The Sheep Gate

 

What is the Bible all about? If you had to sum it up succinctly it might be God revealed to us through Jesus Christ. The Old Testament describes the fallen nature of man, the continuous cycle of seeking God, trying to please Him, falling away and eventually turning back to Him again, all the time conscious of sin and the need for a Saviour. The New Testament is the gospel, good news, the coming of Jesus Christ and His ultimate glorification of His Father God and redemption of fallen sinners in a new covenant.

The New Testament does not negate the Old, rather it is the fulfillment of it. Tim Keller has presented an interesting series available online concerning finding the gospel in every book of the Bible, how Jesus is proclaimed in every book.

Recently my church did a study series on the book of Nehemiah. This is the story of how one man, Nehemiah, returned from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem and encouraged the Israelites living there to rebuild the walls which surrounded the city, walls which were in ruins and destroyed from enemy attacks. Different families and groups of people worked together to repair different sections of the wall.

In Nehemiah chapter 3 the first recorded completion and dedication of a gate in the wall is noted – the Sheep Gate was repaired and constructed by Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues. This was the gate in which flocks of sheep would be brought into the city for sale and sacrifice.

This detail holds great symbolism. In the New Testament, in John’s gospel, we read the following:

 “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:7-11

The Sheep Gate in Old Testament times was the way in which the sacrificial sheep and lambs were through the wall into a protective space where they were to be the atonement for sin. The Old Testament is full of examples of how this practice failed to fully reconcile the people to God. They continually turned away.

Jesus though His words and actions demonstrated that He became the sacrificial Lamb of God, that He became the only way for us to be saved and in right relationship with God. This is a new covenant- a promise that salvation is not through our own works or sacrifices but through what Jesus has done. Only through faith in Jesus do we have communion with our Heavenly Father, Son and guiding Holy Spirit and the promise of protection, blessing and the most wonderful life appointed for us.