During the first week of September I heard the Spirit of God say, “Get at your gate!”. I have been pondering this and believe that it is a divine instruction of strategy for the next season. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you are aware of the increased amount of spiritual warfare that is pervading the spiritual environment. We are in this world, but not of it. We live in this earthly realm, but are citizens of a Kingdom that operates in an unseen dimension. Therefore, I believe that the Spirit is directing the Body of Christ for strategic action at the gates. The reference to gates is not something entirely new to the Body of Christ, however this next Hebraic year of 5778 has been prophetically declared as a year to apostolically advance through doors/gates. The Hebraic number 8 is chet, symbolically it is the picture of a door, wall, or gate. There are various Hebraic interpretations that can be rendered however, numerically its symbolism represents new beginnings, fatness, fullness and the moving from the natural to the supernatural. (Gallagher, Hebrew Numbers 1-10, 2015).
The directive I heard in the Spirit is not coincidental. God is speaking and He is giving a directive about spiritual position and strategy for effective warfare so that His Glory can be released and manifested in the earth.
Position
Nehemiah knew the importance of gates and doors in the rebuilding of the wall. During the process there was much opposition and warfare, but Nehemiah received strategy from the Father on how to position the families around the wall for protection until the assignment was completed.
http://www.bible-history.com/jerusalem/firstcenturyjerusalem_damascus_gate.
Nehemiah 4: 13, 15, 17, 18, 20
13. 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.
15. And it happened, when our enemies heart that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
17. Those who built on the wall and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that one hand worked at construction and the other held a weapon.
18. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as his build. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
20. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.
Interestingly, the rebuilding of the temple during Nehemiah’s time was during the month of Elul. The wall of the temple was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul which falls in September on the Gregorian calendar. (Nehemiah 6:15). In record time, the wall of Jerusalem had been rebuilt-52 days. Timing was strategic then and it is strategic now.
During this season of Kingdom advancement, I hear the Spirit say, Get at your gate, have your sword in your hand and keep watch. Do not allow a breach to be found at your position. Guard your family, your city, your town, your business, your ministry and your region against the onslaught of the kingdom of darkness. There will be gross darkness and yet My Glory will arise and shine through you. Release the decree of the King. The King of Glory will come through your gate, so be at your post. Make ready for the King of Glory to come in. (Psalm 24)
In ancient cultures, the gate was a place of authority. It was the place where the king’s command was implemented. It was the place where decisions concerning culture, economy and military strategy were determined. It was the place where a judicial decision was made and released. As kings and priests in the Kingdom of God it is imperitive that we, both collectively and individually, identify our gates and position ourselves for the exercise of the authority we have in Christ Jesus. As we operate accordingly, rendering the kingdom decree at the gate, we will see the Glory of God manifested and the kingdom of darkness become the footstool of Christ. Gates are important in the spiritual realm. There is much activity that occurs from heaven to earth and vice versa at gates and doors in the spirit. We must take our position and operate in dominion at the gates.
Strategy
Get at your gate and exercise your kingdom authority in the metron that the Father has authorized to you as His child. We each have a jurisdiction of authority and influence and are expected to rule and reign in Christ Jesus in the Kingdom realm. We exercise our authority by faith and speak as the oracle of God agreeing with His Word and the declaration proceeding from the throne of God. His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus has given us the keys to the Kingdom. Keys to bind on earth and in heaven. Keys to loose on earth and in heaven. (Matthew 16:19). Keys and the gates are connected in the spirit realm. The next season of advancement will require us to be effectively positioned at our gate and using the keys that Jesus Christ has given to us.
Nehemiah 7:1-3
1. Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,
2. that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.
3. And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”
Get at your gate.
Kisha Gallagher, “Hebrew Numbers 1-10,” Grace In Torah. Published 06/15/2015, Updated 02/02/2017, Accessed 09/19/2017, https://graceintorah.net/2015/06/15/hebrew-numbers-1-10 .