Entering and Leaving Sha’ar Yerushalayim Part 5

January 30, 2022

Continuing from Part 4 – The Gates of Jerusalem

Sha’ar Yerushalayim

שער המזרקה

The next gate recorded in Nehemiah is

The Fountain Gate,

sha’ar hamayim

שער המאיים

or

־שַׁ֣עַר הָעַ֔יִן gate of the fountain

Strongs 4726

fountain, issue, spring, wellspring

Or maqor {maw-kore’}; from quwr ;

מָקוֹר (maqor) — a spring, fountain

מזרקת שתייה. drinking fountain

Strong’s Hebrew: 4599.

מַעְיָן

mayan or mayeno or mayanah …

fountain, spring, well.

Or ma ynow (Psa. 114:8) {mah-yen-o’};

or (feminine) ma yanah {mah-yaw-naw’};

from ayin

(as a denominative in the sense of a spring); a fountain.

Fountain Gate (v.15)

Neh. 3:15 But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, 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 Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

The Fountain Gate or gate of the fountain

is located at the entrance near

located near the pool of Siloah (Siloam).

Pool of Siloam

בריכת השילוח ,

Breikhat HaShiloah

this Pool of Shelah,

called Shelah

by Nehemiah in 3:15

is also called

Shiloah

in Isaiah 8:6.

Strong’s Greek: 4611.

Σιλωάμ (Silóam)

Siloam, a pool in Jerusalem

Shiloach

Here is where king Hezekiah’s tunnel

brought water into the Old City.

The Fountain Gate, where the

Pool of Siloach was located;

the Gihon Spring

is where the water began..

This fresh clean water that came from the

Pool of Siloach

entered the city through Hezekiah’s tunnel,

this water was called

chay/chaim mayim – living water.

Which in both Isaiah and John is always

a type or figure of Yahoveh’s Spirit of Holiness.

John 7:39, Isaiah 44:3

The Pool of Siloam

is the place where Yahshua/Yeshua/Jesus,

sent the man who had been born blind,

John 9:7; Recall this is the pool that meant

Sent or sending – Pool of the sent.

In those days, a large pool with several porches served those who wanted to be spiritually clean washed before entering the Temple compound.

This pool speaks to us spiritually about the work of regeneration in the new believer. One who has come all the way to the south of the city walls past the Dung Gate and has turned the corner from sin and the flesh life towards redemption; in order to go forward up the Eastern Wall toward the Eastern Gate which, led directly into the Court of the Temple where God/YHVH/Yehoveh’s presence was.

The work of regeneration is done by the

Sent One – The Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness,

who was promised to the disciples before the death of

YHVH/Yehoveh/God’s Lamb.

We can recall that Messiah said,

It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. John 16:7. 

The water in the Pool of Siloam is symbolic of the work of

His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness,

as well as being a type referring to life in general.

Remember that in Hebrew thought,

Running water

is always referred to as

living waters. 

mayim chaim

מים חיים

It seems, therefore, that the

Pool of Siloam

represents the place where a repentant sinner, who has been convicted of sin, now receives the

water of life

from which he will never thirst again.

John 4:14

At the time of Nehemiah and after it many entered the

mikveh/miqveh/ מקוה

and washed themselves before they entered into the temple area.

Very needful in their process of regaining purity

is immersion in a

mikvah,

a pool of

mayim chayim, living (non-stagnant) waters.

mikvah

מִקְוֶה / מקווה‎,

pronounced MICK-vuh,

Transliteration: miqveh.

Phonetic Spelling: mik-veh’

Strongs #4723

Above picture of excavated Mikvehs.

As the

Fountain Gate

is located near the

Pool of Siloam

it was often used by the people for cleaning before proceeding on to the temple.

The Fountain Gate is located extremely close to the Dung Gate.

So spiritually speaking, after a Valley type experience where rubbish in our lives is cleared out through the Dung Gate, true faith begins to grow and the fountains starts to flow quite quickly.

This speaks to us of the

מים חיים

mayim chayim,

living waters

of His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh;

Who cleanses our lives and empowers us for our

walk/Halak/הלך

along His

Way/Derek/דרך.

Yahushua/Yeshua/Jesus said:

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. John 7:38.

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, by the King’s Garden*, as far as the steps going down from the City of David. Neh. 3:15-16

The King’s Garden*

gan-ha-melekh/melek

גַּן gan

הַמֶּֽלֶךְ ha melekh

began in the Kidron Valley beside the City of David.

In Nehemiah 3:15, mention is made of

the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden.

Also mentioned in 2 Kings 25:4; Jeremiah 52:7, All the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; also in Jeremiah 39:4.

These references all point to the one place in Jerusalem/Yerushalayim, where it is possible for gardens to flourish all the year round, the part of the Kidron valley below the Tyropoeon which is watered by the overflow from the Pool of Siloam.

Shallum built the wall of the Pool of Shelah at the king’s garden as far as the steps that descend from the city of David.

The Pool of Shelah or Siloam, which we recall, translates the Hebrew shelah = sent; John 9:7 and the City of David have been archaeologically confirmed and therefore the King’s Garden could have flourished close to where the Hinnom Valley joins with the Kidron Valley south of the City of David.

We know from the above text, based on the description of the adjoining length of wall that Shallum also repaired, that the Fountain Gate was on the wall of the Pool of Shelach, also known as Siloah, by the king’s garden.

We also know that the Pool of Siloah received its water from a underground channel, cut 1750 feet through the rock from the Fountain of the Virgin/Gihon Spring and therefore the given name, Fountain Gate.

There are many symbolic references to a fountain in the Bible.

The first is wisdom:

the teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

turning a man from the snares of death. Prov. 13:14

The next is a reference to the fountain being as the fear of God/YHVH/Yahoveh: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. Prov. 14:27

Another in Proverbs is:

The mouth of the righteous is a Fountain of life. Prov. 10:11

Fountains are used to refer to our relationship with our Heavenly Father: You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water . . .

Song of Solomon 4:1 5

Fountains are used to represent a cleansing and renewal process: On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. Zech. 13:1

The process of cleansing, wisdom, righteousness, relationship . . . seems to represent the outpouring of His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. Isa. 44:3

The Fountain Gate

speaks to us of the

living waters of His Spirit of Holiness

Who cleanses our lives and empowers us for our halak/walk.

The Fountain Gate was northeast of the Dung Gate,

near the Pool of Siloam by the king’s garden. 2 Ki. 25:4

and led into the Kidron Valley.

It derived its name from the location where the Siloam Tunnel emerged from the ground with water from the Gihon Spring.

Above a view of the Kidron Valley, with the Mount of Olives across the valley to the left and the slope of the City of David on the right. The Gihon Spring emerges from the foot of this slope.

From the City of David, the picture above views north and east across the Kidron Valley.

Gihon Spring. מעיין הגיחון

Gichon from root gayach

meaning: to burst forth!

Strongs #1521

It is also known as

Saint Mary’s Pool.

Gihon Spring

מעיין הגיחון

is a spring in the Kidron Valley

and was the main source of water for the

Pool of Siloam.

Hezekiahs Tunnel

was dug in the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judea, about 701 B.C.E. It was hewn out of the bedrock for over half a kilometer, about 40 meters beneath Ophel connecting the Gihon Spring; Jerusalem’s fresh water supply, with the Pool of Siloam.

The newer Siloam Tunnel

נִקְבַּת הַשִּׁלֹחַ, Nikbat HaShiloaḥ,

also known as

Hezekiah’s Tunnel תעלת חזקיהו

is the water channel that was carved within the then

City of David.

The Fountain Gate again, alludes to our Heavenly Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness. During the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles Yahshua/Yeshua/ Jesus stated,

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37–38.

In obedience to Messiah’s invitation, we are to be filled/controlled by our Heavenly Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness.

Eph. 5:18

Pause to remember for a moment the previous two gates:

The Valley Gate represents the trials and troubles that we are to go through in life to bring to our attention the rubbish of the old self; and the Dung Gate, where that rubbish can be discarded. Anyone who has tried to clean out their own life soon realizes it is not so easily dismissed because the only WAY to be free of the old carnal sinful life is through the power of His Spirit/Ruach:

he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. Rom. 8:11.

Remember that there was no section of wall mentioned as being rebuilt between the Dung Gate and the Fountain Gate.The reason for this lack of information is not important, however, is our Heavenly Father using it to tell us that we have immediate help available in order to clean up our lives? It is good to know that the moment we’re ready to remove the rubbish in our lives, His Spirit/Ruach is right beside us to help us.

After we have endured the trials that reveal the rubbish in our hearts, our Father brings us to the Fountain Gate, here He fills us up with His Spirit of Holiness so that we will be empowered to live and walk as His disciples/talmidim did.

The spiritual meaning of the Fountain Gate seems to teach us that from the fountain of living waters, and its’ source, YHVH/Yehoveh/ God, through His Spirit of Holiness and through the Messiah Yahshua /Lord Jesus, is our source for healing and spiritual cleanliness.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

When we determine to die to our carnal fleshly life with its’ sinful nature, and choose to believe in the Lord Jesus/Yahshua Ha Mashiach, as the Scriptures say,

in his heart will flow living waters /His Ruach/Spirit.

The Fountain Gate proclaims that we can attain a life of purity and holiness through the power of the His Spirit/Ruach in us.

This is how we become true talmidim/disciples of Yahshua/Yeshua/Jesus.

——————————-

Water Gate

Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east, and on the projecting tower. Neh. 3:26,27

The Water Gate,

shaar hamayim

שער המאיים

Water gate

( שַׁ֤עַר הַמַּ֨יִמ׃֙, the gate of the water )

הַמַּ֨יִמ שַׁ֤עַר

In Bible days, the Water Gate was located in the Eastern Wall of the lower city, near the Gihon Spring, and just above the Kidron Valley. It was about halfway between the Pool of Soloam and the Pinnacle of the Temple, which was the southeastern corner of the Temple fortress.

As already mentioned, an underground tunnel

that flows from the Fountain Gate to the Water Gate

which was built by Hezekiah. It’s still there today.

The Water Gate was part of the palace/Temple complex rather than in the wall.

It was so named because it led to the city’s main source of water, the Gihon Spring. It apparently encompassed a large area, for the reading of the law took place there Neh. 8:1, 3, 16.

The Water Gate can be related to to scripture because Yahshua/Yeshua/Jesus, compared Himself to water, a type of God’s Word.

In a previous post we looked at the time that He spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well recorded in John. 4:5–14.

In 2 Tim. 2:15 we are encouraged to be conscientious students of the Scriptures and to rightly divide the word of truth.

God’s Word will bring spiritual maturity to the lives of those who do so. 2 Tim. 3:16–17.

WATER GATE

הַמַּ֨יִמ שַׁ֤עַר

the gate of the water.

The Water Gate

was repaired by

the Nethinim who lived in Ophel.

Ophel was the slope south of the Temple, and the Water Gate was a gate in the eastern wall. Due to its position close to the Temple, it is believed that this gate may have been used as an overflow for the surplus water from the temple reservoirs. Another theory is that when the temple reservoirs of water were low, this gate may have been used to refill them with water from the Kidron Valley.

The Nethinim were temple servants. The first mention of temple servants can be found very early on in Bible history. As Israel began the conquest of the Promised Land, the Gibeonites who were already in the land, deceived them into making an unholy treaty.

The scripture tell us what happened when this deception became known:

And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day. Josh 9:27.

Is it possible that these Nethinim who repaired the Water Gate were the descendants of these very same Gibeonites, the ones who were appointed to be water carriers?

An artist’s impression from 2007 & 2010 of the guard towers that protected the Gihon Springs during the days of the kings of Judah in the Old Testament. Plus pictures showing the archaeological remains of the guard towers at the source of the Gihon Spings.

Water Gate: Facing east, south of the current Old City walls Nehemiah 3:26.

It’s near the start of the tunneled waterway that was fed by a spring, possibly En-Rogel..

Joshua 15:7; 18:16

or

Gihon

2 Chronicles 32:30; 33:14.

Apparently, the eastern wall on the south end was abandoned and a new wall built farther to the west, turning the southern section into more of a tail-like shape. The new wall did not include the tomb of David and most of the water tunnel that fed the Pool of Shelah by the Dung Gate, however the narrow structure included the upper house of the king, the home of the high priest, and the way up to the armory.

After the wall was built,

Ezra read the people the Law

from a square by the Water Gate.

Nehemiah 8:1.

The Water Gate led down to the Gihon Spring which was located adjacent to the Kidron Valley. The Water Gate is a picture of the Word of God and its effect in our life.

Eph. 5:26 states ‘… having washed her by the water of the word.’

Psalm 119:9 states that it is only through God’s word that we can be clean.

It is no coincidence that this gate was located next to the Fountain Gate as the two often go together. Our Heavenly Fathers Spirit of Holiness is the One who makes His Word come alive to us individually, allowing the cleansing to take place in our life. Followed by encouragement and His direction for our WAY forward.

During the festival of Tabernacles/Booths/Sukkot, the Kohanim/Priests, drew water from the Shiloach Brook, and brought it through this gateway.

The Water Gate was open only during the festival.

The Water Gate took its name as well from the narrow stream of water that flowed from beneath the foundations of the Heichal, across the courtyard, and out through the Water Gate.

The Mikdash (Sanctuary)

The Mikdash is built of three parts:

The Ulam (Hall);

the Kodesh (the Holy area) also known as the

הייכל Heichal/hekal

and the

Kodesh Kodashim, the Holy of Holies.

In addition to the Water Gate, the Southern side of the Temple also had several additional gateways:

Sha’ar HaBechorot – Gate of the Firstborn;

Sha’ar HaDelek – The Firewood Gate.

The forests of Jerusalem were located west of the Upper City. The wood was cut down and brought in through the Kiphonus Gate, the only gate on the western side of the Temple wall to lead directly onto the Temple Mount.

The Kiphonus Gate

took the visitor through a tunnel

which led to the top of the

Har HaBayis/Temple.

The wood was cut down and brought in through the Kiphonus Gate, the only gate on the western side of the Temple wall to lead directly onto the Temple Mount. The gate on the west was known as the Coponius (Kiphonus) Gate, which may correspond to what is today known as Barclay’s Gate.

The wood could not be brought in through the western gates surrounding the Azarah, because those gates were narrow and small.

The wood had to be carried around to the southern part of the Azarah and brought in through one of those gateways, which was called the Gate of the Firewood.

The firewood from the Wood Chamber was also brought into the Azarah through the Gate of the Firewood.

Sha’ar HaElyon – Upper Gate

The Upper Gate – not to be confused with the

Nikanor Gate (picture below), that was also called

the Upper Gate –

was the highest point on the Temple Mount.

Water is used in the Bible as a symbol of cleansing:

our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Heb. 10:22;

and

to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. Eph. 5:26-27.

Pilate used water as a symbol of cleansing:

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility. Matt. 27:24.

water also naturally leads us to the subject of

immersion/baptism:

I baptize you with water for repentance. Matt. 3:11.

The preceding gate, the Fountain Gate, is symbolic of the outpouring of His Spirit of holiness/Ruach HaKodesh in our lives. So it is no coincidence that the very next gate in the series is the Water Gate, because His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh, and cleansing go together.

His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh is the one Who makes the Word of God come alive for us personally, thus allowing for the cleansing, the encouragement, and His direction to take place in our lives.

The Water Gate

tells about Our Heavenly Father/Yahoveh, Who is the source of

His Spirit of holiness/Ruach HaKodesh

through The Messiah, Yahshua/Yeshua/Jesus.

In the TaNaKh/Old Testament, water describes

His Spirit of holiness/Ruach HaKodesh.

The spiritual meaning of the

Water Gate is practical life, lived in

His Spirit of holiness/Ruach HaKodesh.

John 4: 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 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 well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

1Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Through sanctification of the Spirit, Yahshua/Yeshua/Jesus’s disciples are called to obey Yahoveh through the Blood of Messiah/Mashiach. By His grace we have our part to do, in which He leads us in the way of obedience.

First the Valley Gate where the trials and tribulations are allowed to uncover the rubbish;

then the Dung Gate where the rubbish can be done away with.

Next comes the Fountain Gate, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and this brings about the cleansing, the Water Gate.

The Water Gate also represents cleansing, but not for the purpose of regeneration or conversion; that took place at the Fountain Gate.

The Water Gate together with the Gihon Spring seems to represent a life of relationship, the connecting, the fellowship and of worship that keeps us spiritually in tune with our Heavenly Father’s will for our lives.

Whereas the Fountain Gate represents being bathed, or baptized, by His Spirit of Holiness, the Water Gate represents us drinking/taking it in physically, so that He lives inside of us.

Just above the Water Gate, in the Ophel area of the southern Temple wall, several mikvahs/immersion/baptismal pools, have been uncovered by Israel’s top archeologists. That is likely the place where 3,000 people were baptized on the day of Shavuot/Pentecost.

Nehemiah and Ezra gathered all the people at the Water Gate and read the Law of Moses. We are told that the people spent several hours standing to hear the precious Word. The Water Gate became the place of gathering, of teaching, of fellowship.

The next gate lies very near to the Water Gate.

It is called…

————————————

Horse Gate (v. 28)

שער sha’ar

סוס sus

sha’ar sus

סוס שער

וסים סוס

5483b. sus — a horse

סוס

or פרש

parash.

Strongs 657a. a horse, steed.

Phonetic Spelling: paw-rawsh’

So

horse gate

parash sha’ar

in Hebrew would be

סוס פרש

The Horse Gate (v. 28) was on the east side of the Temple overlooking the Kidron Valley; and the Kings horse stables were probably located near it.

It seems to have been a gate by which horses approached and left the old palace of David, which lay north of the temple. Due to its position to the Temple and to the Water Gate, it may have also been where the horses were led to drink. Another suggestion is that in order to go to the temple, an individual arriving on horseback at the Horse Gate, would have to dismount and leaving their horse here, because this was as far as a horse could go.

For believers, The Horse Gate is a reminder of the ongoing spiritual warfare that we all experience in our walk/halak. This reminder is primarily because the horse is a symbol of war and of our need to be good to be fully equipped to fight the good fight of faith as soldiers of Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ; according to 2 Tim. 2:3 and in Eph. 6:10–18; and 2 Tim. 4:7.

Following verse 26, the next gate that they come to is in Ophel.

The temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel. Above the Horse Gate…

This wall would have been on the same location, or almost the same location, as the present eastern wall facing the Mount of Olives, across from the Kidron Valley; turning east, is the Horse Gate.

Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. Neh. 3:28-29.

So the Horse Gate just east of the royal palace and southeast of the Temple Mount, near where the priests had their homes Nehemiah 3:28. This is not the same horse gate of 2 Kings 11:16 and 2 Chronicles 23:15; that gate was between the palace and the temple and was the site where Queen Athaliah was killed.

As previously mentioned, the Horse Gate was positioned by the horse stables and in King David’s time, this gate was used for an entrance to horse stables. It seems that the area of Solomon’s stables was misnamed, being within the Temple compound, however it is likely that stables were close by. Over the centuries, the underground area just inside the Temple’s southern wall, took on the name of Solomon’s stables because of this gate.

In the ancient Near East, and in biblical times horses were not used for transport. Donkeys and camels were animals for transport. Sheep were used for meat and wool, cattle were used for meat, for hides, and for milk. A horse had only one purpose it was the animal of war. Horses were used for pulling chariots and for mounted soldiers, the cavalry. They are best described as servants to humanity.

One spiritual significance of the Horse Gate teaches that we too are to serve humanity. Secondly Horses were used in the wars against enemies; linking the spiritual meaning of the Horse Gate to spiritual warfare:

Eph. 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Horse gate – ša˓ar hassûsîm

There is a verse in Jer. 31:38 which confirms the east as the side where the gate was situated.

It is a remarkable prophetic statement that

the days are coming

when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the Tower of Hananel (the second tower between the Sheep Gate and the Fish Gate)… The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be will be holy to the Lord.

Being as the Horse Gate was close to the King’s stables the soldiers would go to war riding their horses out of this Yerushalayim/Jerusalem gate.

‘I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness does He judge and make war.’ Rev. 19:11

whether we know it or not or believe it or not, every follower of Messiah is in a Spiritual war.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Eph. 6:12

Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2 Cor. 10:3-5

It is clear that we live in a war zone and we have to be alert and continually in a state of being prepared!

The good news, which of course is conditional

is that:

IF we dress ourselves in truth, righteousness, faith, peace, salvation and God’s Word,

IF we learn to take every thought captive, and

IF we apply the truth found in God’s Word to every argument brought to our attention,

and IF we remain covered in Messiahs Blood

and walk in obedience..

Then we WILL BE VICTORIOUS, for

God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Cor. 10:13-15

A true disciple lives in and by the power of His Spirit/Ruach; we are continually on the spiritual battlefield in a warfare, in which we fight against evil spirits, temptations to sin and the continual desires, demands and craving lusts of our flesh.

Heb. 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Jas. 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Cruden’s Concordance gives 3 references to the Horse Gate. All 3 give some information about it.

The first, 2 Chronicles 23:15, (told before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,) identifies the Horse Gate entrance as being on the palace grounds.

The gate would be situated near the stables of Solomon that housed some of his 12,000 horses, the ones that he had with him in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 10:26.)

In Nehemiah’s day the gate also led to the site of the King’s Garden and the tomb of David, (the latter still existing in New Testament times), (Acts 2:29), and to the tombs of his descendants……

But there was now no king!

An interesting question is, was this the gate entered by another King, about 500 years after the time of Nehemiah? Or was that the East or Golden Gate which will be covered in the next post?

Messiah entered Jerusalem/Yerushalayim on what is now called Palm Sunday, not on a decorated horse of triumph, but on the lowliest member of the horse family, possibly covered with the prayer shawls of His disciples, a donkey. To this point, He had avoided public declaration of Himself as King, often telling the people not to talk of what He had done for them.

In John 6:15 there was an incident as the people had tried to take Him by force and make Him King, but the timing was not the Fathers timing, so He withdrew into the hills by Himself.

Was He setting out deliberately to make his claim?

It was the fulfillment of the entrance of the King from Zechariah 9: Your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Any knowledgeable Jew would recognize this. This is why The Pharisees and priests were horrified because any Torah observant Jew would recognize this as prophetic scripture happening before their eyes.

They were horrified because the promise of an everlasting King had been made to David, not in their eyes to this local carpenter.

Interestingly the crowd seemed to be aware that He was of the Royal House. Because they called out

Hosanna to the Son of David.

The religious leaders were willfully blind choosing to ignore the TRUTH the LIFE and the WAY right before them as it did not fit the picture they had created for the fulfillment of their coming Messiah.

As this gentle King entered the city, crowds threw palm branches, clothes and prayer shawls under His feet.

There is an interesting thought which raises a question here, when a few days later they delivered Messiah into Pilate’s hands.

Did Pilate know the deeper significance of the ride on a donkey a few days before?

Was this first ‘Palm Sunday’ event the reason behind and for the mockery, the purple robe, the crown of thorns and the persistent questioning about His Kingdom and Kingship?

Our Sar Shalom/The Prince of Peace did enter Jerusalem as King, on a donkey. The same King, is coming again but this time for warfare, in victory, and for judgment of mankind,

He will be on a white horse and the armies of heaven, also mounted on white horses.

Rev. 19:11-16. Rev. 1:12-17.

So the Horse Gate also speaks of the Day of the Lord, and the end time judgment, as well as reminding us that we are all engaged daily in spiritual warfare, and the soon return of Yahshua/YeshuaHaMashiach/Jesus Christ!

For you know very well that the day of the lord will come like a thief in the night . . . But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled . . . putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

1 Thess. 5:2-8.

We need to be prepared and make sure we are ready to go to war. We can’t go through the Horse Gate until we have been through the Water Gate, and we’re not going to get any water until we submit to the Father and allow Him to remove all the refuse and rubbish. He cannot do that until we realize that He has to do it.

The Horse Gate focuses on the glorification of our Savior.

We see the image of the lowly King riding the donkey on His way to save His people. Then as the warrior King, overcoming His enemies and being the righteous judge.

Finally the Horse Gate reminds us that He is on the throne in the presence of His and our Heavenly Father and that every knee shall bow before Him.

Our teshuvah/repenting/turning about, at the Fountain Gate prepares us for the high calling of praise/worship and service we see in the Water Gate and Horse Gate. This is where we show our trust/faith by our works. Working out our salvation.. doing the things He has told us to do as His talmidim/disciples and this is where we lay up treasures in heaven. We could say that these gates represent a lifetime of good works, according to that which He has required of us.

Providing extended details of the

Gates of Jerusalem

Sha’ar Yerushalayim

is especially for those who have not physically been able to visit the land of Israel/Yisrael. It is hoped it will give an insight to and a helpful visual reference of the reality of Jerusalem/Yerushalayim as a place. It confirms that the gates are really there and the Bible is not just a book of stories. It is the city of the Great King where He has chosen to put His Name.

The last gates will be covered in the next post.

——————————–

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Entering and Leaving Sha’ar Yerushalayim – Part 4

January 23, 2022

continuing from part 3

We must remind ourselves that

The Old City of Jerusalem

Hebrew: העיר העתיקה‎,

HaEer HaAtika

is a walled area within modern Jerusalem and is just a 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile) in area.

שַׁעַר sh’ar gates

Yerushalaim

יְרוּשָׁלַם

Yerushalayim

The 2 gates in this post are Not named in

Nehemiah’s Jerusalem…

but still an important gate is

שער ציון

Zion Gate

Sha’ar Tzion

ZION

Zion Gate

The Hebrew for the Zion Gate is

Sha’ar Tzion.

שער ציון

Zion is one of the biblical names of Jerusalem,

and this gate is on Mount Zion.

Note there are old and new areas with the same name.

The third of the four major gates of Jerusalem is the Zion Gate. This gate faces the compass direction south, and is located along the southwestern walls of the Old city.

It is named such because the gate faces, and provides access, to Mount Zion.

The gate was built by the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent in 1540; who built many of the gates of Jerusalem which along with the Zion Gate still stand today.

It is one of the gates of Jerusalem that lead into the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.

Walls near the Zion Gate date from the Hasmonean and Herodian periods of the history of Jerusalem.

Similar to the previously mentioned gates of Jerusalem, the Zion Gate was built with an L-shaped internal structure.

One window on each side of the gate lent its distinguishable characteristic; and like the Jaffa Gate, can support both foot and vehicle traffic. However, vehicles are not allowed to enter only through the gate, only to exit.

Other names of the Zion Gate are;

the Gate of the Prophet David,

and the Gate to the Jewish Quarter.

The name, the Gate of the Prophet David,

is due to Muslim tradition

which places the tomb of king David on Mount Zion;

and in Arabic the gate is called Bab Nabi Daud.

It is believed the Crusaders and other early Christians misidentified the location of David’s tomb. David was
not buried on Mount Zion, but in the City of David, probably on the Ophel outside the northern walls of the
city at that time:

Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. – 2 Kings 2:10

The tomb of David was still in Jerusalem in 30 AD when Peter addressed a crowd of Jews and said:

Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. – Acts 2:2

The Zion Gate saw much fighting in the 1967 war of Independence and it was one of the main gates used to enter and liberate the Old City, even today Zion Gate is riddled with bullet holes from the War of 1948.

Both the Zion Gate and the Jaffa Gate were closed from 1948 to 1967 when the Jordanians (Arabs) maintained control of the Old City.

They closed the gates because they faced West
Jerusalem, which was controlled by Israel.

However, during the Six Day War of 1967, Israeli troops erupted through the Zion Gate, dashing through the Armenian Quarter on their way to the Jewish Quarter.

At the same time Israelite forces flooded through the other gates of Jerusalem converging on the Wall.

This gate leads to the Armenian quarter, through which you can reach the Jewish Quarter. Picture below showing bullet holes and a Mezuzah on the entrance wall of the gate.

Jaffa Gate

שער יפו

Sha’ar Yaffo

Also called:

The Gate of David’s Prayer Shrine,

Porta David.

This gate was added into the walls of the expanded city limits and we looked at its predecessor called the Valley Gate in a previous post.

Today’s Jaffa Gate seems to have taken the place of the ancient Valley Gate, though the western portion of the city wall lies much further west than it did in the city of David and Nehemiah.

Jaffa Gate‘s entry was strategically built

and retains its original L-shaped interior.

The Jaffa Gate,

also known as

Sha’ar Yafo

שער יפו

or

David’s Gate,

Sha’ar David שער דוד

And in Arabic Bab el-Khalil,

This gate gets its name because it leads to the Jaffa/Joppa road, the main thoroughfare, the forerunner of the contemporary highway to the port of Jaffa/Joppa.

It is also known as David’s Gate because of the proximity of the Tower of David or David’s Citadel.

The present tower was built by Suleiman the Magnificent, but still called the Tower of David because the current structure was built on the foundations of the original tower built by King David.

The main entrance to the Old City is the Jaffa Gate, which was also built by Suleiman in 1538.

The name in Arabic, Bab el-Halil

or Hebron Gate,

means

The Beloved;

and refers to Abraham,

the beloved of God who is buried in Hebron.

The Jaffa gate also leads to the road to Hebron.

Facing due west, the Jaffa Gate is the best known and busiest of the gates of Jerusalem and is the only gate on the western side of the Old city. Today it is the main vehicle entry point into the Old City, and one of only two of the gates of Jerusalem that allow vehicle access.

Located above the Hinnom Valley, or Gehenna Valley (Valley of Hell), it was the main entrance into the Old city until 1948.

This was mentioned in previous post in Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the smaller Jerusalem and was then known as the Valley gate.

The main road from the Jaffa Gate runs between the northern hill of the Acra and the southern hill Mount Zion; it leads eastward into the city down into the Tyropeon Valley.

Each of the gates of Jerusalem has a unique or distinctive quality or feature about it.

The Jaffa Gate’s distinctive characteristic is

a small sphere on each side of the arch.

The gate is constructed of large, hewn, sand-colored bricks and the entry is about twenty feet in height. The wall rises another twenty feet above the gate. The Jaffa Gate was strategically built on a right angle with the wall as a defensive measure.

Just inside the Joppa /Jaffa Gate

is David street.

As one enters, to the left is the Christian Quarter,

to the right the Armenian Quarter,

and straight ahead is the Muslim Quarter of the city.

A square is located across the street from the nearby Tower of David.

In times past wheat and other goods and merchandise were sold in this square. During the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 AD, Moslem defenders and their wives and children sought refuge and protection inside the Tower of David.

The gate on the western side of the Old City marked the end of the highway leading from the Jaffa coast and now leads into the Muslim and Armenian quarters. A road allows cars to enter the Old City through a wide gap in the wall between Jaffa Gate and the Citadel.

This passage was originally built in 1898 when Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Jerusalem. The ruling Ottoman Turks opened it so the German Emperor would not have to dismount his carriage to enter the city.

In the early 1900’s Pasha, the tyrant of Jerusalem, staged hangings near the Jaffa Gate to coincide with the dismissal of Friday Prayers so that large audiences would see the dead bodies.

Up until the end of the 19th century AD the Jaffa Gate was locked each night. This was done in order to keep out marauders, bandits and thieves, as well as jackals, hyenas, and other unwanted invaders. Travelers at dusk carried lanterns to identify themselves, and those who arrived after dark were forced to sleep outside the city gate. The gate was reopened at dawn.

Jaffa gate Sha’ar Yaffo – this western facing gate was traditionally the main entrance to the Old City. It is named for the port city of Jaffa which faces this gate, and from where visitors and pilgrims to the Holy Land would disembark from their boats to start the last stretch to Jerusalem by foot or carriage.

Also known as the Hebron Gate,

in Arabic, this gate is called Bab el Halil;

or Bab-el-Khalil, the Gate of the Friend.

Halil is the one of the names for Abraham who is buried in Hebron, which is where the name Abraham, the friend of God, comes from; and this gate also links Jerusalem to Hebron via the Patriarchs Route which starts just outside the gate.

From the Jaffa gate, there is access to the Arab Market,

or the King David Citadel or to

go into the Jewish Quarter via the Armenian Quarter.

It was also called Joppa Gate because the road to the port city of Joppa – on the Mediteranean coast also began from it.

This gate is the only one on the western side of the Old City and is called the gate of Hebron, because the main road to Hebron also started from here.

Herod built three towers, which he named the

Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamme

connected to the western section of the walls in 37 – 34 B.C.

One of these towers, now known as the Tower of David, stands today just inside the Jaffa Gate.

It is the highest point in the Old city, and the gate was originally built to defend and protect the approach from the west.

The Tower of David is the dominating feature near the Jaffa Gate.

It has also been called the Chevron Gate, as the road from this gate leads to Chevron as well.

Another name for this gate, the Gate of David’s Prayer Shrine.

Porta David/the Gate of David and so not surprisingly the gates of Jerusalem can quickly become a confusing mixture of names.

The Crusader name for the Jaffa Gate was Forte David. An anonymous pilgrim spoke of the area in 1220 A.D. while traveling through the city and is recorded as saying:

“In the city of Jerusalem there are four principal gates, in the shape of a cross, one opposite the other… David’s Gate faces west, and stands exactly opposite the Golden Gate, which faces east… This gate belongs to the Tower of David, and is therefore called David’s Gate.”

The present day name of this gate is the Jaffa Gate since it still leads to the port of the city of Jaffa. In the photo above, the Jaffa Gate is on the left and the Citadel/Tower of David on the right.

This is the wall south of Jaffa Gate (in between the gate and the Citadel/Tower) which was removed in 1898 by the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II. The moat, which was located where the road is now, was also filled in at that time. The sultan did this to give the Kaiser the impression that he was entering Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate when really he was not, since there is a legend that says all conquerors will enter through the Jaffa Gate!

It was through the Jaffa Gate the mayor of Jerusalem exited the city seeking out the British army in order to surrender the city. On December 9, 1917 Brigadier General CF Watson and Lt. Colonel H Bailey entered Jerusalem with the mayor through the 1898 opening near the Jaffa Gate used by the Kaiser.

Two days later, British General Edmund Allenby entered through the Jaffa Gate on foot and gave a speech on the steps of the Citadel. General Allenby entered, on foot, through the Jaffa Gate, deliberately ignoring the German Kaiser’s opening, and accepted the surrender of Jerusalem to the British.

General Allenby chose the Jaffa Gate because it was one of four major gates of Jerusalem. Some have suggested his first choice would have been the Golden Gate, however, this required walking through a Muslim cemetery, thus Allenby chose the Jaffa Gate as his point of entrance. He did so as a show of respect to the city and to differentiate and distance himself from any comparison to Kaiser Willem.

Accompanying him was Major T.E. Lawrence, who is better known by his later name Lawrence of Arabia.

The Jaffa Gate was the focus of Israeli forces in 1948 as they tried to capture the Old City in order to unite it with Israeli-controlled western Jerusalem. However, the Jews did not gain control of it until 1967. Between 1948 and 1967 the Jordanians could not use this gate for traffic so they had to widen the Dung Gate to get access the Old City and its Citadel.

In 1908 a clock tower was erected just outside the gate to accommodate the budding business district in that location. However, the tower lasted just ten years and then destroyed by the British.

In 1948 during the Israeli Independence War, Haganah forces were defeated by the Jordanians in their attempt to capture the Jewish Quarter of the old city and connect it with Western Jerusalem. It was only after the 1967 Six Day War that Israeli forces were able to regain control of the Jaffa Gate.

The Jaffa Gate has been, and will continue to be, one of the four primary gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Its strategic location, nearby artifacts and historical importance, as well as its ability to host vehicle traffic, make it also one of the most unique of the gates of Jerusalem.

The gates will continue in next post….

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past. I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Entering and Leaving Sha’ar Yerushalayim – Part 3

January 15, 2022

Continuing from part 2…

There is often confusion concerning the various names of the gates. This is because over the centuries, every time the walls of the city of Jerusalem/Yerushalayim/Yerushalaim

יְרוּשָׁלַם

were expanded outward, the appropriate gate would simply follow the wall, yet, each gate remained in the same general area as the earlier gate that it replaced; however many times the rebuilt, or replacement gate, was given a new name too.

In the days of Hezekiah and King David, Jerusalem was a much smaller compound, with walls and gates much closer together. The accuracy of some of the gates locations has been lost over the centuries although with continuing excavations more evidence is revealed.

The Babylonian army destroyed the city and left the walls and gates in ruins. The Book of Nehemiah records the rebuilding of the city around 445 B.C. In chapter 3, repairs were made to 10 gates.

They are listed in the order of their locations, beginning with the Sheep Gate near the northeastern reaches of the wall corresponding to the general area of the modern Herod’s Gate. Each gate is listed as Nehemiah names them in a counter-clockwise rotation.

They are:

Sheep Gate (Neh. 3:1)

Fish Gate (v.3)

Old Gate (v.6)

Valley Gate (v.13)

Dung Gate (v.13)

Fountain Gate (v.15)

Water Gate (v.26)

Horse Gate (v. 28)

East Gate (v. 29)

Miphkad or Inspection Gate (v.31)

What is so remarkable about these gates, as given in their particular order, is that they appear to tell the future story of the Gospel during what has come to be known as the ‘dispensation of Grace’.

The Ephraim and Prison gates makes the count 12.

Continuing from part 2

In verse 13 is

The Valley Gate

The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah…. (Nehemiah 3:13)

which was located in the western section of the wall. This was the place where Nehemiah began and ended his nighttime inspection of the walls as recorded in chp. 2:13–15.

Sha’ar Gate – the Valley Gate

Nehemiah mentions that he began his trip to the city from Sha’ar HaGai. The name refers to a site on the way to Jerusalem/Yerushalayim.

The Hebrew name

שער העמק

Sha’ar HaGai

is a translation of the Arabic:

Bab el Wad, the Valley Gate,

which leads to Jerusalem.

The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. They also repaired five hundred yards of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.” (Neh 3:13 NIV)

Zanoah, now known as “Zanna” is on the west side of Jerusalem, at a distance of about 10 kilometers.

According to commentaries, the Valley Gate lay in the west, in the neighborhood of the present Jaffa gate.

Interestingly, there is an extensive, though not specified, length of wall between the Valley Gate and the previous gate, the Old Gate. We can assume this by the fact that Nehemiah 3 records eight separate sections of the wall being completed before coming to the Valley Gate. As well, after this gate was a piece of wall approximately 500 meters before the next gate. Nehemiah 3:7-12

The Valley Gate led out of the city of Jerusalem and down into the valley. It is the gate through which believers are called to go.

The word Valley is used symbolically in the Bible as:

a place of sorrow, of trials, of humbling experiences:

and is a reminder of Ps.23:4; the valley of the shadow of death, and all of us will have to go down that way sooner or later if the Lord tarries.

This gate led into the Tyropoeon Valley which is in the area of the Jaffa Gate in present-day Israel.

The Valley Gate represents humility and our willingness to occupy a humble place as a servant truly submissive to Him and what He has called us to do. Phil. 2:8 tells us Jesus/ Yeshua gave the example by humbling Himself and declaring that He came as One who serves. Peter in 1 Pet. 5:6 encourages us to “Humble [ourselves] … that he may exalt [us] in due time”.

This is something we are to do; and we are reminded that Yeshua/Jesus Himself challenged every believer to positions of humble servitude, stating, in

Lk. 14:11 “whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”.

God must often lead us through that gate even though it is sometimes difficult for us to follow Him there.

In Philippians 2:3 it is lowliness of mind, and

Colossians 3:12 calls it humbleness of mind.

Humility is something we cannot cultivate.

We cannot put it on; it must come from the inside.

According to Galatians 5, it is a fruit of the Spirit – the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, and humbleness or meekness. It is one of the fruits that we cannot make happen. He alone can produce it in our hearts and lives as we submit to Him.

Many times our Heavenly Father takes us down through the valley to teach us this important lesson because pride is something that slithers and entwines itself into our thoughts and even sneaks into our prayers. Therefore, this Valley Gate is an essential part of maturing and necessary in the life of every believer in Yeshua/Jesus.

Even in the natural realm, nothing grows on high mountaintops. It is in the valleys that we see vegetation. It is no different in the Spiritual realm. Our Spiritual growth occurs when we are walking through the valleys, the trials and tribulations that will come to every believer sooner or later.

No one ever said that this road/Way is an easy one: In this world you will have trouble. John 16:33a. But we must not be discouraged, for Yeshua/Jesus goes on to say: But take heart! I have overcome the world. Luke 3:5b

Ps.23 is His promise to be with us through the Valley.

There is a 2nd lesson we can learn comes from the lengthy sections of walls between the Valley Gate and the Old Gate. When a individual comes to the Lord, Our Father often allows an easy/ honeymoon type period of time, free of major trials, where He can teach us personally, and where His presence becomes strong in our lives. As indicated by the sections of walls before and after the Valley Gate, this “honeymoon” period can go on for quite awhile, and its purpose is to strengthen us in the Lord for our Valley experiences.

It’s important for every follower of Yeshua/Jesus to know, that hard times WILL come; but not until our Father Himself, has conditioned us to be able to stand up to them!

Remember His promise:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear . . . He will also PROVIDE a WAY OUT so that you can STAND UP UNDER IT. 1 Cor 10:13

Because we know that

suffering produces PRESEVERANCE,

perseverance CHARACTER;

and character, HOPE. Rom 5:4.

This way He provides is in the opportunities He gives us to walk with Him, to learn to trust Him in everything. If we don’t take advantage of these ‘lengthy wall sections’ by working on establishing a strong relationship with Him, then when the Valley Gate is before us, we will not be able to stand up!

We are to learn to trust Him, and learn what it means to lean entirely upon Him. If we do, we will have the way through when we arrive at the Valley Gate!

The next gate was located in the southern section of the wall listed in

Nehemiah 3:14

And the dung gate repaired Malchijah….

There is little in the Bible commentaries concerning

the Dung Gate.

It was believed to have been built at a distance of at least 1500 feet from the previous gate,

the Valley Gate,

though some say it may have actually been built even farther than that, as it was a long way from the road.

The Dung Gate,

Sha’ar Ha’ashpot

or

Silwan Gate

שער האשפות

so named because it led to the Hinnom Valley, south of Jerusalem, where all manner of waste and refuse was dumped was taken at night.

The Dung Gate

is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah as a point through which the city’s waste and refuse was removed. It was located along the south wall, this gate is closest in proximity to the temple Mount where the residue from the Temple was also burned in the nearby

Valley of Hinnom.

hĭn’ em גֵּ֣י הִנֹּ֗ם.

It is also known as the

VALLEY OF THE SON OF HINNOM

Josh 15:8; Jer 7:32,

Hinnom (hin ´ uhm),

Valley of, a valley known also as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. It was probably the Wadi er-Rababi, beginning west of Jerusalem, near the present Jaffa Gate.

Gehenna (γέεννα) is just a transliteration of the

Hebrew for Valley of Hinnom (גֵּי הִנֹּם)

Dung Gate (Sha’ar Hashpot) –

in the Southeast corner of the old city it’s the only gate that leads directly into the Jewish Quarter.

The tradition of dumping waste through this gate continued into Roman times, and so the name Dung Gate remained.

This gate leads to the Western Wall, and the Southern Wall Archaeological Park.

Some maps put the Dung Gate up on the hill where the Valley Gate is located. Other maps put the Dung Gate at the bottom of the hill. The map below shows the options since its location is not certain.

The modern Dung Gate lies just southwest of the Western Wall, near the southern wall of the Temple Mount. However, in David’s day, it was located about as far south as the ancient wall went; right at the very bottom of the hill, where the Valley of the Cheese makers meets the area of ground that is known as the Gehenna Valley.

In like manner, we must each get as far down as one can go spiritually.

We must come to the place where we are willing to turn the corner, teshuvah, and begin the journey back toward the house of God /the Temple/His Presence.  We are not going to be perfect, in our wandering, but as we will willingly die to our flesh/carnal life, we will grow in His righteousness.

Also called the Potsherd Gate;

some say it was at the very southern tip, facing southwest.

There was a walled section around the

Pool of Shelah or Siloam, John 9:6–7,

then the Dung Gate

Nehemiah 3:13–14

exited out to a garbage dump in the Hinnom Valley where, in the days of King Manasseh, child sacrifices took place 2 Chronicles 33:6.

One of two great choirs went to the Dung Gate during the dedication of the wall Nehemiah 12:31.

The pointed arch at the top of the Dung Gate above the lintel indicates that it was originally designed as a postern gate, which is a secondary gate in a fortification, often concealed so the city’s occupants could secretly escape the city or deploy troops against those besieging them.

A distinctive feature of the Dung Gate are the two triangles engraved in the stone artwork. The Gate is also topped by an engraved flower.

The modern day Dung Gate faces the Kidron Valley close to the Gihon Spring. The original Dung Gate existed also on the south walls, however closer to the Kidron Valley than the present day gate.

An Islamic tradition from around 638 AD claims the name originated during the Omar’s conquest, when trash and refuse from the city were removed through the gate. However, Jewish traditions from as early as the second century AD and before attest to the use of the Dung Gate to remove trash and Temple ash from the Old City.

The Dung Gate has been in use since the First Temple Period, during the days of king Solomon in the tenth century B.C. The First Temple Dung Gate was southeast of the current gate, on the walls of the City of David.

This makes the Dung Gate the oldest of the gates of Jerusalem still in use, though in a slightly modified location.

Nehemiah makes an interesting comment on the Dung Gate in Nehemiah 2:13. “So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.”

The Refuse Gate literally translates as Gate of Ash-heaps. Ash from the Temple incense was collected and eventually thrown away. What is interesting is that the gate was in a state of disrepair. Thus, things had not been touched since the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Dung Gate was rebuilt by Nehemiah.

During the days of Nehemiah the Dung Gate was repaired by an individual named Malchijah, the son of Rechab. His exploit is recorded in Nehemiah 3:14.

“And Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He built and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.”

During the 1948 War of Independence, the Jordanian army controlled the Dung Gate. They widened the gate in 1952 to allow for vehicle traffic. Today, another gate stands nearby the Dung Gate. This gate, however, was built in medieval times and is called The Tanner’s Gate.

During the Six Day War of 1967 the Jerusalem Brigade smashed through the Dung Gate and the Zion Gate simultaneously and headed for the Western Wall. The other gates of Jerusalem surrounding the Old City were taken in similar fashion as Israel recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem. The Six Day War came to end with three different companies of Israeli Defense Forces converging together at the Wailing Wall. As the Israelites occupied the Old City, the Dung Gate was intentionally left unguarded, allowing many of the Jordanian soldiers that abandoned their positions to exit through the Dung Gate.

This gate was widened in 1953 by the occupying Jordanians so that vehicles could get into the Old City, since the Jaffa Gate and Zion Gate were under siege and closed.

At one point in the city’s history the cattle market was located inside the Dung Gate, and this may be how the gate got its name?

Spiritually,

The Dung Gate

suggests our need for constant cleansing.

Isaiah wrote that our righteousness is as filthy rags Isaiah 64:6.

We must come to the place of repentance/teshuvah, where we turn from sin.

This is the message of the Dung Gate and continues the process in which, as Paul taught, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Because all the filth of the city was carried out through this gate, it reminds us of the need to be continually cleansed from the sinfulness of a carnal life lived to serve the flesh; that which must be taken out through the Dung Gate.

This is the gate that we do not like to talk about, but ignoring this gate is causing our witness to smell bad and not be the sweet smelling savor we are supposed to be.

Philippians 4:18
Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 2 Cor 2:15

Isaiah was called of God to challenge the nation of Israel to leave Babylon:

go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. Isa. 52:11.

We are called to come out from among her and be ye separate.. meaning all believers in Messiah are to hear AND do. 2 Cor. 7:1.

Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

In other words, according to Lev. 11:44; & 1 Pet. 1:15–16. we are to be holy in all areas of life; again these are actions we are to take, Our Heavenly Father doesn’t do these things for us automatically, we are to come to Him willingly, for Him to change us from within.

He allows the valley experience to teach us things and to clear out the rubbish in our characters because, once His Sprit of Holiness has uncovered this rubbish and helped us to deal with it, then it must be disposed of, through the Dung Gate to be burned so as to never return!

The dung/rubbish/our deceitful desires, is listed in Eph. 4:22 and Gal. 5:17-21. The rubbish, or the dung that must be done away with, is malice, wickedness, deceitful desires which is basically our sinful natures! We must do away with our old selves/the old man, so that the image of Messiah can begin to be reflected in our lives! The result is so that true faith, refined by His fire, can come forth and produce fruit.

Part 4 the next gates – to follow..

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

thank you so very much for your prayers!!

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom Family – Mishpachah

January 8, 2022

Shalom Mishpachah/family,

the delay in publishing

Entering and Leaving – Sha’ar Yerushalyim

Part 3 is due to life’s ongoing promises of

tests, trials and challenges to our faith;

promised us by our Messiah!!

Thank you for your prayers,

the postings will resume ASAP

until then … 2Corinthians 1:2-7

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ./Yeshua HaMashiach

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

⁵For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.