There is certainly more than one occasion when God opened the doors of the heavens. But here we are reading about when He rained down manna after the Israelites were hungry in the desert. We must remember in these strange times that God is still in control.

The Lord is still appointing leaders worldwide, and He still brings down those who oppose Him, but that will happen more quickly as we pray. In 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy to pray for all those in authority, and He is still saying the same thing to us.

Some of our lives are enclosed behind ancient doors. All of us have past experiences, both good and bad. Some of which we have not thought about or opened the door to for a very long time. Jesus wants to help us open those doors and let His light in.

Imagine the pageantry as chosen regiments line the route to the gate and on into the heart of the city. What a privilege it must have been in those days to be chosen to line the royal route. It is still the same when royalty travel today.

Much later in the story of Esther we find another murderous plan. How many times in history has there been a plan to destroy the people God chose as His? It has never worked and it never will. They will be His chosen people to the end of time.

As in all good fairy stories our heroine was chosen to be queen instead of Vashti. She was in that position when Mordecai overheard the conversation. He told Queen Esther what was being planned, persuaded her to report it to the king and the two officials were put to death.

Once more the respected men of the time had their council meetings at the city gate. The city gate was where many disputes were settled, strangers were met, details of inheritance agreed upon and business affairs discussed. It was also the place where guilty people could be stoned to death.

In the picture described in the verse for today we can imagine Father God leaning out of a window in Heaven saying to those who are pleading for access that He never knew them. This is confirmed in the gospel of Matthew when Jesus talks about the end times.

Personally, I like the image of the road (representing our life choices), leading to a gate or a door. Remember that Jesus said He was the way, (meaning the road)! I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to The Father except through Me (John 14:6).

We could spend a lot of time thinking about the necessity of watching our words. A quick glance at the book of proverbs will give us an insight into the power of our spoken words. But what about the things that go in through the door of our mouths.