Episode 165: More Than A List (Nehemiah 3)

We walk the perimeter of Jerusalem through Nehemiah 3 and discover how a list of gates and names becomes a living map for discipleship. From Sheep Gate to East Gate, we trace how Jesus meets us, grows us, and calls us to build together with willing hearts.

• why Nehemiah 3 honors ordinary people and work
• how each gate pictures a stage of spiritual growth
• the role of valleys, trash, and renewal in formation
• Scripture and the Spirit as cleansing and power
• spiritual opposition and the call to stand ready
• community strategy: build opposite your house
• the freedom and weight of voluntary service
• why every name and contribution matters to God

If you learned something new today or just enjoyed this podcast, I encourage you to subscribe so that you can stay with us as we journey through the book of Nehemiah, Rebuilding from the Inside Out

To find out more about me, or to book a speaking engagement, head to
https://betsymarvin.com/

For access to past podcasts and transcripts, head to
https://betsymarvin.com/podcasts/

You can follow me on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/betsyjmarvin/
and Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/betsy.marvin.98

Transcript

Why Nehemiah 3 Is More Than A List

Setting The Scene: Vulnerable Walls

Walking The Wall: Sheep Gate To Fish Gate

Old Gate To Broad Wall: Many Hands, One Work

Valley Gate To Dung Gate: The Southern Descent

Fountain Gate And Siloam: Turning North

Long Eastern Stretch To Water Gate

Horse Gate To East Gate: Back To The North

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hey friends, I'm Betsy, and I want to welcome you to Moments to Ponder. If you're interested in learning more from the Bible but sometimes struggle to know how it connects to you, you've come to the right place. This podcast is designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word and take away something to ponder. I pray this time together will be an encouragement for you. This is Episode 165. We have come to chapter 3 in Nehemiah, and I have to admit that the first time I read it, I skimmed it. So many names and gates and sons of. Yet as I read it again and again and read commentary, I realized this is so much more than a list. At first reading, we can see that it's an accounting of a diverse group of volunteers, real people who shared their efforts and contributions. This list honors their work and where they did that work, so in the years to come others would remember who helped make this happen. And there's something more. In order to see that something more, we need to wade through the scripture on the gates and the walls. So please hang in there as we will get to the wonder of how God brings meaning to all of this. To set the stage, the city is vulnerable without its walls. And this has affected temple worship and the people of the city. We've also learned that there's opposition to this work. Nehemiah walked the walls at night and then called the people to action. And in chapter three, we'll see the city begin to take shape. So just imagine a walled city, the walls made of stone, piles of rubble, some dirt, some open spots, no gates, and it's surrounded by valleys on three sides and then mountains beyond. It's shaped like an upside-down teardrop from north to south. There are holes and rubble, but there's also piles of fresh wood and buckets and buckets of mortar ready to go between all the stone. You can hear the iron for the bolts being pounded, you can hear the sound of chisels as they shape stone, and lots of voices calling out to each other. Everywhere you look there's purposeful activity. Nehemiah has spread the workers out strategically, as we will see. Let's take a walk around the city with him as he writes the account of those who are working. He begins his account with the sheepgate, which is on the northern end, and he's going to go counterclockwise around the city. Verse one. Then Elishib, the high priest, and the other priests started to rebuild at the sheepgate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, building the wall as far as the tower of the hundred, which they dedicated, and the tower of Hanel. People from the town of Jericho worked next to them, and beyond them was Sakur, son of Imri. Okay, side note, I don't know how to say all these names, so we're just gonna do the best we can. Alright, now the sheep gate on the northern wall is really close to the temple area, and it's called the sheep gate because the sheep would come through this gate to the temple for sacrifice. So it does make sense that the priests would rebuild and dedicate their work here as it directly affected them. They also worked on the two towers, which takes us to the corner of the city where we'll turn south and go along the west side. Now, since the Babylonians burned the temple to the ground in 586, and all the work had been done on the temple, there was probably substantial work to be done on the walls. Thus the priests were helped by those from Jericho and Sakur. Okay, verse three. The fish gate was built by the sons of Hanasna. They built the beams, they set up the doors, and they installed its belts and bars. Mermoth, son of Uriah, and grandson of Hazak repaired the next section of all. Beside him were Meshelem, son of Berekiah, and grandson of Meshabel, and then Zadek, son of Bana. Next were the people from Tokoah, though their leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors. Okay, so the fish gate is along the western wall, and the road coming from Galilee and from Joppa led to this gate. Now, since those were fishing towns, the fish market was probably located here, making it the fish gate. We're gonna see more and more names too, and you're gonna notice that there's often a son of or a grandson of. Think of this like a last name. For instance, we note that Merrimauth was a son of Uriah in this section, but later we're gonna learn that there are more than one Merrimoth in the city. So knowing whose son it is gives clarity. Verse six. The old city gate was repaired by Jodiah, son of Pessea, and Meshalom, son of Basidah. They laid the beams, set up its doors, and installed it bolts and bars. Next to them were Melatiah from Gibeon, Jadon from Mernoth, and the people from Gibeon, and people from Mizpah, the headquarters of the governor of the province west of the Euphrates. Next was Uzel, son of Heriah, a goldsmith by trade, who also worked on the wall. Beyond him was Hananiah, a manufacturer of perfumes. They left out a section of Jerusalem as they built the broad wall. Rephaniah, son of Hur, the leader of half the district of Jerusalem, was next to them on the wall. Next, Jedediah, son of Herumph, repaired the wall across from his own house, and next to him was Hatush, son of Oh boy, Heshabaniah. Then came Melkaiah, son of Haram, and Heshab, son of Path of Moab, who repaired another section of the wall, and the tower of the ovens. Shalom, son of Haloesh and his daughters repaired the next section. He was the leader of the other half of the district of Jerusalem. Okay, that was a mouthful. I'm not sure if you caught it, but there were supervisors, leaders, rulers, also goldsmiths and perfumers, political leaders, and women. Everyone is helping, sharing the load of this huge project. It's pretty amazing how they all came together to help, whether they actually had building skills or not. And so we're working our way down the west side of the city, and we get to the valley gate, verse 13. The valley gate was repaired by the people of Isanoah, led by Hanan. They set up its doors and installed its bolts and bars. They also repaired the 1,500 feet of wall to the dungate. The dungate was repaired by Melkaiah, son of Rakab, the leader of the Bethcarim district. He rebuilt it, set up its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. So the valley gate faced the central valley to the west, followed by fifteen hundred feet of wall going downhill to the point of the Dung Gate, which is the southernmost tip of Jerusalem. And it was literally the trash gate. It led to the dump where they would burn the trash. So at this point, we're going to turn and head north now along the east side, heading uphill. And we get to verse 15. The fountain gate was repaired by Shalom son of Kolhoza, the leader of the Mizpah district. He rebuilt it, roofed it, set up its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Then he repaired the wall of the pool of Siloam near the king's garden, and he rebuilt the wall as far as the stairs that descended from the city of David. The fountain gate is next, right? And it's fairly close to the dung gate. And the wall of the pool of Siloam would be within this area. That might sound familiar if you know John 9. This is where Jesus will heal a man born blind. And we continue the wall to the stairs, which were part of the old city, and David's original design. And as we move up now the eastern side to the north, there is a lot of wall. And many, many people are working on different sections. Verse 16. Next to him, so the guy who was working on the fountain gate, next to him was Nehemiah, son of Azbuk, the leader of the half district of Bethzor. He rebuilt the wall from a place across from the tombs of David's family as far as the water reservoir in the house of warriors. Next to him, repairs were made by a group of Levites working under the supervision of Rehom, son of Bani. Then came Hashaboniah, the leader of the half district of Kelea, who supervised the building of the wall on behalf of his own district. Next down the line were his countrymen, led by Benui, son of Henedad, the leader of the other half of the district of Kella. Next to them, so we're continuing up the wall, next to them, Ezar, son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section of wall across from the ascent to the armory near the angle in the wall. Next to him was Barush, son of Zabai, who zealously repaired an additional section from the angle to the door of the house of Elisha, the high priest. Mermoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hazak, rebuilt another section of the wall extending from the door of Elisha's house to the end of the house. Okay, real quick, you should note that sometimes you might be hearing the word building and repairing. This small detail gives us a little bit of understanding here because some of it was just repairing, where others of it was a complete rebuild. And as we have this long stretch of wall from the Bailey Gate all the way down to the Dung gate, it's an which we heard was 1,500 feet. This is even longer stretch from the fountain gate to the water gate, which we are coming to. Verse 22. The next repairs were made by the priests from the surrounding region. After them, Benjamin and Hashab repaired the next section across from their house, and Azariah, son of Masia and grandson of Anaya, repaired the section across from his house. Next was Benui, son of Henadad, who rebuilt another section of the wall from Azariah's house to the angle and the corner. Pelel, son of Yuzi, carried on the work from the point opposite the angle and the tower that projects up from the king's upper house beside the court of the guard. And next to him were Padiah son of Perosh, with the temple servants living on the hill of Ofel, who repaired the wall as far as the point across from the water gate to the east, and then the projecting tower. Then came the people of Tokoa, who repaired another section across from the great projecting tower and over to the wall of Ophel. So some of these names we've heard before as people worked on one section and then moved to help with other sections. And we can see the strategy here. Many people are repairing walls that were by their own homes. Protecting their own homes would have been a huge motivating factor in the process. The water gate mentioned here is nearing the temple area as we've come up from the south, which is why we see temple servants and priests helping again in this area. Verse 28. Above the horse gates, the priests repaired the wall. Each one repaired the section immediately across from his own house. Next, Zadek son of Immer, also rebuilt the wall across from his own house, and beyond him was Shemiah, son of Sekiah, the gatekeeper of the East Gate. Next, Hananiah, son of Shalemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zelfah, repaired another section. Umeshalom, son of Barakiah, rebuilt the wall across from where he lived. Melkiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the wall as far as the housing for the temple servants and merchants across from the inspection gate. Then he continued as far as the upper room at the corner. The other goldsmiths and merchants repaired the wall from that corner to the sheep gate. The horse gate was by the stables for the palace area. It was the military garrison. So the horse gate would be where the military would ride out their horses, so it makes sense. We go from this to the southeast corner of the temple area where the east gate is. The east gate and the inspection gate are very near each other. At the inspection gate, we turn west along the northern wall, bringing us back to where we started.

unknown 14:33

Okay.

Prayer, Spirit, And Purpose Behind The Work

The Gates As A Discipleship Journey

Armor, Opposition, And Eternal Hope

Core Lessons: Anyone, Community, Choice, Worth

Encouragement And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 14:34

That is a lot of direction and a lot of names. We can see through all the occupations mentioned here that no one was skilled in stonework, but this incredible group of volunteers came together to rebuild their city walls and gates. I'm flabbergasted that this is all voluntary. I mean, it makes it even more amazing. This mission, covered in prayer, planned and organized, was fully spirit-led. Zechariah says this in um chapter 4, verse 6. This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel. Now remember, he's the guy who first came to rebuild the temple. The Lord said, It is not by force, nor by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord of heaven's armies. By my spirit. This was truth for Zerubbabel, and it's true for Nehemiah. So what do we do with all of this? It's a list of names and gates and families and occupations. Well, first it shows us that everyone can be a part of God's work. All they had were willing hearts, and God used them to do this extraordinary thing. And God can use us as well. We all have a part to play. All we need is a willing heart. And there's something else here. Remember, our lives are like Jerusalem and our souls are the temples within us. God is so wild to have this city not only be the place where his son will enter and give his life, but this city is a symbol of something more. It's the physical representation of the discipleship life. Let me show you what I mean. We're gonna move around the gates again, and I want you to notice our faith journey in the process. So hang with me. We begin with a sheepgate, the Lamb of God, our good shepherd. We meet Jesus, we recognize his sacrifice, and we acknowledge his call to us. John 1 9, John the Baptist said, Look, it's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And later in John 10, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. He calls his sheep by name and gives his life for these sheep. It begins with Jesus. Once we know him, we want to share what we've found, which brings us to the fish gate. Jesus said, I will make you fishers of men in Matthew 4.19. When we know Jesus, our next step is to want to share him, to let others know who he is. As we continue on our faith journey, we begin to dive deeper into the truths God has for us, discovering the old words that still stand. God remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the old gate reminds us of this, that there are things that are old that are still so valuable. And it also reminds us of something else, that we have been made new in him. And the more we grow, the more we discover of our new life in him, as we value, well, this incredibly old book that still states truth and become new creations in him. Yet our walk with God will have trials and challenges. Thus we get to the valley gate. There will be valleys in our lives, but we need these. It's where fruit is cultivated, it's where it grows. Sooner or later we are all gonna face things that are hard. It's gonna challenge our faith, and it will humble us. Mark 10, 45 reminds us that Jesus' humility was so important as he came to serve. And as we go through valleys, we are humbled and we learn who God is in our lives in a stronger way. As we go from the valley gate, it leads us to the lowest point in the city, the dung gate. Valleys have a way of revealing the trash in our lives. I mean the things that we know really have to go. And in the refining fire, they are burned away and we're left, well, more pure in Him. And it's often at this point in our lives that we turn a corner. We let go of the things that held us back, those things we're learning to let go of and allow God to make us fully free in Him. 1 John 1.7 says, our confession and renewal is a process as we lean toward surrender. But as we turn this corner, as we have removed some of the trash, we get to the fountain gate. Yes, the living water of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to continue forward. We've had the Spirit since the beginning, but with all the trash out of the way, the fountain bubbles up within us. There is a new light for us to see. And from the fountain we come to the water gate. Ephesians 5 26 reminds us, it says, having washed her by the water of the word. And in Psalm 119 9, it says that it's through God's Word that we can be clean. We need to continually drink of God's word with the mind of Christ, following his direction. For our lives. From the fountain in the spirit to the water of the word, we are continually being filled so that we can pour out. But as with all the work of God, there will be opposition. And we come to the horse gate, the place of the military. Ephesians speaks, Ephesians 6 actually speaks of our spiritual armor. Well, Revelation 19 speaks of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us. We have an enemy. And as we go through our spiritual discipleship lives, we are going to face opposition. And we need to have our armor on and be aware that it's going on. Now I realize that we have gone in a linear way around the city, and none of these things are actually linear. We can hit a valley after we finally discover the fountain. We can be in battle as we deal with the trash. It's a refining and growth process until finally one day we will get to the east gate. The east gate and the inspection gate speak of what is yet to come. In Ezekiel 44 and Zechariah 14, both speak of the coming of Jesus through the East Gate. The scene of the triumphal entry is also the place of his coming return. And this is a hope that we all live with for those of us who know him. And someday we will stand before Jesus, the inspection gate. We read of this in 1 Corinthians 3 and 4, where our lives are inspected and we are rewarded accordingly. As Christ followers, our sins are forgiving. We have nothing to fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Yet we should live with our mind on eternity, which honestly I am still trying to figure out what that means and how that works. But I know that someday, as I stand before Jesus, he will ask me why I did what I did and why I didn't do the things I didn't do. And I will be rewarded accordingly. Now I don't walk every day thinking about, oh, that will be an eternal reward. But I don't have to walk in fear of judgment because I have been fully forgiven. This brings us back to the sheepgate, to Jesus, the beginning and the end. These are all a part of our spiritual walk, serving, forgiveness, warfare, evangelism. This ancient modern city, the city of God, representing our walk with Him today. Dear one, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are a holy place set apart. And you need to take care of your city, your spiritual life. When your spiritual walls are vulnerable, your soul and temple is as well. You are open to opposition. This is a lot to take in. This is a longer episode than normal because I just find the walls and the story of the discipleship process fascinating. But what can we learn from this chapter? I think there are a few critical elements here. God can use anyone to do his work. Everyone plays a part in the work of God. We all have our peace to do, and we don't have to be perfect at it. We don't even necessarily have to have the skills. He can use us. Next we see that it takes community. We need the support of each other to come alongside us and help us strengthen our walls. And we need to work in our own lives first. Next, we see that it's voluntary. We get to choose if we want to be a part of this or not. We get to choose to trust, we get to choose to offer ourselves up to the Lord. It's voluntary. He does not force it, but he can use us. And finally, we see that each of us matters. By listing every name and who their fathers are and grandfathers are, we are seeing people matter. You matter. What you bring to this world matters. And as you face the world out there and you're on your journey somewhere around the process, maybe you're in a valley, maybe you're at the fountain, maybe you're dealing with the trash. Don't lose heart. Choose to grow. Choose to serve. Choose to ask where do I need rebuilding from the inside out? Our walk with God is not always easy. There will be valleys, but we will turn corners. And may you always remember that He is with you every step of the way. You are loved. Amen. If you learned something new today or just enjoyed this podcast, I encourage you to subscribe so that you can stay with us as we journey through the book of Nehemiah, Rebuilding from the Inside Out. Thank you for joining me.