If you have been to Jerusalem, or have studied the ancient city, you might know about the Gate that is in the Eastern Wall. The Eastern gate, sometimes called the Golden Gate, faces the Mount of Olives. It is the Gate that Jesus will enter as Messiah when He returns to the Mount of Olives. This event involves you and is part of your future...
"Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east." Ezekiel 43:1
Ezekiel wrote about an experience he had with an angel, probably Jesus Himself, who took him on a tour of the millennial temple. He describes what he saw. "Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory." Ezekiel 43: 2 NLT
The glory was the radiance of God's character or manifest presence. Earlier it left the temple through the Eastern Gate. Jewish Rabbis say it stood on the Mount of Olives for three years. Now Ezekiel sees God's manifest presence returning through the same gate shining like a huge fireball and sounding like many waterfalls.
"And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east". (Vs 4) The Eastern gate is the only gate that leads directly to the temple mount.
"The Lord said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel.'" Ezekiel 43:7
Jesus is telling Ezekiel when He returns to the earth He will come here to reign on a throne in the temple in Jerusalem.
"And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut." (Ezekiel 44:2)
You probably noticed the Eastern Gate is shut. It is shut because it is reserved for King Jesus to use when He returns. It was through the lower gate (now underground) that Jesus originally entered Jerusalem in AD 30 from the Mount of Olives.
In 1541 The Turk Suleiman the Magnificent ordered it sealed. He had heard from the Jewish Rabbis that the great military leader sent from God, called the Messiah, would come from the East through that gate and liberate Jerusalem. To prevent Jesus from entering he sealed the gate and put Muslim graves in front of it. He theorized that no Jew would defile Himself by walking by Muslim graves.
You see the importance of the Eastern Gate? The glory of God, went through the Eastern Gate, Jesus went through the Eastern Gate, and the literal manifest presence of Jesus, the Messiah, will go through that gate. I want to encourage you to be stirred by Bible prophecy of Jesus' return. Our faith is rooted in His resurrection and soon coming.
It meant so much to me to go to the Holy land and stand on the Mt of Olives. The place where Jesus will return as Messiah and King and enter the temple through the Eastern Gate. Please consider going with us in March to witness what it is like to contemplate Christ's return in the spot He will come back to as Messiah and King. (Holy land Tour Info)
For when He returns, "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." (1 Thess 4:16) "When the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory." (Matt 25:31) "Every eye will see Him coming in clouds with awesome might and great glory." (Luke 21:27) Come quickly Lord Jesus!