Walls, gates, and Christmas, part IV

The next gate in our tour of the city walls is the "Water" gate. This is the seventh gate in our list, and seven is the Bible number for perfection and completeness. Scholars point us to the fact that the Water gate is symbolic of the Word of God -- perfect and complete:

 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. (Ezekiel 36:25)

...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  (Ephesians 25b-27)

This gate actually needed no repairs! Again, this points to the perfect and unchanging Word of our God . . .

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?    By living according to your word. (Psalm 119:9)

Your word, Lord, is eternal;    it stands firm in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89)

It's the Word of God that cleans and purifies us as we study it and commit it to memory each day.

The next gate makes us change gears a bit!
The Horse gate -- this was the gate, they say, that was close to the king's stables, and where the men of war would ride in and out of the city.
The Horse gate introduces the idea of warfare in the lives of believers. Yes, I'm serious!
Horses were never all that abundant in Jerusalem. More often than not, you'd find oxen, donkeys, and even the occasional camel of a wily trader. Horses? Not so much.
In our Bibles, horses are sometimes used as symbolic of war.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7)

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. (Revelation 19:11)

As believers, whether we are paying attention to this fact or not, we are all engaged in spiritual warfare!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (II Corinthians 10:3-4)

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. (I Peter 2:11)

The Horse gate reminds us that we are at war, and that we must be prepared. The men who rode their horses out of the gate to defend the city needed to be prepared. They wore specific clothing and armor. They made sure their horses were well fed. They were careful to rest their horses and feed them well, and to take care of their own bodies, too, so that they were ready for war.
How can we, as believers in this scary world today, be ready for spiritual warfare? I know this passage is familiar to all of us:

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  (Ephesians 6:13-18)

We are living in a war zone! But here's the good news -- we have a captain who is all powerful, and we can depend on His might and power.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10)

If we will dress ourselves in truth, righteousness, faith, peace, salvation, and God's Word, we will be prepared. If we learn to take every thought captive; if we apply the truth we read in God's Word to every argument, we will be victorious!

 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (I John 5:4-5)

Amen, and amen!