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Footnotes:
1-Matthew 16:18
2-Matthew 10:14
3-1 Peter 4:17
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The gates that we enter and exit are all around us. Many who sit in the gates of authority should not be there, while others that should be seated within that gate have been kicked out and replaced by the corrupted system judges.
A gate is not just a way in or out of a city or town. It is much more. The gate of an establishment or the gate used as a portal to or from any place, whether spiritual or physical is a place of power. When YHVH tells Abraham that “his seed will possess the gate of their enemies,” we should understand the implication of the possession of legality and fairness. Not only is this to speak of the proper conviction of wicked deeds perpetrated by the inhabitants and the punishment for those deeds, but the equal measure of mercy and humility towards the righteous population as well.
As YHVH reveals this aspect of the covenant, Abraham realizes why he was led to purchase the spring at Beersheba. This is the gate to the land of Gerar and the Philistines. By owning this gate, Abraham knows that he will be allowing or denying access and passage. This has been easily seen in today’s political stature. Israel has controlled the Palestinian land by allowing or denying access and passage into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
By divine intervention YHVH, as the Provider, provides Abraham with allies, water and passage for all the places that his foot has already tread. Abraham receives a witness to his actions in the words of YHVH. Those left sojourning on the other side of the gate (Beersheba) will be influenced by Abraham’s actions and blessed by Abraham’s decisions. They also will be under his rule by the authority of YHVH. The former residences are now aliens that use the land. They may not be aware of this, but YHVH’s word is true and the land will belong to Abraham’s seed.
Prior to purchasing the spring at Beersheba, Abraham sat at another gate, the door of his own tent. He was master of his household and was vigilant to spy out what was coming his way. Looking up, Abraham spies the three Men approaching his gate. Knowing YHVH and hearing His voice clearly, he understands his duty to rise and show hospitality to the three visitors. Abraham speaks to his wife and mutually prepares a feast for those that have disclosed themselves for this meeting.
In stark contrast, Lot chose the land that looked good to the eye for the provision that it could provide for his family, servants and flocks. In following this, he became subject to a system where the gates were filled with perversity and wickedness. the gates of ease opened up to Lot and his family but ultimately they could not prevail over the evil and wickedness. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom whereupon the two angels of YHVH entered. He sat where authority was seated and removed himself from that position when he saw righteousness enter into the city gate. Moreover, when events turned to wickedness that night, the inhabitants revealed Lot’s position in their community and demoted him from a place of judgment and placed him in a place of condemnation for not following Sodom’s habitual depravity.
It is the duty of the members of the gate, the judges or elders, to act as outstanding community members, to be examples of the righteousness esteemed by that community and to execute the justice system. The execution of that system may be as jurors to decide verdicts of punishment, lawyers determining the difference between right and wrong, and those that make declarations of repentance and forgiveness as a spokesperson for themselves and/or the community at large. There are also times of testing when a community member must be deemed worthy of a judge’s position or is ready to assume the role of a leader within the communal system.
YHVH is seen as this type of Judge many times in our lives. Abraham sees this archetype as he takes Isaac to the place that YHVH has chosen for sacrifice. Abraham’s Elohim is watching to see the obedience and faith that Abraham acts out in His sight. In Abraham’s obedience to sacrifice what he has waited one hundred years to obtain in Isaac, and in his faith to know that within the command to sacrifice his only son, he knew he would find salvation within the covenant YHVH had already established. This Judge is real and requires genuine sincerity for the tasks He asks His children to accomplish.
As Judge, YHVH is righteous and showed His faithfulness to Abraham by staying his hand against Isaac. He provides atonement, Himself, to usher in a glimpse of the fulfillment yet to come in Messiah. Our Judge sees all and is an Everlasting Judge to be able to provide all that we need, Himself, as the sacrifice for our sakes. Abraham’s faithfulness is the measure for us to see how Judgement is made and portioned out. In due time, YHVH’s judgement will be made manifest in every living creature as to whether that creature sees Messiah as their sacrifice for their eternal redemption or still relies on the fleshly labors of the earth to bring forth salvation and the provision of justice.
Abraham found the truest form of justice in a gate where only YHVH stood as the Judge. Abraham did not take any other judge to help make the decision to sacrifice Isaac. That decision was clear and present in Abraham’s resolve to do just as YHVH had commanded. In this obedience, Abraham is justified to be the rightful father to a multitude that would bless all the forthcoming nations of the earth. Our father, Abraham, stood in the gate as a faithful gatekeeper and shows us the way through the gate we all should enter. That gate is the gate of faith to know Who YHVH is and what He will be for us in the future.
At each step, we enter a gate and give permission or deny access to alternate gates in our lives. Each gate harbors something on the other side. Often, as a believer, YHVH does not allow a person to enter into a particular gate, and for good reason. YHVH knows the beginning and the end of a persons journeying. He knows if the wayfarer is ready for what lies behind the gate or if he can withstand the persecution that waits within the walls. He also knows when to reveal and unlock the gates so that His elect can walk through the gates. These times may not be for the righteous, but for those waiting in bondage on the other side.
The lifetime we have spent on our journeys has prepared us for what is within and on the other side of our enemy’s gate1. When we get ahead of YHVH and work on our or His behalf out of our flesh, either the gate is barred or the entry is met with hardship and pain. We must know and hear what the Ruach says to us about entering in others’ gates. Our lives will be made known by our actions within their gates. Others will judge us in that gate; and it will be decided how we will be treated when leaving the gate or if we can go any farther2.
Similarly, we are both gates and judges within our gates all at the same time. This may sound at odds with itself, but it is not. Our bodies are made to take in and give out in many ways. Our minds absorb so much at any given time that we must consciously choose what to let in and what gets barred constantly. Many times, thoughts slip into our minds without our permission and we must sit as judge over what stays and what must leave. If we choose not to be that judge, our minds are consumed by a battleground of information that we could easily lose control over. If insalubrious thoughts go unbridled and run out of control, a person’s mind, body and soul will enter a realm of unclean. That person then has to wait for someone to teach repentance or seek forgiveness from YHVH through His beckoning.
The gates that we constantly maintain are the eye gate, the ear gate, the speech gate, not to mention the spiritual gate that doctrine and discipleship go through. Each one of these gates works in conjunction with each other. If one gate is out of balance or has allowed an unclean influence in then the other gates fall prey to the wiles of the enemy that lurks in the unclean realm. Likewise, if a gate allows harsh words or actions out, then the other gates suffer the punishment of wrongfully leading others into the realm of unclean.
Why is this an aspect of clean and unclean? Because we either live with our lives separated from the world and its perversions, such as the life of Abraham; or, we live in the realm of unclean where the bombardment of the world constantly pounds outside our gate to demand entrance. By allowing the unclean entry to our lives, we give our flesh a foothold on our lives and forfeit our holiness before YHVH through Messiah. In essence, we usurp Yeshua’s role as High Priest and try to approach a Holy Elohim on our own merit and our own standards. We place ourselves in the seat of judgement and deem ourselves worthy to justify our own actions. It is impossible to do this without the atonement that the one true Judge offers to us. His way is the only way to YHVH.
Furthermore, Yeshua has made the way for us to enter into the gates of Tzion by way of judgement. When the Master was on the earth, He told the disciples that they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Not the nations, not the sojourners, the twelve tribes. There were twelve disciples that followed Yeshua, and when the one betrayed Him, the others replaced Judas with Matthias. Before those that die for Messiah enter Tzion when the first resurrection takes place, there will be twelve gates that they must enter. The twelve that are to judge the tribes will be judging who may pass through those gates. We must be righteous judges now so that when we are judged, we will be found having faith. That faith was in our father Abraham and it has passed down to us through the Seed of Promise.
By doing righteously within our gates and the gates of others, by loving YHVH will all that we have and treating others the way we want to be treated, we are affirming that we desire the Judge of all the earth to come and sit as Judge and King in our gates. In all of our efforts to walk out Torah and to love Messiah, there is no greater hope than to know our Judge is also our advocate; and as such, He makes great intercession for our sake so that we will endure to the end and enter through His gates of praise. You should seek to be known by the Judge so that you will be found with faith and without blame. “For it is time for the judgement to begin with the household of YHVH; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of YHVH?”3 |
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