KEEPERS OF THE GATES

KEY VERSE: The Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the Lord. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was [e]keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting. (1 Chron 9:19b-21)

  “The camp of the Lord” was tabernacle life. Before, I have compared tabernacle worship with the trees of the Garden of Eden (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2020/01/feast-of-tabernacles.html). In summary, tabernacle worship were those Hebrews in tents who looked toward the central tent in their midst wherein they saw the Glory of God. In Garden “worship” there were trees encircling the Tree of Life in their midst, which is a simile for God in their midst. The fathers of the Korahites had been “keepers to the entrance to the Lord’s camp.” Tabernacle worship is similar to portable Garden worship with men as the “trees,” and the Glory of God shined rather than stood in the midst of the portable Garden.
  The priests guarded the tabernacle, allowing no one in but the high priest, but only after ritual cleansing. It seems that scripture here refers to the priests. However, the ultimate guardians of the tabernacle were cherubim on its curtain, and two cherubim on the Ark of God, one on either side of the Mercy Seat where God “sat.” The Korahites, therefore, had a vocational and spiritual connection symbolized by statues of cherubim, which in turn, represented the angelic cherubim that guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden, as is written, “He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen 3:24).
  Whereas cherubim guarded the Garden on the east side, cherubim and their Levitical priests guarded the tabernacle. Several passages in scripture indicates that the Tabernacle of God always faced eastward. Hence, the priests and the figures of cherubim would guard the tabernacle on the east side just as the cherubim did the Garden of Eden.
  The Korahites, the specific one Zechariah, guarded (on the east side) the Temple door. There was one main gate to the Garden Paradise on the east side of the Garden which cherubim guarded. It seems that represents the straight gate to Heaven and is along the narrow Way (Mat 7:13-14). Therefore, it is assumed that the heavenly Paradise has one entry gate and one path leading to it, just as the Garden! (St. Christopher does not guard it, but I will show that all saints do!)
  The Korahites were the keepers of the keys to the Temple, as is proposed in the following:

For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. And they lodged all around the house of God because they had the responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning. (1 Chron 9:26-27)

  Korah may be the same place as in present-day Iraq on the Euphrates River. That is significant for that may be the exact place where the cherubim kept the entrance at the Garden. Scripture points toward the Kingdom of David as the Garden of Eden. Eden represents, perhaps, the entire landmass which scientists call “Pangea” that existed prior to continental drift. If so, then the Garden, if it was the Kingdom of David, would be eastward in Eden just as scripture says (Gen 2:8). The Euphrates was the eastward boundary of the Kingdom of David which God promised to Abraham as “the land of milk and honey.” Obviously, that describes a paradise. Enoch used the same two descriptions of the Third Heaven itself (Secrets of Enoch)!
  Thus, the Kingdom of David, must be the location of the Garden of Eden, and the Euphrates was the eastward “fence.” Korah would then be the location of the gate to the Garden of Eden, and Korah on the Euphrates fits that description perfectly; it being at the east entrance to the God’s Kingdom on Earth.
  There were keys to the Temple for it was opened and closed, and a type of key to both the Garden and the Tabernacle of God. The holders of the keys were cherubim, priests, and Korahites, respectively for the Garden, the Tabernacle of God, and the Temple. Likewise, there are keys to Heaven to keep the undeserving out:

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.  (Mat 16:18-20)

  There is some tricky grammar there. Of course, “Jesus the Christ” refers to the Rock (the Cornerstone) on which the Church was built, but also Calvary and Peter; in fact, all the apostles and even the prophets (Ephes 2:20). To whom will Jesus give the keys of Heaven? It seems Peter, but it is all the Christians in the Church. Why them? They are the royal priests (1 Pet 2:9) who have the Levitical duty to guard entry to Heaven.
  I’m not big on after-death experiences, but I recently heard a testimony from a preacher who was killed in a collision with a semi-tractor. He claims that an angel saved him from perishing. If so, then it was certainly a divine miracle. Do miracles still exist? The forthcoming rapture of the Church proves that it does. If you’ll remember, there was a young girl (Jairus’s daughter) who died in scripture. When Jesus came to her, she returned to life, and at that moment, her spirit returned to her. (Mark 5:21-43). That preacher had the same spiritual experience as the young girl.
  In his testimony, the preacher spoke of people who he had known who came to escort him toward, and then away, from Heaven. Apparently, if that is true, his glorified Christian friends did have the keys to Heaven!
  By default, people of God also hold the keys to Hell. It seems that Christians replaced the cherubim in responsibility; as the priests did, and so will the royal priests. God told John the Revelator, ““Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (Rev 17b-18). God would use Christian royal priests to guard Heaven, and open Hell.
  Christians will be much like the angelic cherubim of the Garden of Eden, and much as the Korahites of the Temple.
  “Positive Christianity” hates to admit it, but there is a Hell, and God holds the keys to it, and glorified Christians hold the keys to that gate as well.
  Names mean things in the Bible. Korah, Moses’s adversary, was sent to the bottomless pit as an opponent to the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood. Therein (Exod 4:16;7-1), Aaron is symbolic of Jesus and Korah, Satan. Like his namesake before him, Korahites not only guarded the Temple, but the gate to Hell as well!
  The Temples of God were built on the Foundation Stone that is now beneath the Dome of the Rock. On that “rock” the Church was built, and Korahites guarded it. However, beneath the stone on which the Church was built, right beneath the Holy of Holies, is what Jews believe is the abyss to Hell, ironically beneath the threshing stone that David bought from Ornan (Arunnah – a form of Aaron)! The priestly Korahites had the keys to both Heaven, represented by the Temple, and Hell, represented by the abyss right there on the same spot where Adam was created, according to Jewish writings.
  Today, the Foundation Stone is guarded by Muslims and their “Temple” is the dome above it. Only Muslims can enter into it. Beneath that rock is the Well of Souls, where dead souls fall into Hell below. People of the Quran now guard the entry to the Foundation of Solomon’s Temple as well as to Hell. The people of the Quran (Muslims) are now the Korahites, and ironically in Arabic “Korah” is spelled “Qarun.” Don’t tell me that God is not omniscient! Korahites will indeed guard the foundation of the Temple until it is torn down, the Rock consecrated, and the Third Temple is built.
  It is alleged that Mohammad ascended to Heaven on the Foundation Stone. As the access (celestial axis), it seems to me that Mohammad did not ascend into Heaven as Jesus did, but descended into Hell as the earlier Qarun (Korah) did in Moses’s time. Note that the Quran speaks of Kohar as Qarun, and that he exists to them as well, and is representative of Satan as Aaron’s and Moses’s adversary. The Islamic religion is Anti-christianity, and Isa (their “Jesus” – Judas Iscariot) is surely the Antichrist. It is they that are the “devils” but accuse Christians of that, as cunning people often do!

Dome of the Rock (credit Britannica)