Suggested reading: Nehemiah chapter 3 verses 1-32

In a previous meditation, we considered the SHEEP GATE and the FISH GATE in the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Today we begin by considering the OLD GATE, verse 6. A good friend of mine, now in heaven, used to say, ‘If something you hear is new, it’s probably not true; if it’s true, it’s not new!’ The words of an old hymn that I often sung in my teenage years expresses better than I can what this Gate teaches us:

There is a story sweet to hear, I love to tell it too:
It fills my heart with hope and cheer, ’Tis OLD, YET EVER NEW.

They tell me God the Son came down from His bright throne to die,
That I might wear a starry crown, and dwell with Him on high.

’Tis old, yet ever new; ’Tis old, yet ever new;
I know, I feel it’s true, ’Tis old, yet ever new.

We must always remember that the good news (gospel) of God’s salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ has never changed. It was first proclaimed in the streets of the city of Jerusalem over 2000 years ago and the same message has been proclaimed throughout the world ever since. ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever’, Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8, and the message about Him never changes either: ‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’, Acts chapter 4 verse 12.

We abandon the old paths of the truth of the Bible at our peril!