Genesis
19:1 ¶ And there came two angels to
Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to
meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I
pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet,
and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we
will abide in the street all night. 3
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and
entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened
bread, and they did eat.
The
two angels that were with the Lord went on to the city. Angels are not a
strange manlike creature with wings. They look like men when not representing
the church or something else.
Revelation
21:17 And he measured the wall thereof,
an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Daniel
9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in
prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched
me about the time of the evening oblation.
Luke
1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Lot sat in the gate indicating that he had
become a judge in Sodom to judge disputes and help manage the city’s affairs.
Sitting in the gate as a position of judgment is defined in the Bible. It was a
place to meet with the elders of a city.
Deuteronomy
21:19 Then shall his father and his mother
lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the
gate of his place;
It
was a place of the king’s authority.
2Samuel
15:2 And Absalom rose up early, and
stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a
controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and
said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes
of Israel.
2Samuel
19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the
gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in
the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every
man to his tent.
1Kings
22:10 And the king of Israel and
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes,
in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets
prophesied before them.
The
mention of the gate is equivalent to the deciding of judgment.
Amos
5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good,
and establish judgment in the gate:
it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of
Joseph.
So,
in the following, often misunderstood verses because Christians are not taught
to cross-reference verses anymore due to the proliferation of humanistic Bible
versions that eliminate cross-references, the gates of hell is a reference to the judgment that casts one into
perdition. This judgment will not affect the true church of Christ. The church
is established upon Peter’s confession of faith, upon Jesus Christ, the Rock
(1Corinthians 10:4).
Matthew
16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.18 And
I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.
Lot’s
concern for these foreigners is quite apparent. They must not lodge in the
street, for we know that it was a dangerous place, probably no less dangerous
than a street in Baltimore, The Bronx, or Chicago today. This type of thing is
shown again in Gibeah in Judges 19 as I’ve already mentioned.
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