Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

—Psalms 24:7

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

—Genesis 28:12

And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

—John 1:51

An interesting connection between the Watchers’ descent to Mount Hermon and the gates of Hell is found in Matthew’s Gospel. When Jesus declared of the church that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), he was in Caesarea Philippi at the mouth of the famous cave serving as the Roman “Grotto of Pan” at the southwestern base of Mount Hermon, an underworld portal where, in all likelihood, the Watchers who sinned were delivered “into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). Historian Judd Burton writes:

Jesus may have utilized the actual cave of Pan as a backdrop when referring to the “gates of hell, and that the rock was not Peter, but a large rock in front of the cave.” This scenario is possible, given the prophetic meditations of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi, and a death he felt was imminent, the circumstances necessitated a bolder and more dramatic act of oration than simply spitting in the face of Greco-Roman paganism. Mt. Hermon, with its reputation as ground zero for the tumult of fallen angels, was by far, a more profound image to Jesus’ Jewish disciples. Jesus was, in effect, shaking his fist in the face of forces more sinister, more powerful, and more dangerous than those of Rome: the devils and giants who defied Yahweh and who set themselves against Jesus’ beloved humanity. He established the church, confirms his messiahship, and did so in the very maw of “the gates of hell.”^[i]

The Broader Concept of Portals and Gateways in the Bible

Humans live in a world of three visible dimensions and one observable dimension that we call time. However, it wasn’t always thus. Bible prophecy expert Chuck Missler believes that humanity’s original design—that reflected in Adam and Eve before the Fall—permitted access to as many as ten dimensions. Missler’s reference to a ten-dimension “metacosm”’ is supported by the current theory of quantum physicists today. A recent article at Universe Today confirms this:

According to Superstring Theory, the fifth and sixth dimensions are where the notion of possible worlds arises. If we could see on through to the fifth dimension, we would see a world slightly different from our own that would give us a means of measuring the similarity and differences between our world and other possible ones.

In the sixth, we would see a plane of possible worlds, where we could compare and position all the possible universes that start with the same initial conditions as this one (i.e. the Big Bang). In theory, if you could master the fifth and sixth dimension, you could travel back in time or go to different futures.

In the seventh dimension, you have access to the possible worlds that start with different initial conditions. Whereas in the fifth and sixth, the initial conditions were the same and subsequent actions were different, here, everything is different from the very beginning of time. The eighth dimension again gives us a plane of such possible universe histories, each of which begins with different initial conditions and branches out infinitely (hence why they are called infinities).

In the ninth dimension, we can compare all the possible universe histories, starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. In the tenth and final dimension, we arrive at the point in which everything possible and imaginable is covered. Beyond this, nothing can be imagined by us lowly mortals, which makes it the natural limitation of what we can conceive in terms of dimensions.^[ii]

If you think all this sounds like gobbledygook, then you’re not alone. Most of this rests upon something quantum physicists call Superstring Theory. Essentially, the earliest version of this theory postulated a particle called a “boson.” If that sounds familiar, it’s because the massive ring colliders in Geneva operated by the CERN laboratory are called the Large Hadron Collider, and its stated purpose is to search for the Higgs “boson” (for more, see our chapter on CERN). String Theory proponents claim point particles (like the boson, fermion, and other subatomic particles) are actually strings, but because of our dimensional constraints we can only perceive them as points. When the points connect or become entangled, they form a “line” or “string.” Each string oscillates at a predetermined wavelength; some are open strings, and others are closed (loops). I’ll admit that this whole theory muddles my poor brain, but I include it to make the “point” that the world is massively more complicated and layered than we fallen humans can now perceive.

If I understand the ten-dimension theory correctly, as quoted above from the Universe Today article, then access to the fifth and sixth dimensions would allow a person to travel through time. Access to the fourth dimension could, theoretically, make it appear that you can walk through walls, because you simply move from the moment on one side of the wall to the same moment where you arrive on the other. No, I’m not going to yammer on about dimensional theories—truthfully, they are described differently from one physicist to another. Without knowing the mind of God, it is clearly impossible to discern the ultimate truth about dimensional construction and manipulation. However, based upon clues found within the Bible and extrabiblical sources such as the Book of Enoch, one can discern a great deal about the possibility of accessing other dimensions via portals and/or gates.

The opening to this chapter quotes several verses, so let’s jump right in with these three to get us started. Psalm 24:7 is a verse sung in many churches today within the lyrics of the Lutheran hymn, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” by George Weissel. The context of the hymn is Psalm 24, a psalm of David, written to declare God as Supreme Creator and Owner of the Universe:

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah. (Psalm 24, emphasis added)

David, the apple of God’s eye, king of all Israel and ancestor of Jesus Christ, is writing to declare that one day, a generation will rise that will see an Everlasting King, the King of Glory. This generation will “stand in his holy place,” and only a generation with “clean hands, and a pure heart” will do so. While this may refer to the church, it is actually addressed to Jacob, therefore this is probably the generation of Messianic Jews who will see Christ return at the end of the Tribulation Period. Notice HOW the KING returns: The “gates” are ordered to lift up their heads, and the “everlasting doors” are also told to be “lifted up.”

Now, the original language translated as “gates” in the King James Version is transliterated as shahar. It is used in expressions such as “gates of death” (Psalms 9:13), “gate of the Lord” (Psalms 118:20), and “gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17).”^[iii] There is something most intriguing about this word. Ugaritic is a language that is closely related to Hebrew, utilizing “proto-Semitic” phonemes (or single sounds). In Ugaritic, Shahar is actually the name of the god of the “dawn.” Now, couple this with the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the verse:

Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors. (Psalms 24:7, Septuagint, English Translation, emphasis added)^[iv]

Princes? There is no obvious equivalent in the Masoretic Hebrew text.Do “princes” have gates, or is this directed to immortals called princes, like “the prince of the power of the air”? In fact, the construction—where the “everlasting doors” are being addressed and told to be “lifted up”—personifies the doors, and seems to require the existence of an “entity” (or entities) tending the gate, a concept shared by many ancient religions. Another LXX translation reads:

Lift up the gates, those rulers of you. Lift eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter.(Psalm 23:7, LES).

Archon is the Greek term used in the Septuagint that is rendered into English as “princes” or “rulers”.^[v] It is the same term translated as “principalities” in the famous spiritual warfare passage: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12, emphasis added). These entities are described in a Greek lexicon as “a supernatural power having some particular role in controlling the destiny and activities of human beings—‘power, authority, lordship, ruler, wicked force.’”^[vi] Finally, if we take the text seriously, the command to “lift eternal gates” requires the existence of an immortal gatekeeper.

Is it possible that Psalm 24 is actually referring to a dimensional gateway that Jesus Christ passes through to access to the earthly realm? Do the principalities of the “gates” and “everlasting doors” control access into our current “three-dimensional” world? Might this be the impetus for the angelic war in heaven that results in Satan and the principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness being cast down to the earth?

When Jesus was resurrected, He became the “firstfruit” of all who would one day be born anew into eternal bodies. His mortal body took on immortality. Yet, in order for Him to return to earth and be seen by humans with limited, mortal perceptions, He will enter through a gate and an everlasting door. In His eternal body, Christ had the ability to walk through walls, yet He had substance: The disciple who doubted, Thomas, could put his own hand into Christ’s wounds, left there as signs to all that He was the same man who had been crucified. Christ knows the secrets to opening the gates, for He commands them all. He created them all—and yet, one day each believer in his or her resurrected, eternal body, will ascend via an open gate and stand before Him. We cannot now step from our limited world into His presence at will. It is a one-way gate, opened only from above. If God calls a prophet into His presence as He did the apostle John in Revelation 1, then we may travel there in spirit—and one day, all who trust in His propitiation for our sins will pass through these gates to instantly be with Him.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO

So, where else in the Bible might we find possible references to gates and doors? Perhaps the most cited passage is in Genesis 28:12. Jacob has just left his dying father, Isaac, having tricked him into believing Jacob was actually Esau and therefore “stealing” the elder twin’s “blessing.” Shortly after this pivotal exchange between brothers, Jacob leaves Beersheba, a place name thatmeans “well of the sevenfold oath,” a reference to the seven ewes Abraham gave to Abimelech and Phicolof the Philistines. An interesting aside here is the possible, hidden meaning in the name “Abimelech,” which can be transliterated as “Abi-Melech,” or “my father is the king,” which is obvious since this man is now king, or as “Abi-Molech,” meaning “my spiritual father is Molech.”^[vii] If the latter translation is correct, and it does make some sense, then this king had considerable power in the spiritually fallen realm. I bring this up because Jacob is traveling through a dangerous region where fallen entities and demons have dominion.

Jacob travels northeast toward the land of kinsman Laban, heading toward the region called Charrhan, probably referring to “Haran,” a name that actually means “mountain climber,” indicating a mountainous or hilly terrain, perhaps. The site of Charran (Haran) is modern-day Sanliurfa, Turkey, and there is an interesting Muslim legend passed down through the centuries there involving Abraham and Nimrod! It is said that Nimrod threw Abraham into a fire, but that the flames miraculously became water, and the logs for the fire became fish. Today, tourists are shown a pool filled with “miracle fish” (carp) and told the story. Is there any truth to it? Well, Jewish oral tradition^[viii] states that Abraham’s father, Tehran, served Nimrod (presumably after the Babel event), believing Nimrod to be a god. Nimrod, the legend says, was insecure after the whole language thing, and he feared that a true heir to the throne might show up one day. As a male and a direct descendent of Noah, Abraham posed a threat to Nimrod, so the paranoid king tried several times to kill the child. The Muslim tradition above is perhaps a different telling of the Jewish tale. But suffice it to say that Charrhan is definitely connected to supernatural events.

Bible archaeologists mostly agree that Jacob chose to “rest” eleven to twelve miles north of current-day Jerusalem, in an area today called Beit El. Weary from his travels, Jacob stopped for the night in the Judean Hills, where he chose a rock to serve as his pillow:

And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. (Genesis 28:11–19)

Ulam is often translated as “formerly”; therefore, the old name of this city would have been “Luz,” a name meaning “almond wood.” Jacob however discovers in his dream that this location contains the gateway to heaven, therefore he renames it Beth-El, “house of God.” Actually, a church was built there in the fourth century AD, and there are some remains of a small town built in the Byzantine period.^[ix] Should we mount an expedition there in search of ancient technology? Not likely for a theologically significant reasons we will cover in the next part in this series.