The Power of Gates

By Ruth Othniel

"Every area of your life has a gate in the spirit realm. It is requred of you, therefore, to be the watchman at the gates of your life. What you allow or prohibit at the gates will be so in your experiences. When you get this understanding, you will not sit back and wait for life to happen to you. On the contrary, you will be in charge of your life's affairs, with the help of the Spirit of God."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joel Lawson
• Release date: Nov 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393400820

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THE POWER OF GATES

REV. RUTH OTHNIEL

Copyright © 2020 Ruth Othniel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to the body of Christ, for her edification and continued growth in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

Gates play a pivotal role in our every day lives, whether we realize it or not. Daily we walk in and out of some gates and probably don't think anything about them; after all, they are just gates!

What we must realize is that there are spiritual gates just as there are physical gates. Whenever you walk through or see a gate, visualize a spiritual one also. Whatever you see in this material realm has its spiritual counterpart in the unseen or spiritual realm. Our ignorance of them does not negate their existence and reality.

Your life is very much controlled and determined at some gates. Your awareness of this reality will help you realize that things don't just happen, and that God does not love some of His children more than others nor prefer some over others. There are spiritual gates in our lives that determine the kind of life we experience here on earth; whether we are blessed or oppressed.

Every new day God graciously brings us into comes with an invitation at its gate from wisdom, expressing her desire to guide us through the day in the paths of safety and success in our endeavors. Unfortunately, very few people heed the call of wisdom, and those who don't miss great prospects of blessings and progress by reason of their oblivion to the existence of the gates.

The Lord Jesus said that no one goes to war without first sitting down to count the cost and determine if he has enough resources to take him through the war successfully. (See Luke 14:31) The devil does the same thing before launching attacks. He doesn't just attack spontaneously; on the contrary, he takes his time to plan and organize his troops. So what we consider sudden attacks against us are just sudden to us but to the devil they are pre- meditated, pre- planned, pre- programmed, pre- organized attacks. That is why most of the time, if not all the time, the devil's plans against us prevail. This also explains why some people go through cycles of defeat or are apparently stuck in a particular situation over which they have no power, however much they try to get out; constantly being in debt, or financial lack, sicknesses and diseases that keep on recurring, etc. For lack of understanding that this is an operation of the devil against their lives, one reasons and concludes that it is their portion from God who has allowed it for a reason and that one day He will take it away, or maybe He is using such conditions to teach them something.

As a child of God you must commit yourself to the search for knowledge of the truth from the Word of God. It is only what you know that brings about your freedom from the oppression of the devil. The extent of your freedom is determined by how much truth you know.

There are gates through which the Lord blesses us in every area of our lives, and there are also gates where the devil and his evil forces gather to plan and launch their attacks. The structure of the temple and the various gates allocated to it, with each gate serving a distinct function, accords us a vivid analogy to this truth. This is narrated in the book of Nehemiah.

Our understanding of gates and their functions will give us an advantage over the enemy and his operations. It positions us to receive all the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER 1

SIGNIFICANCE OF GATES

According to the definitions set forth in Webster’s dictionary, we are made to understand the description of ‘gate’ as, among others, entrance into and strength of a city; power and dominion (Websters Dictionary 1828, n.d). In both the physical and spiritual realm, gates are entrance and exit points to a confined area. If a city has no gate, unwanted things and people can easily access it whenever they please. A home, institution, or city is as strong and secure as its gate.

Study of the Old Testament reveals that gates played a crucial role in the lives and day to day activities of the people. They had their cities fenced all round and placed gates over which they set watchmen. This was to ensure that the inhabitants of the city were safe. They established a particular time at which the gates would be open in the morning and shut in the evening.

Apart from providing security for the people, there were other activities that were carried out at the gates.

1) The elders and prominent men of the land usually gathered at the gate. It is written about the virtuous woman that;

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

Proverbs 31:23

2)That is where God sent His messengers to deliver His messages to His people;

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

Genesis 19: 1

Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord...

Jeremiah 17:19 

3) Crucial decisions and judgments on cases that arose among the people were determined at the gate (Genesis 34:20- 24). At the gates Judges sat and dispensed judgment;

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Deuteronomy16:18

It is at the gate that the elders decided and agreed that Boaz would be Ruth's kinsman redeemer;

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

Ruth