Shabbat Shalom! Please open your Bibles. We are going to turn today to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah, to Nehemiah chapter 3. And I would like today to read with you verses 1 to 14. And I begin with the reading. Then Eliashiv, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and they builded the ship gate. They sanctified it, and set up the doors of it, even unto the tower of Me'ah, they sanctified it unto the tower of Hanani'el. And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zachur, the son of Imri. But the fish gate did the sons of Hasna'ah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

And next unto them repaired Meramot, the son of Uriah, the son of Kots. And next unto them repaired Meshulam, the son of Berachiah, the son of Mesh Zaval. And next unto them repaired Tzadok, the son of Ba'anah. And next unto them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of the Lord. Moreover, the old gate repaired Yehoiada, the son of Pesah, and Meshulam, the son of Besodiah. They laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Maltaia, the Giv'onite, and Yadon, the Meronite, the men of Giv'on, and of Mitzpah, and to the throne of the governor, and this side the river.

Next unto him repaired Uziel, the son of Har-Hachiah, of the gold sweets. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah, the son of one of the pharmacies. And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall. And next unto them repaired Rephaiah, the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. And next unto them repaired Yadadaya, the son of Har-Mapah, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hatush, the son of Hashbanaya, Malchuyah, the son of Harim, and Hashub, the son of Petrat Moab, repaired the other piece and the tower of the furnace. And next unto him repaired Shalom, the son of Halosh, the ruler of half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

The valley gate repaired Chanun and the inhabitants of Tzanoah. They built it and set up the doors, the roof, the locks, the roof, the bars, the roof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gates. But the dung gates repaired Malachiah, the son of Rahav, the ruler of part of Beit HaKerem. He built it and set up the doors, the roof, the locks, the roof, and the bars, the roof. And I'm going to stop with this verse 14. Now, brothers and sisters, you saw in my reading of these texts how difficult it is to even read the names of so many Jewish individuals that came back from Bavel and began now the buildings of the walls of the city of Jerusalem and the gates thereof.

Now, I would like specifically just to mention today that the third chapter of the book of Nehemiah is an extremely interesting chapter. Now, if you and I would have been reading the whole book of Nehemiah, we would probably read chapter 1, chapter 2, and then jump to chapter 4. We would probably not read much of the names that are found in the third chapter of the book of Nehemiah. And why it is? Because you simply have a list of names of Jewish men and women. And you have a list of names of gates that had been built. And you and I will kind of skim over it. And we say, okay, this is just a list of names.

Let's move on to chapter 4. But again, let me remind you that the Bible does say in Romans 15 and verse 4, in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11, it says, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning." All these things happened unto them in order to become an example for you and I today in this present day of the assembly, where believers are gathered together and belong to Yeshua the Messiah. So whatever happened to our people of all the people of Israel served to be a lesson for you and I today. Well, what is the lesson that you and I can learn from Nehemiah chapter 3? I would like to suggest to you, beloved brothers and sisters, a few things before we're going to go through those verses that I have read today.

The first 14 verses of Nehemiah chapter 3. The first thing that I would like to suggest to you today, that God has a book. Or perhaps we might say many books. And in these many books, God records the way in which his people served him and builded among the people of God as they serve our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. God has a record. In fact, I would like you to turn to the book of Malachi for a moment with me. He was the last prophet and he was actually speaking to these men and women who came back from Babel to rebuild the wall of the city of Yerushalayim.

Malachi wrote in chapter 3 and verse 16 where it says, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, and he heard it. And notice what it says in verse 16b, And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that fought upon his name. God has a record. God had a book in which he writes all the records of the way whereby the people of God, whether it is Israel historically, or whether it is you and I in the church age, in the assembly age. He writes it down and he has a record of the way in which the people of God conducted themselves.

Why? Because he wants to bless his people and he wants his people to serve him, and nothing is hidden from the one with whom we have to do. He knows everything about you and I. And here we can see in Nehemiah chapter 3, a list of Jewish individuals that were recorded in a whole chapter, the third chapter of the book of Nehemiah. And so you and I can be sure that God is recording everything that we have done for the Lord. Everything, every service, every little thing that we have done for the Lord in building of the household of faith of the people of God. So you and I never to be discouraged in building, serving the Lord, in doing things for Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

He will reward his people. He will bless his people who serve him. Secondly, I would like to suggest, beloved brothers and sisters, that as these Jewish people here who returned from Babel under the leadership of Nehemiah, we can see that God used these people and you can see that he loved to see them working together. When we don't work together, when we don't help each other and support each other and build together, you know, things are going to break into pieces. But when we work together, there is a blessing for the people of God. Because when we work together, it helps to build the things of the Lord.

And you can see what a strength it is working together. Things can happen. The Lord uses his people who serve together. I want you to turn now to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7 and to apply this to believers today in the body of Mashiach. Paul wrote, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man. We can add every woman, every brother and every sister in order to profit with all. In other words, the gifts were given so the people of God will profit. There will be a blessing among the people of God. Now, notice in verse 11, Paul says, "But all these workers, the one and the same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." In other words, God gave us gifts, and he also gave us the natural ability, so we will use it among the people of God.

Notice, according to several abilities. He didn't give all of us the same gift, but he has given us various gifts to use for the Lord. Now, here is the next thing. From verse 12 to verse 21, the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12 emphasized the importance of working together. He said, "For the body is one, and has many members; and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. For by one Spirit, we all have been baptized into that one body, whether we are Jewish or Gentile, whether we are bound or free. And we have been all made to drink into the same Spirit.

For the body is not one member, but many." You see, brothers and sisters, we are many members in this one body. We call it in Hebrew, Guf HaMashiach. And every one of us is important in the body of Messiah. And you notice what he said a little bit further down. He said in verse 21, "The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." What he is really saying is that we really need one another in order to build the body of Messiah, the body of Messiah, in the Gospel, in shepherding, in teaching, in serving.

No one of us can say, "I am exempt from taking part in the Lord's work." The Lord's work had been given to all believers. And all believers are to put their shoulders, and to put their time, and to put their energy in serving Yeshua, the Messiah, until he is going to come to take us to be with him in heaven. Now turn the page to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Shaul Paul said to the brothers and sisters, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." Brothers and sisters, this is the encouragement that Paul gave to the Corinthian believers.

And this is the encouragement that Nehemiah gave to our Jewish people of old when he called them to build the walls and the gates of the city of Jerusalem. So now back to our chapter, Nehemiah chapter 3, a complete chapter that is devoted to a list of names of Jewish men and women, basically men, and their family, and a list of 10 gates that are mentioned here in this third chapter of Nehemiah chapter 3. Now I would like to talk today about the first 14 verses and make an application of the first five gates that were built in the city of Jerusalem. Now I have a chart that I want to show you about the walls of Jerusalem that Nehemiah have built and the gates.

In fact, some gates that were built on the north, some gates that were built on the west, there was one gate that was built on the south, and there were five gates that were placed on the east side of the walls of Jerusalem. Here in this third chapter of the book of Nehemiah, we have the third chapter of Nehemiah, we have the names of all the 10 gates. In fact, let me read them to you. In chapter 3 and verse 1, we have the sheep gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar Hatzon. Then next to it, in verse 3, we have the second gate, and it is called the fish gate.

In Hebrew, we call it Shaar HaDagim. A little bit further down, in verse 6, we have the third gate, and this is called the old gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar HaYeshana. Then further down, in verse 13, we have the fourth gate, and it is called the valley gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar Haggai. Then further down, in verse 14, we have the Dang gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar HaAshpot. A little bit further down, in verse 15, we have the fountain gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar HaAin. Then further down, in verse 26, we have the water gate. In Hebrew, we call it Shaar Hamayim.

Then, in verse 28, we have the horse gate. And in Hebrew, we call it Shaar HaSusim. And then we have, in verse 29, the east gate. And in Hebrew, we call it Shaar Hamizrach. And finally, we have, in verse 31, the Mifkad gate. And in Hebrew, we call it, of course, Shaar Hamifkad. And you notice, in verse 32, which is the last verse, we are going back to the sheep gate. Shaar Hatzon. So, what we have here, beloved brothers and sisters, the ten gates of the city of Yerushalayim, presented before us. It began from the north, went to the west, down to the south, and then eventually to the east.

And going all the way back to the Shaar Hatzon, to the sheep gate. There is another two gates that I mentioned in Nehemiah 8:16. And it's called there the gate of Ephraim. And in Nehemiah 12:38, we have there the prison gate, which is called Shaar Hamatarah. Those gates are not mentioned here in this third chapter, but we have only ten gates mentioned in Nehemiah 3. And I would like to suggest by ministry today that in these ten gates, we have the experience of God's people in their day-by-day living. Those ten names given to us in Nehemiah 3 will teach us spiritual lessons concerning the life of the people of God.

The walls are built, on the one hand, to protect and to keep the people of God secure. And on the other hand, to keep all that is not from the Lord outside, from among the people of God. So these ten gates really represent before us the life of the people of God. And the experiences that you and I, Israel in the past, believers today in the present day of the assembly of the church age, the experiences that we have in our relationship to God and in our relationship to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And everything begins with the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

You notice that the first gate is called here in chapter 3 and verse 1 is called the sheep gate. It says here: "And Eliashiv the high priest rose up with his brethren, and they builded the sheep gate. They sanctified it, they set up the door of it, even unto the tower of Me'ah, they sanctified it unto the tower of Hananiel. And next unto him built the men of Yericho, and next unto him builded Zachur the son of Imri." Let's just pause here for a moment. In verses 1 and 2, we have the beginning of the building of the gates. The first gate, of course, is mentioned here. In Hebrew we call it Sha'ar Hatzon.

It's the ship gate. The ship gate was built. Why? Because through these gates, the sheep were going in, in order to be slaughtered, and placed upon the altar, in the temple in the city of Yerushalayim. So if you would bring all the flock, in order for them to be killed, and placed upon the altar, so the people, our own people, will receive atonement for their sins, for their souls, they had to come through the sheep gate. And the sheep gate, I would like to suggest, beloved brothers and sisters, represent before us the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. He is the one, beloved brothers and sisters, who became the Lamb of God, who took upon himself the sin of this world.

He is actually in his life, when he first entered into the city of Yerushalayim, he entered by the sheep gate. He went up from Mount Olives, up through the Kidron Valley, and all the way up to Mount Moriah, he entered into the city of Yerushalayim, through the sheep gate. He actually, beloved brothers and sisters, became the one that was going to take away the sin of this world. Everything began with Yeshua, the Messiah. Turn with me to Isaiah 53. Earlier we talked about the prophet Isaiah, and how often time we discovered that it is not read in the synagogue, in Beit HaKneset. Why? Because it speaks so much about this man from Natseret, HaIsh Minatseret, the man whose name is Yeshua.

Yesus in Greek, and in Hebrew we call him Yeshua. And you notice in chapter 53, the prophet of Israel of all said many years ago, 750 years before Yeshua the Messiah came, the prophet of Israel Isaiah says in chapter 53 and verse 7, he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before his shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. The sheep gate represents before us, the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who became that Lamb of God. John 1:29, Yohanan the baptizer says, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of this world." There is no beginning of building a life, there is no beginning of building a relationship with the living God, if we set aside the blood that must be shed upon an altar by a lamb.

And the sheep gate represents before us, the beginning of our life as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. We have come in, we have accepted him, the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah cleanses us from all sin. The sheep gate had to be erected first. If Israel was going to continue, to build all the walls and the gates around the city of Yerushalayim. You see, 1 Peter 3:18, Peter said to the brothers and sisters in verse 18, he said, "For the Messiah has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, made alive by the Spirit." If someone is going to be saved and forgiven, he or she must accept the lamb of God that paid for the price of our sins.

He is the one that is represented by the sheep gate. In history past our own Jewish people used to bring the flock, and all the sheep and the goats that will come into the temple, and be slain, and the blood shed upon the altar, had to come through the sheep gate. And you and I have entered into our relationship with God through the sheep gate. The Lord Yeshua says, "I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." There is no other salvation in any other. It was Peter who said, "There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts chapter 4 and verse 12.

Yeshua himself said in John chapter 14, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father but by me." So everything began with Sha'ar Hatzon, the sheep gate. Then you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, who are the ones who are building the sheep gate? It began by the priests. You notice that? It said in verse 1, "El Yashiv, the high priest, he rose up first, with his brethren, the priests, and they builded the sheep gate." It's so beautiful. It reminds us again, the only one who could offer a lamb to be slaughtered on the altar must be the priest, not an ordinary individual.

And here we see the priests doing their responsibility. You and I might apply this to us in our lives as believers. If we are going to be an influence upon others, we ourselves have to make things real to our own life, to our own soul, to appropriate the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, to our own life, to our own self. And so the sheep gate was built, and it's really a representation of the cross, of the tree upon which Yeshua, the Messiah, laid down his life for the sin of this world. And so how beautiful to see that, that everything began with the sheep gate.

Now let's move on. In verses 3 to 5, we have the second gate that is being builded and put together as the wall is continuing to be built around the city of Jerusalem. Let me read verses 3, 4, and 5. It says, "But the fish gate did the sons of Hasna'ah build, who also laid the beams thereof, set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And the next unto them repaired Meremot, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakot. And next unto them repaired Meshulam, the son of Berachiah, the son of Meshezavael. And next unto them repaired Tzedok, the son of Benaiah. And next unto them the Techoites repaired, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord." And let's pause here for a second.

Here we learn a second lesson. And that second lesson is extremely important because when we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, well, what is the natural thing for a believer to do when he or she have just accepted the Lord and embraced Yeshua as our Lord and our Savior? The natural thing that happened in our life is that all of a sudden we became those who want to go out fishing for men. The Lord Yeshua the Messiah said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers." No longer fishers of fish, but fishers of men. And you notice that the fish gate, apparently there was a fish market in Jerusalem just outside of this gate.

And people were bringing fish from the Mediterranean. They were bringing it in order to have it in the city of Jerusalem for the people of Jerusalem to enjoy and to feed on fish. Well, apparently next to the fish market there was a fish gate. And this fish gate really represents before us the importance of telling others of what God has done for us, sharing the gospel, telling people of who God is and what he had done for his people, for you, for me. Go to Psalm 96 for a moment, please. The psalmist of Israel is encouraging the people of Israel in Psalm 96 to speak forth and to present before the whole world who God is.

Psalm 96 in verse 1, "O sing unto the Lord a new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name. Show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen and his wonders among all people." There is a natural response. After we have accepted Yeshua the Messiah, you might say after we have entered through the sheep gate, immediately we have a desire in our heart to go and share the gospel and let people know that we belong to him and that we want to tell you what the Lord has done for me. And so we find out very quickly here that the fish gate representing before us the importance of telling others.

Again, I mentioned it already, but in Matthew chapter 4 verses 17 to 20, Yeshua saw Peter and James and John. You remember there were fishers of fish in the Sea of Galilee. And he said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." And you know what they did? They left their nets. They left their boat. And they followed after Yeshua. And they became fishers of men. They were used by the Lord. Today the writings that we have in our own hands were given to us by those early Hebrew believers in Yeshua the Messiah who were put down for us by divine inspiration. And you and I have been fished, you might say, by the Lord we have been brought in to be part of the family of God.

You and I also, beloved brothers and sisters, are responsible to share the message of the love of God with many around us. Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. But I want you to notice in this text here that they were working together. You see how many times it says that they're working side by side. You see, they were putting everything together. The gates were placed there together. And then it said, "Next unto them." Verse 4. Repaired another person. Verse 4. "Be next unto them." Repaired and so on. You see, side by side working together. Sharing, you might say, building the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

And then the gates thereof. They're building, they're putting together the doors, the locks, the bars. The locks and the bars are for protection from the enemy who might come in. And then they are working together in the things of the Lord. You notice it said in verse 5. There were some people who didn't want to participate. They thought that it is above them. You see, it says here in verse 5b. "Their nobles put not their necks to the work of their lords." You see, there were some people who were in a high position. They did not want to serve the Lord. They perhaps thought that this is above me.

They did dirty work for those other guys to do. And other men and women to do. But I'm not going to take any part in it. Well, listen. Remember that I told you this. That there is a book of remembrance that God wrote in Malachi 3 and verse 16. And God knows everything that the people of God are doing. And He wants us to work together. He wants us to labor together. But if somebody is not wanting to serve the Lord, who do you think is going to lose? Of course, the people of God, in a sense, lose if somebody doesn't participate in the work of the Lord.

But there is a note here. It's so interesting. In the whole chapter, those nobles, individuals, are mentioned here that they didn't want to put their neck for the work of their Lord. They perhaps too much was for them and they let the others do the job. They did not participate in this work. This is really a representation of believers who are called to take part in building the body of Messiah and they don't take part in it. And that is rather sad. And you remember, we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. And God is going to ask us.

He is going to ask these nobles. You had an opportunity to take part with your brethren in building the walls of Jerusalem, to protect the people of God, who were despised and rejected by their neighbors. And you didn't take part. It was maybe too much for you. Well, you know, brothers and sisters, there is reward for serving the Lord in the Messianic kingdom. The Lord is going to reward his own, who serve him. And you notice that it says here, that the Techoites did work. And you know what happened now, and I took a note of it actually in my preparation for that, that the Techoites are mentioned twice.

They are also mentioned in verse 27. Notice, let me read verse 27. After them, the Techoites repaired another piece over against the great tower that lieth out even unto the wall of Ophel. Now, why do you think the Techoites' name is mentioned twice? Well, it is interesting, because they had to do twice the work. Because the nobles, they put not their necks into the work of the Lord. They were not willing to take part in the work of the Lord. In other words, their responsibility is falling upon someone else to do twice the job, because another doesn't take his or her responsibility in the building of the body of Messiah.

We all have responsibilities. We all have privilege, but we also have a responsibility to build. And so they build the ship gate, represent the cross of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, whereby we were saved. They also build the fish gate, which represents the need of sharing the gospel, of telling others what God has done for us through our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Yeshua the Messiah. Now, let's go down in those gates, and let's go now to the next gate in verses 6 to verse 12. We have the third gate, and it is called the old gate. The old gate, the old gate. And so we read in verse 6.

Moreover, the old gate repaired Yehoiada, the son of Pasha, and Meshulam, the son of Besodiah. They laid the beams thereof, and they set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Maltaia, the Givonite, and Yadon, the Meroniteite, the men of Givon, of Mitzpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side of the river. Next unto them repaired Uziel, the son of Harchaia, the goldsmith. Next unto them also repaired Hananiah, the son of one of the Apothecaries. And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall, or the wide wall. Let me read verse 9. He said that next unto him repaired Raphaia, the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Yerushalayim.

Verse 10. And next unto him repaired Yedadaya, the son of Harumf, over against his house. And next unto him repaired Chatush, the son of Chashavniah. And Malchuyah, the son of Harim, and Chashuv, the son of Pachat Moab, repaired the other piece and the tower of the furnace. And finally verse 12. And next unto him repaired Shalom, the son of Halosh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. So now we have the third gate. And the third gate is called the old gate. In Hebrew we call it Shar Hayeshanah, or Hashar Hayeshanah, the old, old gate. And there is something also that is very important for us to learn from this third gate.

I would like to suggest that this gate represents before us that all the people of God are responsible to follow the Lord in the ancient path. You know, we live in a time where there's so many new views about so many new things. You know, and every time you open the TV, or you open the radio, or you read some magazine or something like that, or even new books that people are writing. From generation to generation, everybody come up with a new thing. And new teachings. And there are new views. And we are so quickly adrifted to a new thing that someone teaches us. And how important, beloved brothers and sisters, for us as believers to learn to stick to the ancient truths of the word of God.

The teaching that our forefathers had given us. Whether it is the people of Israel, the prophets of Israel. Or whether it is the early disciples that had given to us the truths of the present day dispensation. Let me read you a verse in Acts chapter 2 and verse 42. The early believers sticked to the apostles' doctrine. They didn't run around after every new form of doctrine. But they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching. Notice that in verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, and the breaking of the bread, and of prayers. And fear came upon every soul. Many wonders, signs were done by the apostles.

And all that believed were together and had one thing in common. That's how the church began. And of course today you and I live on the other side of the church age. The things are no longer the same. Here you notice it says they all were together in one accord in verse 44. And they had all things in common. Everything began very well. But look at the condition today in the body of Messiah. In the history of our people, everything began very well in the beginning. The men of old, the men of Israel and women of Israel came out of Egypt and everything began well. But time passes by that new things have been introduced.

By the way, these people who came back from Babylon, why they were in Babylon? Because a few years earlier, instead of worshipping the true and living God, they have allowed themselves to worship idols. And all the things that the nations around introduced among our people Israel. That's why they were taken to Babylon for 70 years. That's why the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. That's why the gates were burnt with fire. They should have been in Jerusalem all along. But they thought that the new thing will be the great thing for them. So they end up taking the new things. And they've been drifted away and ended up to be further and further and further.

Until God had to come in judgment. And scatter them and bring Nebuchadnezzar to take them away to Babylon. So the appeal was remain in the old path in a simple way that God have established in his word. Let me show you what Jeremiah appealed to Israel. See, Jeremiah was one of those that was carried captive also. And he suffered because the nation did not submit to the word of God. So look what he said to his own brethren. In Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse 16. "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old path. Where is the good way? And walk therein.

And ye shall find rest for your souls." But look at the answer. But they said, "We will not walk therein." You see, Jeremiah was warning our people of all the people of Israel. "Israel," he said. "Judah," he said. "You stand in the way. Look for the old path." Now you see, you know, we always seem to want to have something new. As if we are going to renovate the Bible. As if God's word is going to change because you come or I come with a new idea. Beloved brothers and sisters, let me tell you. If this is the word of the Lord, it is the word of the Lord.

We can't add anything to it. We can't subtract anything from it. It will never change. You and I will try, the enemy will try to change things. We cannot change God. God wants to change us. To be conformed to His image. We are not going to change God. No God's word. No religion can ever change the word of God. He is the creator of the universe. He is the sustainer of the universe. He is the redeemer of mankind. He is the word of God. And remains true to itself. So Jeremiah said to our people of old. And look how sad it is. He said, "Israel, ask for the old path.

Where it is a good way. Walk in this good way, Israel. Find rest to your soul. Just do it." But the answer was, "We will not walk therein." Okay, God said. You are not going to walk therein. Okay, I will bring Nebuchadnezzar. And you are going to see where you are going to be. And then later on, when they were in Babylon, they were singing this song, Psalm 137. "Oh, Yerushalayim, if I'll forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I will not place Jerusalem above my chiefest joys." But it was too late. Because they were by the rivers of Babylon. And they were weeping.

When they remember Yerushalayim, the good old days. You see, brothers and sisters, do you think you and I are different? It's the same thing with us today, with the body of Messiah. They always come to us with a new thing. And they think that we all should follow this new thing. The Bible tells us to stick to the ancient things. The things that God had given to us. And Nehemiah in his third chapter lists before us the old gate. And don't let anything new draw you away from the Lord. If it is really from the Lord, it would be an old thing that was already given to us in God's Word.

There is nothing new under the sun. God's Word remains the same and we are encouraged to follow Him and to submit to Him and not to allow the world to affect us and to change us. One more verse in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. The apostle is telling the brothers and sisters of Rome, I will teach you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, prove that which is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

You see, there is no difference between Old Testament saints and New Testament saints. All of them were raised by God to lead God's people closer to God and closer to Yeshua the Messiah. My brothers and sisters, you and I are encouraged as well today to go and follow that old path, the path that was given to us in the Scripture. You know, I am so thankful for some of the brethren that I have been exposed to who are firmly carrying on to walk with the Lord steady, continuing on, not one day this way and another day this way, like moving by the wind of man's opinion.

They read the Bible. They read the Scripture. They see what the Bible says. They submit to it. And they became pillars in the assemblies. Pillars that you and I need so much, like Nehemia, a pillar who stood for the things of God in the midst of opposition all around him. And you and I fail so much. Shifting by the winds of human opinion and shifting by the winds of man's thoughts and all kind of idea of people. God's word will never change and we need the grace of God to remain steady, close to him. And he's able to help us. And when we fail and we do it, sin does so easily beset us.

The great thing to do is to repent before the Lord and to turn back to him so he can put us back on the ancient path, on the old way that is given to us in his word. Now, look at the people who participated in the buildings of the walls and the gates. First of all, you notice in verse 8, you have the goldsmith. These are people who are working with gold. In Hebrew, we call it "sorfim". If your necklace broke or your chain broke, you go to them and they melt the gold together and put it together. They could say, "Come on, I'm sitting in my office working with gold.

I don't have the strength to go and build these walls of Jerusalem. I'm not going to build this." But look, they were not qualified carpenters, they were not qualified builders, but they were willing to put the energy into building the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And what they are, according to verse 8, the goldsmiths. But they were willing to serve among the people of Israel and to get up from the chair and put hard work into the things of the Lord in building the walls. Look at another group here that are called here "apothekeris", but in Hebrew is the word "rakachim". Rakachim are simply "pharmacists".

They are working also and they are putting medicine together. In Hebrew, "rokeach" means "pharmacist". "Bokchim" means "pharmacists" in plural. And all that they do, they are putting pills together and give you the medicine so you can get those medicines to help you with your problem. They got up from that work. And they went forward for this hard labor to put stone upon stone in order to build this wall that will protect them and the people of Israel from their enemies. And also to mention, you have the "giv'onite". You remember who were the "giv'onite"? The "giv'onite" were those who actually lied to the people of Israel in Joshua chapter 9.

And they were not actually Jewish. They were not part of the people of Israel. And they didn't want Israel to destroy them and so they said that they came from a far country. But actually they were near there. And yet you see the "giv'onim", they also took part. In other words, you find out that they were influenced by the rest of the nation to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And fourthly, I want to mention in verse 10, someone was building against his house. You notice that in verse 10? Next unto them repaired Jedadiah, the son of Charmaph, even over against his house. Now that's interesting because they were building the walls of Jerusalem, but apparently the house was very near the wall.

And he tells us another thing. That to build against the house, there is a responsibility for us to protect our own family. You know, the enemy coming to the lives of the family and destroy household. Marriages are broken. Relationship between parents and children are broken. Children with their own brothers and sisters are broken. Many believers, their children do not follow the Lord anymore because the enemy have attacked them in such a way. And some husbands don't believe. Some wives don't believe. The chaos that could exist. So when they build against the house, they were wise. They were saying, "Listen, I want to take care of my wife.

I want to take care of my husband. I want to take care of my parents. I want to take care of my children. I'm building the wall because my house will be protected." And how the enemy caused havoc among the homes of the believers. And perhaps we worked and we built and we took care of our house and still the enemy attacked us. But nevertheless, they were wise to take care of the building, of the wall that was against their house. So this is the old gate. Now, verse 13, we have the fourth gate, called the valley gate. It says here, the valley gate, call it Sha'ar Haggai in Hebrew, repaired Chanun and the inhabitants of Sanoa.

They build it. They set up the doors they're off, the locks they're off, the bars they're off, and a thousand cubits of wall onto the dung gates. Notice that these people have repaired the valley gate yet another thousand cubits of the wall. They must have worked hard to build much of the wall. But what does the valley gate or Sha'ar Haggai represent? Well, if the ship gate represent Yeshua's death for us on the tree, and if the fish gate represent the importance of sharing the word of God, the gospel, with others around us, and if the old gate represent the necessity of walking in the old path in the way that the Bible, the word of God give us, well, the valley gate represent the importance of humility, of going down to the valley and not priding ourselves and exalting ourselves and thinking that we are superior than somebody else.

God have always taught our forefathers to remove pride from them. You know, pride is the last thing that dies in us. We are often such a proud people. There is a pride of race. There is a pride of face. There is a pride of place. There is a pride of place. pride of faith. We think that our faith, we are the most spiritual people around the world. And God want to teach us the importance of humility. Brothers and sisters, we will never be able to build the right together, the body of Messiah, if we had this arrogance and pride in our lives. It is essential for us to be a humble people, a people that are humbled before the Lord.

Turn to Proverbs chapter 16 and verses 18 and 19. We read, Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be in a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud. Notice James chapter 4 verse 6, Jacob, James, has spoken to these early Jewish believers to whom he wrote and he said to them, He giveth more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud and he giveth grace unto the humble. 1 Peter 5, he says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time. And it is so important, beloved brothers and sisters, that the Lord will help us to develop humility in our lives.

And I also would like to suggest that the valley gate will also represent not only humility but also the fact that in our lives as believers we will experience trials and tribulation. You remember what Psalm 23 says, Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. You see, not only that we need humility in our lives, but we also have to realize that if we are going to walk with the Lord in the old path, we will also experience some tribulation and persecution as believers in Yeshua the Messiah.

This is part and parcel in our walk with the Lord. Now, gate number 5. And this is very important as well, beloved brothers and sisters, I'm reading verse 14. But the dung gate repaired Malachiah, the son of Rahab, the ruler of part of Beit HaKerem, he built it and he set up the doors thereof and the locks thereof and the bars thereof. This is gate number 5 and this is called the dung gate. Those of you that have been with me in Israel just recently, we just crossed through this dung gate. the dung gate. Then what is the dung gate? The dung gate represents all the garbage, the dung that was in the city of Jerusalem, it went out through the dung gate and had been cast into the valley there.

And this is very important as well for us today, beloved brothers and sisters, you and I that are so much exposed to everything around us. in order for us to be spiritually growing and being a blessing and building the body of Messiah, there's a lot of garbage that has to be removed out of our hearts and out of our lives. You know, the Lord looks at our life and sometimes we know very well how much dirt, how much dung is existing in my own life, in our own life. And do you think the Lord will bless us and use us among the people of God when that dung is part of our own life?

There is no way that the Lord can participate in this. And all of us are responsible like our people of all, the people of Israel to take all the dung out of our lives. Of course, with the help of the Lord. And to throw it outside of our lives so it will not affect us and draw us away from the things of the Lord. You know how it is. whether it is our own flesh, whether it is Satan himself, whether it is the world itself, we are constantly bombarded with all sorts of garbage that attacks us and draws us away from the Lord. And therefore, I am going to read the last verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 for this ministry meeting in connection the dung gate 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1.

Shaul Paul told the Corinthians these words: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God." God wants us also, beloved brothers and sisters, as our people of old Israel built the walls and the gates of Jerusalem, the dung gate was representing a removal of that which is not pleasing to God in the life of the people of God. And we too, we know how much garbage is often time coming to our lives, coming to our homes, coming to our families, coming to all what we are involved in and we need the Lord to help us to remove garbage, dung outside and not only in our own home, in our own life, even in our own circle.

We don't want anything that is not pleasing to the Lord. May the Lord just help us with this. May the Lord just lead us on to make us useful for His honor and for His glory. So we will build the body of Messiah for the glory of His name.