“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them
up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in” (Psalms 24:9). Gates seem to be very important to
YHVH, as He told Israel to write His commandments on the gates of their tents
and houses: “Therefore shall
ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, and thou shalt write
them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates” (Deu. 11:8,20). Every three years the Israelites were to
bring in their tithes and place them in the gates (ref. Deut. 14:28). The elders, judges and officers sat in the
gates and conducted the affairs of the city.
Thus, whoever was in control of the gates commanded all that went on in
the city or the country. These ‘gate sitters’ had dominion over all the affairs
of the kingdom. Thus, in order to overcome a city, its gate had to be conquered
first.
I have often wondered about the
significance of the word that YHVH had spoken to Abraham after the latter
returned with Isaac from Mount Moriah: “That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Gen. 22:17).
Before leaving her family to join Isaac, Rebekah’s relatives blessed
her: “Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and
let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them” (Gen. 24:60). Isaac and his seed
were given a double blessing; YHVH was giving them a prophetic mandate to
possess, control or rule by force the gates of those who “hated them”.
Hence, Isaac’s progeny was given a
position of authority in the earth. Can this fact be detected in the words that
YHVH used to describe the multitudes which would come from the forefathers:
“stars” (designed to govern the night Gen.1:16), and “sand of the sea”
(boundaries for the ‘waters of humanity’)? “When the Most High divided to
the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the
bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, for
YHVH’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance” (Deut.32:8).
While YHVH speaks about His
faithfulness to the covenant of multiplicity, He also points out that Isaac’s
chosen seed (Jacob) would have a position of dominion and authority. They were to be the head of nations, a boundary
for the peoples and the spiritual gates that would either protect or allow the
spiritual enemies of Elohim to enter and control the rest of humanity. YHVH had
given them exclusive rights to His scepter when He called them after the order
of Melchizedec; a nation of kings and priests.
When Israel relinquished the lordship
of Elohim, and no longer regarded Him as their king, the prince of this world,
Satan (the dragon), took over and entered in, giving his ruling power to the
beast (the flesh of man): “And the dragon gave him his power and his throne
and great authority” (Rev. 13:2).
The worship of the beast (humanism) has become so prevalent that nothing
may be compared to him: “who is like unto the beast?” He has become so powerful that it is said of
him: “who can make war with him?” (Rev. 13:3-4). Yet, right during this
state of the beast’s dominion and control, a little stone appears strikes its
clay feet and then grows into a huge mountain until it covers the whole earth
(see Daniel 2:35). We know that this little
stone is YHVH’s ruling Son Yeshua, and that His coming and the giving up of His
life released the power that overcomes the gates of hell, which therefore can
prevail no longer.
Gabriel, Elohim’s angel, said to
Miriam when he appeared to her, that the one to be born of her would set up the
kingdom of Elohim in the house of Jacob:
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and
YHVH shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end”(Luke
1:32-33).
Where the
Messiah would set up his kingdom is very clear. Perhaps this is why the
disciples of Yeshua, asked Him, just before he ascended to heaven to sit at His
Father’s right hand, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom
to Israel?” (Acts 1:6b).
The word “restore” indicates that the
kingdom must have been in Israel
some time in the past. During the days of the prophet Samuel we hear the
prophet complaining to YHVH that the people were not listening to him and that
and they were seeking for a king to judge them, like the other nations
(1 Sam. 8:5). YHVH’s answer was: “They have not rejected
you, but they have rejected me as king over them” (1 Sam. 8:7; 1 Sam.
12:12). Obviously the number one
characteristic of a kingdom is that it is headed by a king. Thus, for YHVH’s
kingdom to be restored to Israel ,
a king must be enthroned over the nation.
Gabriel’s message leaves no room for doubt as to whom that king is.
Messiah
responded to the disciples’ question by telling them that His intention was to
make them witnesses to and of this kingdom. How? “When the Holy Spirit comes
upon you, you shall be my witness...” What is the kingdom of God Rome :
“The kingdom of God Israel . This is why the
principalities and powers in heavenly places oppose so vehemently the
restoration of all Israel
as a single nation. These principalities have been controlling the gates (of
the twelve tribes), but as the Holy One, through the power of the His Spirit,
cleanses the gates and comes into them as the King of glory Satan’s rule on
this earth will be cast down and the malenial reign of the Messiah will begin. This is why Yeshua must restore those twelve
gates.
These
“twelve gates” are also described as Yeshua’s shields in the earth: “The
princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham:
for the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted”
(Ps 47:9).
Having been taken out of the kingdom
of darkness and having been transferred to the kingdom of YHVH’s beloved Son
(see Col. 1:13) is not a future event, it happens to every believer who has
received the “Holy Spirit”, the power from on high. Thus resident in the life
of the believing nation, the redeemed twelve tribes, is the authority to rule
the nations with a rod of iron, but not only to rule, also to sit and to judge
the sons of men with equity and to be the eternal light to these nations.
Our
warfare is not with flesh and blood nations, but with the principalities and
powers of this evil world. As redeemed
Israelite believers we must become mature in holiness, even as our Heavenly
Father is holy. If we do not defeat this
power of sin in our personal lives, how are we going to do it when it comes to
nations? May those gates now say:” But thou, O YHVH,
art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Ps
3:3).
Ephraim
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