Day 18: Jesus Is the Door
- Rebecca
- 3 days ago
- 21 min read
Day 18: I AM the Door
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, thank You for Your prophetic Word that gives us certainty about who Jesus is. Thank you for confirming your Word through fulfilled prophecy and miraculous signs. Thank You for providing the way for us to come to You and for inviting us to come. Give us understanding; exalt Jesus in our hearts and minds. Amen.
Primary Scripture:
John 10:7, 9: Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. . . I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 7-10 takes place between the Feast of Tabernacles in September/October and Hanukkah in December. The crucifixion, which happened on Passover, would occur the following March or April. Jesus has caused quite a stir among the entire nation of Israel. They had been waiting for the promised Messiah, and everyone is wondering if He could be the One.
However, within the past thirty years or so before Jesus began His ministry, two different men claimed to be the Messiah and garnered a substantial following. In Acts 5:33-39, Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee settles the ire of the Jewish rulers who want to kill the apostles, reminding them of these two would-be Messiahs who are both now dead. He then counsels the leaders: "If this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God."
The two men Gamaliel sites are Theudas and Judas of Galilee. As he states in Acts, Judas "rose up in the days of the census." At the time of Jesus' birth, Judas started a Jewish rebellion against Rome and encouraged his countrymen not to submit to the census Quirinius had ordered. In this uprising Judas urged people not to pay the taxes and threatened to burn down the houses and steal the livestock of those who made the trek to their city of ancestry. His insurrection was violent with "very great robberies and murder of our principal men."[1] Judas' followers were called Zealots, of which Simon, one of Jesus' disciples, was one, which shows that the ideas Judas of Galilee espoused had not died out thirty years later but were still very much alive during the time of Jesus' three-year ministry. Some, in fact, attribute the overrun of Jerusalem, which began in A.D. 66, to his rebellious notions. Two of Judas' sons were crucified by the Romans, and it is quite possible that Barabbas could have been from this group. Josephus, the famed Jewish historian, writes about Judas' insurrection in this way:
All sorts of misfortunes sprang from these men, and the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree. One violent war came upon us after another . . . There were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own people . . . Famine also came upon us, and reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies' fire. Such were the consequences of this . . .as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction. [Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.7-9]
It is uncertain exactly who Theudas was. Josephus tells of a Theudas who announced himself to be a prophet and led a band of men to the Jordan River claiming he would divide it before them. The Romans intercepted him, killed his men, and cut off his head.
Theudas, Judas. The people had heard claims of being the Messiah before. They only caused trouble and left destruction in their wake. Now here's another. Oh, sure. Roll of the eyes. Not again! Why should we believe this one? On the other hand, they do long for their true Messiah. Could this be the One? He is very magnetic and has purportedly done some stunning, fascinating things.
The Jewish leaders have gotten involved in the debate. They are in charge and they want to stay that way. The people are easily swayed, back and forth they go; their opinions definitely cannot be trusted. What do they know anyway? The religious leaders criticize and scrutinize. Several questions hang in the air whenever they are around, couched in a tone of accusation. The people pick up on these queries and discuss them among themselves trying to figure out this man called Jesus. They don't want to say too much or come across too staunchly in their opinion for fear of running afoul with the religious rulers. If He is claiming to be the Messiah, there are certain concrete, established credentials written in their prophetic scrolls that He can be measured up against. These are well known.
During the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. He claims His teaching is directly from God. The people debate, wondering if He might be the Messiah. In the discussion the big question of His place of origin comes up. "We know where this guy comes from; He's out of Galilee." (John 7:27, my paraphrase)
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, a special ceremony was held in the temple court in which water from the pool of Bethesda is poured out on the altar. It was a symbolic means of thanking God for the previous year's crops and asking for the needed rain in the coming year. Jesus takes this opportunity to stand up in the temple area, loudly proclaiming that He is the Giver of living water. Their thirst would be quenched if they would only come to Him and believe in Him. Quite a claim at a most timely, precise moment! He was claiming to be the spiritual fulfillment of this physical festival tradition.
This really gets the crowd talking. And again, the place of Jesus' origin comes up. The Messiah isn't supposed to come from Galilee. Has not the Scripture said that the Christ (Messiah) comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" (John 7: 42). The religious leaders had sent officers to arrest Jesus. They came back empty-handed, saying, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46). The leaders are angry and throw disgust on the officers, the crowd and even upon Nicodemus, one of their own who tries to bring some reasonableness to the prevailing majority who want to do away with Jesus, saying, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee" (John 7:52). They hadn't investigated Jesus' early life carefully enough.
When Jesus spoke to them again, it was just after the Feast of Tabernacles. Before the Feast of Tabernacles four large candelabra were built and set up in the court of the women. These four lights were placed on the four sides of the court to shine out in every direction, signifying that God and His truth were the light for the world. Their placement in the Court of the Women was the physically symbolized their faith in God's promise from Genesis 3:15 that the Messiah, who would save the world from sin and Satan's tyranny, would be born of a woman. Since Jerusalem is set on a hill and the temple was at the top, these tall lights could be seen from a great distance away and shed light on the entire city.
On this particular day, Jesus had again entered the temple area. He had to have been in the Court of the Women where He did most of His teaching, for the pious Jewish leaders brought to Him a woman whom they accused of a sin that involved a man. Old Testament law required justice for both the man and the woman. But the Pharisees had only brought the woman. The court of the women was between the court of the Gentiles and court for the Israelite men. Gentiles were allowed in the outer court, but then there was a nine-foot-high terrace with steps leading up to the Court of the Women, which was surrounded by a five-foot wall. This court was accessible through the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2), also known as the Gate of Susa or the Susan Gate because of its sculpted relief of the city of Susa, reminding them of God’s mighty deliverance in the days of Esther. Both Israelite men and women were allowed in this court, but women were not permitted beyond this court. Through another wall and gate was the Court of the Israelites. This court was for Jewish men only and surrounded the innermost Court of the Priests. The women could only view the activities taking place within those two courts from a balcony. Women were second-class citizens.
With one simple sentence Jesus shamed the religious leaders, confronting them all with their own sin in front of a woman caught in adultery. The accusers became the accused. One by one the men turned and walked away under the penetrating, convicting words of Jesus. After all the men had gone, Jesus, the One who alone had the authority and the blamelessness to condemn her, spoke over her these words of mercy: "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more" (John 8:11).
With this display of authority and mercy ringing in their ears, the Jewish leaders are confronted with another shocking statement: "I am the Light of the World." The festival lights in the Court of the Women were being dismantled, for the feast had ended the day before. After eight days of such brightness, the normal darkness was palpable. His confounding claims were critically timed during national historic events. Both His defense of the woman and this new declaration were direct references to long-standing Jewish traditions.
In the intervening months between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus has continued to engage the Jewish leaders in discussions—or rather, they continue to engage Him, badgering and questioning, dogging His footsteps. He continually presents them with truth, truth they don't want to hear or believe, constantly referring to God as His Father. He offends them over and over again with His outlandish claims, and they bristle. They claim Abraham as their father, attempting to take the high ground. He has the corner on truth? He can set them free? Humph. We're not in bondage. We’ve never been in bondage to anyone. Even in the natural realm this was far from true; they’d been under foreign rule over and over again. But Jesus took them to the spiritual realm, telling them they were slaves to sin; and a slave does not stay in the house forever as a son does. He is the true Son who could set them free (John 8:33-36).
Of course, Jesus knows they are physical descendants of Abraham and tells them so, but then He blatantly tells them they have a different father from HIs Father. Again they repeat, "Abraham is our father," clinging fiercely to their bloodline through Abraham. Jesus is thinking in the spiritual realm; they are thinking in the natural realm. He tells them quite plainly that they do not belong to the true ancestry of Abraham, the spiritual ancestry of faith. Jesus goes so far as to tell them that they do not belong to Abraham at all. If they did, they would believe in Him as Abraham did.
The next words out of their mouths reveal what they really thought of Him. It was a slur, an accusation from His birth. "We were not born of fornication!" (John 8:41). They were implying that He was. For a rumor had started over thirty years before suggesting that Mary had gotten pregnant on her way through Samaria when she went to visit Elizabeth. But He repeatedly declared that God was His Father. So now they claim God as their Father. At this point Jesus throws down the gauntlet with the most serious incrimination possible: He stuns them by saying that they come from the family line of the devil himself; their father is the one who is the source of all evil. They sling it back in His face, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" (John 8:48). There it is again, the question of His origin. To them He was a half-breed with a despised Samaritan half-breed for a father.
These two questions hung in the air: Who was His real father and where did He come from. The prophets had said the Messiah would be born of a virgin and come from Bethlehem. They believe that this man before them is a half-breed from Nazareth in the contemptible, low-life region of Galilee. The prophets had also said that His name would be called Almighty God and Everlasting Father. Jesus has already made outrageous claims about Himself, but now He makes the most staggering claim of all, asserting that He is the great I AM. They take up stones to stone Him. Somehow He hides Himself and passes right through the midst of them (John 8:59), like Bilbo Baggins slipping on the ring that makes him invisible.
Then He opened the eyes of a man who had been born blind. As with the sick man by the pool in Bethesda, He did this on the Sabbath. Why did He always seem to choose the Sabbath to do these miraculous healings? Couldn't He have waited till the next day? Couldn't He have tried just a little harder to win over the religious leaders, to not do what He knew would jab at them and churn them up? Couldn't He just . . . compromise? But He wasn't trying to build an earthly kingdom; He was building a heavenly one in which truth and righteousness reigned. He was purposefully exposing their hearts.
The religious leaders, in their multiple interrogations of the blind man, come back again to this question of Jesus' origin: "We don't know where this man comes from." The blind man rightly retorts, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!" (John 9:29-30). later finds the once-blind man, and the now-seeing man affirms his belief and falls at the feet of Jesus in worship, an act only fitting for God to receive. Jesus does not rebuke him, but instead says that he has had his eyes opened spiritually as well (John 9:35-39).
The Pharisees, ever on Jesus' heels, are vexed and fling another peevish question at Him, "Are we blind, too?" If they only had the humility to admit they were spiritually blind, they wouldn't be guilty (John 9:40-41). From here on, it gets really interesting. In John 10, all the previous discussions with the religious leaders culminate in this final one He will have with them until the last week of His life three to four months later. Jesus is still talking with the leaders when He uses the metaphor of a sheepfold with one door. Only the one who enters by the door is the true shepherd. All others who tried to get at the sheep were thieves and robbers. Jesus is not merely pointing His finger at them; He is primarily referring to those false messiahs who came before Him. The true Shepherd is the One who comes through the door—that's how you'll know Him. He will come through the door of fulfilled prophecy. Jesus alone came through the Scriptural door, exactly according to God's plan. If they had done their homework better, they would have known that He perfectly fulfilled the prophecies in question: He was born of a virgin and He did come out of Bethlehem.
But it was not only prophecy that confirmed Jesus as the Messiah, there was also the doorkeeper. Jesus had a forerunner, which had also been prophesied, one who would "prepare the way of the Lord." The other false messiahs did not have this authorizing sign. The very last prophecy God had uttered through Malachi promised a forerunner to herald the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord. For four hundred years there had been no other word from God, only silence and waiting. Then John arrived on the scene. Before he was even conceived, events began to happen that alerted the people of Israel, the chosen sheepfold of God, that God was fulfilling His Word. The angel who appeared to Zacharias quoted the final verses of Malachi (Luke 1:17, Malachi 4:5-6). When John began his ministry, he himself claimed to be that promised forerunner, and he pointed to Jesus, confirming Him as the Messiah (John 1:23, 29-34).
Using the same metaphor, Jesus makes another I AM statement: "Most assuredly I say to you, I AM the door of the sheep" (John 10:7). The Jewish leaders thought the door into God's sheepfold was the Law, which they felt He was violating by healing on the Sabbath. They, too, were thieves and robbers, trying to steal the sheep away from the truth. Jesus claims that the door into His fold is Himself. Only the Messiah can bring true salvation; all the prophecies revealed that. Indeed, didn't their own longing for the Messiah also prove that? He had come to lead the people out from under the Law—which can never save but only condemns—into the fold of grace, which brings true salvation and life abundant. He has fulfilled all the prophecies concerning the Messiah's coming, and He will go on to fulfill the purpose for which He has come: He will lay down His life for the sheep as Isaiah predicted (John 10:15).
Through these prophecies we can know that He is the Messiah. He is the Light; He is the Bread; He is the fulfillment of the historic narrative and the prophetic utterance. And He is the Door—the way back to God. He is the only door; all others are frauds. If we want true salvation from our sin and blindness, we have to come to God through Him. We don't have to be afraid of Him letting us down or leading us in the wrong way. It is a bold, exclusive statement.
"I Am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved." Paul reiterates this theme in his letters. In Romans 5:1-2 he writes, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand." And in Ephesians 2:18 he says, "For through Him (Christ Jesus) we both (Jews and Gentiles) have access by one Spirit to the Father." Access to God is found only through Jesus Christ—the Messiah. We must enter by this Door.
The book of Hebrews explains further the access we are given through the Door of Jesus. "We have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God . . . Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14, 16) "We have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever . . ." (Hebrews 6:18-20). "Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith . . ." (Hebrews 10:19-21). Through Jesus we have incredible, blessed access into the very throne room of God, into the Holy of holies in heaven! He has provided the way for us to have communication and fellowship with the God of heaven, the Creator of the universe, the sovereign King over all things. He is the Door to this treasure.
Besides access, there is also safety. When the sheep were staying out in the open fields at night, the shepherd would create a makeshift enclosure to protect them. Gathering brush and bushes, he would pile them up to form a U-shaped wall, setting desert thorns along the top to prevent predators or thieves from climbing in to steal and kill the flock. The shepherd himself would lie in the open space forming the doorway to his fenced-in pen with his own body. "The shepherd’s own comfort and sleep were secondary to the comfort and safety of the sheep."[i]
If He is the Door through which we come to God, then He is also our secure certainty of salvation. We ne
ed not fear being turned away. We do not come to God on our own merit. We come through the Beloved of God, the One God sent for the very purpose of saving us. He has revealed the Father's heart toward us.
He is the Door. We are safe in Him: Safe from the devil's intentions toward us, safe from all his lies and accusations, and safe from sin and all its temptations. None can snatch us out of the hand of Jesus, and therefore, not out of His Father's hand either (John 10:29). We are safe from false shepherds, false messiahs who would attempt to lead us astray. We are safe from the wolves of this world, all the things that want to devour and destroy our lives. Jesus stands between us and all the other false, seductive, and destructive paths that only and ultimately lead to our death. We rest in safety behind the Door of Christ. He is our protector and surety.
Jesus alone has entered into our world through the door of multiple fulfilled prophecies. He alone provides access to restored relationship with God. His arms are outstretched in invitation, having done all that is necessary to remove sin's curse and the Law's just condemnation that stood against us. He alone provides safety and security, He Himself being the barrier to defend us from all that would seek to destroy us and rip us away from God. Enter into this Door of provision and protection!
Jesus Christ: I AM the Door.
Family Worship:
Discuss the different things a door can signify for us. If you can, look up on Google Images pictures of doors. What kind of thoughts or feelings do those images convey?
Look up one of the following websites to see the prophecies that were fulfilled at Christ's first coming:
http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/prophecy/353prophecies.html (comprehensive list)
https://bible.org/article/prophecies-birth-christ (16 specific prophecies)
http://www.biblelineministries.org/articles/basearch.php3?action=full&mainkey=JESUS-FULFILLMENT+OF+ALL+PROPHECY (This site lists 18 1st-Coming prophecies and 28 2nd-Coming prophecies)
Have each family member choose one of the prophecies that was fulfilled at Christ's first advent and pray around the family circle thanking God for the chosen prophecies that give proof that Jesus did indeed come through the door of God's prophetic Word.
Pray around the circle again thanking God for some aspect of Jesus' invitational and protective ministry as our Door to God the Father.
Other Related Scriptures:
Psalm 24:7-10: Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you 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 you gates! Lift up, you 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.
Psalm 78:2: I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old.
Proverbs 8:34-35: Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD.
Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:1-2: Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 11:1-5: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.
Isaiah 22:22: The key of the house of David I will lay on His shoulder; so He shall open, and no one shall shut; and He shall shut, and no one shall open.
Isaiah 35:5-6: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer; and the tongue of the dumb, sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 42:1-4: Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.
Isaiah 61:1-3: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Hosea 2:14-15: Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Matthew 7:7-8: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:13-14: Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
John 10:1-10: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 14:6: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Acts 4:11-12: This is the "stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone." Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Romans 5:1-2: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
I Corinthians 8:5-6: For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
Ephesians 2:18: For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
I Timothy 2:5-6: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Hebrews 4:14-16: Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 6:17-20: Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 10:19-22: Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Revelation 3:7: And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, "These things says He who is holy, He who is true, 'He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.'"
Revelation 3:20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 4:1: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."
[1] Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.7-9
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