Shabbat Shalom everyone. Open your Bibles, the Tanakh we are going to study today from Nehemiah chapter 3. We are going to begin today with reading from verse 15 towards the end of the third chapter. a beautiful book of a man that was a real servant of God among our nation Israel, a man who loved so much his people and wanted to be a builder, the kind of a man that the Lord is able to raise from our midst to be builders among the people of God. May the Lord use us all to be those that are built and not tear down, those that want to be an encouragement to the people of God.

So follow me. Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 15, but the gate of the fountain repaired Shalun, the son of Kolchose, the ruler of part of Mitzpah. He built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Shiloach by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. After him repaired Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beit Tzor, unto the place over against the sepulchers of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty. After him repaired the Levites, Rachum, the son of Beni.

Next unto him repaired Hashaviyah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah in his part. After him repaired their brethren, Bavai, the son of Hanadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah. And next unto him repaired Ezer, the son of Yeshua, the ruler of Mitzpah. another piece over against the going up to the armory at the turning of the wall. After him Baruch the son of Zavai earnestly repaired the other piece from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashiv the high priest. After him repaired Meramot the son of Uriah the son of Kotz another piece from the door of the house of Eliashiv even to the end of the house of Eliashiv and after him repaired the priest the men of the plain after him repaired Binyamin and Chashuv over against their house after him repaired Azariah the son of Maasiyah the son of Ananiah by his house After him repaired Binui, the son of Hanada Another piece from the house of Azariah Unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner Balal, the son of Uzzi Over against the turning of the wall And the tower which lieth out from the king's house That was by the court of the prison After him Padayad, the son of Parosh Moreover, the Netanim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate, towards the east, and the tower that lieth out.

After them, the Tekoite repaired another piece, over against the great tower that layeth out, even unto the wall of Ophel. From above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over against his house. After them repaired Tzedok, the son of Emer, over against his house. After him repaired also Shamiah, the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate. After him repaired Hananiah, the son of Shelamaya, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaf. Another piece. After him repaired Meshulam, the son of Berachiah, over against his chamber. After him repaired Malachiah, the goldsmith's son, unto the place of the Netinim and of the merchants over against the gate of Mifkad and to the going up of the corner.

And between the going up of the corner and to the ship gate we paired the goldsmiths and the merchants. Now I mentioned that in our study together that when we study the book of Nehemiah, we would probably read chapter 1, we'll read chapter 2, and we will jump over to chapter 4 because there are too many Hebrew names in this third chapter. And a time when we read through the Bible, we don't take the time to read those difficult names and lists of people. But again, I would like to encourage you today, Those of you that have not been with us in our previous message, we have already covered the first 14 verses of Nehemiah chapter 3.

The whole third chapter of the book of Nehemiah gives us a list of Hebrew individuals from all over the land of Israel that rose up with a determination to begin to build the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and the gates of Jerusalem which were burnt with fire. Can you imagine the city of Jerusalem without walls or broken down walls and gates that are burnt with fire? The enemies could come in and cause a havoc among the people of God. And the walls were necessary to protect the people of Israel from the outsiders who would seek to harm them, but also to keep them in that enclosure, which keeps them safe and protected by the Lord.

And it reminds us as well for us, because you and I as believers today need those walls. And while we don't have to build physical walls, we are responsible to build, you might say, and to set up the walls of biblical protection for the life of each and every one of us as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. Well, if you remember in a previous message, there are 10 gates that are mentioned here in Nehemiah chapter 3. Those 10 gates begin from the north, if you now look with me for a moment at this chart. two gates at the north, there are two gates at the west, one gate at the south, and five gates at the east of the city of Jerusalem.

There's a great lesson, brothers and sisters, the importance of those gates and the names that God had given to those gates really represent for us the manner whereby even you and I can learn from those gates. What does those gates represent for us today as believers in Yeshua the Messiah? Let me just remind you quickly. The first one is the sheep gate. The second one is the fish gate. The third one is the old gate. The fourth one is the valley gate. The fifth one is the dung gate. Those first five gates already we covered in our previous meeting together. Those five gates represent before us the importance that we have as believers in the person of the Lord.

He is represented by the sheep gate. He is the one who became the Lamb of God which took upon himself the sin of this world. Then we talked about the fish gate. The fish gate represents to us the importance of going out fishing for men. I will make you fishers of men, Yeshua, the Messiah, said to Peter and James and John and so on, those early disciples from the land of Israel in Galilee. Then we talked about the old gate, and the old gate represents before us the ancient path. We are to stay steady with the truths that we have received from the Word of God.

We can look at the Tanakh, the Brit HaChadashah, the old path that God had given our people of Israel. And now you can see a little bit of these gates as we are going through them today. Then we have the Valley Gate. The Valley Gate represented for us the necessity of going down in humility. We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God if he is going to exalt us in due time. The valley gate also represented before us the importance of accepting trials in our lives. Sometimes the Lord takes his people through trials. In fact, Peter said in 1 Peter 1, the trial of your faith is much more precious than of gold.

It's sometimes the trials, the experiences, the suffering that we go in our life teaches us many, many lessons. You remember the psalmist of Israel said in Psalm 23, David said, Though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Because you are with me. God is with us when we are going through trials in our lives as believers. And finally, if you remember, we went through the dung gate and we were encouraged from the scripture to remove the garbage that is existing in the life of God's people. Through this dung gate, it reminds us of all the garbage that was taken out by the people of Israel through this gate and cast into the valley.

And you and I also need the Lord to help us to remove the garbage that come into our life oftentimes things creep into our life and we need the Lord to help us to cast this garbage through this dung gate you and I need to do so on a regular basis and you know very well how the world often seeks to creep into our life and how we need to remove the dung that so easily creep into our life. Remember the book of Hebrews in chapter 12, the apostle said to the Hebrew believers, let us run the race with patience and set aside the sin which does so easily beset us.

Sin creeps into our life so easily. The sin of disobedience creeping into our life, all sorts of sins which come into our life and we need the Lord to help us to cast our sins away. That's why 2nd Corinthians chapter 7, the Apostle Paul said to the brothers and sisters in Corinth, having therefore these promises, brethren, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So we are now continuing on with the five final gates on the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem. So let's read verse 15. Verse 15 is gate number 6. But the gate of the fountain repaired Shalun, the son of Kol-Choseh, the ruler part of Mitzpah.

He built it, he covered it, he set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Shiloach, the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. Now this fountain gate is teaching us another important lesson. Well, if we are going to be successful in removing the dung that is so easily beset us in our lives as believers, we are also encouraged here from the scripture that we are to be guided and controlled by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God needs to lead us and to control us in our lives as believers.

And I want you please to turn with me, first of all, to John chapter 14. Look what Yeshua said in verse 16, notice that. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth. In Hebrew it's called Ruach HaEmet, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not. Neither knoweth he, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and he shall be with you. The fountain gate of Nehemiah chapter 3 and verse 15 represent the person of the Holy Spirit of God who is indwelling every believer. When we have embraced Yeshua the Messiah, When we have accepted him as our Lord, our Savior, and our Mashiach, the Holy Spirit of God came to indwell a believer.

But while the Holy Spirit of God indwells every believer, we are not always walking in the Spirit. You know, many times we allow the flesh to take its course. Many times we are not living a life that is guided by Ruach HaKodesh. And because it's not so, we find ourselves failing the Lord. We don't have any liberties in our lives at times. In fact, sometimes we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Ephesians teaches us this. Sometimes we quench the Holy Spirit of God. Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians teaches us this. And yet we are believers. We have the Holy Spirit of God. The word for fountain represents the movement of the Holy Spirit of God.

And because we walk not in the Spirit and we allow the flesh to take power over our lives, then we don't have liberty, no power, no energy, spiritual energy, even though we belong to the Lord. And so the fountain gate is representing the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of the people of God. and how much we need to go through that fountain gate and to allow the Spirit of God to control us and to lead us in our lives. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1, in verse 13, the Apostle Paul said, In whom ye also trusted, namely we trusted in Yeshua, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

You see, every one of us have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We belong to the Lord, and yet a time we're not allowing Him to lead us in our life. We are sealed by the Spirit of God, but we are not to grieve Him. He is a person, a divine person. God, the Holy Spirit, Elohim, Haruach. And for us as believers, the Lord is exhorting us not to grieve Him. And that fountain gate represents for us the movement of the Holy Spirit of God, where we can be used by Him and serve the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. Turn with me to John chapter 4 and verse 13 and 14.

Here are the words of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to the Samaritan woman. He said to her, Yeshua answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. You see what Yeshua is really saying to the Shomroni, to the Samaritan woman, the one that will believe on me, he will receive in himself the Holy Spirit of God. This is the fountain of living water. The Holy Spirit of God are to guide us and to lead us and to instruct us in our lives.

In John 7 and verse 37, Yeshua continued and he is now specifically showing to us that the fountain of living water represents the Holy Spirit of God. And he says, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and he cried and he said, if any man thirsty, let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters and then the spirit of God explained to us what does he mean by that it says in verse 39 but this he spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Yeshua was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit of God is represented here by the fountain gate. It's really a gate that was existing in biblical time in the city of Yerushalayim and the fountain gate represented the Holy Spirit of God which you and I are to be guided by. Israel in a future day will be restored and the Spirit of God will open to them. But today, individuals like you and I who accepted Yeshua ought to be guided by the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, in Galatians 5 and verse 16, the Apostle Paul says, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. In Galatians 5, he continues and says, be led by the Spirit of God.

You know, it's so wonderful to see a brother or a sister that's walking in the Spirit? Or a brother and a sister that are led by the Spirit of God? To see a believer that is being led by the Spirit of God, he or she will present before us the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus. They will show us more of the image of the Son in their lives. That's why we are exhorted again and again to be filled by the Spirit to walk in the Spirit to be led by the Spirit to be controlled by the Spirit that fountain gate represents before us the leading of the Holy Spirit of God and this is very challenging for us because we are so easily inclined to walk in the flesh in our Bible studies we talked about it how easy we allow the old nature to take its course, and what an encouragement it is for us to walk in the power of the Spirit of God.

One more verse I'm going to connect with this here in our passage about the fountain gate that we can learn from that. Turn to Galatians 4 and verse 6, and I want you to notice that Paul says and because you are sons and we can add the word daughters God had sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba father Abba Avinu because we are sons and daughters God sent into our hearts every one of us have in our hearts the person of the Holy Spirit of God And we can cry, Abba, Avinu, Abba our Father, help us in our life with the many challenges that we experience in our life.

Now, you will notice from verse 15 all the way to verse 25, the gate was built, but also some parts of the walls. You notice in verse 15, they build the doors, the locks, the bars of the wall. They went all the way unto the pool of Shiloach. The pool of Shiloach, it's called in English Siloach, but in Hebrew it's called Shiloach. It's a pool that was existing there by the city of David. And that pool, if you remember the blind man in John chapter 9, Yeshua told him to go to wash his eyes at the pool of Shiloach. The word Shiloach in Hebrew means to be sent. And it really represents for us God who sent his son, the Messiah, in order to heal the brokenhearted, give life to those that were without life, give hope to mankind.

And you notice it was by the king's garden. It is the garden that David heads. Then later on it says the stairs went down all the way to the city of David. The city of David is where David named the city of Jerusalem the city of David. It's called even up till today, the city of David. And you notice further down in verse 16, the rulers of the half part of Bethuel, he continued on unto the sepulcher of David. You notice in these two verses you have David's garden, you have David's city, and you have David's sepulcher. David was the king of Israel, the one that God has raised to be the man after God's own heart.

God raised him to be the king of Israel. He was the second king of the people of Israel. And notice in verse 17 that the Levites participate in that. Even the Levites. The Levites are the spiritual leaders of Israel. Even the Levites participated in the building of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Notice it says in verse 20, After him Baruch, the son of Zabai, earnestly repaired also some pieces of the walls of Jerusalem. He was earnest in building. He didn't do it callously. He worked hard with sincerity of his heart. He was earnestly serving and building the wall of the city of Jerusalem. And ultimately they have arrived to the house of Eliashiv, the high priest.

So you can see that even the high priest had to have the wall get all the way to his own house. And there you find others continuing to repair all the way until the next gate. We are right now at the fountain gate. There are those five gates on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. If you can imagine, there is a Mount of Olives, there is Mount Moriah, right in between there is the valley, and when someone looks from Mount of Olives into Mount Moriah, he is really facing those five gates on the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem. The fountain gate represents before us the Holy Spirit of God, which will lead us.

and guide us and control God's people to continue on in the will of the Lord. Well, let's move down back to our chapter. We are now in Nehemiah, Nehemiah, chapter 3. And now we read verse 26 and 27, and that is the water gate. We read, moreover, the Netinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate, towards the east, and the tower that lieth out. After them, the Tekoite repaired another piece, over against the gray tower that lieth out over unto the wall of Ophel. and so you notice the next gate this is gate number seven is called the water gate in hebrew we call it shar hamaim apparently there was some water flowing through this gate maybe it went through the gate or beside it it is near the fountain gate now the water gate represents before us the word of god then we can very clearly see and i would like you now to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5, here is where the husbands are exhorted to love their own wives.

And look how Paul is giving an explanation about the word of God. He says in verse 25, he says, husbands love your wives. How? Even as the Messiah also loved the assembly and gave himself for it. Then he says in verse 26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of the water by the word. You notice that the scripture oftentimes when the word of God is spoken about it is often being represented by water. You remember in the upper room before Passover began in John chapter 13 when all the disciples gathered around Yeshua the Messiah to celebrate Pesach. Well, everybody sat down. Nobody rose up to wash the feet of the disciples.

So Yeshua getting up, he'd take a towel in his hand, take a basin with water, and he began to wash the disciples' feet. The water represents before us the cleansing power that the Word of God has. That's why when we come to our meetings together, we always teach the Word. Why? Because there is an effect. The Word of God speaks to us. The power of the Spirit of God speaks to us, convicts us, and helps us to take another step for the Lord. Another day to follow Yeshua, the Messiah. There is a cleansing power that the Word of God is representing. To be a little bit more visual, when we take a bath, we take a shower, and we cleanse ourselves externally.

But when we read the Scripture, it's affecting us. There is an element of cleansing by the reading of the Word and the hearing of the Word of God. And that's why we should never be tired of listening to the Word of God. It has an element of cleansing. God used His Word to cleanse us. We get so quickly dirty in this world. And that's why we need ongoing cleansing as we walk here in this world. Some verses that I would like to read in connection with the cleansing power of the Word of God. Psalm 119, verse 9, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to thy word. There's a cleansing power through the word of God. That's why we need it all the time. God had to speak to us through his word. Look at Psalm 19, verse 97. David said, Oh, how I love thy law. In Hebrew, the word Torah. He said, it is my meditation all the day long. I can assure you, he didn't mean only the 10 words of Exodus chapter 20, but he meant the whole scripture. Verse 98, thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever with me. Verse 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation.

And then verse 100, I understand more than the ancient, because I keep thy precepts. There in these verses, you have the words, mitzvotecha, edotecha, and pikudecha in Hebrew. Your commandments, your testimonies, your precepts, all are parts of Torah, the laws of the Lord. The Word of God have an effect upon our lives it speaks to us and you notice what happened to us when we deviate from the word of God when we stay away from reading the scripture when we stay away from listening to the bible teaching whether it is at the meeting or whether it is elsewhere we incline to drift further away from the Lord himself and here we get encouragement to go through that water gate you might say, and to apply the Word of God into our lives as we walk here with the Lord.

And this is important. One more verse in connection with it in the New Testament, 2 Timothy chapter 3, in verse 16, as a younger brother, Paul's encouraging him to study the scripture. He said, all scriptures is given by the inspiration of God. Timothy, it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And of course, not only Timothy, you and I as well, and for instructing us to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. And so the water gate, it represents before us the word of God. The word of God is powerful, is sharper than two-edged sword, and it's able to divide asunder, and it's able to discern things that you and I cannot discern.

Very interesting to see how important is the Word of God. So, we have covered so far the ship gate, the fish gate, the oil gate, the valley gate, the dung gate the fountain gate and the water gate every one of these gates represent before us something in connection with our lives as believers we enter in through the sheep gate we accept the Messiah we continue on through the fish gate we are becoming fishers of men we share the message of the word of God we are going back to the old gate because it reminds us of the truth that we have always learned in past history from God's Word.

And then we have to go sometimes through the valley gate because at times we are going to go through trials and it is very important for us to be humbled as before the Lord. And then we have to remove the garbage out of our lives, that sinful nature that we have, all the garbage that creeps into our lives. And then the Spirit of God can lead us as we walk with the Lord, guided by the Spirit of God, and we can get some light and help from the Word of God. And the Word of God is important in our life as believers. But now notice that here's the next gate.

It's called the horse gate. In Hebrew, it's called shar hasusim. Now, what does horses represent in the scripture? and time in the word of God a donkey or an ass represent peace when Yeshua the Messiah rode into the city of Jerusalem you remember he rode on an ass on a colt on a donkey and he came in peace he wanted to establish the messianic kingdom he wanted Israel to accept him and he rode on a donkey but he was rejected, he was despised when he came at his first coming. But the horse gate, beloved brothers and sisters, represent before us the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who is going to come in his second coming, but he's going to come this time as a warrior.

And it represents war and conflict and fight in the life of God's people. Now you notice it very well that when you became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, all of a sudden things were not the same as they used to be. We have various conflict in our lives. There are many enemies that are seeking to harm the people of God. We have conflict within ourselves, within the world in which we live in. There are attacks of the enemy. We are in a warfare. We find ourselves constantly in conflict. We struggle. We are constantly being attacked and we are called to fight the good fight.

Not to fight with carnal things, but to fight as we are guided by the Spirit of God. And so the horse gate represent before us the warfare that we experience in our lives let me just show you a couple of verses the first one is found in Deuteronomy chapter 20 God have instructed Israel already then and there to realize that there is a battle and that they are to trust him In chapter 20 and verse 1, it says, When you're going out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and a people that are more than you, be not afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Israel, when you see these enemies of yours on multitude of horses, ready for a battle against you, Israel, don't be afraid of them because I'm with you. I'm going to lead you. I'm going to minister to you. And you and I also, when we have these fights constantly, there's this conflict that we're going through every day of our life, we also need to trust that the Lord will assist us and the Lord will minister to us and help us to win that battle that we have entered into the moment we accepted Yeshua the Messiah. You remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6, verse 10? Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole army of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Look at this. You know, our warfare is not against flesh and blood. But we are wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole army of God that you may be able to withstand against an evil day. so we have entered into a battle and that horse gate represents before us the fact that we are going through battles look at the condition that existed when we become believers our families reject us when we accepted Yeshua our fellow workmen and workwomen do not accept us at our work even young people who become believers in Yeshua go back to school misunderstood by their friends we have constantly battles to deal with.

Some husbands have their wives not believers. Some wives have their husbands not believers. Some children reject what their parents have taught them. They're constantly battled. But the battle belongs to the Lord. And He's able to help us as we are going through these battles. I can assure you that if I'll ask each one of you today, how is your situation in your home and your work and your life and you will tell me you know brother Gideon I have this problem and that problem and this conflict and that conflict what shall we do well we have to realize that we are part and parcel of this world that rejected the Messiah and when we identify with Yeshua we really became associated with him and the world reject us the enemy reject us and We are to continue on, to go through this battle, but not without the help of the Lord.

It is His power that enables us to continue on to fight that fight. Turn to Revelation 19. We see Yeshua coming in a future day. And He's riding upon a horse, a white horse. Revelation chapter 19, verse 11. It says, and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he does judge and make war. See that? The horse often is representing a warfare. And so when Yeshua came in his first coming, he rode a donkey. He sought to bring shalom and peace. And he actually established shalom by dying for us on the tree and making peace through the blood of his cross.

But the world rejected him. Israel, our nation, did not accept him at his first coming. And so at his second coming, he is no longer riding a donkey, he is riding a horse. He is going to come and he is going to judge this world in righteousness. But for you and I on an individual basis as we walk here in this world we have to realize that we're going to have conflict in our life. And I encourage you just like you need to encourage me because all of us are experiencing these conflicts in our day by day life as we live here in this world.

what shall we do? Well, we always have to turn our hearts to the Lord and to realize that it is He alone that is able to help us to win that battle. And we are not to fight with each other. Our enemies are not our brethren. Those that believe in Yeshua, the Messiah, we should seek to have harmony among each other at times we don't see things eye to eye. But our brothers and sisters are not our enemies. Our brothers and sisters are those that will spend eternity with us. We are to love them. We are to be patient with each other. We are to bear with each other.

We are to seek to establish and encourage each other. Our fight is not against our brothers and sisters. Our fight is elsewhere. The enemy seeks to harm us. The enemy seeks to cause us much havoc. And you will notice when we're going to go back to chapter 4 and chapter 5 and chapter 6 of the book of Nehemiah that these Jewish people that began to build the walls of Jerusalem find themselves constantly under attack by their enemies and they needed the guidance and the help of the Lord to protect them from their enemies. So the horse gate represent before us the warfare, the conflict that we experience every day in our lives as believers.

We are going surely to experience this in our life. So the horse gate was in verse 28, where the priests participate in that, and everyone built against his house. Again, I want to underline the word against his house, because some of the houses were built upon the wall, was very connected to the wall of the city of Jerusalem. And so when they build these walls against the houses, they actually protected themselves from those that wanted to attack their homes. They protected their families. They protected each other there as they built and repaired the horse gate. Now notice verse 29 now, we have the building of the East Gate.

After them repaired Tzadok, the son of Imer, over against his house. After him repaired also Shamiah, the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate. The East Gate is the final part of the building of the walls of Jerusalem. again it is on the east side of the city of Jerusalem and if you would be in Israel today and you would look at this east gate it's shut it is the only gate that is shut in the city of Jerusalem in the old part on Mount Moriah and why it is shut it was shut by the Turkish quite a few years ago because some of them understood that the people of Israel are waiting for the return of the Messiah.

And so to avoid these promises to be fulfilled, they have shut the gate. And not only so, they have put right below that gate, they put a Muslim graveyard, and because Jewish people would not go through a Muslim graveyard, they assumed that that will eliminate the coming of the Mashiach through the East Gate. But we know very well that it doesn't matter what men will do, the promises of God will come true and God promised that he was going to send his son this first coming and he's also going to come at his second coming to establish and to restore again Israel as a nation so it doesn't matter what one would close the east gate the Messiah will surely come back to return to the people of Israel to the land of Israel and many believe that he will enter through this very gate called the East Gate because he's coming from the East, the sun is rising.

It is a representation of the second coming of the Messiah. Now, brothers and sisters, this is very, very important for us to understand because if the Messiah came at the first coming and he became the Lamb of God who took upon himself the sin of the world, he also has to fulfill the promise of coming again. And so in the East Gate, we have, you might say, two-fold representation. Now, I know that not every believer believes in the rapture of the church. I do, and I teach that. I believe that the assembly, the believers, Jew and Gentile, in this present day dispensation will be taken out of here before the tribulation will begin.

And I also believe that at the end of the seven years tribulation, that's what I understand from the word of God, the Messiah, Yeshua, will return to restore the nation of Israel back to himself. So that East Gate represents for us the twofold aspect of the return of the Messiah. He is, number one, coming for the heavenly company to meet us in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 to the end. And secondly, he is going to come to restore Israel as a nation and establish the messianic kingdom. I want to read a verse in Malachi chapter 4, please. Malachi was the prophet that prophesied in the time when Nehemiah returned to the land to build the walls of Jerusalem.

And then after that, there was a decline, and Malachi also challenged these Jewish people to be restored again to the Lord. And so notice what we read, and I love this verse so much in the book of Malachi. Malachi chapter 4 and verse 1. For behold, the day comes. Now he's taking them to the future. He's writing now about 400 BC. Israel was already restored back to the land. The second temple was already rebuilt. The walls of Jerusalem was already rebuilt. But there was a decline again. And so Malachi is saying, listen, there is yet a future.

Israel, even though again you departed from the Lord, there is yet coming a day in which the Lord himself is going to come to restore you Israel and to heal you so he says in verse 1 behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven he is talking about the tribulation and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up sayeth the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor breach in other words the tribulation is coming and the judgment of God is coming upon the world at large and of course Israel to be restored as a nation and then

he says in verse 2 but unto you he is speaking about those that have a heart for the Lord he says unto you that fear my name the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wing and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall and ye shall tread down the wicked and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this sayeth the Lord of hosts you see he is giving a hope for the remnant of Israel about a future day he is going to restore the nation of Israel and he is saying listen Israel I'm going to send the Messiah and

he's going to come as the Son of Righteousness.

Now notice, he used the word S-U-N. Where does the sun rise? In the east. And he said, notice, those that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his hand. Now I would write it if it was only merely the sun that is in the sky. I would write it he will come with healing in its wings. But he's not talking about the literal sun that we have in the sky, S-U-N. He's talking about the sun, S-O-N, the Mashiach that is going to come. And he's going to heal the brokenhearted. He's going to restore the nation of Israel to himself. And Israel ultimately, because Malachi is speaking specifically about Israel, he is going to be a blessing to the nation of Israel in a future day.

But what about us today, beloved brothers and sisters? You and I are not Israel. If we would have been Israel, we would have been living today in the land of Israel. We are the body of Messiah. We are believers from among the Jews, among the Gentiles, who are united together in the body of Messiah. Well, who are we? Do we have any hope? Well, for us, the Lord also promised to come, according to the Bible, He is going to come as the star, the morning star. the morning star arises before the sun is coming and that's why it is a representation of the departure of the heavenly company from this world that will experience judgment before the tribulation will come we are going to be taken by the Messiah to be with him in glory but then Israel is going to go through the tribulation time Jacob's trouble but at the end of the tribulation as we read here in verse 2, those that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.

Israel will ultimately be healed and be restored as a nation and will be established here upon the face of this earth. And so that east gate, Shara Mizrach represents the coming of the Messiah. He is coming again just the same like he came the first time to deal with our sin and sins he's going to come the second time to restore this world to himself he's the one that is going to ultimately reign and rule over the face of this earth and so we are drawing now to the end you notice the last gate is called the inspection gate go back to Nehemiah chapter 3 in verse 31 in hebrew we call it shar ha-mifkad after him malkaya the goldsmith's son unto the place of the netinims and the merchants over against the gate of mifkad and to the going up of the corner now here's the final gate that is mentioned here in nehemiah chapter 3 what does that mean the inspection gate?

In Hebrew we call it shar ha-mifkad and shar ha-mifkad is called the review gate. In fact brothers and sisters this is teaching us a very important lesson because after the Lord is going to take his own to be with him in glory, he is going to evaluate what kind of a life we lived as believers. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. Every one of us are going to be one day at the judgment seat of the Messiah. By the way, the judgment seat of the Messiah is not for unbelievers. It's only for believers. The great white throne judgment is only for unbelievers and not for believers.

There is 1,000 years space between the judgment seat of the Messiah and the great white throne. These 1,000 years is the millennial age, the kingdom age. When the Lord is going to take us out of here, He's going to inspect us, you might say. When we were in the military, the word is called the Mifkad. The commander used to call us all to come out of our tent, and we all were standing straight, and He was inspecting us. Are your shoes shining? Is the gun clean? Are your belts in a proper way? Are your shoes tucked in? And he was inspecting us. I remember that for years in the military, in the Israeli military.

Well, sometimes the shoes were not properly shining and the gun was not clean enough. And certain things were not right with us. And if we had certain things that were not right with us, we had to correct this. Well, when we're going to be in heaven, we are not going to be able to correct things. anymore. It is here and now is the time to spend for the Lord. And the Lord is going to ask us, he's going to challenge us, how did we live our lives as believers? In fact, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9. It says there, for we labors together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid a foundation and other builders thereupon, but let every man take heed how he build thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Yeshua, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And then notice verse 12. Now if a man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, or wood, hay, or stable. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sought it is. If any man's work abide, which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. You see, Paul, he's saying, listen, there is coming a day where we are going to stand before the Lord and really everything that we have done for the Messiah, for Christ, will remain. And whatever we have done for ourselves, for that which was not for the Messiah, will be burned with fire it is actually an encouragement for us to serve the lord today to give him time to give him energy to give him some of the gifts that he had given to us to be used by the lord because even after he comes to take his people to be with him at home we are going to be at that inspection gate and he is going to evaluate how did we live our lives and thank God, brothers and sisters that it is only for believers and therefore anything that we have done that was not for the Lord is going to be burnt with fire and going to be removed totally but only what we have done for the Lord he will reward us and we are going to use these rewards to serve him at the messianic kingdom in the future day when the Lord will come to establish His kingdom upon the face of this earth.

And that ought to encourage us to serve the Lord. Believe me, everything that we've done for the Lord, He remembers. Remember there is a record here. Nehemiah chapter 3 is a record of names. The Lord has a record. He doesn't have a record in order to cause us to feel bad, but He has a record because He wants to reward His own people. and therefore it is such an encouragement for us to also you might say go through that gate and recognize that one day it will be wonderful when the Lord can say well done good and faithful servant may the Lord help us in this now just in conclusion you notice that the chapter doesn't end at the gate of Mifkad or the inspection it does mention at the last verse once again the very first gate is also the last gate it says in verse 32 and between the going up of the corner unto the ship gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants and here again it takes us back to the ship gate and who is the ship gate represented?

it represents Yeshua the Messiah we are not only entering in by that gate unto salvation and we receive forgiveness of sins but we are to feed on him. He is the one that encourages us in this world even our people Israel when they had to kill the lamb and place the blood on the doorpost and the lintel they were to sit inside their homes and to feed on that lamb. And you and I need to feed on the Lord. He's our food, spiritual food that is. When we think of Him, when we sing of Him, when we read of Him, when we talk about Him, He's becoming an encouragement to us.

And therefore we are exhorted not only to accept the Lamb of God for salvation, but we are to feed upon Him and to get joy from Him so we can continue on living our lives until he will come again and take us to be with him at home. Ten gates in Nehemiah chapter 3. There are two other gates in Nehemiah chapter 8 and Nehemiah chapter 12, but those are not mentioned here. The number 10 represent the responsibility that you and I have. God gave us 10 fingers, 10 toes. He gave us the 10 commandments that we have in Exodus chapter 20. He gave the Egyptians the 10 plagues. The number 10 teaches us that there is a responsibility for us as believers.

By the way, in Revelation 21, we read about 12 gates in the city of New Jerusalem. And the number 12 represents administration. God is administrating, arranging things in this world and ultimately He will rule and He will reign over this world. May the Lord help us and bless us and lead us on.