From above the horse-gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.
The gate named here had a reputation. Writers who trace the meaning of each gate in the wall connect the horse with strength, and draw a line from that to the strength a believer needs:
The horse is a symbol of power. Read the vivid description of the horse that the Lord gives in Job 39:19-25. Here is part of it. "Have you given the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? … He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons." Now the Holy Spirit is given that the believer may have power.
Horses are also for battle. Another writer reads the gate as a picture of the fight God's people are in:
Verse 28. The horse gate (2 Kings 11:6; Jer. 31:40) suggests warfare and victory. In a world of evil the people of God wage a warfare. We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with wicked spirits. Paul speaks of the believer as a soldier of Christ. Victory is on our side, though the forces of evil may threaten on all sides.
The builders here were priests — men whose whole work was serving God. Even so, each one repaired the wall in front of his own house:
In verse 28 we read, "Above the Horse Gate (note: another sign of power) the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house". If priestly service is to keep its power, how vital it is for each man to see that things are right, according to the truth, in "his house". So we read again in verse 29, "After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house".
The wall is a picture of separation from the nations around. So a man building the stretch in front of his own home is doing something more than protecting his property:
So we are taught this — keeping in mind that the wall is a picture of separation. These servants of the Lord began with their own houses. They sought first of all to bring their own families into obedience to the word of God, and so to separate from evil inside the circle of their own responsibility. This has always been God's order. When God called Gideon to be the deliverer of His people, He told him to pull down the altar of Baal in his father's house before he could go out to battle against the Midianites. As another has said, "Faithfulness within comes before outward strength." The record that each of these men repaired the wall opposite his own house shows that conscience was at work. They rightly understood God's claims on them in their own homes. They felt that setting their houses in order was a necessary qualification for any public service.
God raised up Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianites. His first job was the idol in his own family's yard.
The chapter is a list of names, and God is the one keeping it. That is a comfort to anyone whose service happens indoors:
The Lord sees and knows what needs to be done opposite our own houses. He takes notice of the work of saints, even when they are busy with what they think is very small service. Home labour is little seen by man, but God marks it well. It is most important service. You may not be able to pray in the assembly; it is not the place God has given to some to do so; but have you unconverted ones at home? Do you seek their souls for Christ?
Nehemiah 3 records two kinds of builder. Some worked at the public gates, some at their own doors. One writer presses for both:
Many of the people of Jerusalem made repairs in front of their own houses (vv. 23,28,29,30). This reminds us of 1 Timothy 3:5, "For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" On the other hand, some Christians care only about themselves and their families, and ignore the true good of the church of God. We have noticed the opposite case too: Eliashib repaired the sheep gate, but made no repairs at his own house. How important it is to have a well balanced concern for the spiritual blessing of our own families, and at the same time for the true prospering of the assembly of God!
- Power. The horse gate speaks of strength, and points to the Spirit given so the believer may have power.
- Warfare. That strength is for a real fight. It is not against flesh and blood but against wicked spirits, and victory is already on our side.
- Home first. The wall pictures separation from evil. These builders began that work inside their own families, because faithfulness within comes before outward strength.
- Priests too. Serving God in public does not excuse disorder at home. The priests kept their service strong by keeping their own houses right.
- Both, not either. Eliashib repaired a gate but left his own wall to others. God's record asks for the house and the city, not one at the cost of the other.
After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. And after him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.
Two men repair a stretch of Jerusalem's broken wall: one in front of his own door, the other the keeper of the East Gate. Why does Scripture keep such small details, and what does the place each man chose teach us?
The whole chapter is a roll-call of ordinary people, and the fact that their names survived at all says something about how closely God watches work done for Him.
It tells us with what care God surveys His people. He carefully notes the state of their hearts and the character of their service, and a display of devotion to His glory is welcome to Him. Such commendations come not from man but from God, so they cannot be mistaken. They look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ. They should also stir us all up to seek the same zeal and tireless diligence in the Lord's service.
Zadok built the stretch of wall in front of his own house. Several builders did the same. Commentators treat the wall as a picture of separation, so they ask where separation must begin.
We are taught that these servants of the Lord began first with their own houses. Keep in mind that the wall is a picture of separation. They sought first of all to bring their own families under the word of God, and so to bring about separation from evil within the circle of their own responsibility. And this has always been the divine order. As another writer has said: "Faithfulness within comes before outward strength. Evil must be put away from Israel before the enemy can be driven out. Obedience first and then strength. This is God's order."
Another writer traces the same care through builder after builder, Zadok included.
Jedaiah repairs the wall in front of his house. His first care is to keep his own family safe from the enemy's attacks. It is the same for Benjamin, Hasshub and Azariah, and for the priests and Zadok. All these men take it to heart to begin by sheltering those of their own house… How can anyone stand as a defender of the people of God if he does not know how to protect his own home from evil?
There is a danger on the other side too.
There are others, as we learn from this chapter, who are most zealous in tending their own houses and ordering them according to God. Yet they are almost entirely careless about the welfare of the church… But if we understand the position grace has given us, we will earnestly desire to do both. We will repair in front of our own houses and build the wall and the gates.
The verse names Shemaiah by his job, not just by his family. His father's name matters too.
Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah is the "keeper of the east gate", the main gate of the temple precincts. His name appears later on all the main occasions. If his father Shechaniah had been the keeper of the gate, Jerusalem would have been in grave danger from Tobijah (Nehemiah 6:18).
The direction of this gate carries its own meaning, and so do the two names.
Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, repaired and kept the east gate. From Ezekiel's prophecy we learn that the glory of God's presence left by the east gate. When that glory returns to dwell in the temple once more… it will enter through the east gate. The east gate faces the rising sun. It suggests the coming of the Lord for His people. And here the two names fit in beautifully. Shemaiah means "heard of the Lord"; even so He will hear His people and some day will answer their prayer for His coming. Shechaniah means "habitation of the Lord." We shall be with Him.
The zeal shown here had results beyond the wall.
Most of these men gain, as we have seen, "a good degree" through their zeal to build the wall of the city of David. Shouldn't we draw a lesson for ourselves from this? Think of the silence and inability of so many children of God in the ministry. Doesn't much of it start at the beginning? God set some work before them to do for Him, work needing effort, perseverance and the sacrifice of their time. And they, like the nobles of Tekoa, did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
- Named — God keeps a record of who built and how they built, noticing the heart behind the service as much as the stones.
- Home first — Zadok built in front of his own door. Separation from evil starts at home.
- Home and wall — some care for the church and neglect their own house. Others guard their house and ignore the church. Aim at both.
- Gate kept — Shemaiah guarded the main gate, and his name appears later on all the main occasions; his father's name is linked with a danger to the city.
- Degree gained — those who put their necks to the work gained "a good degree". Those who held back explain much of the silence in later service.