Open ye the gates
Not of Jerusalem, literally understood, nor of heaven; rather of
the New Jerusalem, whose gates are described, ( Revelation
21:12 Revelation
21:13 Revelation
21:21 ) at least of the church in the latter day; the gates
or door into which now should be, and then will be, open; Christ
the door, and faith in him, and a profession of it, without which
none ought to be admitted, and whoever climbs up another way is a
thief and a robber, ( John 10:1 John 10:9 ) these words
are the words of the prophet, or of God, or of Christ by him,
directed not to the keepers of the gates of Jerusalem, or of the
doors of the temple, though, they may be alluded to; nor to any
supposed doorkeeper of heaven, angels, or men, there being none
such; rather to the twelve angels, at the twelve gates of the New
Jerusalem, ( Revelation
21:12 ) or to the ministers of the Gospel, who have the key
of knowledge to open the door of faith, and let persons into the
knowledge of divine things; to admit them to ordinances, and
receive them into the church by the joint suffrage of the members
of it. The phrase denotes a large increase of members, and a
free, open, and public reception of them, who are after
described; see ( Isaiah 60:11
Isaiah
60:18 ) : that the righteous nation which keepeth the
truth may enter in;
not all the world, for there is none righteous, not one of them
naturally, or of themselves; nor the Jewish nation, for though
they sought after righteousness, did not attain it, unless when
they will be converted in the latter day, and then they, and all
the Lord's people, will be righteous, and appear to be a holy
nation, and a peculiar people, ( Isaiah 60:21
) ( 1 Peter
2:9 ) and being made righteous by the righteousness of Christ
imputed to them, and sanctified by the Spirit, will be fit
persons to be admitted through the gates into the city; see (
Psalms
118:19 Psalms
118:20 ) ( Revelation
22:14 ) and because there will be great numbers of such,
especially when a nation shall be born at once, hence they are so
called: and these will be a set of men that "will keep the
truth"; not, as the Targum renders it,
``who keep the law with a perfect heart;''for no man can do that; but rather the ordinances of the Gospel, as they were first delivered by Christ and his apostles, and especially the truths of it; and the word here used is in the plural number, and may be rendered "truths"; the several truths of the Gospel, which will be kept by the righteous, not in memory only, but in their hearts and affections, and in their purity, and with a pure conscience; and they will not part with them at any rate, but hold them fast, that no man take their crown, ( Revelation 3:11 ) .