Melodic Mondays
Those of you who know me know that I love music even though I am not musical myself. I listen to good music as often as I can. It is beneficial to the brain, valuable to the vocabulary, and strengthening to the soul. Isaiah 12:2-3 is a lovely passage that includes this soaring statement of surety: “The Lord JEHOVA [YAHWEH] is my strength and my song.” This could be translated, “God is my mountaintop and my music.” Yes, He is! Each Monday, I want to study this subject and suggest a song to listen to. Anyone reading this devotional has easy access to any song. (I am an exception because I do not go on a computer or other information device.) If you do not like my suggestion (and we all have different tastes), you can think of or search for one that speaks to you. Then, it can become a source of encouragement throughout the week.
We return today to the gates of heaven. That sounds spectacular! Last Monday we considered the simple song “Twelve Gates to the City,” based on Revelation 21:12-14. We read in verse 16 that the “foursquare” city is “twelve thousand furlongs” on each side. In modern measurements, that would be about 1500 miles. A song that speaks about the spaciousness of heaven is “Fifty Miles of Elbow Room.” It uses 1200 miles instead of 1500, and it makes the gates 100 miles wide. The Scripture does not reveal the exact size of the gates, but the ratio of gate to wall is consistent with those found in the divinely-ordained building of the Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, and the Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40-48). The key to this old song is the phrase “abundant access there, “for that is what the twelve gates, whatever their actual size, provide. The version by the original Carter Family well captures the sheer relief that entering one of those gates will bring us.