Breaching the Gates of a Land Print
Written by Victoria Radin   

The Extinction of a Culture 

The Hebrew word, sha’ar (gate) refers to the controlled access to a well-guarded, walled city, secured by bars of iron (Psalm 107:16; Isaiah 45:2) sometimes with double walls (2 Samuel 18:24). The ‘city gate’ in ancient times was extremely important in the life of its people. It was the place where social, administrative, and business transactions were carried out. It was also where justice was dispensed and where legal transactions were processed. The square in front of the ‘gate’ was the marketplace, the place where the people congregated, and where prophets declared their messages from G-d.

The ‘gate’ of a nation would be its capital city where the seat of government resides. Further, the laws that are developed by its leaders, one being immigration laws, are the ‘bars of iron’ that secure that nation from foreign invasion. For instance, the ‘gate’ of America is Washington D.C. Likewise, Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is the ‘gate’ of that nation. Therefore, when Yeshua lamented over Jerusalem, He was speaking to the leadership of the nation of Israel, to those ‘in the gate’.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate…” (Matthew 23:37-39a)

The L-rd was speaking to the leaders who rejected Him and His Word. Their rebellious behavior filtered down and affected the people of Israel also, resulting in G-d’s just judgment upon the Land. G-d warned Israel what would happen to them if they rebelled against Him.

“The L-rd will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them…” (Deuteronomy 28:25a)

They were first exiled to and ruled by Babylon, then returned to the Land but were, nevertheless, ruled by Media Persia, then Greece and finally Rome. Within forty years from the time the L-rd spoke the aforementioned prophetic word, many of the inhabitants of the ‘house of Israel’ (the Jewish people) were slaughtered and the survivors expelled by their Roman conquerors who had occupied their land for 100 years. Those who survived the massacre were scattered throughout the earth to ‘every island and nation’ (Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 10:21, 30:11, 50:17). The city of Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina, and the Land of Israel was renamed Palestine after Israel’s ancient enemies, the Philistines, in an attempt to erase even the memory of the nation of Israel. 

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the L-rd your G-d… that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…[Your enemies] shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land ….Then the L-rd will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other…. And among those nations you shall find no rest…there the L-rd will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 51, 64-66)

The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century and the final scattering of the Jewish people came as a direct result of many years of rebellion by Israel’s leadership against a slow-to-anger G-d and their final rejection of His son. The parable of the Wicked Vinedressers tells the story. The Vineyard is the nation of Israel and the Vinedressers are its leadership. The servants are the prophets of G-d who were sent to Israel to bring correction before He finally carried out judgment against them. (Matthew 21: 33-41)

The first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the people exiled to Babylon due to their rebellion and disobedience to the Word of G-d. The destruction of the second Temple, it is said, was due to baseless hatred between the various groups that prevailed in the Land. Today, rebellion, disobedience, and baseless hatred exist not only in Israel, but also throughout the earth, making the world ripe for G-d’s judgment. The Bible makes it clear that His judgment begins with the ‘house of G-d’, i.e. the nations that were formed by G-d, Himself.

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of G-d; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of G-d?”          (1 Peter 4:17)

G-d’s judgment of Israel during those times can be seen as a precursor to what is happening in America today, a majority Christian nation established on the principles of the Bible. America has rebelled against the Almighty through immorality, greed, and violence against the innocent. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Twenty-five percent of children live in a home without a father. Government (i.e. Public) Schools are teaching our children to hate Capitalism, cast off all vestiges of patriotism and to reject Christianity. The Bible is mocked and forbidden in the public square. Babies are legally murdered in the womb and their body parts sold to the highest bidder. What G-d calls a sexual abomination is not only accepted, but is revered. 

The biblical principles of blessings for obedience and curses for rebellion apply to America as well as to Israel. Since the end of WW II, as a result of progressively permeating evil, foreigners have slowly invaded America.

“They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land….” (Deuteronomy 28:52)

Since 1969, an estimated 540,000 illegal immigrants in America has swelled to over 12,000,000 today. Foreigners are breaching our ‘gates’, crossing our borders with impunity – Mexicans, Central Americans, Muslim Arabs, drug dealers, criminals, and jihadists as well as so-called refugees from the Middle East. And astonishingly, our government is protecting them and giving them the fruits of the labors of American citizens.

“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. … he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44)

When the Jewish people were scattered throughout the earth, many lost their identity as Jews. Without a ‘shepherd’, many stopped practicing their religion, their traditions and their customs – those things that defined them as Jews. Over time, they melded into the societies in which they lived. 

In like manner but in reverse, the foreigners that are coming into America refuse to assimilate and will not give up their customs and their various languages. Instead, they expect Americans to accommodate their native language, the laws with which they are familiar and the customs they practice, even when their customs violate the laws of America. Many are not patriotic, not having a deep-seated love for our country and its constitution. And because they don’t assimilate, they move to their own isolated neighborhoods, forming ‘satellite’ communities to their countries of origin. 

The people of Israel were promised to be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. But as a result of their rebellion, they represent only 0.117% of the world’s population today, a sure reflection of their rejection of G-d and His Word. America too, is suffering a population crisis of extraordinary proportions comparable to Sweden, Norway, and the UK. Once fertility rates drop below a certain level, a kind of demographic snowball effect makes raising those levels almost impossible.

“You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the L-rd your G-d.”           (Deuteronomy 28:62)

In America, the combination of legalized abortion and the decision by young couples not to have children or to postpone childbirth (leading to fewer children) has led to this demographic ‘winter’. And add to that, same-sex marriages that produce no children. This demographic disaster will require more and more immigrants to replace the ‘lost’ American births in order to survive economically as our aging population reaches retirement. This results in a national shift towards the culture of the immigrants, as they gradually become the majority.

“And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children; I will destroy My people, since they do not return from their ways.” (Jeremiah 15:7)

A nation’s continued existence depends upon the populace having strong family ties, solid community connections and a deep-seated national identity. Our 240-year old American culture is now threatened with extinction due to its rebellion against G-d. The ‘gates’ of our land are being breached by those who are seeking to replace American culture with their own. 

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed …Because you did not serve the L-rd your G-d with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything…” (Deuteronomy 28:45-47)

Yet, our long-suffering G-d has promised magnificent things for His people that overcome the grievous sins that have resulted in the breaching of our gates.

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life…[he] shall not be hurt by the second death…[to him] I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. … to him I will give power over the nations…[he] shall be clothed in white garments …I will make him a pillar in the temple of My G-d…[To him] I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21)

While it looks impossible to ‘secure the gates’ of our nation once again, nothing is impossible with the Almighty. The reason judgment begins with the ‘household of G-d’ is that the people of G-d have the power to change the outcome, not only for themselves, but for others as well. Men like Moses and Daniel repented and prayed for their people, successfully softening G-d’s judgment to reflect His mercy also. We, as the Body of Yeshua, need to do the same.

“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Kumi Ohr (Arise & Shine!)