SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/9/2011 9:12:52 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: More Gates
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 3
Message of the verses: “26
The temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the
Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 After them the Tekoites repaired another
section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of
Ophel.”
“The Ophel” (Nehemiah 3:26-27): This was a hill that was south of the temple
area and it was between the horse gate and the water gate. It was greatly fortified and it also had a
tower. Because it was close to where the
water was the temple servants lived nearby.
The Horse Gate (Nehemiah 3:28): “Above
the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.”
In
2 Chronicles 23:15 we read that it was at this gate where the wicked queen
Athaliah was executed. She was a
daughter of Ahab and Jezebel who was married to the king of Judah and helped to
introduce Baal worship into the nation.
Dr.
Wiersbe writes of the significance of this gate: “The Horse Gate reminds us that there is
warfare in the Christian life (2Timothy 2:1-4) and that we must always be ready
to do battle (Ephesians 6:10-18). It is
significant that the priests repaired this gate as well as the Sheep Gate. Both were near the temple area.”
The East Gate (Nehemiah 3:29): “After
them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. And
after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried
out repairs.”
This
gate is sometimes called the “Golden Gate,” and tradition says that the Lord
Jesus Christ entered through this gate on what is called Palm Sunday. In the sixteenth century the gate was sealed
up by the Turkish sultan, Sulayman the Magnificent. It was at this gate that Ezekiel saw the
glory of the Lord leaving and it is at this gate that the Lord of Glory will
enter (Ezekiel 43:1-5). 1 Then he led me
to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; 2 and behold, the glory of the
God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the
sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 And it was like the
appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came
to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the
river Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the
house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. 5 And the Spirit lifted me
up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD
filled the house.”
Dr.
Wiersbe says that we can associate this gate with the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ. “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may
have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (1 John
2:28).”
The Gate Hammiphkad (Nehemiah 3:31): “After
him Malchijah, 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.”
After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith’s son unto the place of the
Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the
going up of the corner.” (KJV
I
will call this gate the Inspection Gate as it is in the NASB. It was here that the military troops were
mustered for numbering and for inspection.
It was at the northeast corner of Jerusalem, and it was the Northern
side of Jerusalem that they were the most vulnerable to attack. Dr. Wiersbe writes: “When our Lord returns, He will gather His
people together and review their works in preparation for given out rewards for
faithful service (1Cor. 3:10-15; 2Cor. 5:9-10)”
Nehemiah’s
report begins and ends with the Sheep Gate, the gate that reminds us of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the
world. The Jewish people rejected Him
and so they lost their nation, their city, their priesthood and their
temple. When the Lord return at His
second coming to planet earth Zechariah writes that thing will be different for
the Jews alive at that time: “10 “I will pour out on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication,
so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for
Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like
the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 “In that day there will be great
mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of
Megiddo. 12 “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the
house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house
of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house
of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by
itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every
family by itself and their wives by themselves.
13:1"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David
and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity (Zec.
12:10-13:1).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: This section on these gates has rich
significance for all who are believers as the Lord has hidden great treasures
in His Word that can be mined like fine gold, and I am thankful for Dr. Wiersbe
who has helped to make these gates have greater meaning for me.
Because
the study of the gates started and stopped at the Sheep Gate and because it is
a reminder of the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God I am reminded of the Lord’s
Table. At the Lord’s Table believers are
to look back at what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for them at the cross, the
Lamb of God dying for our sins, and then look forward to His return, reminders
of the East or Golden Gate.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to learn contentment through the ups and
downs of my life.
2.
Trust the Lord to work out the details of our trip
home.
8/9/2011 10:02:45 AM
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