Fingerprints On The Gates
There is evidence on the Scene
Nehemiah 3
Nehemiah was just a cupbearer for the Persian Leader
But he had a
• Burning desire to give God glory
• Passion for praying
• Zeal to take on tough jobs
• Wisdom to move out of God’s way
Then people came from all walks of life
• Priests
• Rulers
• Craftsmen
• Jews from other cities
• Many were willing to do extra
• Some worked at home
There were 42 different groups of people who worked on this project all
• Unified in their quest
• Covered by their leader
• Armor bearers to the carrier of the vision
• Volunteers for the cause
• Recorded By God
This is great ministry! This is what we need in our ministry!
But underneath this surface portrait of a man possessed by God to rebuild the gates and walls of the city which represents the center of God’s activities on this earth from Old Times until the New Jerusalem comes and rests on its foundations which have been set before the beginning of time.
There are fingerprints that God has left behind…Fingerprints:
• To prove His Word
• To prove His Sovereignty
• To prove His Plan
• To prove His Resolve
I. The Call To Salvation – The Sheep Gate (3:1-2)
A. Lambs and sheep used in sacrifice were brought through this gate
B. This is the first gate that was rebuilt
C. This was the last gate mentioned as well vs. 32 because everything starts and ends with Jesus Christ
II. The Call To Service – The Fish Gate (3:3-5)
A. The fishermen from Galilee brought their catch through this gate to be sold
B. We must be “fishers of men”
III. The Call To Sovereignty – The Old Gate (3:6-12)
A. A call to the old ways of truth
B. Jeremiah 6:16 - Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
IV. The Call To Suffering – The Valley Gate (3:13)
A. A long distance between the Old Gate and The Valley Gate
B. This represents the Honeymoon period but the valley will come
C. You don’t grow on the mountains but in the valleys
V. The Call To Scorn – The Dung Gate (3:14)
A. This was where the junk was taken out to Hinnom to be burned
B. There was a great distance between this one and the valley gate
C. When you go through the valley it gets the junk out
VI. The Call To Success – The Fountain Gate (3:15-25)
A. Now we begin to turn up with a short distance from the Dung Gate
B. This is where the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit cleanse us and empower us
VII. The Call To Spirituality – The Water Gate (3:26 -27)
A. The water gate symbolizes the Word of God
B. Eph 5:26 - That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word
VIII. The Call To Strife – The Horse Gate (3:29-31)
A. This gate was where horses would go into battle it symbolizes war
B. This is the beginning of the prophetic gates
C. Rev 19:11 - And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
IX. The Call To Sunrise – The East Gate (3:29-31)
A. This Gate has been set aside by God and is known by Jews for one event – the coming of the Messiah
B. Ezekiel 44:1-3 - the gate that looked toward the east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it.
C. This Gate opens toward the Mount of Olives where Jesus will return
D. Zechariah 14:4 - And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
X. The Call To Searching – The Gate Miphkad (3:31-32)
A. This gate was where inspections of merchandise took place
B. This gate represents the Judgment Of God
