In 538 BC, the Persian king Cyrus issued a decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Within 3 years, a group of about 50,000 had returned and begun to rebuild the temple and city. However by 445 BC, 93 years later, Jerusalem was still not a safe place to live. Although the city had been rebuilt, there was no wall around it. And in the ancient world, walls and gates were absolutely necessary for protection. There was danger everywhere: invading armies, marauding bands, and individual thieves. A city couldn’t possibly grow and thrive until it was well protected. In Nehemiah, we find the returned exiles at last rebuilding the gates and the wall.<\/p>\n
Down through the centuries, these gates and the connecting wall between them have served as illustrations and lessons for believers. If we do not have sufficient walls and gates in place in our own lives, then we too are easy targets for the enemy to come in and destroy us. This gate in verse 14, called the Dung or Refuse Gate, was an important part of the city of Jerusalem. The Dung Gate was where the filth of the city was carried out. We all need a Refuse Gate.<\/p>\n
The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). A simple but honest confession to God of our sins is how we get the garbage out of our lives. Confession is our Refuse Gate. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). As we continue to ask God to forgive and change us, He does so from the inside out, enabling us to walk in His commands.<\/p>\n
“LORD, forgive our sins. We turn from them and turn to You, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nehemiah 3 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who\u00a0also\u00a0<\/em>laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of\u00a0one of\u00a0<\/em>the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.\u00a0\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, 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\u2019s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, unto\u00a0the place\u00a0<\/em>over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired their brethren, Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>, even unto the corner.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>, and the tower which lieth out from the king\u2019s high house, that\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto\u00a0the place\u00a0<\/em>over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith\u2019s son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.\u00a0 32<\/sup> And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 538 BC, the Persian king Cyrus issued a decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Within 3 years, a group of about 50,000 had returned and begun to rebuild the temple and city. However by 445 BC, 93 years later, Jerusalem was still not a safe place to live. Although the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7377"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7377"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16405,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7377\/revisions\/16405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}