The writer of Hebrews says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). God reveals the understanding of the unseen through what is visible (or written) as in the account of Nehemiah. In the days of Nehemiah, when he served in the court of the king, the Temple in Jerusalem was in operation.  He questioned those who had returned from a visit to the holy city and they responded, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah heard that those in Jerusalem were “in great trouble and disgrace” (vs.3). Though the place of worship was in operation, the absence of walls and gates left the city in disgrace. Similarly, many believers operate only as places of worship with its walls and gates in ruins.   

Our life is like a city surrounded by walls and gates. As with the gates of ancient Jerusalem, each one has a specific function and spiritual purpose meant for our well-being. Every gate that is not possessed by the righteous is an open door for the enemy. Evil spirits seek to enter our realms of authority in hopes of destroying us.

The gates of Jerusalem mentioned in the book of Nehemiah are types of spiritual gateways that can be applied to our lives.  Every city gate had a name and a purpose. For this study, the outer gates of Jerusalem in the times of Nehemiah will be the focus. The idea for this teaching began to form in my mind back when I was attending Bible School in the mid 1990’s. I remember hearing a true story about a person who was part of a leadership team in a ministry. The team began to notice a certain sin occurring over and over in their congregation. After a time of prayer, it was revealed that one of their own team was active in this same sin and was releasing this evil over the rest of the congregation. It was as if this person was the gateway for this sin into the rest of the ministry. Once this person was removed from leadership, this sin pattern was broken over the entire congregation.

There is an introduction or overview to the gates of Nehemiah, then one video for each gate.

Each lesson has a few questions to be answered to test your knowledge of what was learned.

The goal of this course is to get you in the daily habit of making ten declarations over your life and learning to pray based on the gates of Nehemiah. The declarations and prayers along with the maps are available to download.

Make Yahweh bless your study on the gates of Nehemiah in the name of Jesus!