Gates of Death

The deeper we look, the more magnificent and Godlike God appears. Multitudes of false gods are embraced on this Earth. Ancient pagans had many gods whose purported connivings played out in the lives of men, and in many cases, these gods were not so far removed from man. But the deeper we look, the more magnificent and Godlike God appears. Some of science’s latest discoveries of the irreducible complexity of life, such as molecular motors, DNA, and the various genome projects, have literally left the researchers awestruck. And I can assure you that they have yet to even sniff the knowledge of God’s most fundamental wisdom. God is the fountain of all knowledge and the true science of every discipline. Proverbs 3:19-20: “The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” The deeper we look, the more magnificent and Godlike God appears.

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GOD SAID, Job 38:17:

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

MAN SAID: The God of the Bible has no function in today’s enlightened society. There is no such thing as a source for good or evil, for they in themselves are subject to relevance.

Now THE RECORD. Where is this place that God speaks of? Could there possibly be literal “gates of death” or “doors of the shadow of death?”

On this website, we occasionally refer to the law or rule of first occurrence, which is an etymological term. Etymology is the study of words and their origin. The law of first occurrence states that the meaning of a word is typically defined in its first use.

In the beginning, when the concept of death was alien to man (for he was immortal and sinless), God cautioned Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:17: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God said that the day they eat of it they would surely die. Eve and Adam ate and died spiritually the very day they ate and were cast out of Paradise, yet they lived on physically for hundreds of years. Their sin separated them from God who is the Creator and only source of life. Ephesians 2:1 speaks concerning the condition of a soul prior to salvation: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:” When a person repents of his sins and surrenders his life to Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, he leaves the land of the walking dead and is translated into the land of the living. This is the place of the new birth where a believer becomes born-again. In the passage just quoted, it says, “And you hath he quickened...” The word quickened means “made alive.” Next, the passage says, “...who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Unrepented-of sin is the place of the dead. In reference to Adam, Romans 5:12 reads, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Yes, there are actual gates of death, and yes, there are doors of the shadow of death. They are revealed in the Word of God as we apply the law of first occurrence. As we evaluate what happened to our great-grandmother Eve, these two places referenced in Job become evident. Eve and Adam were the first to see the doors of the shadow of death and to pass through the gates of death. To all their progeny, the location of these gates remains the same. Mr. and Mrs. Adam’s encounter with the gates of death is recorded in Genesis 3:1-6:

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The doors of the shadow of death were Eve’s entertaining of the thought of Satan’s challenge. Thoughts, which are spiritual entities, supersede action. Jesus said in Matthew 5:28:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

The gates of death were discovered by Eve when she yielded to Satan’s lie and ate the forbidden fruit. She died that very day. In an act of unbelief (for she believed Satan’s words over God’s), and an act of disobedience, Eve passed through the gates of death. James 1:14- 15 clearly depicts the process just mentioned. It reads:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The wiles of Satan’s Edemic deception were simplistic. His initial challenge to God’s Word consisted of one word and a question mark. In Genesis 3:1, Satan said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said...?" When you remove the word hath and the question mark, the line reads, "Yea, God said...” Satan recognizes that Eve is considering his deception and moves on to the next level of challenging the truth more aggressively. He called God a liar and offered up a half truth. Mother Eve believed this deadly concoction. Satan is in the business of adding and subtracting from the truth.

The Word of God commands against adding or subtracting from its truth. Deuteronomy 4:2:

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Revelation 22:18-19:

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Psalms 19:13:

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

In the above passage from Psalms, “the presumptuous sin” is called “the great transgression.” To be presumptuous in regard to the Word of God is to overstep its boundaries. This is called the great transgression. Eve presumed Satan’s mixture to be truth and acted upon her unbelief. For the first time in the earth of man’s experience, the gates of death were discovered and swung wide open. The beginning of Earth’s sin-and-death saga begins here at the great transgression.

On GodSaidManSaid, we have studied the 180-degree principle. The 180-degree principle (as in the 360 degrees of a circle) is the concept of the opposites. For example, God is life. Satan is death. God is love. Satan is hatred. God is light. Satan is darkness. God is joy. Satan is sorrow, and the list goes on. Think of the 180-degree principle as a yardstick: God is one and Satan is 36. The measure is the same but the ends are opposite.

As there are the doors of the shadow of death where Eve entertained Satan’s deception, there are the doors of the shadow of life where we hear the message of salvation and entertain that thought. As there are the gates of death which were initially entered via unbelief and disobedience, there are the gates of life which are entered through faith and obedience, in and by Christ Jesus. These doors and gates are real, literal places. Deuteronomy 30:19:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Choose the right doors. Choose the right gates.

GOD SAID, Job 38:17:

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

MAN SAID: The God of the Bible has no function in today’s enlightened society. There is no such thing as a source for good or evil, for they in themselves are subject to relevance.

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

Authorized King James Version

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