Ten gates are mentioned in Chapter 3, and their names are significant. Each is a symbol representing an aspect of our Christian walk.2 Let’s take a walk around the city with Nehemiah and unlock the meaning for each of the gates as we go.
Sheep Gate (Nehemiah 3:1)
Through this gate, sacrificial sheep were brought to [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘god’
March 22, 2008
4:8 Unlocking the Gates
March 22, 2008
4:7 A Vested Interest
Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house…Beside him, Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region…Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, [...]
March 22, 2008
4:6 Pride and the Sin of Compare-A-Son
The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. (Nehemiah 3:5)
What a disgrace! The nobles of Tekoa were too good to join in this great work. Apparently, they were the only ones who wouldn’t help with the walls; no other abstainers [...]
March 22, 2008
4:5 Burn the Boats
God is not looking for perfection. He’s looking for commitment. He wants to know you will show up at the worksite each day to build your walls with Him.
There’s a great story that will give us a metaphor for this point.
On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed [...]
March 22, 2008
4:4 Lower Your Expectations
It’s not all or nothing. It’s something or nothing. Can you give God something today? Don’t worry about tomorrow. You’ve got your hands full with today. Start small, and work your way up. Open your bible and read one sentence. It’s something! Commit to closing your eyes when the cheerleaders come on during the game. [...]
March 22, 2008
4:3 All or Nuthin’
Don’t try to do all the spiritual disciplines at once. So many of us men feel that we have to be Super Christians or that we shouldn’t even try. We either do all the spiritual disciplines and do them better than anyone else (this is the sin of “compare-a-son,” which I’ll talk about a little [...]
March 5, 2008
4:2 Desire, Discipline, Delight
Spiritual disciplines are habits, and good habits are difficult to form. (The bad ones just seem to leap into existence.) When we are working on incorporating a new habit like daily time in the Word, we often struggle mightily to get started. We do well for a few days, and then our inspiration leaves us. [...]
March 5, 2008
4:1 Let the Building Begin!
Nehemiah: Chapter 3
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, [...]
March 3, 2008
3:11 Satan’s Bluff
Satan will threaten you when you start the hard work of rebuilding your walls, and he wants you to think that he is the one with the power. Recognize this for the bluff that it is. Satan has no power over you that God doesn’t allow. In other words, the only way that Satan can [...]
March 3, 2008
3:10 The Enemy’s First Attack
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as [...]
