“The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail..!”
I was recently listening to Dr. Dharius Daniels teach his Bible study when he mentioned a side note about the “Gates of Hell.” Now the Gates of Hell is an actual place and was so in the times of the ancients, namely Jesus. It is considered to be a literal portal or entrance to Hell. So the Jews understood what Jesus was talking about when he said it.
Photo of burial site in Hierapolis by Esther Lee.
Cerberus, the 3-headed canine guardian of the Underworld in Greek mythology.
Detail of map of Iceland by Abraham Ortelius
Another way of looking at the term gates is to say the entrance to a city. When my spiritual father, Apostle Guillermo Maldonado, received a prophecy from Cindy Jacobs to build his current church building, she told him that he would build it at the gates of the city. He drove around everywhere looking for some city gates! And when God revealed to him where the place was, it was located right next to an airport--a “gate” to the city. There are many types of gates, but Dr. Daniels brought out another fantastic layer that I had never considered before.
He pointed out that in our modern context, when we hear the term “gates” we think of literal gates: an entrance to a mansion or neighborhood or some other property. In other words, we think of inanimate objects. It seems pretty odd to think of inanimate objects attacking us! The only gates I know of that ever moved were the ones Samson removed from their hinges and placed on top of a hill (Judges 16:1-3)!
Yet biblical, the term “gates” has a very different meaning. Throughout Scripture the gates, while they themselves were literal, was the place where the leaders of the city--the founders, fathers, and elders--gathered.
Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. (Proverbs 31:23)
Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:31)
“Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.” (Isaiah 13:2)
In a palace, it was where the scribes and other officials were stationed.
Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” (II Samuel 15:2)
In those days, while Mordecai [likely a scribe] sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. (Esther 2:21 emphasis mine)
One way of describing the gates of a place is to call it the council. So when Jesus said: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it...” (Matthew 16:18 ESV), another way of saying it could be to say, “the council of hell shall not prevail against it...”
How powerful is that?!?! The evil, wicked councils of Hell shall not, will not, and cannot prevail against you! The Prophet Isaiah said,
“‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,’ Says the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)
Nothing they say, nothing they do can prevail against you. In fact, Scripture even promises that Abraham’s descendants will possess the gates of their enemies (Genesis 24:60) which inspired the title of one of my favourite books by Cindy Jacobs, Possessing the Gates of the Enemy.
Exposing the Secret Councils
Before his injury and craniotomy (and I believe for many many years after!), Prophet Kim Clement would sit at his piano during “The Den” (his online show/church service) and God would open up the oracle’s ears to hear the councils of Hell. He would literally recount the conversations the demonic princes were having below. Basically, it was the real-time version of Screwtape Letters. And yet as Prophet Brian Carn always says, “God reveals to redeem.” God revealed the plans of the enemy to redeem His people, to save them alive. And even as some of you know, I recently shared a prophetic prayer strategy God showed me for ISIS on my Facebook Page, the precedent of which is found in Scripture. (Where else?)
Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.
Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of usis for the king of Israel?”
And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” (II Kings 6:8-13)
The same Lord of Sabaoth, Lord of Hosts, Who revealed the council of the Syrian army to His prophet, Elisha, is the same Lord of Hosts Who has and will continue to reveal the strategies of ISIS to His servants the prophets, and is the same Lord of Hosts Who will reveal the councils of the enemy to you in your own day-to-day life! He can do it and He will do it!
Obeying the Voice of the Prophet
The day after my 30th birthday, November 15th, I won an largely discounted cruise to the Bahamas. I was thoroughly excited about this until I got on Prophet Carn’s “Clarion Call” 10 days later. In it, he mentioned various warnings and prophetic forecasts for 2016 and the times to come. He stated that cruise lines would be making the news. He didn’t elaborate and I didn’t need him to. As soon as that call was over, I hunted down the number, called those people, cancelled my cruise, and am in the process of getting my full refund. Why? Because obedience is better than sacrifice (I Sam. 15:22)! Why? Because management is better than miracles (Dr. Myles Munroe).
I would rather heed the voice of the prophet even if it meant losing out on my down payment than to pray for a miracle on a cruise ship stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Whether the threat be mass food poisoning, a contagion, a shooting, a bomb, a hostage situation, or some other insanity, I prefer to not pray for the Lord to get me out when He sent His prophet 12-18 months in advance to keep my tail off the ship in the first place! The council of Hell shall NOT prevail in my life!
Revealing to Redeem
My Bible says, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets,” (Amos 3:7). God is redeeming our souls from the enemy with His divine revelations. He is uncovering the wicked plans of the evildoers (Psalm 37). He is redeeming the time--and accelerating it--because the days are evil and short (Eph. 5:16, Amos 9:13). God is moving on behalf of His people in a way He’s never moved before. He will not allow the enemy to get an ounce of glory and the moment he thinks he does, God is gonna “clap back” on him so hard he won’t know what hit him!!
The Gates of Hell shall NOT prevail against you!
