Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in the walls let people in and out to do their business, but were also the weak points in the cities' defenses. In the Bible, cities on one level represent the minds of individual people. On a broader level, they represent beliefs shared by a community. The gates, then, represent openings where the Lord can feed us an understanding of truth and a desire for good. They also represent points where the hells can invade and sway us with false ideas and evil desires. We are kept in balance during our lifetimes, with influences from both the Lord and from hell. Ideally, we will over our lifetimes continue to invite the Lord farther and farther in and drive the hells back until ultimately the Lord can occupy our minds completely. And that point our belief in Him and His power and love will hold the gates and deny evil any entrance. As individuals, we at that point become angels. As communities, we at that point become part of the Lord's church. And at that point the gates become an entry point, introductory truths that allow people to enter churches and start bringing the Lord into their lives.

1672. 'And the kings who were with him' means the apparent truth that goes with that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' in the Word. Kings, kingdoms, and peoples in the historical and prophetical sections of the Word mean truths and the things that belong to truths, as may be confirmed from many places. In the Word a careful distinction is made between people and nation, 'people' meaning truths, 'nation' goods, as shown already in 1259, 1260. Kings have reference to peoples, and not so much to nations. The children of Israel, before they sought to have kings, were 'a nation' and represented good, or that which is celestial; but after they desired a king and received one, they became 'a people' and represented not good or that which is celestial, but truth or that which is spiritual, and this was the reason why this was ascribed to them as a fault in 1 Samuel 8:7-end. This, in the Lord's Divine mercy, will be explained elsewhere. In the present verse, since 'Chedorlaomer' is referred to, and then the phrase 'the kings who were with him' is added, both good and truth are meant - good by 'Chedorlaomer' and truth by 'the kings'. But what kind of good and truth it was when the Lord's temptations first began has been stated above.