The Gate

“…the gate that looketh toward the east…” (Ezekiel 43:1)

The gate… I love pictures of this gate.  Have you hears the song that says, “I will meet you in the morning… Just inside the Eastern Gate over there.”?

This gate, near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, is also known as the “Eastern Gate”, or the “Golden Gate”

“Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. (Ezekiel 44:1-3)

Yes, the gate is shut.  It was sealed in the 16th century A.D. by its Muslim conquerors (the Ottoman Turks) in 1530 A.D.

Now there is a cemetery in front of it.  Many believe this was done to prevent the entrance of the Jewish Messiah through that gate according to Old Testament prophecies.  However, Ezekiel prophesied that it would be shut, “because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.”

Jesus entered Jerusalem through the Eastern gate around 30 A.D. (long before it was walled up) as he came down from the Mount of Olives and entered the temple (Luke 19:28-48).  He would have entered through the original gate which was destroyed with the city by the Romans in 70 A.D. One day, the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives, with all His saints, and walk down and through the Eastern Gate and into the Temple area, and so the song says, “I will meet you in the morning… Just inside the Eastern Gate over there.”  Until then…

Run with patience,

Pastor