Restoring and Laying Again the Foundations

By Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong

The theme for this issue of the Herald is Restoration, drawn from: Isaiah 58:12, "Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In."

One of the most important periods in Israel’s history is the Restoration period. A cursory glance at the Bible

reveals that the God we serve is a God of restoration. And He is seeking in this hour to restore us individually and corporately, and then nationally. The Restoration books in the Bible are some of the most important books

for us in this hour. In the restoration period, we are introduced to a league of extraordinary gentlemen: Six men

of outstanding character and courage. These men brought about such a work of restoration that the God of Israel was no longer going to be known as the God who brought them out of Egypt, but the God who brought

them out of the North Country, that is, Babylon. And these were the men:

Zerubbabel

One of the greatest men in the Bible, he was the key in the first return from Babylon to Jerusalem, and he became a signet ring in the hand of the Lord. He was a godly and outstanding man.

Joshua the High Priest

Whilst Zerubbabel was tasked with the practical building, Joshua was tasked with the assignment to impact the unseen. And both were necessary. If the spiritual doesn’t do their job, the natural can’t do theirs!

Haggai and Zechariah

who prophesied in the days of the restoration, and their prophecies were vital because there was so much opposition to the work.

Ezra

He was the great teaching scribe of Israel. Ezra was a beloved teacher who set himself apart to love and teach the law of God; and the Jews, because of his love and loyalty to the Law, often refer to him as the Second Moses.

Nehemiah

He was the Governor of Jerusalem. Behind these amazing men was the Persian king, Cyrus, and Cyrus is one

of the two kings who are mentioned prophetically in the Bible before they were even born. The other is Josiah.

Cyrus was mentioned 100 years before he was born (Isaiah 44:28). And together, these men brought about the restoration of Israel that was vital because it prepared Israel for her Messiah.

This restoration was significant as it was prophetic because it mirrors a restoration that is taking place in the church even today. The restoration period began about 500 years before Christ came, and it was necessary to

prepare Israel for His coming. Here’s the prophetic analogy – the restoration of the church began 500 years ago as well, during the days of Martin Luther, in what was called the Reformation. And the Reformation was to prepare the church for the soon return of the King. We are now almost at that transitional point in history.

Nehemiah 3 has to do with the rebuilding of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem. It has 32 verses, and it is dedicated to one thing – it lists the names of the builders who helped repair and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Why? Because God does not forget our labour of love and effort.

The interesting thing was – those who did not put in the effort were also listed. The chapter also mirrors the

situation in the church and in society today where many of our walls have been broken down that need to be

repaired and restored. This was the task that God gave to Nehemiah. This was his life’s work, his assignment, and everything in his life was to prepare him for this task.

And everything begins with a burden from the Lord. The burden was in the heart of Nehemiah for about six months, and God intervenes, and within a very short period of time, he finds himself in Jerusalem, inspecting

the broken-down walls of the city. And when the opportune time comes, he gathers all the leaders and nobles

and shares the burden with them. And because God is in this thing, the hearts of the people are stirred up, and they responded by saying, “Let us arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:18). Then they set their hands to this good work.

There are many good works we can do, but the ultimate good work in the Bible is the work of building the dwelling place of the Lord. David had this in his heart, and so did Moses. Every great man in the Bible had a longing to build God a dwelling place because it is looked upon as the ultimate good work.

In Chapter 3 of Nehemiah, we see the extent of the work to be done. It was a massive project. The decay and

debris of 142 years due to neglect had to be cleared and removed. And there were 10 gates that had to be

restored, and there were also many towers and structures in between these gates that needed to be fortified

and strengthened. There is no doubt about it; it was a mammoth task. But the amazing thing was they did it in

just 52 days. The construction itself was supernatural. Even their enemies had to acknowledge the hand of God.

And we must believe that within a short period of time, God can clean out and

cleanse the sin and impurity of past generations and make us into a bride without spot and wrinkle. This is the

hope of restoration. If He did it once, He can do it again.

There are many good works we can do, but the ultimate good work in the Bible is the work of building the dwelling place of the Lord.

Jerusalem is a picture of the church, and these gates represent the different ministries of the church that God seeks to restore. So, let’s take a quick look at these gates:

1. The Sheep Gate

The first gate mentioned is the Sheep Gate, and this was the gate through which the sheep were brought into the

city for their sacrifices. And this gate represents the pastoral ministry in the church, and it is the most important ministry in the church. To feed, tend, and take care of sheep. Everyone needs someone who is looking over us for our good. And if I were to ask you – to whom are you accountable – each of us should be able to say, so-and-so is my shepherd. Everybody needs to be properly covered in the church. This is the first and most vital ministry of the church – to shepherd the flock of God. And we do this best through the Cell ministry. I encourage every one of you to be in a Cell and be accountable to an under-shepherd. The early

church was structured as a Cell church, and members of the church met from house to house. One other thing about sheep is – they are incapable of defending themselves. They have to be protected. And it is the shepherd that protects them from predators.

2. The Fish Gate

The fish gate is where fishermen from Galilee would bring their catch to be sold. This speaks of evangelistic ministries and/or our witness to the community and nations. The Lord said to Simon Peter, “Fear not, I will

make you a fisher of men”. This must become a practice made perfect in the church. We must all be adept in fishing for men. Between the Sheep Gate and the Fish Gate were two Towers: 1) The Tower of the Hundred and 2) The Tower of Hananel. The “Tower of the Hundred” speaks of fruitfulness or the 100-fold. God wants all His children to be fruitful and attain this 100-fold anointing, and it is available for us if we will cry out to Him. Productivity has to be emphasised over and over again in the church.

3. The Old Gate

The Old Gate is not the gate where the senior citizens walk through. When new converts come to the church,

they must be taught the word of God and the doctrines of the church. The Prophet Jeremiah puts it this way – he says: “Stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you shall find rest for your souls”. (Jeremiah 6:16) We must teach sound doctrine in the church. All new converts must be taught and grounded on the six foundation doctrines in Hebrews 6. This will give everyone a firm

foundation in his or her lives. We must also learn to honour those who have gone before us. Today, we have the

tendency in the church to criticise and to belittle the previous generations.

But we will not be where we are if not for them. We have built upon their shoulders, and it is important to God

that we never forget what the previous generations have done. Also, we are commanded in the scriptures not to

remove ancient landmarks. This is very important for longevity because God honours those ancient landmarks.

What did our fathers teach us? What was important to them? What landmarks did they set? We are not to

remove them.

In between the Old Gate and the next gate, which is the Valley Gate, there is another tower, the Tower of

Ovens. An oven is where fresh bread is baked. And it is important that the church always teaches and gives fresh

bread to the church. The apostle Peter said that we are to be established in present truth, and this is what God

is saying today, not what He said 10 years ago, or 20 years ago! The Word

of God has to be freshly baked every weekend, and this must become a stronghold (Tower) for the church.

4. The Valley Gate

This gate leads out to the Kidron Valley, which divides Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. And what

it represents is the low places. It represents humility. In order for a person to travel to Mount Moriah,

upon which Jerusalem is built, it is necessary to first descend into the Valley of Kidron. In between the

heights of God are the valleys, and one has to go down before they can climb up. Humility is a foundation that

must be established in the hearts of all of God’s people. It is the mother of virtues. In the Sermon on the Mount,

which scholars believe to be the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus prefaced His entire sermon by these

words: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The whole Sermon on the Mount is built upon the beatitudes, and the beatitudes begin with being poor in spirit. The beatitudes are given in ascending order, which means that you can’t really get to the 2nd base without passing the first. This means you cannot be meek unless you have learned to mourn, and you can’t really mourn if you don’t know that you are poor in spirit. Without humility, there is no progress in the Christian life. God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. This is the one virtue that opens us up to all other spiritual realities. It is the key that unlocks the door of heaven to us. Humility is like a treasure chest that bears all the greatest gifts, graces, and riches in the kingdom of heaven.

5. The Dung Gate

As its name suggests, all the refuse in the city had to be taken out through the dung gate. In our lives, as we enter into the low places, we will have a revelation of our own hearts. And it is here that we must ask the Holy Spirit to remove all the dung and the dross from our lives, for they can prevent us from going into the presence of the King.

6. The Fountain Gate

This gate is located next to the Dung Gate. In other words, when we go through a valley-type experience where rubbish in our lives is cleared up, and true faith comes forth, then the fountains begin to flow, and it doesn’t take long. When our hearts have been cleansed and the refuse in our lives taken out, then the fountains of the Spirit of God can begin to spring up from within the depths of our hearts and flow like living waters. (John 7:37-39)

7. The Water Gate

The Water Gate was the site where Ezra the great teaching priest taught. The Water Gate corresponds to the

deeper teachings of the Word of God by which the church is cleansed and washed in order for her to be presented to Christ as a glorious church without any spot nor blemish or any such thing (Ephesians 5:26-27). One of the biggest problems in the church today is a refusal of Christians to grow up. We want to be entertained and fed with the milk of the Word, and there is a reluctance to go on to maturity. So, what is the key? It is the ability to bear with the deeper and usually stronger teachings of the Word of God.

In between the Water Gate and the next gate, which is the horse gate, was the great projecting tower, and it functioned as a watchtower to alert the inhabitants of the city of an approaching enemy.

Song of Solomon 7:4 says that the nose of the Shulamite is likened to a tower. The nose spiritually senses danger before any other part of our body. It is a picture of discernment. We must learn to sniff out the enemy before he even exposes himself.

In our lives, as we enter into the low places, we will have a revelation of our own hearts.

8. The Horse Gate

This is not the gate that your mother-in-law uses when she goes shopping. Horses are very beautiful animals, and we find Jesus Himself riding on one as He comes from heaven. So obviously, we have horses in heaven. Horses are symbols of warfare in the Bible, and it is also associated with the overcomer and being a warrior in the army of God. (Revelation 19:14) He wants us to be more than conquerors. (Romans 8:37)

9. The East Gate

The East Gate is a special gate because this will be the gate through which the Lord will enter into Jerusalem at the commencement of His Millennial reign. (Ezekiel 46: 2) In Ezekiel 44:1-3, ‘...the gate that looked toward the east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it.’ The east gate then speaks of the return of Jesus Christ. There is a crown given to each one who lives with this hope and who longs for His return (2 Tim 4:8). It is the gate that faces east, hence its name. This gate also depicts the son of righteousness arising with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4: 2)

Destiny is not about the wrong decisions you have made in life; it's about getting back on track and moving in the direction God has ordained.

10. The Miphkad Gate

This is the final gate, and Miphkad means inspection. This gate speaks to us of the bema seat of Christ, where our lives are inspected and rewarded appropriately. In our Christian experience, we should be living with this in mind. We are called to live with eternity in view, caring more for the things of eternity than the temporal.

Prophetically, this gate also speaks of the judgment of the nations that takes place when Jesus returns. This

is recorded in the sheep and the goat judgement in Mathew 25:31-46. It is interesting who were assigned to

build this gate – “the merchants and the goldsmiths” built this gate. And it would signify that all the wealth of

heaven would be at the disposal of those who reached this spiritual state. This is the highest place on the walls of Jerusalem.

Every true pastor will have to go through some sort of building project, both spiritually and physically. It is part of the calling. But Nehemiah’s assignment was to rebuild the walls of an entire city. Where you’re going in life is more important than where you’ve been. Destiny is not about the wrong decisions you have made in life; it’s about getting back on track and moving in the direction God has ordained. We should not spend all our time staring into the “rearview mirror” of life. We can take a glimpse now and then to make sure what’s in our past

doesn’t creep up in our future, but we can’t park there.

If you have a walled city and there is a breach in the wall, then you are vulnerable in times of war. The enemy

can sneak through it. What is your enemy looking for? Definitely not to try to scale the gate, because that would

be the most highly fortified part of the city. The enemy is going to look for breaches or holes in the wall. He is not going to waste his time trying to break through the front door when he could easily just slither in through a little broken-down breach. The enemy, by his very nature, is constantly watching the integrity of the wall. He’s probing, scanning, and checking to see if there is a breach. And sadly, many of us have massive holes in our lives that give the enemy access to do what he sees fit to do. You might be a Christian, but a Christian with holes.

So, rise up, servant of God, and rebuild the broken walls and gates in your life. It is time for the full restoration of God’s work to be done.