PEN ART - THE REFLECTION OF CHRIST IN NEHEMIAH-PART TWO

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR PLACE IN THE WALL?

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We have been pondering the following scripture passage found in Nehemiah 2:11-18:  

11 - So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.  

12 - Then I arose in the night, and I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, nor was there any animal with me except the one on which I rode.  

13 - And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and The Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

14-Then I went on to The Fountain Gate and to The King's Pool, but there was not room for the animal that was under me to pass.

15-So I went up in the night by the valley and viewed the wall;then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

16-And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the Priests, The Nobles, The Officials, or The Others Who Did the Work.

17- Then I said to them:  "You see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire.  Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach."

18-And I told them of the Hand of My God which had been good upon me and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me.  So they said, "Let us rise up and build."  Then they sat their hands to do this good work.

 After a very careful survey and a look at every detail of the walls and gates of Jerusalem; Nehemiah turns and reenters the valley through the same Valley Gate from which he came.  

Jesus Christ, now having ascended into heaven is sitting at the right hand of The Father.  He is there taking surveys; looking down at the walls of our lives.  He is examining us, talking with us, pointing out the things that He wishes us to see and do to those walls that surround His Church, His Bride.  

He sees how broken we are.  

He sees the decay and the rot of sin.  

He knows what shape we have let ourselves become, a shape unfit for protecting a righteous kingdom.  

Now is the time to hear what He is saying to the churches.

 Now is the time to listen and obey.  

He speaks of a vision of restoration, oh that our hearts might be willing to hear!

We must speak with Him now, this moment, while He is sitting in the place of Peace, because the day is coming when He will leave the place in the Heavens again and He will reenter this earth.  

He will walk again through the dark valley and through the earth full of forgiven sinners, those like you and me, those He willingly died for.   

When He begins to re-enter that Valley Gate again, there will be times on earth of trials and tribulations like there has never been before, or ever will be again.

Right now Christ is moving like Nehemiah as he was surveying the walls.  He is busy looking things over.  He is examining the situation.  He is listening to the voice of The Father.  He is asking God what SHOULD be on this earth.  He is thinking of restoration and new life in the midst of  all the rubble and chaos.

 In verse 16 Nehemiah says "The officials did not know where I had gone, or what I was doing, because as yet, I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work." 

In the same manner as Nehemiah with his few good men at his side; Jesus did not speak to the Pharisees and the religious rulers of His day.  He spoke only to his little band of followers, those earthy men who trusted in Him.  He revealed things to those who believed the truth He brought from heaven.  

Even today, as He speaks from Heaven, He doesn't always speak to the rulers and famous religious leaders, but often He speaks to the poor, the humble, the gentle, the common, loving people of God who are following His lead and listening to His voice in their lowly every day lives.  He reveals His truths to His faithful followers, the ones who stay with Him till the end through thick and thin and trials and tribulations; he continues to speak to the true ones that He has called.

When Jesus Christ returns to earth, just as when Nehemiah turned around from following and surveying the destruction of the walls; one of the first things Jesus's eyes may see, will be the same picture that Nehemiah saw back in those days -  He may see Jerusalem lying in ruins.  

That Holy City that He loved will be destroyed and it will lie in ruins.  Jerusalem's gates may again be burned with fire, but Our Lord will turn to His people and say (just as Nehemiah said to his men)  "Come - let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace!"

 And "So they began the good work," in the days of Nehemiah - in the days of Christ, and so God's work continues in the days of our lives.  

What a beautiful picture of the face of Nehemiah, reflecting the face of Christ, in the hope of restoration of a Kingdom and a Nation.

 All this is amazing to think about and wonderful to look forward to; but how can we apply this story in a practical way to our own lives in this present age?

 Nehemiah put much prayer and thought into this work of God.  He only listened to what the Lord had to say, so he only did things the way the Lord wanted them to be done.  He told the people to start right where they were living.  They each were instructed to build the walls along the portion of the city that they lived the closest to.

Where are you living?  

How do you need to build?  

What walls are broken in your own life?  

You need only to look at your own front door to find the starting place you have in The Kingdom of God.  

Start today, right where you are living.  Follow the great instructor, Jesus Christ; and begin to repair the walls of your life.  

If every man in every city did this, the cities of our country would be healed.  

If every city did this the states of our country would be healed.  

If every state did this the country would be healed.  

If every country did this the world would be healed.  

If we want to repair the world it all has to start at each individual believer's front door.

What an inspiration for the church today.  This isn't a complicated and complex plan as many might think!  

We just have to start with our own place in the wall.  We live out a witness in our own homes and our own families, and our own neighborhoods.  We stand for God in our work places, and our social activities in the community.  

We simply have to start in the place where God has put us, and we can begin to grow out from our own home base.

Have you been waiting?  

Why?  

Jesus says "Come - Let us rebuild!"

SEASONS - PREPARING FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES - THE JOY OF BUILDING A SUKKAH

PREPARING FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

God is happy to meet us where we are, but once He shows up; you must be willing to take the journey!

Late September, early October brings the seven fall holy days we call Sukkot, or if you prefer English; The Feast of Tabernacles.  It is called The Feast of Tabernacles because we dwell in temporary booths or shelters during this time.  These temporary booths are called sukkahs.  The word “sukkah” actually translates from Hebrew to English to mean “temporary booths.”  

For some people, learning the name of the shelter and building it is about as deep as the meaning goes.  For others there is SO MUCH MORE to the whole experience.  For those willing to open their eyes and see, there are awesome surprises waiting in the sukkah.

If you actually participate in building a sukkah for Sukkot you will more than likely realize there is a lot of hidden meaning to the simple building process.  You really won’t get this unless you DO this.  The doing has a lot to do with obeying God just because He is God.  Obedience is the first step toward growth in any part of God’s Kingdom.  It is also a straight path toward joy!  You can be happy from using your human reason and doing what is logical, or you can have JOY from having faith in God and doing what He says.  He knows the difference.  He looks on the condition of our hearts.

Those of us who have enJOYed our Sukkah’s at the feast have realized after building the first one that there were many reasons God asks us to do this.  It is all about stopping to savor the journey, remembering the past and moving on to the future, and it is spiced with love, worship, compassion and mercy.  All of these things come filtering through to us from building and living in a sukkah. 

At first though, it is all about obedience.  This is the scripture that we are obeying:

“Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, and you shall take on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.  And you shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year.  It shall be a STATUTE FOREVER in your generations; you shall celebrate in the seventh month.  You shall DWELL IN BOOTHS SEVEN DAYS; all that are Israelite born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I made the Children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD thy God.”  (Lev. 23:39-43)

So if you are wondering if you REALLY should obey this because you might not have been born Israeli; think again.  Are you a Christian?  Then you have been grafted into the family of God and you are an adopted Son of God.  That gives you the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as the natural born children.  The other Christian customs you observe came from the Children of Israel, such as baptism and communion, so why would this be different?  God commanded them all for The Children of God.

Building the sukkah and observing the Feast of Tabernacles makes  us consider many things in a more careful manner.  God always shows us something new!  It never gets old or boring.  Each year our lessons are layered on top of the last year’s lessons until we are full of the knowledge of what God wants us to have inside our hearts and minds at this feast.  Like everything else in life it is a process.  When you begin any process you have to make a conscience decision to begin, carry on and finish the process.  Every phase carries a different meaning,and each season the meanings deepen.  Please don’t take my word for it, test me and find out if what I am saying isn’t true.

God knows we humans have short attention spans.  Sometimes just hearing words isn’t enough for us.  When we are involved in the process of building something, we consider what we are doing and grasp the meanings that correspond with our actions.  Our attention span last longer and we are able to retain the lessons learned much longer.  They also mean more to us because we were “hands on” with our first memory of the event.  We have a visual image in our brain of what we were trying to accomplish.  It is like a photograph that we can pull back up and look at closer whenever we decide to ponder our actions deeper at a later time.

 

By the time we begin building our sukkah for Sukkot those of us who keep all of God’s holy days have already passed through a process of examination of our lives for the past year.  We have found ourselves unworthy and lacking and we have asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness.  We have received atonement and cleansing for our mistakes over the last year.  This all happens through The month of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, The Days of Awe and The Day of Atonement that lead us up to Tabernacles.  By the time we are finished with all of those days and their processes and we come to the place of building our Sukkah for Sukkot; we approach the building process with clean hands, hearts and lives.  By entering the temporary shelter after it is built on good instructions from God we come to a new place in life, a new beginning again of the rhythms of life with everything in sync with God and ready to make a glorious new song for all the world to hear.  We don’t have all our “stuff” in the sukkah, so we feel much less inhibited and a lot less stressful because we have been reminded of what we REALLY need and dropped off the extra baggage before The Day of Atonement and we are refreshed from not having to carry it around anymore.

To build a proper sukkah, you need to be willing to follow God’s instructions for doing so.   It isn’t hard, but God wants things the way God wants things.  After all, He IS God.  His way is the way to go when building and using the sukkah.  It does seem that most Christians today have either forgotten or are not inclined to follow God’s instructions.  It was this way during the days of Nehemiah too.  The people had been in captivity so long they had forgotten God’s customs and how important they were to God.  Ezra had to remind them by reading the scriptures and repeating what they had been forgetting to do.  We can read about this in Nehemiah 8:1-8 and Nehemiah 8:14-18.

“All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate.  They told Ezra the teacher of the Law 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 aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, woman and others who could understand.  All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.  Ezra the teacher of the law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.  Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedajah, Mishael, Malkjah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.  Ezra opened the book.  All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.  Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded “Amen!  Amen!  Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.  The Levites – Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah – instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.  They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 

They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem:  “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees and from

myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters” as it is written.

So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in  the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.  The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them.  From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this.  And their joy was very great.

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the book of the Law of God.  They celebrated the festival for seven days and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.”

 So you see the people in the days of Nehemiah were a lot like the people of today.  They had been away from God’s laws and God’s Holy Scriptures so long that they had forgotten He said to keep the Feasts!  Those wise people corrected their nation and God had mercy on them for the time that they remained faithful.  Can ours do the same?  Have they even considered this, I wonder?  I’m not just speaking of just Holy Days here, but a million subjects where America has forgotten to chose to follow the ways of God. 

But I regress, I was telling you all that God shows us when we begin to build a sukkah and keep Sukkot simply out of obedience and respect for God’s word and commandments. 

We begin to think about many things in the building.  The family becomes a team and works together in the building.  We all want to make our sukkah special and bonds are formed among family members that might never happen otherwise.  Father’s teach sons, Mothers teach daughters, grandparents pass down their stories and everyone learns history and how to get along well together. Memories of being family are made!  Everyone learns if they work together they can accomplish more.  Abilities and talents shine forth from some that had never been noticed previously in the day to day struggles of family life.  Confidence is built.  People are bonded together in love and respect.  People are more appreciated for what God made them to be here at the feast while building the sukkah.  This all happens like in the days of Nehemiah, where people learned a lot about each other from simply building walls and gates.

Then comes the “MORE” part.  There is an element of the sukkah that makes it more than an agricultural shed, that element is the structure of the roof.  There are several reasons that the builders learn that make the roof special.  First, because it is a canopy made from stalks or branches everyone appreciates the shade that is given by the roof.  Then when night comes everyone realizes it is special because they can see the stars through the leafy holes in the roof.  You grasp for the first time that by looking through something grown by the earth you can see glimpses of heaven!  Now how do you think that helps the relationships of different types of family members to improve?  Even better, how do you think that type of thinking improves us when we leave our temporary shelters and go back to a more permanent structure of day-to-day life? Have you ever caught a glimpse of heaven by looking into the eyes or seeing the actions of another person?  This is yet another lesson of the sukkah. 

We also learn that the roof acts as a covering.  This is the most important element of the whole structure.  It reminds us of how God covers all of our needs, both spiritually and literally.  He provides a covering for us.  The covering of the blood of Christ.  That roof over our soul provides us salvation.  

We are also reminded to remember that God COVERED all of the needs of the people as they wondered through the wilderness in their temporary shelters.  They did not want for a thing because they had a mighty God looking after them.  Each night that they looked up through the covering of the roof and saw the stars of the heavens they were reminded of God’s provision for their every need.  We too, remember when we build and dwell inside our sukkah!

 There is SO much to learn from building the sukkah.  So much that it cannot be contained in this one little article.  I will be writing more on this subject of building and living in a sukkah as time goes on.  

Do you have all that you need for your sukkah?  The Feast of Tabernacles will be here before you know it!

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE - THE REFLECTION OF CHRIST IN NEHEMIAH

Written by:  Sheila Gail Landgraf

 There is hardly a story in the Old Testament that does not shadow the story of Jesus Christ.  We can see Christ in the stories of all of the ancient people of God; Moses, Abraham, Joshua, Joseph, David, and believe it or not - Nehemiah; that little minor prophet that people mistakenly find so boring.

     My Mother always told me; "if you think someone is boring it is because you do not know them very well."  So one day I got to know Nehemiah.  How surprised I was to find The Face of Christ revealed through his obscure personality.   It really hit me one day as I was reading the following scripture passage:

Nehemiah 2:  11-18
11-So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 
12-Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me;  I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, nor was there any animal with me except the one on which I rode. 
13-And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and The Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 
14-Then I went on to The Fountain Gate and to The King's Pool, but there was not room for the animal that was under me to pass. 
15-So I went up in the night by the valley and viewed the wall;then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 
16-And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the Priests, The Nobles,The Officials, or The Others Who Did the Work.
17- Then I said to them:  "You see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire.  Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach."
18-And I told them of the Hand of My God which had been good upon me and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me.  So they said, "Let us rise up and build."  
Then they sat their hands to do this good work.




     Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king of Persia.  He got word that the walls of the city containing the temple where his ancestors had worshipped at Jerusalem were destroyed and in need of restoration.  He spoke to the king and obtained permission to leave the king for a while in order to supervise and oversee the repairs to the walls of Jerusalem.  Nehemiah agreed to return to the king once the work was finished.

     Jesus Christ - The Greatest Cupbearer of All - had knowledge that the lives of the people of God had been destroyed by the enemy (satan), and He grieved to know that the people of God were in need of a great restoration.  He spoke to God The Father (The King of Heaven), and obtained permission for The Incarnation.  Changing from God to God in Man, (in comparison to Nehemiah changing from Royal Cupbearer to a common day-laborer), He left the Kingdom of Heaven for awhile to come to earth to oversee the restoration of a nation.  He promised God The Father, The King of Heaven, that he would return to The Kingdom once His work on earth was done.

     Referencing the scriptures we see in the sequence of events that after a long and tiring journey Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem and felt compelled to stay in Jerusalem for three days and three nights before beginning the restoration of the walls.  Again, we glimpse a shadow of Christ spending three days and three nights in the grave before arising to restore the walls of salvation for the people of God. 
    
     Nehemiah is quoted many times saying "I will arise and build."  Jesus Christ rose from the grave and began the work of building The Kingdom of God.  His one desire was to arise and build a nation of people with hearts for God. 

     As the story progresses verse 12 speaks of Nehemiah setting out at night with a few good men at his side.  He notes "I had not told anyone what God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem."  This brings to mind the parallel of Jesus Christ setting out in the black night of a sin filled world with a few disciples at His side.  Jesus is quoted in The Gospel of John, Chapter 14, speaking to His disciples:  "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it comes to pass you may believe."  The few men surveying the walls of Jerusalem at night with Nehemiah were the first to see and understand his plan for restoration.  As these men walked through the ruins with him, Nehemiah prayed to God about the walls and sought God's help and guidance in this restoration.  The men at Nehemiah's side saw the "before" picture of the walls, a picture of wreck, ruin and devastation.  How patiently Nehemiah showed the "before" picture to these "few good men" knowing that when they saw the "after" picture of the restoration of the walls they would remember this day and give glory to God because they would come to believe in the God of Nehemiah during the whole process.  In walking with him, they saw how Nehemiah openly trusted in God and consulted with Him even before the first day of work for the plan of restoration. 

     The disciples, living at the feet of Jesus, were the first to see His plan of restoration.  As they walked through life with Jesus they heard Him pray to God for help and guidance in the restoration of the world.  The disciples living and working with Jesus saw the "before" picture of mankind; a picture of brokenness, wreck, ruin, decay and devastation, so similar to Nehemiah's first glimpse of the walls of Jerusalem.

     Jesus wanted the disciples to see and understand how broken mankind had become.  He spoke of this while He was with them, so that in the day of His resurrection they would remember all that He had taught them and give glory to God and believe on The Name of Jesus. 

     Moving on through the scripture passage, Nehemiah records something that seems insignificant at first.     He says in verse 12 "there were no animals with me, except the one I was riding on."   Considering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ makes this sentence much clearer to us.  All of a sudden this passage becomes very significant.  Of course there were no animals.  No animal sacrifice would have been sufficient.  Only the sacrifice of a perfect One, Jesus Christ, could restore us to God and recreate the kingdom that God had first created and planned for us from the foundation of the world.  There were no animals sufficient for the sacrifice that Jesus provided.  He came bringing His own precious life, and He rode into the city on the back of a donkey.  In this triumphant entry he rode the animal that signified peace, but the animal only bore him into the city, it could not replace Him as the sacrifice.  He rides into His own City as The King of Peace, but only a few faithful men recognized Him as Who He was, much like Nehemiah riding at night with his few good men. 

     Nehemiah comes on his horse to the Valley Gate.  Verse 13 states; "by night Nehemiah went out by the Valley Gate."  Many years into the future, beyond the days of Nehemiah, Jesus too goes through a valley gate.  He goes through The Valley Of The Shadow of Death, as mentioned in Psalm 23.  Nehemiah's horse is symbolic of war, much different from the donkey of peace.  Jesus was riding a donkey, He could not ride the horse of war through the Valley Gate.  He did not fight against the death that He knew awaited Him.  He laid down His life willingly without a fight.  So, we hear that "the horse could not pass through."  It was not the time for the horse of war.  Jesus walked to the cross and to a gruesome death.

     The passage in Nehemiah's story mentions the Jackal Well, and the Dung Gate, and in almost the same breath; Nehemiah is pictured "examining the walls" of Jerusalem.   One can't help but to see Jesus in this act.  We see Him on the cross, examining our sins, taking them upon Himself, letting them become a weight laid upon Him that brings about His death and suffering.  The Dung Gate represents the dirt and filth of our sins that were laid upon Him. 

     Nehemiah looks around in the place where he is standing and observes the walls that are broken and the gates that are destroyed by fire.  Jesus on the cross looked around at the ugliness of mankind while He hung there for hours with all of us mocking and laughing and taking no pity on His suffering.  He sees the brokenness of our lives.  He sees the weak places in our walls.  He sees where we have fallen down and been divided.  It is so ugly that no one else could have bared to look upon it.   He gazes down from the cross with His eyes full of love.  He does what He must do while He is here in this moment of history.  He comes to us just as we are and looks straight into our ugliness and examines our hearts.  He does not see the ugliness.  He does not see the brokenness.  His eyes are special and full of mercy.  He sees like Nehemiah examining the walls, only what God originally  intended to be.  He sees us as God first designed us.    God gives Nehemiah a glimpse of how the walls will look when they are fulfilling their true purpose and design.  God gives him hope of the future of the walls of his beloved city returning to their original state of glory and majesty.

     When we can get a glimpse of hope from God, anything is possible. 

     In verse 14 Nehemiah begins to move toward the Fountain Gate and The King's Pool.  Here is a new turn of events.  Jesus came to a time of turning too.  In His ascension, He rose up to Heaven and sent us The One He had promised, The Holy Spirit.

     The Fountain Gate of Nehemiah's time represented the refreshment of The Holy Spirit.  The water was known for its freshness, its clear, pure qualities.  Now Jesus has shown us the living waters of the fountain of heaven, where we can drink freely and be restored to life everlasting, just like the restoration of the walls around Jerusalem in the story of Nehemiah.

     Here, Nehemiah mentions that animal he was riding again;  "there was not enough room for any mount to get through."  At the Fountain Gate there is peace, the Peace of The Lord, and there is no need for the horse of war.  It is here that the horse of war must be left outside, because it cannot squeeze through into the heavenly places where war has been defeated.  Here at the Fountain Gate, many come seeking the waters.  It is a crowded place.  People are pushing and crowding to get nearer and nearer to Jesus and to the living Water that He brings.  Jesus waits patiently by the Fountain, waiting for each one who comes.  He will meet you there, if you just push on through the crowd and find him.

     Finally, Nehemiah turns back toward where he started.  After a very careful look at every detail of the walls, he turns and reenters the valley through the same Valley Gate.  Jesus Christ, having ascended into heaven is sitting at the right hand of The Father now.  He is there looking down at the walls of our lives.  He is examining us, talking with us, pointing out the things that He wishes us to see and do to those walls that surround His Church, His Bride.

     We must speak with him now, this moment, while He is sitting in the place of Peace, because the day is coming when He will leave the place in the Heavens again and He will reenter this earth.  He will walk again through the dark valley and through the earth full of forgiven sinners.  When He begins to reenter that Valley gate again, there will be times on earth of trials and tribulations like there has never been before, or ever will be again.

     In verse 16 Nehemiah says "The officials did not know where I had gone, or what I was doing, because as yet, I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work."  Jesus didn't speak to the Pharisees and the religious rulers of His day.  He spoke only to his little band of followers, those earthy men who trusted in Him.  Even today, as He speaks from Heaven, He doesn't always speak to the rulers and famous religious leaders, but often He speaks to the poor, humble, gentle, loving people of God who are following His lead and listening to His voice in their lowly lives. 

     When Jesus Christ returns to earth, just as when Nehemiah turned around from following the destruction of the walls, one of the first things Jesus's eyes may see, will be the same picture that Nehemiah saw in those days - Jerusalem lying in ruins.  That Holy City that He loved.  Jerusalem's gates may still be burned with fire.  But Our Lord will turn to His people and say (just as Nehemiah said to his men)  "Come - let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."

     And "So they began the good work," in the days of Nehemiah - in the days of Christ, in the days of our lives.  What a beautiful picture of the face of Nehemiah, the face of Christ, the hope of restoration of a Kingdom and a Nation.

     All this is beautiful to think of, and wonderful to look forward to, but how can we apply this story in a practical way to our own lives right now?

     Nehemiah put much prayer and thought into this work of God.  He only listened to what the Lord had to say, so he only did things the way the Lord wanted them done.  He told the people to start right where they were living.  They each were instructed to build the walls along the portion of the city that they lived the closest to.

     What an inspiration for the church today.  We just have to start with our own place in the wall.  We live out a witness in our own homes and our own families, and our own neighborhoods.  We stand for God in our work places, and our social activities in the community.  We simply have to start in the place that God put us, and we can begin to grow out from our own home base.

     In Nehemiah's day, the beginning of the building started first in a spot that was deemed the most important place in the wall.  It was the wall around the Sheep Gate.  This gate represents Jesus, our Good Shepherd.  This is the gate mentioned in John 5:2,  the gate beside the pool of Bethesda.  It is the gate beside the pool with five porches, which could easily stand for five types of ministry.  This is the gate where the sheep were washed and brought into the temple for sacrifice.  Here we are washed of our sins, just like the sheep in Nehemiah's day.  The priest who offered up the scarifies were required to live in this area.  They had to live next to The Sheep Gate.

     At the time of Nehemiah the High Priest's name was Eliashib.  "El" means "God."  "Yashib" means "to go back."  Reading backwards as the Hebrews do - we can hear a message even in the name of the high priest who worked at this gate.  The message says "go back to God" - or REPENT.

So it is recorded by Nehemiah that the wall around the Sheep Gate was built by one whose names meant "repent."  This gate is the perfect Old Testament picture of the New Testament sacrifice of The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  This gate shows us the cross. 

     We are lead to think immediately of the prophet Isaiah's great words about Jesus, "as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."  (Isa. 53:7).   At the Sheep Gate of our lives there is a principle of death at work.  It is the death of the natural self.  It is the way we come to our own cross.  We are called to obey Christ, to follow Him and to walk with Him.  That means that some of our desires, some of our natural longings must be put to death.  That is the principle of the cross.  This is a gate that must be kept in repair if we want to grow into a strong Christian.

     A gate is an opening.  The cross symbolized by this Sheep Gate, is an opening to God.  A beginning.

     On each side of the Sheep gate the walls lead to two towers, one tower in each direction.  The first tower is named "Meah."  "Meah" means "Hundred."  The second tower is called The Tower of Hananeel - which means - "God is gracious and merciful."  "Hanan" means "gracious and merciful."  "El" means "God."  Reading backwards we have "God is gracious and merciful."

     Reading the gate and the wall by the meaning of the names of the places in the wall we come to see an Old Testament message with a New Testament meaning:  "The walls of Salvation built by one named "repentance" stands between two tall towers that say "God is gracious and merciful to hundreds."

     In  the Old Testament, in the story of Nehemiah, there is a gate of sacrifice in the middle of a wall of salvation called The Sheep gate that opens the way to God for mankind.  This beautiful picture that God has painted for those with eyes to see, just like a thousand other Old Testament pictures of Christ, brings us hope.  It is a reason to hold on to our belief in God and to cling to our faith in all circumstances, even when we appear to be as broken as Nehemiah's walls.

     The people of Nehemiah's day were in transition.  They probably thought the great days of God with their nation had passed, and that all of God's great deeds had been done.  They had lost any sense of mission, any sense of calling, any sense of challenge.  As a result, they almost missed their chance to see God act powerfully among them.  They almost missed the chance to experience His reclaiming them as His beloved people all over again.  Isn't that much as our world is today?  Where are the Nehemiahs today?

     Thank God for Nehemiah pointing the way to Christ, and thank God if you can find a modern Nehemiah hiding in the culture we live in today.  In an amazing period of just 52 days - under constant threat of attack - the walls of Jerusalem were raised.

     It seems to be the way of our people today to constantly groan.   They groan and morn, and sit and wait for things to change.  Not the case with Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was willing to DO something.  He makes the journey to Jerusalem himself, after convincing the king that he should be allowed to go.  He brings with him leadership.  The walls were torn down and needed rebuilding.  There were no gates of protection.  The people themselves needed to be rebuilt.  The walls became the metaphor for the broken people.  Nehemiah was not just mending a wall - he was mending a nation.

     With Nehemiah's Godly leadership, the people of God once again became great, because they were willing to work together to accomplish a common goal.  Everyone pitched in to do the work.  Everyone but those who opposed the work that God had lead Nehemiah to do, that is.  There were those who did everything they could to stop the rebuilding of the walls and gates of the city.  These Godly people handled much adversity and opposition to obtain the restoration of their city.

     
Because of Nehemiah's Godly leadership and the people's spirit of unity, a broken, disorganized, discouraged bunch of individuals who were alienated from God and from one another transitioned into a strong, well-organized committed and proud community.  They were rededicated to God, recommitted to each other, and respected by their enemies.

God's people don't change much through time.  They still face similar dilemmas and they still ask the same hard questions.  They consistently have their periods of doubt and faith.  But true men and women of God keep looking toward a river whose streams shall make glad the City of God.  Like the few good men in the days of Nehemiah, they look to the future with the hope of a restored Kingdom, where God is in the midst, and they shall not be moved.



    
           

PEN ART - THE REFLECTION OF CHRIST IN NEHEMIAH - PART THREE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

 In Nehemiah's day, the beginning of all the building started  in a spot that was deemed the most important place in the wall.  The place was known as  the wall around the Sheep Gate.  This gate represents Jesus, our Good Shepherd. 

This is the gate mentioned in John 5:2,  the gate beside the pool of Bethesda.  It is the gate beside the pool with five porches, which could easily stand for five types of ministry. 

This is the gate where the sheep were washed and brought into the temple for sacrifice.  Here we are washed of our sins, just like the sheep in Nehemiah's day.  The priest who offered up the sacrifices were required to live in this area.  They had to live next to The Sheep Gate.

  At the time of Nehemiah the High Priest's name was Eliashib.  "El" means "God."  "Yashib" means "to go back."  Reading backwards as the Hebrews do - we can hear a message even in the name of the high priest who worked at this gate.  The message says "go back to God" - or REPENT.

So it is recorded by Nehemiah that the wall around the Sheep Gate was built by one whose names meant "repent."  This gate is the perfect Old Testament picture of the New Testament sacrifice of The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  This gate shows us the cross. 

We are lead to think immediately of the prophet Isaiah's great words about Jesus, "as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."  (Isa. 53:7).   At the Sheep Gate of our lives there is a principle of death at work.  It is the death of the natural self.  It is the way we come to our own cross.  We are called to obey Christ, to follow Him and to walk with Him.  That means that some of our desires, some of our natural longings must be put to death.  That is the principle of the cross.  This is a gate that must be kept in repair if we want to grow into a strong Christian.

 A gate is an opening.  The cross symbolized by this Sheep Gate, is an opening to God.  A beginning.

 On each side of the Sheep gate the walls lead to two towers, one tower in each direction.  The first tower is named "Meah."  "Meah" means "Hundred."  The second tower is called The Tower of Hananeel - which means - "God is gracious and merciful."  "Hanan" means "gracious and merciful."  "El" means "God."  Reading backwards we have "God is gracious and merciful."

 Reading the gate and the wall by the meaning of the names of the places in the wall we come to see an Old Testament message with a New Testament meaning:  "The walls of Salvation built by one named "repentance" stands between two tall towers that say "God is gracious and merciful to hundreds."

 In the Old Testament, in the story of Nehemiah, there is a gate of sacrifice in the middle of a wall of salvation called The Sheep Gate that opens the way to God for mankind.  This beautiful picture that God has painted for those with eyes to see, just like a thousand other Old Testament pictures of Christ, brings us hope.  It is a reason to hold on to our belief in God and to cling to our faith in all circumstances, even when we appear to be as broken as Nehemiah's walls.