose life is recorded in the biblical work named after him. Book of nehemiah synonyms, book of nehemiah pronunciation, book of nehemiah translation, english dictionary definition of book of nehemiah. Nehemiah appoints officials and sets guards on the wall and gates.

All that we know about him from contemporary sources is found in this book. Day after day, from the first day to the last, ezra read from the book of the law of god. 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. But this graphic firsthand description of the scene by nehemiahs brother, including the news of things after the ban by artaxerxes, devastated nehemiah. 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. 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. Likewise the daily life of the believers ought to be constantly governed by the word and will of god. 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.

And he goes to the king after weeping over the city, and asks the king for a mandate to rebuild whats been left in ruins. At different times in history there were different numbers of gates, but theyve all basically been the same. As to the former the terms used have a deep pathos. Biblicalhebrew names have always fascinated me and, in scripture, they always have prophetic significance. The gates of jerusalem in nehemiahs day israel my glory.

Book of nehemiah definition of book of nehemiah by the free. Nehemiah meets the task in chapter three of the book of nehemiah, nehemiah and his helpers have undertaken to. The dictionary defines a gate as a movable structure controlling entrance or exit. Upon entering in through each gate, each one will have a testimony regarding that gate or dealing. Only nehemiah had the kings permission to bring these, presumably from the forest of lebanon. Each one of the gates is unique and gives us a specific message about our lord and savior jesus christ. I went out by night the footmen who accompanied him directing and leading him in the way. I went out by night by the gate of the valley that is, the jaffa gate, near the tower of hippicus. In an individuals life the rebuilding of the walls is a picture of reestablishing the strength of that life. This leads us to a life of meaning and purpose as we experience god in the work he is doing. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in. Introduction the spirit of god describes the days of recovery in the book of nehemiah for our exhortation and encouragement.

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. Mar 22, 2008 ten gates are mentioned in chapter 3, and their names are significant. Nehemiah chapter 3 describes the building of the walls and gates of the city. Biblicalhebrew names have always fascinated me and, in scripture, they. In the photo above, ive included pictures of the modern gates around the old city of jerusalem.