We have been studying the gates of the kingdom. John gives us a glimpse of what the bride of Christ looks like in the Book of Revelations. He compares the Bride of Christ to a city. This statement is biblical as Jesus, also called the Church, His Bride, a city.
Matt 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill can not be hidden.
John also describes Jerusalem, the bride, as a city coming down from heaven.
Rev 21:2-3 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:9-13 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
The symbolism John uses here is the Church; the bride of Christ is a city. That city is the New Jerusalem, and it has twelve gates, each gate is named after one of the names of Israel Sons. To fully understand what John is trying to convey here, we must do some Bible study. Each one of the gates is also a pearl.
Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
How is a pearl formed? Through irritation. A small grain of sand gets inside the oyster and irritates it. The oyster secretes a lubricant to stop the irritation, but instead of stopping it, it forms a layer around the grain of sand. Now the grain is more prominent, and the annoyance is more significant. The oyster keeps on secreting a substance that keeps adding to the size of the pearl, and eventually, something precious forms from the irritation. Does that sound familiar?
Each of these pearls or irritations has a name. Each one of these gates is a spiritual experience we must go through to become the city or the dwelling place of God. The foundations are other precious stones. Let us look at these gates and what their names mean.
Read Gen 29-35:
Jacob had four wives, and with them, he had 12 sons. He loved Rachel the most, but God shut her womb, and Leah had the first sons. Each one of these sons’ names had a meaning. We will look at them in order of birth.
First Gate: Reuben – Behold a son. He was the firstborn of Israel. This speaks of what happens with us when we get born again. When we are born again, we receive Christ, and he comes to indwell us with His Spirit. Unless you are born again, you can not enter the kingdom of God. Unless you receive the Son, you are not born again. Paul and John remind us of this fact in Rom 8:9 and 1 John 5:12. The first gate to become His dwelling place is the born again experience. Do you remember how much truth irritated you? He is the way, the truth, and the life.
Second Gate: Simeon – Ears to hear. The Second Son’s name means you have ears to hear. After you get born again, you can know the voice of God and hear God’s voice. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and obeys His voice. John 10:3-4. As sons and daughters, we have the ability to hear His voice. Having ears to hear gives us the ability to obey. The writer of Hebrews says that He became the author of eternal salvation for all that obey Him – Heb 5:9. The second gate into becoming his dwelling place, His bride, is having the ears to hear and obey Him. First, we get born again, and then we develop the discipline of obedience. Do you feel the irritation when your flesh wants to do its own thing, but you know you have to obey His Word?
Third Gate: Levi – attached or unified. The third Son’s name means to be in unity. When you get born again, you are joined unto the Lord, and Paul states that we are now one spirit with Him – 1 Cor 6:17. We are also one body with God through the baptism – 1 Cor 12:13. We are a peculiar nation, a holy nation, a royal priesthood made up of Jews and Gentiles – 1 Pet 2:9. We walk in unity, which is provided through the fivefold ministry to equip us for our ministry in and through Christ’s body- Eph 4:11-13. The hardest thing for the body is not following Jesus, but walking in unity. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is about making us one as he and the Father are one.
Fourth Gate: Judah – Praise. The fourth Son was named praise. Get your praise on. After you are born again, you receive the ability to hear and obey His voice, and He has made you one Spirit with Him, how can you not burst out in praise. Praise is a weapon. When we worship, we create a dwelling place for God – Psalm 22:3. Praise is where we start; thanksgiving is where we live, and worship is where we are changed. The irritation is the ability to praise Him when nothing looks like it is going well.
Four gates into the city, the dwelling place of God. A bride prepared for her husband that has made herself ready – Rev 19:7. Four experiences that will shape you until Christ is fully formed in you – Gal 4:19. We are not done yet. Some more gates need to be discovered.
Join me on the journey next week.
