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.
