THE GATES OF HELL

A word I recently heard was: ‘The Gates of Hell are being rattled and kicked wide open…again.’ This is a reference to Matthew 16:18 and is the only place the term is used in scripture. I also think we historically go through various ‘levels’ or seasons of exceptional evil and that our current gate rattling is nothing unique except to us and our current situation. Many have felt the rattle and the intimidation that comes with it for centuries.

The Gates of Hell (Hades) means the ‘place of the dead.’ Matthew Henry’s Commentary says ‘This implies that the church has enemies that fight against it, and endeavor its ruin and overthrow, here represented by the gates of hell, that is, the city of hell; (which is directly opposite to this heavenly city, the city of the living God), the devil’s interest among the children of men. The gates of hell are the powers and policies of the devil’s kingdom, the dragon’s head and horns, by which he makes war with the Lamb; all that comes out of hell-gates, as being hatched and contrived there.”

Since Hell or Hades is the place of death, Jesus is contrasting it as nothing that may stop his overcoming sin and death through the cross, burial and resurrection. Maybe part of the rattle we hear is not just the gates of hell but a rock being rattled and rolled away. The Gates of Hell can go to hell.

“And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus