Before we move forward, let’s do a review and pull together what we have gone over so far, with some additional information. Nehemiah is before the King Artaxerxes during the month of Nisan and wine was brought before him. The king notices that Nehemiah is sad, which is not good before the king. The king wants to know if he is sick. Now, Nehemiah was afraid because he did not want the king to think there was some sort of evil design against him (like he was part of a plot to poison his wine). He was also not sure if his request would even be answered because it was a major request.
But Nehemiah took courage and told him what was bothering him, and Artaxerxes asked him if he wanted something. Nehemiah prayed to Yehovah secretly, thanking him for opening up this opportunity to ask, and for turning the king’s heart favorably towards him. So Nehemiah says a quick “help me” prayer and begins to make his request. This tells us we don’t have to have long prayers to be effective.
Notice that Nehemiah asks for a leave of absence and Nehemiah has been praying about this for months (Kislev to Nisan) and it has all come down to this, and he gets a favorable response. Prophetically, this begins the 70 Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9.24-27. In Luke 19.41-44 Yeshua refers to this prophecy and it was 173,880 days from Nehemiah’s decree to return to the day when Yeshua rode into Jerusalem and wept over the city, and it was Nisan 10. If they would have understood the significance of who Yeshua was in relation to Dan 9.24-27, they would have known that he was the Messiah. All of these dates start in our passage in Neh 2 and the permission to rebuild Jerusalem and the walls. This starts the 70 weeks prophecy referred to in Daniel and in Luke. That is how significant Nehemiah 2.1-10 is.
Nehemiah is given permission to return in what is called the “Third Aliyah” or “going up.” Whenever you went to Jerusalem it is referred to as “going up” in the Scriptures. The king asks him how long the journey will be and when he would return. The king had great respect for Nehemiah and didn’t want him to be gone long. So Nehemiah gave him a definite time, perhaps a year, but he does return (Neh 13.6).
Nehemiah asked for letters to be given to him requesting safe passage to Judah from the governors along the way, and to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest in Lebanon for wood that could be used in construction. So, after all the preliminaries were complete, he departs and shows the letters to the governors saying that he was truly sent by the king.
However, Nehemiah also came into contact with two enemies named Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. Again, we see the Moabites and the Ammonites trying to stop Israel because of their hatred for the Jewish people. These two wanted a weak Jerusalem. They didn’t care about temple worship being conducted, but they did not want the people strong and safe behind a rebuilt city.
Sanballat had a daughter who married a kohen (priest) named Manasseh who was the brother of the high priest. He is told to give the daughter of Sanballat up, but he refused. Sanballat said he would make him a high priest and governor, and sets up a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, and this temple will be a replica of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus speaks about this in Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, Chapter 8, Paragraph 2 of the “Works of Flavius Josephus” by William Whiston. Many priests and Levites revolted to Manasseh because they did not want to give up their foreign wives either.
So, Nehemiah departs for Jerusalem and after he reaches the city, and he rests for three days. Three days is a significant time period in Scripture. He rises on the third day at night to inspect the city. This alludes to the resurrection of Yeshua after three days at night and how he secretly visited Jerusalem. Prophetically, Yeshua will come “in the third day” to rebuild (Hos 6.1-3; John 2.19).
Nehemiah went out the west side and then turned south and continued counter-clock-wise around the walls, inspecting the walls “which were broken down” (2.13). Neh 2.13 has one of the many “jots and tittles” (smallest letter or stroke) that Yeshua referred to that will be fulfilled (Matt 5.18). There is an open Hebrew letter “mem” in the word “hem” (“which they” in NASB) in Hebrew, not the closed mem as usual. This implies that the city would be rebuilt only temporarily, and the walls would be breached (opened) again (“Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet”, Artscroll Publications, p. 147).
Nehemiah then meets with the leaders of Jerusalem and tells them the obvious. He says, “You see the bad situation we are in” not “you” (v 17). He owned the problem right along with everyone else. He did not blame the leaders but asked for their help to fix the problem. He says, “Let us rebuild the wall” and told them how God is leading them to get it done now. The leaders tell Nehemiah they were with him, but opposition rises again with Sanballat, Tobiah and a third adversary named Geshem the Arab (v 19). They begin to mock and despise Nehemiah and those with him, and accuse them of rebelling against the king. This is what we need to do in the faith. We need to rebuild the wall of a Torah-based faith in Yeshua but we will need to clear away all the “rubble” we have learned by false doctrine. But we will have adversaries against us, too. Our adversaries will accuse us falsely and enlist others to join in against us.
Nehemiah answers them by saying God will give them success and they are his servants. On the other hand, he says they have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem (v 20). In other words, they have no name, ancestry, jurisdiction or part of the city. They had no right to the Temple Mount, either. Israel would do well to implement this strategy today with their enemies. Remember this concept in our spiritual warfare, too. Those that come against Torah-based believers in Yeshua have no right, ancestry, jurisdiction or part in the things of God either, and 2 Kings 17.24-41 tells us why.
Neh 3.1-32 tells us about the people who built the wall of Jerusalem and its gates. There are going to be ten gates and this number alludes to the number of judgment. We have ten commandments and the courts sat at the gates of a city. The work that was to be done was related to these gates. The gates of a city are the weak points in the wall. So, the work started from there. Nehemiah had to have a foundation for the walls and gates, and it had to be a good foundation built upon rock. But it won’t be enough to have just a wall or fortification, they will need to take steps to keep from being undermined, or “going under the wall” by an enemy. They also had to take steps to keep the enemy away from the walls. These walls and gates were going to be their defense, so they had to be strong and built deep into ground. So, we are going to look at these walls and gates, and then we are going to look at them spiritually to see how we can use certain concepts when we build our walls and gates in a Torah-based faith in Yeshua. We will just deal with the gates that will be built and look at their spiritual implications, but between each of the following gates portions of the wall will be built.
Eliashib (El causes to return) was the high priest at this time and he is the grandson of Yeshua in Ezra 3.2. Along with other priests, they will build the Sheep Gate in the northeast corner of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s rebuilding. They had this responsibility because the korbanot (offerings) came through this gate to the Temple, and near it was a market where they were sold. There was also a sheep pool where the korbanot were washed and consecrated for use (they had a kedusha). The walls they built protected the north side of the city, which was the most vulnerable side. The west, south and east side had deep valleys, so it would be hard to breach the walls from those sides, but the north side is where any invader would try to get into the city. This alludes to Yeshua’s first coming and being our lamb, and if he was crucified at Gordon’s Calvary, then he may have exited the city through this gate. Spiritually, it is the same with us. The north is the direction of intellect and intelligence. Our enemies will try to enter into our “city” (Jer 1.18, Ecc 9.14-16) through our minds and intellect. They also built the Tower of the Hundred which became the northeast building of the Temple, later called the Beit Ha Nitzotz (Chamber of the Spark) and the Tower of Hananel, which was the northwest corner building in the Temple, later called the Beit Ha Moked.
Next the sons of Hassenaah (thorny) built the Fish Gate. The gate got its name because the fish from the sea coast was brought through it, and it was on the north side. Yeshua said we would be “fishers of men” in Matt 4.19. The next gate was called the Old Gate. It was the gate that led to the old city of Salem, or an old wall. This was on the northwest side. This gate alludes to the “old man” who is plagued by sin and needs the lamb (Rom 6.6; Eph 4.22; Col 3.9).
The next gate was called the Valley Gate and it led to the Tyropean Valley on the west side of the city. This alludes to the fact that the sinner must be brought down in humility before he can call on Yehovah. This brings us to the next gate called the Dung Gate on the southwest of the western wall, about as far south as you can get. It was right at the bottom of the hill (very low) where the Tyropean (cheesemaker) Valley meets Gei Hinnom, the Hinnom Valley, and where we get the word “Gehenna” from. It was where you took your trash and and refuse out to the Hinnom Valley. Spiritually, we must be as low as we can get and realize that our works are like “dung” as far as righteousness goes before the Lord. This is part of the process we all need to go through where the “old things are passed away.” If you turn the corner here (teshuvah) you begin to go towards the Temple.
So, that brings us to the Fountain Gate, and this gate is near the Pool of Siloam (sent). This gate is on the south (direction of faith) and relates to the regeneration and washing of the believer by the Torah. The water of the Pool of Siloam (sent) alludes to the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) being “sent” (John 7.37-39, 16.7) and washing us in God’s word (Eph 5.26), and washing is symbolic of the work of the Ruach Ha Kodesh.
Now we have come to the Water Gate in the eastern wall. This was near the Gihon Spring above the Kidron Valley. This gate alludes to cleansing and several immersion baths have been discovered. Nehemiah would gather all the people to the Water Gate to read the Torah (Eph 5.26). It was a place of gathering, teaching and fellowship. This tells us a new believer should study and learn the Torah. This also tells us that the Temple was not here, as some believe, because it is further north.
The Horse Gate was an entrance to Solomon’s Stables, or horse stables in general. The horse was symbolic of military power. After our conversion, we need to study and prepare for our spiritual warfare. This gate led to the king’s palace and the Temple Mount. The East Gate leads to the Temple area, opposite of the Mount of Olives, and this alludes to worship, prayer and entering into the Beit Ha Mikdash (House of Kedusha) or the Temple.
The Inspection Gate (Miphkad) refers to the last gate. This is where the people were inspected and mustered for military purposes. Tradition says this was where David would inspect his troops. This alludes to the Judgment Seat of Messiah where we will be mustered and inspected (1 Cor 3.10-15; 2 Cor 5.10) after the Natzal (rapture). After that happens, we are ready go to war with Yeshua as he returns to earth to rule and reign (Rev 19.11-21).
Nehemiah noted who did the work and who did not (Neh 3.5). He was also an effective leader in other ways. Each group was held responsible for their work and it was a team effort, and he organized the work. No matter what their profession was, they were still willing to get their hands dirty because they believed in what Nehemiah was doing. The work was also voluntary because nobody got paid. Nehemiah knew where most of the work needed to be done. He also combined the physical aspect of this work with the spiritual aspect by consecrating everything to God. Even the high priest worked alongside of the non-priests.
In Part 3 we will look at how the building of the walls and gates by Nehemiah relate to us in our spiritual warfare.
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