Gates Series - Horse Gate

Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.

(Nehemiah 3:15-16)

The horse gate was close to the King’s stables. Horses were used for war. They facilitate speed in execution of attack or defence tactics within warfare.  It is recorded that Israelite armies used chariots to conquer enemies. Where soldiers tired, David led 400 soldiers in pursuit of the Amalekites to rescue the wives, sons and daughters that had been taken captive by the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30).

Rewind to Exodus when Pharaoh couldn’t take in any more of the plagues and declared freedom for the Israelites. A few days post Israel departure from Egypt and the Pharaoh felt humiliated. “How can a bunch of slaves, shepherds, with no weapons, no military skill and our subjects for 400 years walk away, just like that?” He mused. Look at his response in Exodus 14:6-7, So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

While David triumphed in pursuit and recovery of what the Amalekites had stolen, Pharaoh’s chariots and soldiers were swallowed up in the sea as God protected a defenseless generation.  

We are in a battle. Either in response to an attack or as a strategy to decimate enemy formation. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says that, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We cannot execute attacks from an egoistic and fleshly led mentality like that of Pharaoh. Pharaoh trusted in horses and chariots for victory. But it all came to a cropper when he met the full force of the Almighty God.

We are faced with attacks left right and centre. Cults, biblical criticism, modernism and liberalism, anti-Christian culture and pseudo Christian lifestyles leading to an increasing apostasy within the church. When you watch action movies e.g. relieving the Vietnam war, a key characteristic is how soldiers respond to command. Attack is only executed when the Commander-in-Chief gives an order.

Often times, some of us rush to mount the horses and run to battle without instructions. We find ourselves surrounded and outnumbered by the enemy and either beat a hasty retreat or make frantic prayers to seek divine intervention as a rescue mission. Others get instructions and get to war but don’t fully execute the instructions. Some of the tribes of Israel were guilty of this. They didn't completely execute instruction to wipe out the enemy in the Promised Land. Instead they signed peace treaties as a 50-50 deal.

The price of misalignment to the commander-in-chief instructions is too heavy to bear. Samson is a witness. Strong and able to taken on the entire Philistine army by himself, he courted danger when lust got the better of him. The result is, they toyed with him right in the temple of their god dagon. Those signed treaties with the enemy in the Promised Land ended up adopting their lifestyles and worshipping their gods.

We have got to remain vigilant. The enemy knows with the kind of artillery we possess, he is no match to us. So what does he do, he plays the friend. He toys with our minds. He reawakens desires of the flesh that make us forget that he is the enemy here. Ask Adam and Eve. They found it difficult to fight the question, ‘did God really mean that you shouldn't…

The enemy preys on our need for significance. That product is selling like hot cake. It has even found its way in our sermons. You can be what you want to be. You are unstoppable. Well intended motivational thought but beneath the façade, highly toxic and can cause an implosion of all the work God has done in us. The enemy has latched on that product like a cancerous cell in your intestinal wall.

Our response in picking it out the enemy is first punctuated by Paul in Philippians 4:8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ. Yes, all worthless. Rubbish. Garbage. That accolade, title, whatever it is, trash compared to the priceless gain of knowing Jesus. Ask the rich man on his death bed what would be important to him faced with this decision.

If the enemy cannot disarm you, he will disenfranchise you. He will use all means possible to stop you from reaching your heavenly inheritance. Samson made it by a last gasp repentance. However, fear not because the enemy is defeated. Revelations 6:2 says I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Do you want to ride along with the white horse rider? Then be on the His side and follow His instructions. Conquest is yonder. Behold He wears the victor’s crown.