Warriors at the gate – Part 1

“Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people. 6: He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates,” (Isaiah 28:5-6 (NLT).

What is the spiritual meaning of gates in the Bible? Scripturally, a gate is a place of authority. A gate is where decisions are made; it is where judgments and justice are dispensed and decided. It is a place of judgment, warfare and justice (Ruth 4:11). A gate stands for a door, an exit or an entry point.
We enter the presence of God through the gate of thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Prayer of praise and thanksgiving opens the gate into God’s court and presence.

The gate is where battles are fought to prevent the enemy from gaining entrance into one’s territory. It is where the enemy is stopped from gaining entrance. Satan tries to gain entrance into our families, into our lives, into our health, finances, ministry, among others. He must be stopped and turned back at the gate. The gate is a place of fierce fighting against the enemies of our destiny.

Intercessors are gatekeepers over their families and the nation. The Church, as a collective, must stand and turn the enemy back at the gate. The Intercessor must stand at the various commanding gates of influence in the nation: the gates of politics and governance, the gates of economy and business, the gates of arts, media and entertainment, the gates of education, the gates of religion, and the gates of the family.

Every believer is a gatekeeper and warrior at the gate. He is enabled by the Holy Spirit to fight to keep the gate of his mind sane and sound. The mind gate is a strong spiritual battleground for dominance between light and darkness, between good and evil, between right or wrong, between holiness and unrighteousness, between justice and injustice, and between the spirit man and the flesh. Satan aims to pollute our minds with impure thoughts, pornography, unholy movies, literature, music, entertainment, social media, among others.

We must resist him; keep him out of our minds. This is why Paul wrote and said: “So then, my friends…Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect,” (Romans 12:1-2 GNT).

To understand how fierce the battle could be at the gate of a nation, we have to consider some scriptural examples. Nehemiah and the Jews fought a fierce battle against distractors before they could rebuild the wall and gates of Jerusalem. They contended with several enemies.

so Nehemiah mobilised the people and armed them while they carried out their work of rebuilding the wall and gates of Jerusalem. “Therefore, I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people. Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses,” (Nememiah 4:13-14, 19-23).
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