The Twelve Gates

After Yeshua returns and begins His reign on Earth, we will see the New Jerusalem. Gentiles will be able to get into this city, however, they will have to be part of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Evidence for this argument is found in the prophetic book of Ezekiel. There are a lot of passages that relate to this issue so I plan to go through them by breaking them down.  

Ezekiel 39:21-29

21 “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.”’

25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— 26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”

In verse twenty two it is the house of Israel who is being referred to in terms of knowing who YHWH is. This means they may have not known who He is. This fits into my theology well. Considering the house of Israel is currently made up of gentiles, who are the nations that reject God’s Law, it makes sense they may not know who He is. But, they will. Moving on to the next verse it is the idea the house of Israel was taken captive due to their breaking of God’s Law, and YHWH wants the whole world to know this. The word gentiles is translated from the same word used for nations. Jumping ahead to verse twenty five it is YHWH bringing the house of Israel back to Him. This is just one of the prophecies concerning YHWH bringing the house of Israel back to Him. Verse twenty seven in my opinion is translated a bit funny. The beginning just reinforces the idea YHWH is bringing them back, but then it reads “I am hallowed in them”. The word used for, “and I am hallowed in them” is Strong's H6942 – qadash. It does mean sanctified or hallowed, but I think it should read and they are sanctified in Me, it would make more sense considering what is going on in the chapter and the fact that YHWH is already holy. The next verse refers specifically again to the house of Israel being scattered among the nations and then brought back to YHWH. Finally, verse twenty nine shows that it is the house of Israel that YHWH sends the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, to within the nations of the gentiles. This is huge! Looking at this verse in its entirety, YHWH is associating hiding His face with having His Spirit. We know having His spirit causes a desire to keep His law, so then we can assume possessing the desire to keep His law means we have the Holy Spirit and He is no longer hiding His face from those with that desire. Seeing His face is desiring to keep His law.

Moving on to the next portion of this idea we will read about being taken up on a mountain in order to see all of the New Jerusalem. This parallels what is found in Revelation.

Ezekiel 40: 2

In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city.

Revelation 21: 9-13

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

First, we must notice that both these passages are referring to the same millennial kingdom of Yeshua. This is critical, there will be more evidence provided for this argument. We know New Jerusalem is Yeshua’s bride, and every church in the world believes this to be made up of Christians. But that is not what this passage is saying. Israel is Yeshua’s Bride. Something that I find to be very interesting is that fact that all Christians say they believe in one God, but then turn around and say that Christianity is the bride of Christ and the Jews are YHWH’s wife. That distinguished the two as separate beings, ultimately making it polytheism

Next we read about the twelve gates that sit atop a high wall. These gates each have the name of one of the members of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are three gates on each side of the city. We are getting a visual description of what New Jerusalem will look like. It just so happens we have a very similar description found in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 48:30-35

30 “These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits 31 (the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel), the three gates northward: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi; 32 on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan; 33 on the south side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun; 34 on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. 35 All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.”

New Jerusalem is the same city described in both of these prophecies. The only way to argue it isn’t is to say these two prophecies are describing two different cities that are to come for the millennium. So the only logical conclusion is that this is the same prophecy.  That being the case, we need to find out who are the people living there.

Ezekiel 47:21-23

“Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God.

Verse twenty one states outright the land is divided up between the tribes of Israel. The next verse is huge for our understanding. First, the land is given as an inheritance. Second, the strangers, also known as the gentiles that have decided to follow Yeshua, will be treated just as if they were born into Israel themselves. They will share the inheritance with the tribes, and ultimately will be assimilated into which ever tribe they live with. The only thing to really understand and take away from this idea is the fact that every gentile within New Jerusalem, will be an Israelite. As an Israelite, every prophecy concerning the Torah laws during the millennial reign will apply to them as well. It also means those same laws, given to Israel apply still to this day because they always have considering YHWH pleads with the house of Israel to come back to Him and follow His command and statutes. In fact, He even says it is when they come back that He will begin the gathering of them from the nations. It is our returning to His Law that ultimately prompts the return of Yeshua and beginning of the millennial reign here on Earth. So if you really want to see Yeshua return, you need to bring yourself to YHWH’s Law.