Onto Gate 5

Welcome to Gate/'gat/- A Blog Series
Onto Gate 5

Definition of Wall
1a: a high thick masonry structure or an enclosure chiefly for defense
1b: a masonry fence around a garden, park, or estate
1c: a structure that serves to hold back pressure
2: one of the sides of a room or building connecting floor and ceiling or foundation and roof


Definition of Mortgage
1: a conveyance of or lien against a property that becomes void upon payment or performance according to stipulated terms
2: to subject to a claim or obligation


Definition of Conveyance
1: a transfer of ownership
2b: a means of transport



Welcome back to Gate a Blog Series and The Road2Wholeness Blog.  Thank you for taking the stroll with us today.  If you're just hearing about the series or have landed on our blog for the first time, I encourage you to begin at the beginning.  Now Onto Gate 5.

We return to the Book of Nehemiah; the resident text for Gate.
Let's look at Nehemiah 5:1-5.

It reads "Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews.  Some were saying, 'We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.' Others were saying, 'We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.' Still others were saying, 'We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards.  Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery.  Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.'"

I like this group of text from the story about Nehemiah's rebuilding project.  I like it because here the people interrupt the project to ask the question,"What will be the significance of this wall?" "Will it be nothing but a monument, or should it be a sign of better days?"  I also like that the men and women who raised up the outcry were the very men and women aiding in the rebuilding of the wall.  They were not being disruptive although they did interject.

In the first blog we talked about the current status and significance of The Wall of Jerusalem as well as the current location of The New Jerusalem.  In the above scriptures, we see two different kinds of needs.  We see pressing needs as well as a need to restructure a system that was responsible for a depression greater than the famine the people were experiencing.

In verse 11 Nehemiah confronts the nobles and officials concerning the people's concerns and demands that they return the fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses; then in verse 12 the nobles respond quickly to his rebuke stating, "We will give it back.  And we will not demand anything more from them."  After reading this, I'm moved to wonder... "Why so fast?"  Could it be that they knew what they were doing was wrong all along, and were just waiting to be confronted?  Still "Why so fast?"  Do you believe that if the people themselves had approached the officials that they would have done the right thing?  Probably not... and that brings me back to the project, the wall, and the people.

If a gate is an opening; it means nothing without a wall.  And a gate without a door is just a gap.  Early on the question of whether a gate and a door was equal or if the terms could be used interchangeably.  In blog two, I said no, not really.  And this block of text affirms that thinking.  Here we see that in fact the Lord was the gate attached to the wall or principles that the nobles responded to, and that Nehemiah was again the door.

I like in particular definiton 1a and 1c of the word "wall" stated at the top (a masonry structure used chiefly for defense and a structure used to hold back pressure).  Therefore the wall is in fact significant of a principle.  I also wonder if it was by accident that the system the nobles had in place of having the people mortgage their fields and vineyards would eventually cause a complete transfer of ownership.  How could it be that the Jewish nobles and officials did not know that their actions were against the principles they were committed to?  Here's what I see.  I see that the one who knows the principles or law and who can point directly at them will often be heard; where the ones who simply complain that something doesn't appear to be just, are often overlooked.

In the case of Christianity, can you argue the principles?  Can the Lord call on you to be a door, or are you just a wide opening; a gap in the wall?  Here's a look at one definition of "principle" (a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning).  Using definition 1 of the word "mortgage", we see that the liens against the people's fields, vineyards, and olive groves became void not by payment, but by Nehemiah's performance and according to the stipulated terms.  Not the terms the people had agreed upon to survive, but the terms of the shared faith which was the ultimate foundation of the relationship.  These terms are the true structure that connects floor to ceiling, and we cannot hide behind them but must find a way to uphold them; becoming even a buttress against their collapse.

This then concludes my journey into Gate and Nehemiah's Rebuilding Project.  I hope that it has helped to strengthen and clarify you faith.  I also hope you will read the entire Book of Nehemiah, and certainly add any new revelations you find.


Remember to go within that you may never go without.  The God within you awaits you.  Until our paths collide again, I wish you... Peace, Love, Life, and Complete Wholeness in Christ.

In Service,

NaTisha Renee Williams

Coming Up on The Road2Wholeness Blog is the new Blog Series "Elohim: God of All Gods" and the tag line is... Zhee is for Zeal!  Keep up with us here at www.R2Wnews.com