rjones
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- Joined
- Jul 28, 2007
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Continuing the study of the restoration of the gates of Jerusalem (read Isaiah 60:1-3,5,11,18), we will look at the next three gates, each of them representing a work of restoration in the Church.
The Water Gate
"...and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower" (Ne.3:26).
In Scripture, water represents the word of God (Jn. 15:3; Eph.5:26; He. 10:22). And the word of God was closely associated with the Water Gate. Note also that it was the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel (Mt Zion) who are recorded as repairing the Water Gate.
"...all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (Ne. 8:1-3).
The date recorded for the commencement of this reading was the first day of the seventh month, which was the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets (Le.23:24; Nu. 29:1). Three things happened during this time:
The Book was opened (verse 5).
The people were instructed (verse 7).
The Word was made clear (verse 8).
Most of the people had not heard the Scriptures before (Amos 8:11), and so there were four principal reactions to the Word:
Worship (verses 5-6).
Weeping (verse 9).
Rejoicing (verses 10-12).
Obedience (verse 13).
The spiritual reality of this gate is also being restored in our day, as God's Word is opened and we act in obedience to that Word.
The Horse Gate
"Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house" (Ne.3:28).
Even before its destruction, God promised to restore the Horse Gate (Je. 31:30-40). This was the gate where the King's chariot passed through.
(Read Job 39:19-25). In the Bible, the horse represents two attributes in the Christian life:
Discipline (Ja. 3:3).
Warfare (Ze.10:3; Songs 1:9).
The Lord is restoring to His Church a military discipline, so that we may be harnessed for battle (Re.6:2; 19:11; 17:14).
The Miphkad Gate
"Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate..." (Ne.3:31).
The Hebrew word used for this gate's name is miphkad, which can be translated in many ways - "appointment, mandate, designated spot, mustering, the numbering in a census." For this reason, different Bible versions render this gate in different ways- "the Inspection Gate", "the Muster Gate" and "the Gate Miphkad". But why was this gate called miphkad ?
The word miphkad is used only three passages (one of them a repeated story). Read (1 Chr. 21:1-22:2). The miphkad here was the "number" of the soldiers taken in the census. Because David was a fighting man, yet was to rely on God's strength in battle, God had, it appears, specifically told David not number his army (note verses 1-3,6-7), for Moses had taken two censuses at God's own command (Nu.1:1-2; 26:1-2; Ex.20:12-16). The result of David's transgression was judgment from God. But the angel was stopped by God at the threshing floor of Araunah. There David was commanded to build an altar before God, and it was there that the temple was later built.
So what did miphkad mean to the people of Jerusalem?
Firstly, it meant the actual census held by David; secondly, and most importantly, it meant the temple site itself - the "appointed place" where the ark eventually came to reside (1 Chr. 22:1,6-10). The only other use of miphkad is in (Ez.43:21), where it means "appointed place". The Miphkad Gate led into the Temple courtyard, the "appointed place" of God's presence.
Today, God is restoring the Miphkad Gate in His Church – the appointed place of meeting together in the manifested presence of the Lord (He. 10:25; Mt. 18:20; Ps.133).
The Water Gate
"...and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower" (Ne.3:26).
In Scripture, water represents the word of God (Jn. 15:3; Eph.5:26; He. 10:22). And the word of God was closely associated with the Water Gate. Note also that it was the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel (Mt Zion) who are recorded as repairing the Water Gate.
"...all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (Ne. 8:1-3).
The date recorded for the commencement of this reading was the first day of the seventh month, which was the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets (Le.23:24; Nu. 29:1). Three things happened during this time:
The Book was opened (verse 5).
The people were instructed (verse 7).
The Word was made clear (verse 8).
Most of the people had not heard the Scriptures before (Amos 8:11), and so there were four principal reactions to the Word:
Worship (verses 5-6).
Weeping (verse 9).
Rejoicing (verses 10-12).
Obedience (verse 13).
The spiritual reality of this gate is also being restored in our day, as God's Word is opened and we act in obedience to that Word.
The Horse Gate
"Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house" (Ne.3:28).
Even before its destruction, God promised to restore the Horse Gate (Je. 31:30-40). This was the gate where the King's chariot passed through.
(Read Job 39:19-25). In the Bible, the horse represents two attributes in the Christian life:
Discipline (Ja. 3:3).
Warfare (Ze.10:3; Songs 1:9).
The Lord is restoring to His Church a military discipline, so that we may be harnessed for battle (Re.6:2; 19:11; 17:14).
The Miphkad Gate
"Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate..." (Ne.3:31).
The Hebrew word used for this gate's name is miphkad, which can be translated in many ways - "appointment, mandate, designated spot, mustering, the numbering in a census." For this reason, different Bible versions render this gate in different ways- "the Inspection Gate", "the Muster Gate" and "the Gate Miphkad". But why was this gate called miphkad ?
The word miphkad is used only three passages (one of them a repeated story). Read (1 Chr. 21:1-22:2). The miphkad here was the "number" of the soldiers taken in the census. Because David was a fighting man, yet was to rely on God's strength in battle, God had, it appears, specifically told David not number his army (note verses 1-3,6-7), for Moses had taken two censuses at God's own command (Nu.1:1-2; 26:1-2; Ex.20:12-16). The result of David's transgression was judgment from God. But the angel was stopped by God at the threshing floor of Araunah. There David was commanded to build an altar before God, and it was there that the temple was later built.
So what did miphkad mean to the people of Jerusalem?
Firstly, it meant the actual census held by David; secondly, and most importantly, it meant the temple site itself - the "appointed place" where the ark eventually came to reside (1 Chr. 22:1,6-10). The only other use of miphkad is in (Ez.43:21), where it means "appointed place". The Miphkad Gate led into the Temple courtyard, the "appointed place" of God's presence.
Today, God is restoring the Miphkad Gate in His Church – the appointed place of meeting together in the manifested presence of the Lord (He. 10:25; Mt. 18:20; Ps.133).
