“Shallum son of Colhozeh, ruler of the Mizpah District, rebuilt the Fountain Gate. He covered the gateway, put the gates in place, and put in the bolts and the bars. At the Pool of Shelah he built the wall next to the royal garden, as far as the stairs leading down from David's City.” (Nehemiah 3:15)
The Jews were captive either 48 years or 70 years depending on which captivity you are talking about. If you accept Jeremiah’s version, the traditional version, the captivity was 70 years. If you accept the first captivity when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, it’s only 48 years. Whichever, Nehemiah was released by the Persian king, Artaxerxes to go rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. In our Scripture above, Nehemiah details the work of Shallum, son of Colhozeh.
Shallum rebuilt the wall next to the royal garden, the garden of the king. Today it’s planted with many fruit trees and watered by the water run-off from the Pool of Siloam which is fed by the Gihon Spring. Not much of a description is found in the Bible, but it’s mentioned several times. Zechariah is the only reference to say that there were wine presses there. So, it must have had a vineyard. (Zechariah 14:10)
God prepared a garden. It was perfect in every way. Everything in it was good. God said so. He prepared it for His creation. It was there where He came to fellowship with His creation. And if His creation obeyed, it would be the home to every man born to Adam and Eve forever. But they betrayed Him. They believed a lie and disobeyed reasoning that it was God Who was the liar. The devil comes into the garden and deceives Eve. “The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. God said that because He knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad." (Genesis 3:4-5)
The tactics of the devil have not changed, not when Jesus was walking the earth and not today. “You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.” (John 8:44) Jesus tells the truth about him.
Dr. David Jeremiah writes: “Fatigue. Anxiety. Stress. Temptation. Fear. Despair. Lies. Revenge. Sound familiar? These eight lies are the devil's favorite schemes for distorting our view of reality. He wants us to believe that it's okay to stay in a place of suffering forever, okay to believe there isn't anything that can be done, okay to live in defeat. Perhaps no other temptation is as easy to embrace as a simple lie, yet accepting even one of the enemy's most innocuous deceits initiates a slippery slope downward from the reality of God's Truth to the pit of despair.” (8 Lies Satan Tries to Tell You (crosswalk.com) To know the Truth, we have to read the Truth which is in the Bible. The Word of God is living bread to us. It nourishes our spirit which influences our soul. It’s a living circle. Our spirit cannot influence our soul properly if it doesn’t have the Truth with which to influence it. This affects our will and emotions and eventually the decisions we make.
There is another garden in the Bible. This garden is splattered with the blood shed by our praying Lord, just before He was arrested. It’s the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. “Jesus left the city and went, as He usually did, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples went with Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." Then He went off from them about the distance of a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed. "Father," He said, "if You will, take this cup of suffering away from Me. Not My will, however, but Your will be done." An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. In great anguish He prayed even more fervently; His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:39-44)
And there is still another garden. It is the King of Kings’ Garden. "I am the real vine, and My Father is the gardener. He breaks off every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. Remain united to Me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:1-4) Jesus tells us that we’re made clean by His teaching. His teaching helps us to bear fruit and to remain on the vine. This fruit is mentioned in Galatians: “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. The Spirit has given us life; He must also control our lives.” (Galatians 5:22-25) The Lord works in us to produce this fruit as we grow in the Lord, in faith and obedience.
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