In Neh 3.1 we are going to deal with an important word. The priests built the Sheep Gate and they consecrated it. The word for “consecrated” is “Kadshuhu” and it comes from the word “Kodesh.” They sanctified this gate and there is only one place in Jerusalem that it could be referring to, and only the priests were allowed there, so that’s why they were the ones to concentrate it. It is not the “Temple Mount at large” or the inner courtyards, but it is a specific part of the inner courtyards called the Ezrat Kohanim (Court of the Priests).
The Tower of the Hundred is the northeast corner building of the Temple, and would later be called the Beit Ha Nitzotz. The Tower of Hananel (God has favored) would be later called the Beit Ha Moked in the northwest corner of the Temple. The reference to the Sheep Gate alludes to Yeshua as the Lamb of God. Most maps have the Temple configured wrong.
Neh 3.2-3 mentions the “Fish Gate” (alludes to being “fishers of men”) and the sons of Hassenah laid its beams and hung its doors. So, we can see that the path they will be going in Nehemiah is in the north moving west, then heading south and then around to the east side.
In Neh 3.4-6 it tells us who did the work going into the “Old Gate.” This gate has not been located yet but they are now moving south in Nehemiah. This “Old Gate” alludes to the fact that the “old man” needs a lamb and redemption.
Neh 3.7-8 tells us about who did the work up to the “Broad Wall.” Archaeologists know where this is but it is south of the Old Gate and part of it is in the Jewish Quarter behind a shop called “Shorashim” on the way to the western restrooms. The Broad wall was built over a wall that Solomon built and Hezekiah expanded it by making it wider. You can follow it for several hundred yards.
Then in Neh 3.9-12 it tells us who worked on the wall and it mentions the “Tower of Furnaces.” We are now in the Ophel area and we are entering the City of David (Ir David) going south on the west side of the city. Neh 3.13 talks about the the “Valley Gate” at the Tyropoeon Valley. This gate alludes to how a person must be brought low in humility before he can call on Yehovah.
Neh 3.13-14 mentions the “Refuse Gate” or “Dung Gate” and it alludes to our works. The gate is in the southwest part of the western wall of the City of David, but as far south (low) as you can get. It was right at the bottom of the hill where the Cheesemakers Valley (Tyropoeon) meets Gei Hinnom (Gehenna) or the Valley of Hinnom. Spiritually, we must be as low as we can get and realize our works are as “dung” and it is part of the process we need to go through where “old things are passed away.” When you turn the corner here you are moving north towards the Temple on the eastern side of the city.
Neh 3.15 mentions the “Fountain Gate” and it relates to the Pool of Siloam (“Shiloach” or sent) and we know where that is. This gate is in the south and it relates to the concepts of regeneration and washing. He has “turned the corner” from sin to redemption. The water in the pool of Siloam alludes to the Ruach Ha Kodesh being “sent” (Shiloach-John 16.7). Now, keep in mind that if you walked from the eastern side of the City of David to the western side of the City of David it would take you less than ten minutes. We are not talking about a big area at all.
Neh 3.16-25 tells us who is building the eastern wall moving north. In verse 25 it mentions David’s palace and it was built north of the City of David because they have found it. David does not build the Temple but he did build his palace. The Temple was north of that, and his palace was located by using Scripture by Eilat Mazar. Solomon did not use David’s palace when he became king. He built a new palace to the north of David’s on the Temple Mount.
Neh 3.26-27 says that the temple servants (Netanim) lived in the Ophel and made repairs as far as the “Water gate.” The Water Gate was near the Gihon Spring above the Kidron Valley. This gate alludes to cleansing and several mikvahs have been located. Nehemiah would gather all the people to the Water Gate to hear the Torah. It was a place for gathering, teaching and fellowship and it tells us that a believer should gather, teach and learn, and fellowship around Torah study. The Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower (out of the wall) and as far as the wall of Ophel.
Neh 3.28 tells us about the “Horse Gate” and above the Horse Gate (north) the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house. This was an entrance to Solomon’s Stables, or just stables in general. The horse was symbolic of power in warfare and alludes to our power in spiritual warfare after our conversion. This led to the King’s Palace on the Temple Mount built by Solomon. We are now past the City of David and we haven’t even gotten to the Temple yet. The King’s Palace was south of the Temple.
So, if you say the Temple was south in the City of David you are saying that all of this is wrong. You can read 2 Kings 11.16 and 2 Chr 23.15 to substantiate that the Horse Gate led to the palace. Athaliah was killed there outside the gate after she was led out of the Temple.
The “East Gate” in Neh 3.29 leads to the Temple area, the House of God. This alludes to our worship and prayer, and our entering into the “Household of God.” It is called the Shaar Mizrach. Over the gate they had a depiction of the palace in Shushan of the Persian kings. They had given the Jews permission to come back to the land and to rebuild the Temple, so they honored them.
Neh 3.31 talks about the “Inspection Gate” (Miphkad) and it is the last gate. This is where the people were mustered and inspected for military purposes or war, and sheep would be inspected for Temple use. This gate alludes to the Judgment (inspection) Seat of Messiah where we are mustered in the Natzal (Rapture) and inspected. After that we go to war with Yeshua when he returns to the earth to rule and reign. We know where this gate was, and it is under what is now called the “Golden Gate.” North of that is the old sheep market that was used until 1965 or so. The “Benjamin Gate” was up there, which is today called the “Lion’s Gate.”
When you go into the Lions’s Gate about 70 yards you come to the Sheep pools or the Pools of Bethesda. They would bring the sheep down to the sheep market, then they would be purchased for the Temple and washed in the Sheep pools, and then they would be brought through the Inspection Gate.
Neh 3.32 takes us back back to the Sheep Gate and we have made a complete circle going counter-clockwise around the City of David. When one looks at the Golden Gate from outside the wall, all the stones to the left (south) are the ones we have been reading about with Nehemiah, and all the stones to the right (north) are Herodian. There is what is called the “Offset” and that is where the masonry changes. On the Internet, you can go to the website called “Eastern Wall, NE end-Jerusalem 101” at www.generationword.com and they have pictures that have the stones Nehemiah set, the Offset Stone and then Herodian stones. But there are many sites you can do some research on as well.
The cornerstone in the photos marked the northeast corner of the original 500 x 500 cubit Temple Mount from the time of Solomon to Yeshua. North of that is Herodian and part of the Roman fortress called Antonia. This Offset stone can also be seen in the book “Measure the Pattern, A Study of the Structures Surrounding the Inner Courtyard of the Temple” Vol 1, p. 27, by Joseph Good of Hatikva Ministries. Anyone interested in current Temple archaeology should purchase this book.
The scholars, archaeologists and people of this generation have located specific locations mentioned in Neh 3 and we have established that the Temple was not in the City of David, but north of it. The Horse Gate, the East Gate and the Inspection Gate (Miphkad) are all Temple gates,and they are north of the City of David.
Scripturally, we can establish that the Temple was not in the City of David. In Gen 22, Abraham is told to build an altar on a mountain God will show him. The location where he builds that altar is where Solomon builds his altar. Ezra 5.15 says that the Persian king commanded that the Temple be built at the exact same place the previous Temple stood before it was destroyed.
Current books out there by Ernest Martin, Bob Cornuke and others say the Temple was located further south. After reading these books people say, “The Jews changed it to the Temple Mount because they forgot where the Temple really was” but they aren’t taking into account that these authors are changing the archaeology and the Scriptures. Solomon’s palace was not where David’s palace was in the City of David. It was on the Temple Mount, but why?
In pagan societies, a king may see himself as a god, or one of the gods.. This was the case in Egypt. In Israel, the king was seen as an adopted son of God (1 Chr 28.5-7) and God’s representative for the Kingdom of God on earth (1 Chr 28.5; 2 Chr 13.8). The laws of Israel were contained in the Torah and there was no such thing as “separation of church and state” but a “merging” of the two. So we know that we cannot have structures on the Temple Mount if it is not a part of the “tavnit” or pattern/blueprint that God originally gave to David, and then to Solomon (1 Chr 28.11-19). Solomon’s palace (and the succeeding kings) was built at a lower level than the Temple and it was in the outer court area. As a result, it did not have the same kedusha as the inner courts of the Temple.
The belief that the Temple was not on the Temple Mount does not have any foundation in the Scriptures or archaeology, as we have seen so far in this study. We believe that we are the generation that will see the rebuilding of the Temple, and it is not a question of “If” or “Maybe.” It is coming and when it happens it will come sudden and when you least expect it. Yehovah will do something nobody saw coming and everything will change.
Now, there are two things that will be needed in order to have a Temple that is real and that is serviceable. There are many other things, but we will touch on that later. The first thing that will be needed is a Parah Adumah, or Red Heifer. The Temple Mount, the priesthood and all the utensils, garments and furniture must be sprinkled with the ashes before they can be used.
Secondly, there is the Temple Mount itself. It must be totally in the hands of the Jewish people with the Dome of the Rock and other Muslim sites vacated on the Temple Mount. The will of the people is going to play a major role in all this when the time comes. The attitude is changing and more and more people are moving towards wanting a Temple, but its not there yet and it won’t be easy or cheap.
There is a spiritual energy associated with the Temple and the Temple Mount and the governments of the world don’t realize how important Jerusalem is, and they certainly don’t realize how important that 35 acres on the Temple Mount is. Church organizations don’t realize it, and neither do the political parties in the Untied States. But there are two organizations in this world that realize how important it is.
The first is the Vatican and Roman Catholicism. They see the Temple as a repudiation of their replacement theology that says the church has replaced Israel and the Temple was destroyed to show that God is done with the Jews. For the Temple to be rebuilt would be a terrible blow to their church doctrines. God is done with the Jews so that is why there is no Temple, that Sunday has replaced the Sabbath, that the Catholic priests have replaced the Levitical priesthood, the sacrifice of the Mass has replaced all animal sacrifices and Christianity has replaced a Torah-based Judaism. That’s why they want control over the Temple Mount and want to have a say in what happens there. They see value in it. For more information on this, see our teaching called, “The Real Agenda of the Vatican” on this website.
The second organization is Islam and their attempts to keep Israel from rebuilding the Temple. They see value in it. In their eyes, if a Temple went up on the Temple Mount, replacing the Dome of the Rock, it would look like the God of the Jews (Yehovah) is more powerful than the god of Islam (Allah), and that would be a real problem to the Muslims, so they are not going to allow that, but they aren’t going to have much say in it. When Yehovah is ready, the Temple Mount will be ready for a Temple. There is a real spiritual battle going on in the natural, but with the Lord there isn’t much of a struggle going on. When the Lord is ready, the Temple is going to be rebuilt and that will be that.
We will pick up here in our conclusion.
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