Bible Text: Nehemiah 13:19 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | So I commanded that from then on the gates of the city should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended. I also sent some of my own servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day.  Nehemiah 13:19

Visit the old city of Jerusalem today and you will see the remains of at least five gates—The Jaffa Gate from the Crusader Period; the Zion Gate, which symbolizes the struggle of the Jewish people; the Golden Gate near the Temple area, often used as an image of heaven which Christians have immortalized in songs and verse; St. Stephen’s Gate; and the Damascus Gate from the Roman-Byzantine Period.

OK, you say, in ancient days all cities had gates.  That’s true! Go to Europe and you will see the remains of the old city gates, whether it is Rome, Trier, London, or Paris. The same thing is true of Asia, and each gate represented the unique culture and period in which it was built.

Some gates were ornate pieces of craftsmanship, and others were utilitarian—strong thick, reinforced structures designed to repel the onslaught of the enemy, but all gates were built with a common purpose—make the people within the gates safe from enemies without. That was bottom line.

The Romans invented battery-rams whose purpose was to knock down the gate, and eventually the Chinese perfected the use of gun power which allowed the army to blow down the gate.

Up until World War 2, gates were still used in many cities of the world.  Then the airplane allowed the enemies to fly over the gates; nonetheless, gates are still used and are still important. They say, “You can’t come in and destroy or defile what is inside!”

Actually when you go through customs in an airport, that’s a gate to a country or city, and when your legislature meets and enacts laws, they put up virtual gates which say, “You can do this, but you can’t do that!”

When I had children in my home, I made sure they were adequately protected by locks on the door, by dogs which would bark at intruders, and by measures which I could take to insure their safety.

Today there are enemies outside the gates which are far more subtle and far more dangerous than the thief or marauder.  One of the greatest threats to the security of a home can’t be stopped by double deadbolts on the door and bars on your window. It is the media which comes through a cable or even through thin air, which can invade the privacy of your home.

In ancient days the rulers of a city met at the city gates. It was a place of open forum and actually a place where justice was meted out and laws were upheld. The city elders appointed the gate keepers, and the gate keepers determined who could come in and who was repelled and kept out.

With parental privilege comes parental responsibility, and that’s why you as a parent have to be a gate keeper who protects those who live within your home. Know what your kids watch on TV and the Internet, and be a gate keeper who cares enough to say, “This isn’t good and we’re not having it in our home.”

Long ago, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and He lamented the fact that the gates were destroyed, the walls broken down. He said, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it” (Ezekiel 22:30).  And what did He find? Sadly lacking were those who would stand and be counted. “But I found none,” God adds as the postscript.

You’ve got a door, right? Then be a doorkeeper, and make sure that the gates you have are strong enough to keep those who dwell in your home safe from the enemies without.

Resource reading: Psalm 139:19-24