Gates and Ancient Doors

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.”
Psalm 24:7-10 NIVUK

Theologians have determined that the “gates” and “ancient doors” refer to the gateways to Jerusalem, and the context of this Psalm applies to the courtesies rolled out for special guests, perhaps royalty from other nations. Important people required special measures being applied so that royal entries could be achieved through the gates and doors. Some gates were portcullis affairs that were lifted much higher than usual, so that their tops, their “heads”, appeared over the top of the City walls. Sometimes doors were removed from their hinges, “lifted up”, making the opening in the wall as wide as possible. Quite a lot of fuss, probably, but then we stop and think about the importance of the King of Glory, “the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle“. David made the point about the importance of the “King of Glory” because he repeated verses 7 and 8 again in verses 9 and 10. The phrase “king of Glory” was mentioned four times in these four verses. 

In our Western cities, there are a few with some residual parts of medieval city walls that had gates to keep out the more undesirable elements of society. London once had a city wall, with seven gates into it, although they weren’t used after the mid-eighteenth century. Southampton still has its “Bargate” located at the end of the High Street and a remaining part of the old sea port’s city wall. In the walled parts of cities, there are occasions when certain traditions are re-enacted, reminding observers, mainly tourists, of how things used to be, but in modern Britain gates are of little use for security purposes.

But this Psalm is far more than being just an architectural nicety connected to ancient royal customs. Jesus used the analogy of a door or gate when He said, “ … I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” (John 10:7-9). This illustration would have been easily understood by the common people of Jesus’ day. The shepherd would have positioned himself at the entrance way to a walled pen, a sheepfold, where the sheep would have gone for safety at night, and no-one would have been able to steal or harm the sheep without the shepherd knowing about it. Jesus’ illustration confirmed that there is only one sheepfold and only one Shepherd; there is only one way to be saved and only through one Person can it be achieved. Later, in John 14:6, Jesus said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. Of course, there are many who would claim other ways to get to Heaven and experience eternal life, pointing to other religions as the alternatives. There are even others who claim that they can get there just by being good, without needing any knowledge of Jesus at all. Still others claim that everyone will go to Heaven one day regardless of how they behave or what they think. But there is only one way, as we pilgrims know and understand. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it”. By God’s grace, we found the narrow gate leading us on a journey that at times is difficult. At times it seems to be populated by people on a broad highway, who are coming towards us and trying to get us to turn round and journey with them to the place we call hell. It is hard to find ourselves swimming against the tide sometimes. But we stick it out, persevering along the narrow road that leads to Glory. 

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends”. The believers in Laodicea were admonished for being neither hot or cold in their faith. They claimed that they needed nothing but failed to realise how spiritually impoverished they were. But after giving them a hard time, Jesus’ grace prevailed with an invitation to listen for His voice and open up their hearts to allow Him to minister to them once again. But what an invitation it was, and one we can receive personally! Think about it. That Jesus would deign to share a meal with us, if only we would cast aside our pride and arrogance and in all humility bow at His feet. We must open up our gates and ancient doors before Him so that the King of Glory can be admitted. Jesus is waiting, but we have to do the opening.

Father God. You are the King of Glory, the Lord strong and mighty. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

The Remnant

Posted on by korgrocker

“And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.” And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.””
Romans 9:27-29 NLT

In Genesis 15:5 we read about God’s promise to Abram regarding his descendants, “Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have””! It’s not often that we can look up on a clear night and see the amazing canopy of points of light because of light pollution. Abram of course would have been well acquainted with the heavenly display, street lamps yet to be invented. Although there could be as many as one septillion stars in the universe we can only see a relative few without technological aids. But Abram would have been overwhelmed by the promise. In Genesis 32:12, Jacob prayed, “But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count’”. Another huge number. But in all of this neither Abraham or Jacob would know that their Israelite descendants would fall into hard times of rebellion and sin and only a remnant would be saved. What went wrong?

In 1 Kings 19 we read the story of Elijah after the amazing miracle on Mount Carmel. Depressed, he ended up on Mount Sinai, and having a conversation with God. Part of his depression was caused by the idolatry of his fellow Israelites, but we read in 1 Kings 19:14, “[Elijah] replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too””. Thankfully for him, God put him right, as we read in 1 Kings 19:18, “Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him”! Elijah was convinced that the Israelites had broken their covenant with God and the situation for them was terminal. But God has always preserved a remnant of His people, with whom He brings about His will and purposes. 

We pilgrims are part of a modern day remnant. In my community there is only a small number of people who would claim to be Christian, and practising their faith. And that probably applies in most Western communities. Jesus warned about the small numbers of those chosen to follow Him. We read in Matthew 7:13-14, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it”. So many people are walking that “highway to hell”. Some are even proud about it, singing a song popularised by the rock group, AC/DC. But we pilgrims must maintain our efforts to show those in our communities, our families and friends, where the narrow gate is. The default road is the broad one. No effort is required to walk it. Comfort is obtained by the numbers of fellow travellers – “Well, everyone does it!”. There is a popular misconception that lemmings commit mass suicide at certain stages in their population life cycles. But for them this is not a conscious decision, made for the good of the remainder of the species. It is more the result of foolishness, as they look for less densely populated areas. There is a comparison to be made between the foolishness of lemmings and the foolishness of mankind who have chosen the wide gate leading to hell, as Jesus warned. 

Jesus said that the road to life was difficult, and only a few ever follow that path. But the rewards are eternal, leading to an immortal life spent in God’s presence and well worth the privations experienced in this life. Have we found that narrow gate? Do we believe in Jesus and follow Him, day by day? Then we are on the difficult road that is the only way to find life, abundant life beyond all that we could dream of. Only a pilgrim remnant travel it, but we’re in good company. Sadly, I know so many people who have been shown the narrow gate, but have declined the invitation to open it and pass through. God’s patience is extraordinary, and He won’t give up on His creation until the very end. And as we pilgrims journey along on the narrow paths towards to eternal life, we pray for the opportunity to grab others by the hand, to show them the way, the only way, God’s way.

Father God. We pray for our friends and families, our neighbours and community, that they would find the narrow gate before it is too late. In Jesus’ name. Amen.