Nehemiah 3 (Part 2) Bible Study (Rebuilding the Wall) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (6/12/26)

Tonight we turn to this incredible study in the book of Nehemiah for the first time in our brand new home. And as I've said before, I can't think of a greater text for us to examine and study and receive from than this one in this season as a church. It's truly amazing to think that we obtained and we have been working on this building at the very same time the Lord has led us to this study in our journey through the Old Testament. It's truly a work of providence. We've gleaned much already in the early chapters of this book, but I'm also aware that there are some here who are joining us for the first time and so allow me to provide a brief review of what we have covered thus far.

The book of Nehemiah is understood by many to be a post exilic book and all that really means is this historical account in the scriptures has been compiled after the Babylonian exile. Books such as Ezra and first and second chronicles fit into that category as well. Also some of the minor prophets that God raised up after the Jewish captivity such as Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, these are post exilic text, prophecies, historical documents and records. And the purpose of the book of Nehemiah is to detail for us the restoration and the resurrection of the ruined walls of Jerusalem. Now we have to be careful and remember that Nehemiah's arrival to the holy city was not the first after the exile.

There were Jews who long before him made their way back to the promised land. In fact, just as there were three waves of deportation into exile, there are three waves of returned after captivity. In Ezra chapter one through six, we read that a man by the name of Zerubbabel led a group of around 50,000 Jews to make their way back to the holy city of Jerusalem. And Zerubbabel was charged to rebuild the what? The temple.

That's what we find in the first six chapters of the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter seven, we are then introduced to Ezra the man himself and we also learn about Ezra that he would lead a second group of returnees back to the city of Jerusalem but with a different mission To renew the strength, the spiritual vigor and stature of the people of Judah in Jerusalem. Thirteen years after Ezra, Nehemiah is going to join him. Now you have to understand Ezra arrives on the scene eighty years after the first group of Jews went back to Jerusalem. Nehemiah as we learn in a few weeks ago that he comes and joins this man thirteen years, so they're contemporaries after Ezra and he has this all consuming passion to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

So in summary, the events that take place in Ezra and Nehemiah span over a 100 approximately a hundred years, and they described to us three cycles of Jewish people coming back to what God had originally promised them. And what we have here in our text, Nehemiah chapter three, records the commencement of Nehemiah's purpose and passion and dream. The rebuilding of the walls. Now if you were with us a couple of weeks ago you'll hopefully remember that we've already explored this chapter at great length. We've looked at it verse by verse and we have determined that because of the vast amount of information that it contains, it deserves another look.

And the main information that is granted us in this chapter is twofold. One, a list of names. Specifically the list of individuals and groups and teams who invested sacrificially to rebuild different parts of the wall. And from that study I hope you recall that we derived and identified key types of servants that we can even find in the church today. People who do serve in a particular way and people who don't serve at all.

But Nehemiah doesn't just describe to us different types of servants, he also notes the different places that were worked on. Namely, the gates, walls, and other structures that are connected to the city of Jerusalem. And so we determined that we're going to revisit this chapter from a different angle. We are now going to look at what we can learn from certain locations that Nehemiah describes to us here. But before we do that, you have to understand, we have a very rich historical text in our laps and in our hands this evening.

You have to understand that this is perhaps one of the most comprehensive and complete blueprints of the ancient city of Jerusalem in all of the Bible. And what Nehemiah does here is incredibly organized. He is going to take us on a tour beginning from the northernmost part of the city of Jerusalem and he's going to trace this whole map counterclockwise. He's gonna take us westward then to the southern part then to the east, and then bring us back again to the Northern Tip Of Jerusalem. Now let me prove that to you.

Do you have your bible with you? Look here at verse one with me in Nehemiah chapter three. Then Eliashib, the high priest rose up with his brothers the priest and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated as far as the Tower Of The Hundred as far as the Tower Of Hananel.

Now scroll down to the last two verses of Nehemiah chapter three beginning at verse 31. After him, Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants opposite the muster gate and to the upper chamber of the corner. And between the upper chamber of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. That's the end of the chapter. You see what's happening here?

Nehemiah begins with the sheep gate and he brings us full circle and we return again to the sheep gate. So now that this overview is clarified, we can continue and look at these things carefully, but we can't examine every detail. Depends how long you want to be here tonight. To look at every single characteristic or description of every piece of this infrastructure would be a series in itself. But what we do see in Nehemiah chapter three is that he places an emphasis on the gates.

The gates are very important to Nehemiah and can I add to that? Gates are very important to God. Let me give you a clue. Let me give you a hint of that. When you and I will complete the book of Revelation, you're gonna realize that in the new heavens and the new earth, you're gonna have the descendant of Jerusalem, this descent of this holy city, and it's gonna be the new Jerusalem, and it's going to have what?

Gates. So clearly, gates are important to the Lord. They appear here in the ancient city of Jerusalem. They will appear again in the new Jerusalem in the eternal age. More on that later.

What we have in this text are a total of 10 gates. But that doesn't mean that this is the total of gates that the city of Jerusalem had. Why? Because when we continue Nehemiah, you're going to find two more. In Nehemiah eight sixteen, you're gonna read of the gate called Ephraim.

And then later on you're gonna read in Nehemiah twelve thirty nine. This is just a jot down for later. Nehemiah eight sixteen the gate Ephraim. Nehemiah twelve thirty nine the gate guard or the guard gate. Some translations say the prison gate.

So that brings us to a total of 12 gates which is a very important number. 10 appear here in this chapter. Will we be looking at all 10? No. We'll be considering five of these gates.

Five of these gates and I hope by looking at these gates you will be inspired to potentially probe and examine the other gates that we leave out and see what you can learn from them with the important discipline of not spiritualizing, allegorizing, or coming up with fanciful applications or interpretations. That's very much a temptation when you come to a text like this. And there are many commentators who have taken liberty to make something out of this text more than what it is. Is there things to learn with these gates? Absolutely.

But to come up with this whole concept that's very difficult to fit is something that we have to be aware of. So tonight, we are considering five of the gates in the ancient city of Jerusalem and what we can learn from them. But we need God's help. So let's pray once more, shall we? I know it's the end of the week and we're looking at gates.

So we need his help. Yes. Energy but also illumination. Lord, we come before you tonight and we believe that every part of your word is instructive to us. That we can even in this be drawn closer to the person of Jesus Christ.

And so we ask now Lord that this would be something beyond eloquence, beyond cleverness. We're praying for deep Holy Spirit empowered application. We're praying for understanding and with that understanding joy, the joy of the Lord that will give us strength. Feed our souls tonight. Help us leave here knowing that we have heard from you.

And we ask oh God that you would receive all the glory from it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Gate number one. It appears in the first two verses of Nehemiah chapter three.

Let's read it together. Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priest and they built the Sheep Gate. There it is. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated as far as the Tower Of The 100, as far as the Tower Of Hananel.

And next to him, the men of Jericho built and next to them Zechar the son of Imri built. The Sheep Gate. We've looked at this before. We've seen this from a different perspective, but here we are looking at this gate once again, and we have to understand that for it to be mentioned first, and for it to be consecrated by the priest, underscores its great importance. Now the fact that twice in verse one we learned that the priest consecrated this gate tells us something about what Nehemiah wants us to know about this grand project.

He wants to show us here that this is more than just a building project. He wants to set the tone immediately by letting us know that this is indeed a sacred act. This is actually worship to the Lord. And it is a wonderful illustration that worship onto God goes beyond the activity of meetings like this. We worship God wherever we go.

We worship God whatever we do. And it's up to us if we wanna consecrate all that we do unto him. And Nehemiah immediately here, right from the outside, wants to inform us that there is something special happening here. This is not just brick and mortar. This is a pleasing sight to God.

This is for the glory of his name. May it be so with us with whatever we put our hands to, whatever we engage in. That being said, there is something else happening here with this act of consecration. And we have to answer this question to unlock this answer. Why were the priest specifically ascribe this particular access point to work on?

Clearly, evidently, this gate had something to do with their priestly office. It's not far fetched to assume that the Sheep Gate was named as such and it was consecrated in this manner because through this gate would come the very sheep, the very beast that would be used for the sacrificial system in the temple. And if that is the case, then what we have before here is an incredible insight concerning the man Nehemiah because he wants to ensure that this gate right away is taken care of. It's his first priority. With everything else that needs to be done, Nehemiah wants to ensure that he provides for that he secures that he protects the means by which God and his people have fellowship.

You can imagine Nehemiah saying to himself and to the others, before we do anything else, we must be careful and we must invest into the root that would be able to provide for us the means by which we commune with our God. What a man of God. But let's not just sit here and be inspired. Let's compare. Let's ask ourselves of our ambition, our priority, our urgency reflects his.

There's a lot of building that you and I are gonna do in this life. There are relationships that we have to build. There might be some ministries that God has called you to build. There might be a business that you are called to build. Whatever the case may be But look at Nehemiah as a model.

He starts with the most important thing. Establishing and founding everything that he does upon a relationship with God. Does what we do does everything else that we do flow from his word? Does it come from a mindfulness of the glory of God? Is it rooted in worship?

Does this stem from understanding who he is and what he's called us to do? Nehemiah understands this. The top of the list for this man is we must take care of the sheep gate. Because if we do everything else, but this gate is not intact, this this gate is not taken care of, then we're missing out what ultimately matters and that is worship. Bringing these beasts according to God's protocol and his commands so that we can maintain his presence.

Unfortunately, for many, the spiritual sheep gate in their own lives is not very much at the top of the list. It's also worth worth mentioning here that the sheep gate appears only one time in the entire New Testament. Does anybody know where? If you know, you can answer yes. Okay.

So some would say that, yes, Jesus walked through one of these gates in the triumphal entry, but I'm thinking of something that happened way before that. The answer is in the gospel of John, and you have to turn there to see it. In John chapter five. In John chapter five is where we find the sheep gate in the New Testament for the only time. And in it, we discover one of the most powerful and compassionate miracles that Christ performed during his earthly ministry.

Look at verse one of John five with me. After this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there was in Jerusalem by the Sheep gate, a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. We won't read on, but this is where Jesus will find and heal the man who was paralyzed for thirty eight years. And what I see here is something quite special.

That on this particular day, there would be the arrival of the most unique Lamb that has ever been encountered or stepped foot near the sheep gate. The Lamb of God. The Lamb that every other innocent lamb throughout the years, throughout the centuries has passed through and pointed to. The Lamb in Jesus Christ who would offer a level of mercy that would tower over all the lambs that have ever come through that gate and made its way into the temple. Take all the lambs from Solomon's day down through Nehemiah's time up to the days of Christ and pile them on that altar.

And what Christ, the Lamb of God, has done with his blood exceeds them all. You cannot compare what the Lamb of God here at the Sheep Gate in John chapter five would do. And we get a preview of his tender love by the way he treats this crippled man in John chapter five. What a sight. What a connection.

Now when we come back to our main text, we can make some comments about the two towers that show up in the first verses of this chapter in Nehemiah, but we have to move on to the next gate, which is also named after another animal. Let's read about it in verse three down to verse five. The sons of Hassanaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them, Meromath the son of Uriah, son of Hagos repaired.

In next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. In next to them, Zadok the son of Baah now repaired. In Exodus, the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their lord. Now like the Sheep Gate, we can come to an understanding of what the Fish Gate is about based on its name. It has to do with fish apparently.

And it's quite likely that the main fish market strategically stood by this gate and where similar products regularly pass through. Now what's interesting about the fish gate is that it will appear another time in the book of Nehemiah in chapter 12 when there is gonna be a dedication of the wall. But the next occurrence the third and final one concerning fish comes at a very interesting place in the book of Nehemiah and when we see it I believe that we can potentially learn something about the fish gate. The next time the word fish appears in this text is Nehemiah chapter 13. Now Nehemiah 13 is an interesting chapter because it describes what Nehemiah will encounter after he returns to Jerusalem being away in Babylonia for some time.

Remember, he was a cup bearer. He was an employee to the king in Persia. And so this was not a permanent move to Jerusalem when he would help rebuild the walls. Eventually, he had to go back. He does go back, and then he comes back to Jerusalem, and when he does, he's going to be going to be devastated.

It's actually going to be crushing what he will learn about the people while he has been away. We'll get there when we get there, but let's visit it for a moment because we're learning about the Fish Gate. I want you to see one of the things that he says in his own words that might bring us a connection to this point. Go to Nehemiah chapter 13 with me and I want you to see here in verse 15, some of the things that Nehemiah writes in his memoirs when he visits his people again. Now mind be mindful that this this text describes the condition of the people many years after the walls were rebuilt, 10 chapters later.

Let's see it. Nehemiah 13 verse 15. In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrians also who lived in the city brought in fish, and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and Jerusalem itself. Unsurprisingly, once revival settled and the people returned to their regular routines, they lost touch with the commands of God.

And the command in view here that is being violated was the Sabbath. A day that called for rest and remembrance. And instead what's happening, all the gates are open, and it's business as usual. And Nehemiah sees this, and he's infuriated. What are you doing?

We didn't read it, but in the following verses he reminds him, you are breaking the very commands that led us into exile to begin with. What's the matter with you people? You can see why later you you read Nehemiah pulling his own hair. Right? And so he highlights these different things that are taking place, and the fish gate is not explicitly mentioned here, but there is a strong link to it through the reference of fish being sold.

Now what does that tell us? It's extremely relevant. It reveals to us the ever present temptation for us to become more devoted to money instead of God. Profit instead of worship. Business more than God's house.

Bank books instead of God's book. And notice carefully in verse 16 of the verses that we just read that it was the Tyrians who brought in fish and sold them to the people of Judah. Who are these people? They were the Phoenicians from the region of modern day Lebanon. Gentiles who did not have the same history that the Jewish people had with the true and living God.

They did not have the covenant. They did not have the convictions that the people of Israel, namely Judah, possessed, and so they did not have the convictions that the Jews should have had. And instead of the Jews influencing their neighbors, the world influenced the Jews. And I I have a hunch that back in Nehemiah chapter three, the Jews were fully aware of the looming temptation of the world around them that would woo them away from God's word to fill their pockets. Can I tell you how I know that?

Look at what they did with the fish gate when they built it. They didn't do this with the sheep gate. Go back to Nehemiah chapter three. Look here in verse three. Maybe you missed it.

Maybe you caught on to it. In Nehemiah three three, the sons of Hassanaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. You don't read that with the sheep gate, but it appears here with the fish gate. Why?

It was equipped with greater security measures. Why? Perhaps because the temptation to keep those doors open would remain because of the profit that would be gained in doing so. And so set a few locks on this door, boys, because people are gonna knock and our own people from within might wanna open it. And so they were taking preventative measures here, but it wasn't enough.

Okay. Put the bolts, put the locks, do all you want with the physical doors as long as you don't guard your heart. It avails to nothing. So they took these security measures for the gates. They didn't make the same measures for their own hearts.

And money as you heard last Sunday has a subtle and quiet way of gaining mastery over us. It's the one object that Jesus underscores of being a rival to the lordship of Christ. You cannot serve God and money. Now there are many sins that Christ warns about, but I find it amazing that when he defines a rival to his lordship, it's money. It's money.

Money wants to make you a slave. Money wants to dictate your life, determine what you do with your time and your passions and your convictions. And if you and I don't have bolts and bars in our hearts, It's just a matter of time before our devotion goes to money. You know what's amazing? I I was reminded of an obscure sermonette in the old testament that reveals that the people of Israel Remember that Israel was divided into two kingdoms after Solomon's day.

So you have the the king of the North and the king of the South. You had Israel and you had Judah. The attitude of the people of Israel before their own exile mirrors what we find here in Nehemiah. It's a prevailing problem throughout the ages. And I wanna read to you, actually, if you wanna turn there, it's it's a very insightful text that Amos gives us.

And I invite you to be to be a judge tonight and ask yourself, does this reflect the attitude of most in our generation? Go to Amos with me. It's not a known book, so we'll we'll wait. But I want you to see Amos chapter eight. And I want you to see what God says through the prophet about the people in verse four.

I'll warn you, this is a blistering one. This one hurts, but God's wounds always are meant to heal. Amos eight verse five, hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, when will the new moon be over that we may sell grain and the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances? Can I translate this for us? The people at this time were attending the feasts.

The people of this time were honoring externally the Sabbath, but God is looking at the heart and he knows their thought patterns. You know what they're thinking? When is the service gonna get over with so I can go back to work? Isn't that what they're saying? Am I coming up with it or is it the text?

It's the text. Oh, when when is Sunday's a nuisance. I've I've other things that I gotta take care of. This is in the way. Wrap it up, preacher.

God says, I see that. I see that. And this is even even more staggering because they're in attendance, but their hearts are not. You see this. You say, I know what you're thinking.

I know what's going through your mind while the lyrics are on that screen and you're just trying to do your best to pair them. I see it. It's a looming danger and so much more for us in the West. The American dream, if it's still a dream, ever before us. And we see it in Nehemiah's day.

The walls are up, we're secure, we're prosperous, we're safe, and the people of God tend to have a reputation. When all goes well, we tend to make idols. And it takes men like Nehemiah from time to time to wake people up. It's so sad that they took the right measures for the gate itself in Nehemiah three, but it didn't work as long as you ignore your heart. Affections are an important thing.

Desires are crucial and they must be nurtured and they must be guarded and they must be shielded, and they must be fed, and they must be pruned. If not, it'll just be a matter of time before we we start doing things like this and start thinking like how they thought in Amos. This is what we find in the fish gate. We still have three gates to go. So let's come back to Nehemiah chapter three, and let's look at verse six.

Joiada, the son of Pasia, and Meshullam, Meshullam the son of Bethsaida repaired the gate of Yeshana. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. Now the ESV identifies this gate as the gate of Yeshana, whereas nearly every word for word translation has it read and rendered as the old gate. Do you see that in your translation? If you don't have an ESV, it should be there.

The old gate. Now why did the ESV decide to do this? Although the word Yeshana in the Hebrew does mean old, there is an actual place that can be identified in the Bible with the same name and so the translators of the ESV decided to go with that while giving us a footnote so that they wouldn't be too dogmatic with this interpretation. I'm of the persuasion that this should be rendered and it is more accurately represented by the name, the title, the old gate. Why?

We won't get into that now but I find it amazing that we see something similar here as with the fish gate namely how this team in verse six were careful to include the bolts and the bars. Right? This is the second time that Nehemiah is doing this now with these gates. Early on, he is showing us that as a leader, nothing escapes his notice. It's he is very mindful of the level of effort and investment that these different teams are making with their work.

Can I prove that to you? Look at how specific he is. Scroll down here to verse 13 of Nehemiah three. Hanun and the inhabitants of Zenoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung gate.

Notice that he doesn't mention any beams. He mentioned the beams earlier with the previous gates but not with this one. So he knows what people are doing. He knows what people are not doing. He knows what they are including.

He knows what they are excluding. Look at verse 15 just to reaffirm that. And Shalom the son of Kolhosei, ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the fountain gate. He rebuilt it and covered it. That's different.

He covered it and set its doors, its bolts and its bars and he built a wall the pool of Shelah of the king's Garden as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. Now, if Nehemiah paid special close attention to these small details, every bolt, every bar, every beam. Why do you and I doubt God looking at every single effort that you make for his kingdom? If Nehemiah as a man was honorable enough and just enough to account for everything that was done for the sake of God's glory in this text, why do we consider what we may think are small things as insignificant? Others may, God doesn't.

Think about it. Every wire that was connected in this building, every seat that was cleaned, everything that was installed, every floor or part of a floor that was scrubbed, everything that was cut, God sees it. He registers it. And I think there are gonna be many surprises at the judgment seat of Christ. One of them being, Lord, you cared about that?

I totally forgot I even did that. Well, I saw it and you did it for me and I will reward you for it. What a wonderful thing. Many surprises including that I'm sure. Think about it.

What did Christ say? When you give a glass of water, how many glasses of water have you given to somebody? How many bottles of water have you passed in this past month to another brother or sister? You know who sees it? You know who puts it into the registry?

God. This is what we're supposed to learn from this. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the author here and he inspired Nehemiah to say, make sure that you mentioned that I saw the bolts and the beams and every single detail I've taken into account. This thrills my soul. God is not just a God who is impressed with the big things.

Really, it's nothing's big to him. He is big, but it's the heart behind all things that we do. And this should encourage us, listen this should encourage us and I know that I'm speaking to a group of people that have done so much throughout your life especially in this season as a church, but let me also say this to anybody who might be tempted to be sluggish or even sloppy with whatever the Lord has given you, understand that he sees the details. He considers everything and it should excite us to believe that I will do nothing, even small things, without giving it my all. You know, Paul gave many metaphors and analogies of what it means to serve him, and he frequently used one as a builder.

He loved to use that picture. Ministry being like construction. And here's one verse that is an encouragement and a warning to us. He says in first Corinthians chapter three in verse 10, according to the grace of God given me. I love that.

He starts with saying and acknowledging, all that I do is because of the grace of God. Then he goes on to say, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation. He's talking about his work among the Corinthians because I'm a pioneer here. I laid the foundation. I brought the gospel.

I introduced you to Christ. Then he goes on to admit and someone else is building upon it like Apollos. But notice the universal application. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. The foundation is grace.

The foundation is the finished work of Christ, but we all get to determine what we do with that revelation, what we do with that salvation. You know what I thought to myself reading this the other day thinking about this new season as a church? Jesus Christ is paying very close attention how we're building this church. He's the ultimate builder, yes, but what we do with what he's called us to do, he's looking at it. He's examining.

What? The bolts? The beams? I'm not talking about physically. No.

Only. I'm talking about the details. May we never become a ministry that just slaps things together because this is not a priority in our lives. This is just a side gig. This is just something I get to do once in a while on the weekend.

The church isn't a hobby. The church is our life if we follow Christ. We are the bride of Christ. We're married to Christ. This isn't a chore.

This is why we're here. And the Lord wants to show us here how he cares about everything that we do in his name. The next three gates We looked at three. The next three gates are mentioned in the cluster of verses beginning in verse 13. So we're gonna skip a few verses, and the reason why we're doing that is because we already looked at every verse in our previous study.

But let's go to verse 13 and read down through verse 15. Hanun and the inhabitants of Zenoah repaired the valley gate. That's another one. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung gate. That's another one.

Verse 14. Malchiah, the son of Rahab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakarem, repaired the dung gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And Shalom, the son of Kolhozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and he built the wall of the pool of Shelah of the king's Garden as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.

So three more to add to the first three that we read. Bring us to a total of six gates up to this point. Now we won't be looking at each of these. I want to focus in on the middle one of the three, the Dung Gate. The Dung Gate.

So that's number four on our list. Of the five that we're looking at, the Dung Gate. What an interesting name for a gate. This gate is located at the southernmost tip of Jerusalem. Now we've gone from the North with the Sheep Gate.

We've traveled to West. Now we have come down to the tipping point of the South. And that's strategically placed as well because it served as the main exit to the Valley Of Hinnom, which was the dump outside of the city of Jerusalem. It is where all the garbage, all the filth, all the refuse went, and it would travel through the Dung Gate. Now as one can imagine, this is not the most enticing or attractive gate to work on.

The fountain gate sounds a little better, does it not? The water gate as we're about to read about, the Dung gate. And yet, at this particular job site, there is one individual. There is a single man who is acknowledged. What's his name?

In verse 14, Malkiah, the son of Rahab. Now it makes you wonder whether Melchiah is highlighted here because there aren't many volunteers. We're too keen about working here at the Dung Gate. Either way, what makes us even more fascinating is how he is described. The ruler of the district of Beth Hakarem.

He's a ruler. He's a man of providence, man of prominence. Maybe in our own context, we can say he was a mayor of a neighboring region, and yet he was willing to be associated with the Dung Gate. Humility is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Not only is it beautiful, it is necessary if the Lord would use us.

You need help at the Dung Gate? Sign me up. And God honored this man and put him in the book of books. But humbleness is not the only thing that we can derive from this observation. It also speaks of the necessity of holiness.

Not just humbleness, holiness. As the name suggests, this gate teaches that the people of God must have an outlet through which all that is unclean, impure, vile, disgusting can be expelled. And I would argue that every church needs a spiritual dungate, And with that, every believer needs a dungate. What do I mean by that? A mindfulness of pursuing holiness, of examining our hearts, not in severe brutal introspection, but honest examination with the word of God to see, Lord, what do I need to remove?

What do I need to be cleansed from? This determination to identify and remove anything that could compromise our purity, that can defile our testimony. And that ongoing sanctification will remain until the final day. On that note, it was at this point in my personal study that I was reminded that God really cares about gates because they appear in the book of Revelation. They are a feature of the New Jerusalem.

But there is something about those gates that will be realized in heaven and the new earth that helps us understand a little bit about the dung gate here, I think. Okay. Let's turn there now. You're looking at me like, are you serious? Yes.

Go to Revelation with me. I want you to see this in chapter 21. Revelation 21. Just some of the characteristics, some of the details about this new Jerusalem. In Revelation 21 verse 12, John is seeing this and he's describing it now.

It had great a great high wall with 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels. And on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed on the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. And on the west, three gates.

So similar in the number of gates, different in many other things, but I can say with confidence that one of those gates is not a dung gate. Why? Scroll down here to verse 27. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life. Isn't that amazing?

With the ancient Jerusalem, it was very possible for unclean things to enter in because there's a dung gate. Things need to go out. Impure things, horrible things, unhealthy things, harmful things. But in the New Jerusalem, no such thing exists because nothing unclean can ever enter into it. It will be perpetually, eternally holy, clean, free from any kind of infection, any kind of spiritual disease.

And I think that's a wonderful picture of our own sanctification and glorification. There's a day coming where we don't ever have to worry about sin. The presence of sin won't even be there. We don't have to think about it. We don't have to worry about it.

There'll never be an itch. There'll never be a a wooing. There'll never be a compulsion. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a body, a mind free from sin? If you're truly spirit filled, that's one of the most attractive things about heaven.

As Peter says, where righteousness dwells. That's what I long for. I'm tired of going going to war with this body, aren't you? I'm exhausted at sometimes. And yet we are told in one way that nothing unclean will ever enter into it.

But with this Jerusalem on earth, there's a dung gate. In the same way, as long as you're in this body on this planet, you have to deal with some dung. Internal dung, external dung. What your duty and my duty is, ensure that we have a way for it to be removed. And for an exit point in our thought life, what needs to go in my thought life, in my motives, what needs to go in my actions, in private, even in public, what needs to go?

And God will help us. He will guide us. The church needs it as well. The church has to be secure in how we maintain the purity of our testimony, of our witness. I can tell you one way many churches don't have a dungate.

They don't practice church discipline. It's virtually non existent in the local church in America. And yet, it's the one thing that Jesus described concerning the church. He mentions the church twice in the gospel of Matthew and the only practice that he highlights about the local church is what? If your brother sins against you, go go to him and confront him.

If he doesn't accept it, bring two or three others. If not, go to the church. Out of all the things that Jesus could have said in describing the church, he talks about what? Accountability. And so we see the dung gate speaks to our own lives in many ways.

But now we come to our final gate. There are many more to look at, but let's look at this one here in verse 24 of Nehemiah chapter three. We'll begin at 24, but it's going to be shown here in verse 26. After him, Benuai, the son of Hanadah, repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. Palai the son of Uzziah repaired opposite the buttress and the power projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard.

After him, Pedaiah the son of Perush and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate. Highlight that. The Watergate on the East and the projecting tower. So we've gone from the South now and we have arrived to the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem. And what's mentioned here, the Watergate.

Now as you heard, it's located eastward. And as it as the name suggests, this is possibly the gate that is nearest to a very important source of water, a spring. And that's further confirmed by how we read here the temple servants in verse 26 worked on this gate. They they had special interest in this access point. Why is that?

Because in Joshua nine twenty seven, just remember that if you can, we learned that the temple servants were in charge of cutting wood and obtaining water for the sacrifices at the temple. So it's no wonder here that it's the temple servants who have great interest for this gate. But there is more excitement about this gate than just that. Because a very spectacular occasion takes place by the water gate later in Nehemiah in the chapter that we looked at at the opening of the service. So look at Nehemiah chapter eight.

I want you to see what is mentioned at a very important point in Nehemiah's story. Nehemiah eight verse one. Now remember, Nehemiah is joining Ezra. They're partners in many ways, and we see that in action here. Nehemiah eight verse one.

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before where? The water gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard on the first day of the seventh month and he read from it facing the square before, there it is again, the Watergate. From early morning until midday in the presence of the men and the woman and those who could understand and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

How fitting is it that Ezra is summoned by the people to crack open the law and to read it for them where? Before the Watergate. Water is a consistent picture throughout the Bible of the word of God. It is an agent of cleansing, of washing, of renewing, of replenishing. You see this in the New Testament.

Do you not? When Paul called husbands to love Christ by loving their wives, imitating his love, and he says in Ephesians five verse 26, what? By the washing of water of the word. Didn't he say that? By the washing of water by the word.

That's a call for husbands. If you really want to love your wives, if you want to reflect Christ's love, you should be very much interested in the spiritual health of your spouse. You should care about her growth. Unfortunately, there are some husbands that do the opposite. They defile their wives.

And I won't give you examples of that, but they expose them to harmful things. They introduce and bring things into the home that no man of God should. And Paul's instruction here is the opposite. Wash them with the word. Speak to them the things of God.

Take time to rehearse scripture together. Bring them to bible study from time to time. And though this is, in context, speaking about husbands and wives, there is a universe application here that when you and I sit under the word of God being read, proclaimed, explained, it washes us. You you you probably can testify to that experience when when you come to a meeting like this or when you have time alone with the word and and you go about your day, you feel clean, cleaner. And that's what we see here, that this man of God, Ezra, in partnership with Nehemiah, of all the gates that they could have chosen to open the word of God and to shower the people of God with the truths of scripture, they did it before the water gate.

Now as much as that example from Ephesians is an encouragement, it's also a warning because if the the word washes, then then what does that mean if we do not allow it to wash us regularly, consistently? What happens to you physically if you don't shower for a few days? You get stinky. Do it long enough and more than just a smell, you invite potential disease and sickness. Can I tell you why some people are spiritually sick?

That they have an unfortunate scent to their spirituality? One reason is they don't wash themselves in the word. Oh, they may dip their tone at once in a while. You know, the verse of the day here, the verse of the day there. That's not washing.

I'm not there's nothing wrong with the verse of the day. I've been blessed by the verse of the day in many days. Swim in the Bible. Let the word of God bathe you. Immerse yourself in it.

And one of the automatic benefits is that you will be cleaner. You will be cleaner. The water gate in Nehemiah is connected to the word of all things. Oh, there's more to say about it because if you read those verses carefully, the water gate wasn't worked on. Did you notice that?

Go back to Nehemiah three. Look at verse 26 again. And the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the water gate on the east and the projecting tower. They just worked on the walls around and connected to the water gate, which means that though many of the gates were impacted by the exile, by the the sieging of the Babylonians, somehow the water gate remain intact. It was unaffected.

We don't wanna go too far with this but I can't help it at this point. That since there is a clear connection between the Watergate and the word in this book, I'd like to think that in the same way that the Watergate remained untouched, in place, unharmed, the word of God is indestructible. No matter what people have thrown at the Bible over the ages, over the centuries, philosophical minds, communist regimes, they try to burn it, bury it, make it irrelevant, disprove it. It's still number one. It remains undefeated.

This book is God's book. Well, let's read about the last gates listed from verse 28 to the end of the chapter and see what we can learn as a final thought. Above verse 28, the horse gate the priest repaired, each one opposite his own house. After them, Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shechanai the keeper of the East Gate.

Oh, the East Gate. What we can say about the East Gate? For another time, the keeper of the East Gate repaired. After him, Hananiah, the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalef, repaired another section. After him, Meshullam, the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber.

After him, Melchiel, one of the goldsmiths repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants opposite the muster gate. That's the last one. And to the upper chamber of the corner and between the upper chamber of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. Few more gates added there. Maybe this week, you can take some time to say, what can I learn from these gates?

Is there anything that I can see here? Maybe it's a a repeated point, but I want to land here with the sheep gate. Notice that Nehemiah brings us back there. If you're here for the first time at Bible study, I wanna let you know that one of the main interpretations that we hold to as we study the Old Testament especially is that Christ is the golden thread of the Bible. Now it's possible to try to make him fit in places that doesn't sound right, but there are obvious themes and tones and pictures that demand meditation.

I love how when Nehemiah describes this map of Jerusalem, he starts with the sheep gate, and he ends with the sheep gate. Oh, that sheep gate clearly points to Christ, the lamb of God. And here we have Nehemiah saying, we're starting there, and we're ending there. Christ is the beginning. Christ is the end.

But more than that, notice that many of these gates had what? Beams, bolts, and bars, implying that they are meant to be closed at certain points of the week, certain times of the day. You don't find that with the sheep gate. Which tells me if the sheep gate point to those sheep and those lambs that ultimately point to Christ who is the lamb of God who will shed his blood for our forgiveness and our redemption. The door of salvation remains open.

And you could be here today thinking, I just heard about this Bible study. I did not expect to learn about Gates. So if you take anything out of the study, listen to this part. The door of salvation is open. If you don't know Christ tonight, I wanna let you know that he's the main theme of this book.

He's the head of this church and the church universal, and he is alive. He's the living Christ. We're not just studying a book of Maxim and Proverbs and behavioral modifications. We're learning about the one who made us and who died for us. And you can know him.

Oh, I can tell you, I remember sitting in chairs like that being very young. And I was like those people in the book of Amos. When is this done? I wanna go play basketball. When is this over?

I have other things to do on this Sunday. This was just black ink on white pages to me. Oh, sure. There are some times where the preacher had a good message, and he drew me in emotionally, but that lasted twenty four hours at most. I was dead inside.

There is no life to a place like this. I didn't understand it. People were nice. They would shake my hand. You know, when the preacher said, turn to somebody, greet them, I would greet them, but I would say, please don't ask me questions.

I just wanna sit down and get this over with. And all the while, I thought I was a Christian. That might be you tonight. And if it is you tonight, I wanna let you know there's much more to this faith than what you're experiencing at this moment. Christ can become real to you.

He can be the most real person in your life. But how desperate are you to know that? What are you willing to repent of in order to experience that? Because I can tell you this, in those churches where they would do altar calls, I've probably responded to 18 altar calls altogether in my life. I have.

I was just scared. You know, sometimes it would be a play about heaven and hell. I don't wanna go to hell. You want me to come up front? Okay.

I'll come up. That's all it takes. I'll come up front. You want me to do laps? I'll do the laps.

They would bring in a young minister who not sure if he really preached the word, but he had good stories. He'd make you cry, make you laugh. He knew how to bring you up, bring you down. And right when the temperature is set, who wants Jesus? Hey, I'll take him.

I asked a few weeks ago, but I'll do it again just in case. And I wondered why, after I got saved at the age of 20, why did it take me so many attempts? Why so many invitations? Why so many approaches to the front of the church? Why so many?

And it dawned on me because every single time, down deep inside, I really wanted the world. So when the Lord looked at that heart of that teenage boy, of that athlete, of that very motivated young man who thought that he was gonna live forever, he saw a heart that still wanted sin and not Christ and Christ alone. The only way this is gonna work is when you become sick and tired of sin, and you fall on your knees, and you call up to Christ, and you ask him to change you and to forgive you and to renew you, and he will do it. The gate is open tonight, and you can walk through it by faith. Let's pray and thank him for it.

We thank you, Lord, that you've just given us a sample of what we can learn from a quite challenging text. You have renewed our faith yet again to believe that every part of your word can speak so loudly into us. And we pray that we would not lose touch with your voice. We pray Lord, that you would continue to guide us through this book. But now, for now, we stop at this chapter and we ask that you speak to us in areas that we've may may have ignored, neglected, forgotten about.

Perhaps we have lived this long and we have not consecrated our lives unto you like Nehemiah did with the sheep gate. So Lord, if that is us, we pray that you would have first place and let everything else that we build, everything else we invest in, be built upon the foundation of Christ bring us there. Perhaps, Lord, we've allowed things to remain in our lives that need to go. And so open the gate, the dung gate for all that filth to be expelled. Perhaps, Lord, we are discouraged.

Oh, we're discouraged at the old gate because we're doing so much and we seem to be unnoticed, unappreciated. Help us believe that you see it all and you will reward us at the right time. And may we do it for your smile and your smile alone. Oh Lord, not just tonight, but if there any be anybody in the coming weeks who are very much familiar with the attitude of those at the Fish Gate, here physically, but not spiritually, thinking about when this can be done, thinking about other things, other matters, instead of you being our primary joy, Lord, bring revival. Bring revival.

And Lord, as we just heard, Christ at the start, Christ at the end. May we finish well by your help. In Jesus' name, amen. If you need to sit there tonight and you wanna just speak to the Lord, thank him, repent, do whatever you need to do, you can sit there. But if you wanna stand and worship him and thank him for the study, you can do that as well.

Let's just respond to what he has sent us this evening.