| “The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah” (Nehemiah 3:13). |
| “But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab” (Nehemiah 3:14). |
| “But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh” (Nehemiah 3:15). |
| The valley gate would perhaps be a picture of what we read about in Psalm 23:4 — the “valley of the shadow of death.” Sometimes in our Christian lives we feel as if we are on a mountaintop, while at other times we seem to be in a valley. You may remember a time when the Syrians were badly defeated by Israel. The Syrians said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys” (1 Kings 20:28). But the Lord is looking after us just as much when we go through a valley as when we are on a mountain. The Syrians were again badly defeated, because the Lord was with Israel. Let us remember that the Lord is also with us, even if we seem to be in a valley in our life. |
| The dung gate was probably the gate out of which they carried the manure from the animals. It was necessary to do this, and sometimes in our lives there are things that need to be carried out. Manure has a smell to it, and it is not nice to have large amount of it around our homes. In the days of Nehemiah they had plenty of horses, and the manure needed to be taken away. So you and I need to deal with those things in our lives that are not pleasing to the Lord, and to get rid of them. |
| But what comes next? The fountain gate, which speaks of refreshment. The Lord Jesus could tell the woman at the well of Sychar that “the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life” (John 4:14 JND). When we get rid of things in our life that are not pleasing to the Lord, then the Spirit of God can use the Word of God to bring real refreshment to us. I suggest that this is the meaning of the fountain gate. |
