The Gate

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE GATE

Judges 16:1-3

16:1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." 3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

NIV

It would appear that everyone who is not an Israelite is out to kill Samson. Are they just jealous because of his great strength, or is it out of fear that he will destroy them? He has a reputation for killing thousands of men, as we just saw with one jawbone of a donkey. Whatever the reason for their wanting him subdued or killed, he needs to be smart or listen to the Spirit. Although this could be seen as the world’s conflict with us, that is as long as we take our stand against the forces of evil, speaking up for the gospel. In fact, the enemy of our souls is always roaming about seeking whom he can destroy, tempting believers to have an affair with the world. But our story is about those city gates that Samson tore right off the hinges and then carried large, heavy wooden gates up a hill. There is another city where the gates are only open to those who have accepted the key to that city, which is now in the heavenly realm. This is the new city of Jerusalem, and Jesus is the key, the way into that city. It is just the same as when he died upon that cross, the curtain in the temple, keeping the people away from the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, was torn in two, giving the people a way to God. Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. He is the way into the new city of Jerusalem. He threw open the gates, all twelve of them, each made from a single pearl. Jesus said that he was the gate, the one true gate into the presence of the Lord God Almighty. When John was given the revelation, he was shown an open door, or gate into heaven, and Jesus told him, “Come up here”. We cannot tear down that gate nor carry it alone on our shoulders. What we can do is accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and He will throw open the gates to heaven for us. In Addition, we do not even have to carry the burdens of this world alone, for we can take his yoke upon us and learn from him. He will lift the load; he will carry us through. No amount of our strength, abilities, knowledge, education, wealth, works, titles, or anything else of ours can carry us through the burdens of this world, or through the city gates of that new city. Only our faith in Jesus will get us access to the city of God. Samson may have carried those gates, but we have Jesus, the Gate, and he will carry us through.