Neh 3:13 | KingComments | STEP | The Valley Gate We’re approaching the fourth gate, the Valley Gate. We have also looked at it before ( ). That gate has also been destroyed and must be rebuilt. Spiritually speaking, the Valley Gate speaks of humility, humiliation, humbleness. If we are going to boast, the Valley Gate will be destroyed. That happens when we start using the things God has given us to make ourselves important. That’s what the people of Jerusalem have done, that’s what the church is doing now. In the church in Laodicea we find the spirit of pride in full display ( ). It is a representation of the spirit that is everywhere present in the church. The rebuilding of the Valley Gate can begin when we humble ourselves, both toward God and toward one another ( ). The third gate, the Old Gate, is reminiscent of what is from the beginning ( ). Rebuilding that gate is important. Equally important is that the rebuilding of the Valley Gate follows. If we think of God’s ideal (‘the Old Gate’), of how He wants the church to be, and we see how far we have deviated from that, it will bring us to the rebuilding of the Valley Gate. It will lead us to humble ourselves. Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah The Valley Gate is restored by Hanun, which means favored, and the inhabitants of Zanoah, which means rejected. In these names we find what is needed to restore the Valley Gate. We may be engaged in the awareness that we stand in the favor or grace of God ( ). We are gifted or made pleasant in the Beloved ( ). When we realize something of the grace that has been given to us, there is no room for any boast of our own. We will not glory in our “arrogance”, which is called an evil boasting ( ). We will not boast of our gifts while we are blind to the sin found in the church. That boasting is not good ( ). On the contrary, there will be, besides the awareness of being gifted, also the awareness that everything of ourselves must be rejected by God. This does not only concern our sins and iniquities. We will see this for ourselves as well. But precisely all our righteous deeds “are like a filthy garment” ( ). These men are also building a large part of wall, no less than a thousand cubits. It is possible that the wall has not been torn down to the ground here and that more can be repaired in the same time than the time needed for other parts to be repaired from the ground.

‏ Nehemiah 3:13

The Valley Gate – Hanun and the Inhabitants of Zanoah

The Valley Gate

We’re approaching the fourth gate, the Valley Gate. We have also looked at it before (Neh 2:13-15). That gate has also been destroyed and must be rebuilt.

Spiritually speaking, the Valley Gate speaks of humility, humiliation, humbleness. If we are going to boast, the Valley Gate will be destroyed. That happens when we start using the things God has given us to make ourselves important. That’s what the people of Jerusalem have done, that’s what the church is doing now. In the church in Laodicea we find the spirit of pride in full display (Rev 3:15-17). It is a representation of the spirit that is everywhere present in the church. The rebuilding of the Valley Gate can begin when we humble ourselves, both toward God and toward one another (1Pet 5:5-6).

The third gate, the Old Gate, is reminiscent of what is from the beginning (Neh 3:6). Rebuilding that gate is important. Equally important is that the rebuilding of the Valley Gate follows. If we think of God’s ideal (‘the Old Gate’), of how He wants the church to be, and we see how far we have deviated from that, it will bring us to the rebuilding of the Valley Gate. It will lead us to humble ourselves.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah

The Valley Gate is restored by Hanun, which means favored, and the inhabitants of Zanoah, which means rejected. In these names we find what is needed to restore the Valley Gate. We may be engaged in the awareness that we stand in the favor or grace of God (Rom 5:2). We are gifted or made pleasant in the Beloved (Eph 1:6).

When we realize something of the grace that has been given to us, there is no room for any boast of our own. We will not glory in our “arrogance”, which is called an evil boasting (Jam 4:16). We will not boast of our gifts while we are blind to the sin found in the church. That boasting is not good (1Cor 5:1 ; 6). On the contrary, there will be, besides the awareness of being gifted, also the awareness that everything of ourselves must be rejected by God. This does not only concern our sins and iniquities. We will see this for ourselves as well. But precisely all our righteous deeds “are like a filthy garment” (Isa 64:6).

These men are also building a large part of wall, no less than a thousand cubits. It is possible that the wall has not been torn down to the ground here and that more can be repaired in the same time than the time needed for other parts to be repaired from the ground.