Read: Nehemiah 3-6
I love the book of Nehemiah! The first gate they repaired was the Sheep gate. The high priest, Eliashib worked on it. His name means “God will restore”. It was the entrance for the sheep to come into the kingdom of God. It had a tower called Hananel which means “the grace of God”. That is how we come into salvation…through grace. The people who worked next to him were the people from Jericho. How appropriate since the first city they came to when they entered the promised land was Jericho. It means “house of fragrance”. When people walk through the gates of salvation they become like sweet smelling incense.
Every gate had a specific purpose so the one I was drawn to was the fountain gate. Fountain means “the eye of the landscape”. It was repaired by Shallum, son of Col-hozeb. These names mean “restitution” and “every seer”. This fountain gate was a watchtower. This was describing the office of the prophet. He was to have the eye of the landscape and be a watchtower in the spirit to see when the enemy was coming. His goal is to bring restitution to the land. That is what a prophet does. He sees into the spirit what is up ahead so he can warn the people so they can prepare. This is the only gate that they had to roof. That is because the door for the prophet goes up and down from heaven to earth. The roof was to protect them from evil spirits traveling their spiritual roads and confusing what they saw. I hope this makes sense.
Of course, you can’t do anything for the Lord and not get opposition from the enemy. Nehemiah had his share of opposition. But he refused to stop his work to entertain them or even argue with them. He called them liars and continued his work. When it was finished the enemy was afraid of them!
Lord, make our resolve like Nehemiah’s. Let us see the enemy for who they are and go about your business until it is done.
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