Now I won't read the entire of chapter 3 for you, that would be good for you to do on your own. I wanted to hopefully give you some of my perspective on the walls of Jerusalem before I get into the points I wanted to make . In reading chapter 3 the names especially given to the gates stood out and reminded me of commands, attitudes and behaviors that Jesus wanted in His church.
So for example we see the priest started off working on the Sheep Gate, and we know that our Lord was described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,
Then they proceed to the Fish gate, and Jesus Himself called us the church to be fishers of men, to proclaim the good news of His saving work on the cross and His resurrection for the dead .
Thirdly we have the Jeshanah Gate or the Old Gate. And it to is calling us to look to those who are older and wiser in the faith as they teach us to obey everything God commands.
We then move to the valley gate, e.g Psalm 23 "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" it reminds us as a church how important it is to be humble before God and needy of Him.
We then move to the dung gate, , this dealt with refuse and waste from the city of God. And likewise as a church we have to be wary of sin creeping into the fellowship. As the scriptures teach us Gal 5:9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”.
We then move to the fountain gate, and this reminds me of that scripture that refers to the Holy Spirit John 4:14
14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
We then move to the water Gate, this reminds me of Paul in Ephesians where he encourages husbands to wash their wives in the water of the Word. As a church we are to be grounded in the Word of God and all of our opinions, interpretations etc. should flow from a careful examination of scripture.
Next we go to the Horse Gate. and horses were animals primarily used in Battle and this reminds me that as a church, once we live the life of Christ we will be persecuted, we will face battles that we must fight in a spiritual manner, to the honour and glory of God.
We then move to the east gate, and this is actually the gate that Jesus would have entered through when he came riding on a donkey and people lay palm branches at the feet of the donkey as a way of acknowledging His divine Royalty. In the same way we as a church wait on the return of Christ, even as we battle the challenges that this world presents to us.
And Finally we have the Inspection gate. This reminds me of when it says in scripture that it is appointed onto man to be born and to die and then to be judged.
1 Cor 310 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
You can go through the entire of chapter 3 and see in large part what we as a church are supposed to be UNITED in Being and doing to the Honour and Glory of God.