Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: The study of Nehemiah Chapter 3. Now, what do horses represent in the scripture? Often times in the Word of God, a donkey or an ass represents peace. When Yeshua the Messiah rode into the city of Jerusalem, 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, represents before us the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who is going to come in his second coming, but he is going to come this time as a warrior. And it represents war and conflict and fight in the lives of God's people. Now, you notice 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 conflicts 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 are living. There are attacks of the enemies. 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 represents 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 had 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 go 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 a multitude of horses, ready for battle against you, don't be afraid of them because I am with you. I am going to lead you, I am going to minister to you.

And you and I also, when we have these fights constantly, there is this conflict that we are 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 entered into the moment we accepted Yeshua the Messiah. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians Chapter 6, verse 10: "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood."

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 armor 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 go 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 constant battles to deal with. Some husbands have wives who are not believers. Some wives have husbands who are not believers. Some children reject what their parents have taught them. There is a constant battle. But the battle belongs to the Lord, and he is able to help us as we are going through these battles.

I can assure you that if I ask each one of you today, how is the situation in your home, in your work, in your life? You will tell me, "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 rejects us, the enemy rejects 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: "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 represents 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 are 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-to-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 we will spend eternity with. 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 go back to Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of the book of Nehemiah, that these Jewish people who began to build the walls of Jerusalem find themselves constantly under attack by their enemies.

They needed the guidance and the help of the Lord to protect them from their enemies. So, the Horse Gate represents before us the warfare, the conflict that we experience every day in our lives as believers. We are surely going to experience this in our life. So, the Horse Gate was in verse 28 where the priests participated 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; it was very connected to the wall of the city of Jerusalem.

When they built these walls against their 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 Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah 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 were in Israel today and you were to 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 is it shut? It was shut by the Turks 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 a Muslim graveyard. And because Jewish people would not go through a Muslim graveyard, they assumed that that would 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 is going to send his son in his first coming, and he is 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 might close the East Gate, the Messiah will surely come back 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 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, a twofold 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-year 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, First Thessalonians Chapter 4, verses 13 to the end. And secondly, he's 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 who prophesied in the time when Nehemiah returned to the land to build the walls of Jerusalem.

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 were 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." And so, he says in verse 1, "Behold the day comes that shall burn as an oven." He's talking about the tribulation. "And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

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's speaking about those that have a heart for the Lord. He says, "Unto you that fear my name, the Sun 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, says the Lord of Hosts."

You see, he's giving a hope for the remnant of Israel about a future day. He's going to restore the nation of Israel and he's saying, "Listen, Israel, I'm going to send the Messiah and he's going to come as a Sun of Righteousness." Now notice, he uses the word S-U-N. Where does the sun rise? In the east. And he says notice, "Those that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Now, I would write it, if it was only merely the sun that is in the sky, I would write it as "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 Son, S-O-N, the Mashiach that is going to come. And he's going to heal the brokenhearted. He is going to restore the nation of Israel to himself. And Israel ultimately, because Malachi speaks specifically about Israel, he's 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's 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 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 Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wing. 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 represents the coming of the Messiah.

He's 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 is 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 and verse 31. In Hebrew, we call it Sha'ar ha-Mifkad. "After him Malchijah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nethinims 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 Sha'ar ha-Mifkad, and Sha'ar 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. Second 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 a 1,000-year space between the judgment seat of the Messiah and the Great White Throne. This 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 was 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? Is your shirt tucked in? And he was inspecting us. I remember that for years in the Israeli military. Sometimes the shoes were not properly shining and the gun was not clean enough, and certain things were not right with us. If we had certain things that were not right, we had to correct them.

Well, when we are going to be in heaven, we are not going to be able to correct things anymore. It is here and now that 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 First Corinthians Chapter 3, verse 9. It says there, "For we are laborers 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 masterbuilder, I have laid a foundation and another buildeth thereupon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 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 stubble, 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 sort 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 burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."

You see, Paul is saying, listen, there's coming a day when 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's 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 burned with fire and going to be removed totally. But only what we have done for the Lord, he will reward us. And we're 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's to encourage us to serve the Lord. Believe me, everything that we have done for the Lord, he remembers. You remember there's 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 Sheep Gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants." And here again, it takes us back to the Sheep Gate. And who does the Sheep Gate represent? 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's 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 becomes 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. 10 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 represents 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 administering, 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.