Open Doors

Open Doors – Part 2

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So, what about the part of the Scripture that says, “I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places”? What does that mean?

It is said that there were 25 gates on each side of the city of Babylon for a total of 100 gates entering into the city. On the night in question, the night of the attack on the city, a normally flowing river was dried up and the gates that provided that river access were not shut up. So, the “break in pieces” part here is figurative, but some translations say “open doors,” so that is what happened. God left the doors open for Cyrus and his troops to walk right in and capture the city.

It was also common practice at the time to bury treasure in dark and secret places. It is said that Cyrus took 34,000 pounds of gold alone from his campaign through Asia. And that’s not to mention the tons of silver and other treasures as well. And all this was done is such a way that it was unmistakable to Cyrus that God, the One True God, Jehovah, was the One guiding and directing his steps in order to accomplish these things.

And that is how things will be, again, in this year of the Open Door. When God opens the door, there will be no way to mistake it for anything else but His work. It is the One True God telling us, “Here, I’m opening this door for you. You have but to walk through it into your destiny.”

Open Doors – Part 1

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I went to a conference earlier this year, the “Come Away” conference for women, put on by the HUB Chicago.(His United Body). It was an amazing time of fellowship and communing with the LORD. I was refreshed and re-invigorated. I met wonderful people, and heard some absolutely amazing teaching.

One of the speakers was Bonnie Chavda. She and her husband Mahesh pastor All Nations Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina. They created a beautiful metal card (credit card sized) as a reminder of the prophetic word that this is the year of the Open Door. The Hebrew symbols for the current year, AM 5774, are the same symbols for the words, “Open Door.” (AM stands for Anno Mundi – year of the world). On the card, the Chavda Ministry uses only Isaiah 45:2-3, but I prefer to add verse 1 as well. In the English Standard Version (ESV) it says, “Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to  subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.” “(Italic emphasis added by me!)

“Wow,” you say, “What does THAT mean?”

Well, one of the things I learned in Old Testament Survey (Yes, I know I’ve moved on to the next class, but I need to write about this.) is that many prophecies in the Bible are “now but not yet.” They were fulfilled, in part, at the time they were written or shortly thereafter, but there is a future aspect to them as well. In this case, there is a fulfilling of the prophecy that Cyrus would open the door to the people of Israel to come back from exile in Babylon and rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. But there is a future promise of the return of Messiah at the end of the age. And that makes me feel like a little kid in the back seat of the car on a long road trip. “Are we there yet, Daddy?” I ask over and over, “Are we there yet?” “Are we there yet?” “Are we there yet?” “Not yet, but soon.” (Or, according to Bishop Joseph Garlington at the Mighty Sound, Eagles’ Wings Conference in November of 2013, “There is no there.” Now that’s a good word right there!)

But there can be other aspects of this “now but not yet.” Hence, this year of open doors. Open doors of opportunity, open doors for ministry, open doors for advancement, open doors for ….  What are you waiting for an open door for? Is this your year?