In Hans Voschezang’s moving account of Andrew, in the March Faith in Focus, one word struck me forcibly. Perhaps he had realised for a long time what a fool he was, but pride made him struggle on as long as he possibly could. When that happened he said, “ I will arise and ago to my father and say to him, ‘Father I have sinned against you and am no more worthy to be called your son.’” It must have taken some years for him to reach this position. There he was content to stay until circumstances brought him to his senses. In the Lord’s parable, the prodigal son was in one of the lowest valleys of all. Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as this other.” “Me? I’m no worse than the man next door. Satan tries to persuade us not to go through this gate.

Looking up at the peak of the day, we see the brilliant sunlight and long to bask in the warmth. The lower the depth, the longer the shadow. Visualise the low-lying valley, a place of morning and evening shadow. But we all must pass this way, to find the Lord. It takes humility for us to acknowledge our sin and our need of a Saviour. But what does it mean? The Valley Gate that man’s pride tries to avoid is the humility of the confession of sin. It was placed in the wall at the top of a slope leading downwards, and the activities below were humiliating. The Valley Gate would, I imagine, be one that inhabitants would like to steer clear of. 450 metres) of the wall as far as the Dung Gate. (It brings to my mind gratitude for all the nurses and caregivers who undertake unpleasant tasks for our benefit.) The workers rebuilt the gate, doors bolts and bars, and 500 yards (c. Theirs was not the most pleasant part of the building task. We know little of the workers – Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. 11:3, hence ‘Gehenna’.) With the use to which this valley was put, it is quite appropriate to think of this gate as ‘humility.’ The workers ← ⤒ 🔗 Later the valley was the place for burning refuse and corpses of criminals and animals, until its name became used as a symbol of hell (ge = valley, Hinnom, as e.g. In Jeremiah’s time the Hinnom Valley was associated with the worship of Molech and other gods, with a shrine that was destroyed by King Josiah. The walls, joined on one side to the Old Gate, were connected on the other to the Dung Gate. The Valley Gate, it is fairly certain, led to the Valley of Hinnom. Each of the three terminates near Siloam. The valleys of Jerusalem ← ⤒ 🔗Īround and across Jerusalem are three valleys: the Tyropoeon Valley which bisects the city from its centre to the south-east corner the Kidron Valley separating the eastern side from hills of the Mount of Olives region and the Hinnom Valley, now thought by most scholars to be the valley curling round the south-west side of Jerusalem. For in the Christian life it is not possible to enter the Sheep Gate, nor to join the service of the Fish Gate, nor to be made new creatures in Christ Jesus, until we have been willing to enter the Valley Gate of Humility. This fits well into the theme and train of thought being pursued in these articles. He uses the Valley Gate as an application of humility. Harry Ironside in his commentary on Nehemiah writes of yet another valley. However it is not the one I shall draw upon here, although it is so closely allied. He says of the Lord, “He is the only Spirit Guide through the valley of death into the wonderful eternal world where those who know Him will live with God forever.” This could make a wonderful study for the Valley Gate. Dan Hayden, (in Name Above All Names), contrasts the Lord with the ‘spirit guides’ of the so-called New Age movement, rightly seeing the latter as demonic manifestations. In Psalm 23, the deepest depth of our lives is the Valley of the Shadow of Death. In recent reading I came across the phrase ‘valley of despair.’ The valley is a low place in our life. What a number of metaphorical expressions the valley gives us – a vale of tears, a valley of depression, a valley of failure, a valley of difficulty. Valleys are places of late morning sunshine and early shadow.

Valley gate dragon spring jerusalem