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We can’t understand the Book of Nehemiah without understanding the importance of city walls in Old Testament times.
Nehemiah understood!
Nehemiah’s brother and several of his brother’s friends returned from Jerusalem to Susa in Persia to give this report to Nehemiah. . .
They said to me, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting (Nehemiah 1:3b-4, ESV).
Destroyed walls and ruined gates indicated two things: no protection and no gatekeepers. In ancient times, walls kept a city safe from invaders, and secured gates allowed leaders of the city to control what entered and left the city.
Without walls and gates, Jerusalem, the city of the Living God, now existed as an affront to both its inhabitants and to God.
When an enemy conquered a city, they burned the city gates, indicating to the citizens of that city and even other nations observing the battle the easy access and control of the city by the conqueror.
Has the evil one conquered our city, our church, our relationships, or our walk with Jesus?
As one commentator says. . .
Jerusalem’s wall and gates had a dual purpose – to keep God’s people close to Him while keeping the enemy away. The wall and gates were both needed, but in Jerusalem, both were broken down. The wall can be likened to biblical principles, which guide the believer in his relationship to the world, while the gates represent the care taken as to what should be let in and kept out.
Often, later, in a conquest of a city, more time would be taken to systematically destroy or “raze” the city — reducing gates, walls, houses, businesses, and temples to ruble.
Have we opened the gates of our minds to the enemy? Do we now find our gates burned and our walls torn down? Are we held captive by the enemy? As the Apostle Peter warns. . .
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Our mind is the gate, allowing or denying access to our enemy.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT).
And Paul encourages us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2a, ESV).”
Nehemiah understood the importance of walls and gates, do we?
Next Monday, I will write The OG on the Book of Nehemiah ~ Part 3.
Until then. . .