Nehemiah 3:14
The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.

Quite honestly, it doesn’t take much to catch my attention. Holding my attention, though, is another matter. (I love the button that says “I have ADOS: Attention Deficit…Oooh! Shiny!”) Anyway, it can be quite a curse when reading the Bible, especially when I’m trapped in a chapter like Nehemiah 3 which is basically just a summary about who rebuilt what part of the wall. It’s long, repetitive, and, if I can say it without getting struck by lightning, somewhat boring. (Whew! Still here.)

But the verse above really caught my attention. I guess somehow seeing the word “dung” in the Bible has that effect on me. Apparantly this guy named Malkijah drew the short straw and got stuck fixing the Dung Gate. It made me wonder how that gate got it’s name. Surely it couldn’t be as obvious as it seemed! Turns out this wasn’t a place where people went to, well, you know, relieve themselves after a morning cup of joe. It wasn’t the local hangout and party place for all the dung beetles in Jerusalem. It was the gate where the trash was taken out of the city. It must have stunk and I would imagine the job might have been a bit unpleasant. And for all of his hard work on the smelliest part of the wall during the rebuilding process, ol’ Mal got THIRTY WORDS of press. That’s it! Other people got multiple verses, but not our “redeemer of the dung door.” Continue reading