TOV Devo
Over the years, I have become quite fond of Christian songwriters who understand theology and the impact of the words that we declare. Without realizing it, many of us often sing worship songs, or even belt out a resounding “amen!” when we hear powerful truth spoken through a message, yet there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to us living out the words that we declare.
Revelation ends with what the Bible began with, our return to Eden, the sacred, most divine dwelling place, unified with God and creation. Yet our invitation entering through the gate into this place is through complete submission and humility to Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:14 states “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”
Genesis 3:23 is an account of God handing Adam and Eve over to the desires of their heart, a life void of God's direct presence. As God hands them over, he removes them from Eden through the east gate.
We see in Zachariah 14:4 that the Mount of Olives was just east of Jerusalem and that the messiah would be found there, only to be brought back into the city the night of his arrest and crucifixion.
“On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.”
In Ezekiel 46 we see that the east gate of the city was the entrance where the sacrifices are brought in to atone for the sins of the people, to make recompense.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem a week prior to celebrate Passover, he didn’t enter Jerusalem through the gate that normal kings would enter, the gate of praise and worldly recognition, they laid palm branches down as he rode in on a donkey, through the east gate, the gate of the sacrifices, the gate of humility and surrender.
The east gate is where Adam and Eve were removed from, the east gate is where Jesus entered into, and the east gate, the gate of humility, the gate of surrender, the gate of laying all down for Jesus, the gate of a pure heart and washed robes is the mindset that offers us an opportunity to feast in the presence of the Lord both now and eternally.
As we continue to worship, let us wrestle with our own unbelief. Let us let the Lord work on our hearts and allow him to be our own only teacher as we allow any excuses we have to be purified by the fire of his spirit and let us each enter into the east gate following the way of Jesus, our Christ.
