Mensa Otabil - Take Over the Gates
- Watch
- Donate
This is day number 30 of our 40 days of power. We’ve done three-quarters of the journey; we have a quarter more to go, and the Lord gives us the strength to complete well.
Genesis chapter 22, verses 15 to 17: Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, «By Myself, I have sworn,» says the Lord, «because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. Blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.»
God proved Abraham’s faith and loyalty with a very severe test. He asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, the son that he had waited so long to have. Of course, God was not going to demand human sacrifice; the passage starts by saying it is a test. So, God wants to know what is in Abraham’s heart: If Abraham wants all of God, is he ready to give all that he has to God as well?
Abraham didn’t seem to step back from the demand, and he set out to do what God wanted him to do. But eventually, God provided the ram for the sacrifice, and so Isaac is spared. Because Abraham shows his faithfulness, God swears an oath to Abraham and says, «I will bless you, and I will multiply you.» However, he says something very interesting in this oath that he gives to Abraham. He says, «Your descendants or your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.»
It’s a very unique blessing that God gave to Abraham, and it means that Abraham will have access to cities. Not only him, but his children and his descendants after him will have access to cities, and the Bible says that they will possess gates. What does it mean? Gates represented cities and their authorities. In those days, cities were walled; people would wall their city to demarcate the boundaries and protect themselves. The gate of the city was the most important part of the city; it gives you access to the city and the right to enter it.
God says to Abraham, «Your descendants will have access into cities; I will open the gates of cities to them.» Remember, he’s giving this promise to Abraham at a time when there is no nation of Israel, and it is just him and his children. But God says, «Years later, 600 years from now, I am going to give you access to cities, and I’m going to give you the authority to enter them.»
For us Christians, it means that God’s blessing upon us gives us access to cities—access to places of authority. Those who shut their doors and want to deny us access have no chance, because God says we shall possess the gates of cities.
The second blessing or implication of this blessing is access to the marketplace. The gates of cities were where the elders met; that’s where all the important decisions were made. That is where it was determined who could trade in the city and who could not, whose ideas would govern the city and whose would not. God is saying to Abraham, «Your descendants will be at the center of decision-making; they’ll capture the marketplace and influence what goes on in the world and in nations.»
Today, as Christians, we can claim this blessing: that we will not be denied access to the marketplace, we will not be denied access to the business world, and we will not be denied access to the political world because we possess the gates of cities, nations, and kingdoms.
This day, the Lord is giving the key to the gates of nations and systems, of corporate organizations, into your hands. Receive it now! Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I take my stand as Your child to possess the gates of this world for You and Your kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.