📖 Biblical Definition
The gate in Scripture represents authority, governance, and access. City gates were where elders sat to render judgment (Ruth 4:1), where business was transacted, and where the defense of the city was concentrated. When Jesus declared, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), He spoke of the authority and power of death being unable to withstand the advance of His church. Jesus also identified Himself as the gate: "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved" (John 10:9). The gate symbolizes both the seat of power and the point of access — and Christ is the only gate to the Father.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
A large door which gives entrance into a walled city, a castle, a temple, or other large edifice.
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GATE, n. 1. A large door which gives entrance into a walled city, a castle, a temple, or other large edifice. 2. A frame of timber which opens or closes a passage. 3. An avenue; an opening. Note: Webster understood the gate as both physical structure and symbolic threshold — the controlled point of entry and authority.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 16:18 — "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
• John 10:9 — "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."
• Psalm 24:7 — "Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in."
• Matthew 7:13-14 — "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide that leads to destruction."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The gate as a symbol of authority and exclusive access has been rejected as intolerant.
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Modern culture rejects the concept of a narrow gate. The idea that there is one way in — one door, one gate, one path to God — is denounced as exclusivist and arrogant. But Jesus was explicit: the gate to life is narrow, and few find it. The broad gate and the wide road lead to destruction. Modern inclusivism wants to remove the gate entirely, declaring that all paths lead to God and all roads arrive at the same destination. This is not generosity; it is a lie. The "gatekeeping" that the world despises is precisely what Christ commanded: there is one gate, and He is it.
Usage
• "The gates of hell represent the authority and power of death — and Christ declared that His church would storm them and prevail."
• "Jesus did not say He was one of many doors. He said 'I am the door' — the only gate to the Father."
• "In ancient Israel, the gate was where justice was rendered — when the elders were corrupt, the gate became a place of oppression."