English Devotion - The East Gate

The East Gate (Nehemiah 3:29-30)

The East Gate (v. 29) was directly east of the Temple area. The Eastern Gate of Jerusalem is also called the Golden Gate or the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2).The people entered the Temple through this gate, on their way to worship the Lord and present their offerings and sacrifices to Him.

 

The East Gate suggests the return of Christ, which will take place in two stages. He will return first for His own (Jn. 14:1–3) and second with His own (1 Th. 3:13). He will appear as “the bright and morning star” to the church (Rev. 22:16) and as “the Sun of righteousness” to Israel (Mal. 4:2).

 

East is the direction from which the sun rises

 

East is the direction from which the SON of Man (Jesus) will come again

 

Matt 24:27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

According to prophecy, when Jesus returns again, His feet will touch first the Mount of Olives, causing a great earthquake, and splitting the Mount of Olives in two.

 

Then He will enter Jerusalem through the East Gate (Zech 14:4). 

 

In 1530AD, the Arabs (Ottoman Turks) sealed up the East Gate. They believe that the Jews expected their Messiah to come through this gate, so they sealed it up to prevent His return.

 

They even planted a cemetery in front of it, thinking that a Jewish Messiah will not set foot into a cemetery because it was not “holy”. 

 

By sealing the gate, they are actually fulfilling a prophecy by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:1-3) who has said that the East Gate will be shut.

 

Ezekiel 44:1-3 the gate that looked toward the east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, 'This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it.' The east gate opens and looks toward the Mount of Olives and we know that when Jesus returns He will return to this mount. (Zech 14:4). He will then enter Jerusalem by the east gate. The east gate then speaks of the return of Jesus Christ. For our Christian life it shows us of our need to live with this hope and to long for His return. A specific crown is even given to those who do this (2 Tim 4:8).

 

The last three gates (Horse, East and Inspection gate) in the picture are very close together because so are the events which they symbolise.

 

The east gate is very close to the horse gate because the day of God's wrath ends with the coming of the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem on earth. (See Zech chapter 14).

 

So let us look forward for the day of the lord with anticipation.

 

Let us Prayer

Heavenly Father help us to understand the truth and the prophecy of the future that you will come again. Help us to fulfill our purpose on earth before we meet you during your 2nd coming. In Jesus Name. Amen.