Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom everyone. Open your Bibles to 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. This is 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. He is 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 build and not tear down, those that want to be an encouragement to the people of God.

Follow me. Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 15. "But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah. 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 Shiloah 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 Beth Zur, 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, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part. After him repaired their brethren, Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah. And next unto him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armory at the turning of the wall. After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest."

"After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain. After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house. After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner."

"Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh. Moreover the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out. After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel. From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house."

"After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate. After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber. After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner. And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants."

Now I mentioned in our study together that when we study the book of Nehemiah, we would probably read chapter 1, we will reach chapter 2, and we will jump over to chapter 4 because there are too many Hebrew names in this third chapter. At 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 Nechamya 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 burned with fire. Can you imagine the city of Yerushalayim without walls or broken down walls and gates that are burned with fire? The enemies could come in and cause a havoc among the people of God. The walls were necessary to protect the people of Israel from the outsiders who will seek to harm them, but also to keep them in that enclosure which keeps them safe and protected by the Lord.

It reminds us as well for us because you and I as believers today need those walls. 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. There are two gates at the north, two gates at the west, one gate at the south, and five gates at the east of the city of Jerusalem.

There is a great lesson, brothers and sisters, in the importance of those gates and the names that God had given to those gates. They really represent for us the manner whereby even you and I can learn from those gates. What do 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's 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. The Old Gate represents before us the ancient path. We are to stay steady with the truth that we have received from the word of God. We can look at the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah, the old path that God has 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's going to exalt us in due time.

The Valley Gate also represented before us the importance of accepting trials in our life. Sometimes the Lord take his people through trial. 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 says, "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. We were encouraged from the scripture to remove the garbage that is existing in the life of God's people. You see through this Dung Gate, it remind us of all the garbage that was taken out by the people of Israel through this gate and cast into the valley. 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. You know very well how the world often seek to creep into our life and how we need to remove the dung that is 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 sort of sins which come into our life and we need the Lord to help us to cast our sins away.

That's why 2 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 six. "But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; 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 Shiloah by 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 need to lead us and to control us in our lives as believers. I want you please to turn with me first of all to John chapter 14. Look what Yeshua said in verse 16. "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth."

In Hebrew it's called Ruach HaEmet. "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 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 Messiah, 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. Because it's not so, we find ourselves failing the Lord. We don't have any liberty in our lives at time. In fact, sometimes we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Ephesians teaches us that. Sometimes we quench the Holy Spirit of God. 1 Thessalonians teaches us this. And yet we are believers. We have the Holy Spirit of God.

The word for fountain represent the movement of the Holy Spirit of God. Because we walk not in the Spirit and we allow the flesh to take power over our life, 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. 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 that Holy Spirit of promise." You see, every one of us have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We belong to the Lord. And yet at 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's a person, a divine person, God the Holy Spirit, Elohim HaRuach.

For us as believers, the Lord is exalting us not to grieve him. That Fountain Gate represent for us the movement of the Holy Spirit 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 drinketh 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 Shomronit, 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 ought 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 represent the Holy Spirit of God. And he says, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

And then the Spirit of God explain to us what does he mean by that. It says in verse 39, "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost 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. 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 continue 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. They will show us more of the image of the Son in their lives.

And that's why we are exalted 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 represent before us the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. 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 ye are sons," and we can add the word daughters, "God hath 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. If 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 Shiloah. The pool of Shiloah, it's called in English Siloam, but in Hebrew it's called Shiloach. It's a pool that was existing there by the City of David. 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 Shiloah. The word Shiloach in Hebrew mean to be sent.

It really represent 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 had. 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 Beth Zur, he continue 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 have 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. Notice in verse 17, it said 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 Zabbai earnestly repaired" also some pieces of the walls of Jerusalem. He was earnest in building. He didn't do it carelessly. He worked hard with sincerity of his heart. He was earnestly serving and building the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Ultimately they have arrived to the house of Eliashib 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. 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 the Mount of Olives, there is Mount Moriah, right in between there is the valley. When someone look from Mount of Olives into Mount Moriah, he is really facing those five gates on the eastern side of the city of Yerushalayim. The Fountain Gate represent 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 chapter 3. Now we read verse 26 and 27, and that is the Water Gate. We read, "Moreover the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out. After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out over unto the wall of Ophel." So you notice the next gate, this is gate number seven, is called the Water Gate. In Hebrew we call it Sha'ar HaMayim. Apparently there was some water flowing through this gate, maybe it went through the gate or beside it. It is near the Fountain Gate.

Guest (Male): You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.