The divisions of the doorkeepers. Of the Korahites Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.
David now turns to the men who would keep the gates of the house of God. The Korahite name in this list carries a history that makes them the last family you would expect at those doors.
The gatekeepers get the same care from the Spirit of God as the high priest:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the porters, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God condescends to arrange by David for the porters, just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
This list sits inside a long stretch of the book about the house that was still to be built:
From this chapter to 1 Chronicles 26:28-29 all refers to the house which is to be built. We see the provision that David made of everything needed for its construction. We see the order of the Levites' service: those appointed for song, those among them who were porters, and the priests in their classes. David arranged it all.
The name in this verse reaches back to a judgment. Korah himself went down alive into the pit, but his line did not end there:
In verse 25 there is no statement that the sons of Korah went down with their father. But in Numbers 26:11 we read, "the sons of Korah did not die." Yes, the riches of sovereign grace saved them from going down alive into the pit. And this was not all. As part of the family of Kohath they had given to them the cities of refuge, of which Hebron is named first... Oh, how our God delights in mercy!
(The older translation reads "the children of Korah died not.")
Mercy did not stop at rescue. It handed them a trust, and gave them a reason to serve:
Sovereign grace saved the sons of Korah from the awful fate of the father. They were saved from the pit. Mercy was remembered in wrath... They had the cities of refuge, were keepers of the gates of the tabernacle; were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of the LORD... They were mighty men of valour; strong men; they were the royal guards. And more than that, the Holy Spirit inspired them to write some of the beautiful Psalms... They were faithful and devoted in their service, because they knew they had been saved from the pit. And we have the same deliverance, and the same knowledge of it. Should we be less faithful and devoted?
One reference work sums up where this family came from and the two duties it was known for:
Descendants of Korah, the grandson of Kohath. The two principal offices assigned to them were the service of song, and keeping the doors of the sanctuary.
The work had two directions at once — shutting out and letting in:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They must be able to push back any attempt against the house of God. They must also watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the LORD. And they must keep the doors open, so that no member of the priesthood who had the right to enter the temple was shut out.
These are large families for one task, and the task asked for more than a quiet spirit:
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers set apart for this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen. Obed-Edom counts sixty-two in his direct line... We do not think often enough that the service of the doorkeepers needed these qualities, just as the service of the priests did. It is hardly enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed too.
The gates were not handed out by preference:
These porters need to be strong men... They were placed in their wards by lot, which was how every gate was assigned at that time. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to each porter his own work (1 Corinthians 12)... So now each porter has his appointed place and service.
- Mercy first. The gatekeepers come from Korah's line. Sovereign grace kept them out of the pit, and then trusted them with the doors.
- Mercy assigns. Those spared were not left idle. They were given cities of refuge, the gates, the treasuries — and psalms to write.
- Mercy dignifies. God arranged the porters with the same care as the high priest. Nothing in His house is small to Him.
- Mercy demands strength. Guarding a door needs humility and self-forgetfulness, and strength too. The doorkeeper kept out the defiled, and never shut out those with a right to enter.
- Mercy places you. The lot gave each man his gate then. Now the Holy Spirit appoints each one his own work.
And Meshelemiah had sons Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,
This verse names Meshelemiah's sons in birth order. They belong to David's list of the men who would keep the doors of the temple — a family with a shocking history, a job most people would call lowly, and a God who writes down names.
Meshelemiah was a Korahite — a descendant of Korah, the man who led a revolt against Moses and lost his life for it. His family ended up with two settled kinds of work in Israel's worship:
Descendants of Korah, the grandson of Kohath. The two main offices assigned to them were the service of song, and keeping the doors of the sanctuary.
How did a family named after a rebel end up serving at God's house? One writer traces the line from the judgment they escaped to the posts they were later given:
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When he and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons, as we read, "But the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). Sovereign mercy snatched them from the very brink of destruction. Afterwards God brought them into His sanctuary and gave them places of honourable service there (1 Chron. 26). How much like our own case this is! We were once standing on the brink of a more dreadful destruction than theirs, but God has saved us in His grace, brought us into His own presence, and given us the privilege and joy of serving before Him.
This verse names four sons; the family count runs higher. One writer sets that count beside the other doorkeeper families, and notes what the work took:
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers destined for this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen. Obed-Edom counts sixty-two among his descendants... Of Obed-Edom's sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests (1 Chron. 9:13), required these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are necessary too.
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Standing at a gate sounds passive. The charge had two directions to it — shutting and opening:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive off any attack on the house of God. They had to watch with unbroken energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that no member of the priesthood who had the right to enter the temple might be shut out.
Zechariah, the firstborn named here, turns up later in the chapter with a gate and a character note attached:
The lot chose the doorkeepers of the future temple, and it chose the keeper of each gate as well. Shelemiah had charge of the door to the east. Zechariah, his son, a wise counsellor, had charge of the gate to the north.
The writer treats Shelemiah as the Meshelemiah of this verse. So the firstborn son named here was later given the north gate.
A list like this can look like filler. One writer reads God's pleasure in it:
There is little to say here except that the Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants... He honours those who honour Him. He records their names in His word now, and in the great day that is coming quickly He will glorify the men themselves.
One writer carries the doorkeeper's job over into the present:
Their first service was to keep the door. Do we not now have to guard the door too — not only trying to stop Satan and men from closing the doors again, but maintaining the gospel of Jesus, the way into the holiest place?... These doorkeepers were placed at their posts by lot, the way appointment was then made for every gate. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to each doorkeeper his own work (1 Cor. 12)... So now each one has his appointed place and service.
- Spared. The gatekeepers descend from Korah, whose sons God spared when judgment fell. Sovereign mercy is why there is a list at all.
- Stationed. Mercy did not stop at survival. God brought the spared sons into His sanctuary and gave them honourable service.
- Strong. The post looks lowly, but it called for humility and dependence and for strength and valour, like the priests' work.
- Two-way. The doorkeeper's charge was to shut out the defiled and to keep the door open for everyone with a right to enter.
- Named. Zechariah the firstborn later held the north gate as a wise counsellor. The Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants, and He still gives each one his own place and service.
Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Elioenai the seventh.
This verse adds three names to a family list: Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai. They were sons of Meshelemiah, whose family guarded the doors of the house of the Lord. Why would God keep the names of men who only stood at a gate?
One writer, on a similar list of names in Numbers, shows what such records say about God:
Nothing less would satisfy Him than a full, detailed account of each man's name, the tribe he represented, and the offering he brought to the sanctuary of God... He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does more than remember it Himself: He takes special care that untold millions will read the record.
That is why this verse counts sons one by one: the fifth, the sixth, the seventh. Another writer brings the same truth into everyday service:
These modest jobs are very valuable in the eyes of the Lord... It is the same today. Serving tables, passing the bread and the cup, caring for the "upper room" — the Lord forgets none of it. He writes down the names of those who have kept this service, and they deserve that place as much as anyone else.
Meshelemiah came from the line of Korah. That name carries a hard history:
Divine judgment falls on them. Dathan and Abiram, their wives, their sons and their little ones, along with the ringleader Korah, are swallowed up by the earth and go down alive into the pit... Notice that the sons of Korah did not perish. Sovereign grace saved the sons of Korah from the terrible fate of their father. They were saved from the pit. Mercy was remembered in wrath. They were given the cities of refuge. They kept the gates of the tabernacle. They were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of the Lord.
One writer turns that rescue on the reader:
Have we been saved from the pit? We were children of wrath, just like everyone else. Sovereign grace has brought us to live in the heavenly places — not with Abraham, but in Christ.
It would be easy to picture a doorkeeper with nothing much to do. One writer compares two of these households — Meshelemiah's and Obed-Edom's — and says otherwise:
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, had eighteen sons and brothers in his family marked out for this office... Obed-Edom had sixty-two in his own line. It is said of Obed-Edom's sons that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men with the strength for the service. We do not think often enough that the doorkeepers' service, like that of the priests, needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed as well.
The doorkeeper's job had two halves, and both mattered:
They had to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. They also had to keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
Careless doorkeeping reaches past the door. It touches the singing inside:
Only the redeemed can sing the songs of Zion. So the doorkeepers had to carry out their duty faithfully, if the Lord was to have His portion. To let in those without divine qualifications is to admit people who cannot sing. Careless doorkeepers will mean loss to the singers.
One writer weighs the choice a psalm puts into words:
"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." It is easy to see the force of that. The doorkeeper is first to let others in, and he stays till the last; he is there longest of all. The margin reads, "I would choose rather to sit at the threshold." That gives us a different thought: he is content with the threshold, the lowest place, as long as he is in God's presence. Was God there? He would be there too.
- Mercy first. These doorkeepers came from Korah's line. God spared them when judgment fell. Their place at the door began as grace, not merit.
- Mercy gives a name. God did more than spare them. He wrote their names down — even the fifth, sixth and seventh son of one household.
- A name gives a post. God gave these men real work. It needed humility and courage together, not one without the other.
- The post guards the house. They shut the door on what defiles and opened it to every rightful worshipper. Neither half was optional.
- The guard keeps the song. Careless doorkeepers cost the singers their song. And the man content at the threshold stands nearest to God.
-- And the sons of Obed-Edom Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethaneel the fifth,
The list of temple doorkeepers opens with Obed-edom, and verse 4 begins naming his sons one by one. That plain list hides a story. This is the man whose house once sheltered the ark of God, and his large family is the visible result.
The ark was the chest that held God's covenant, the sign of His presence with Israel. One writer sets Obed-edom's family line against what his name and his home town mean:
Obed-edom, as we see from the reference to the blessing on him elsewhere (1 Chr. 26:4-5), was a Korahite Levite, and so his house was not unsuited to receive the ark. Yet his name means "servant of Edom" (a picture of the flesh). And Gath, where he had lived before — or more likely where he was born — means "winepress", a type, as we know, of divine wrath. It is no strange thing to say of any of God's Levites that we were indeed "by nature children of wrath". The apostle adds (Eph. 2:3) that we were carrying out the desires of the flesh — we were Obed-edoms. And now we are Korahites too. God has saved us, just as He saved the children of Korah in the wilderness from their father's penalty.
One writer counts his line against the other doorkeeper families:
Obed-Edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, has eighteen sons and brothers in his family set apart for this office. Hosah of the family of Merari has thirteen sons and brothers. But Obed-Edom counts sixty-two in his direct descendants. He had eight sons, for it is said that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, along with his family, kept the ark in his house for three months? It was at that time that the Lord had blessed his house (1 Chron. 13:14; 1 Chron. 16:38). He had become a doorkeeper of the ark when David brought it up to Jerusalem (1 Chron. 15:18). We see him and his large family with him here as doorkeepers of Solomon's future temple. Of his sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, mighty men of valour, able men with strength for the service.
The blessing fell on a whole house, not on one man. One writer draws a rule from that for every home:
The ark, or mercy seat, was in "the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household." The blessing was too remarkable to go unnoticed or untalked of... No Christian should expect the Lord's blessing in his household unless the mercy seat is consciously known and honoured there! God's word is, "those who honour me I will honour." So if we call on, honour, and serve the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in our homes, we may be sure of blessing — not only our own, but blessing for all the household.
Keeping a door meant deciding who came in and who stayed out:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to turn back any move against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that they shut out no priest who had the right to enter the temple.
A list of five sons can look like filler. One writer reads the whole chapter the other way:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the doorkeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. Through David, the Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the doorkeepers. He does this just as truly as He did for the high priest or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has value.
The same holds for unnoticed service today:
Today, whether it is a matter of serving tables, of passing the bread and the cup, or of taking care of the "upper room", none of this is forgotten by the Lord. He records the names of those who have kept the charge of this service just as deservedly as others.
- Cause — Obed-edom housed the ark for three months. That is where this list of sons comes from.
- Gift — He had eight sons because God had blessed him, and sixty-two descendants in all. No other doorkeeper family came close.
- Reach — The blessing covered the household, not the man alone. Where a home honours the mercy seat, the Lord promises blessing to all in it.
- Grace — His name means "servant of Edom", and Gath means winepress of wrath. He is a Korahite, spared his father's penalty. Every servant of God starts there.
- Record — Doorkeeping needed strength and valour. God wrote down the names of the men who did it, because to Him the smallest service has value.
Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth for God had blessed him.
A bare list of names ends with a reason: this man had eight sons, for God blessed him. Commentators trace that blessing back to three months when the ark of God stayed under his roof, and forward to the doors his whole family later guarded.
This list counts several families of doorkeepers. One family runs far longer than the rest, and one writer explains why.
Obed-Edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers marked out for this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen sons and brothers. Obed-Edom counts sixty-two among his direct descendants. He had eight sons, for the text says that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, together with his family, been the keeper of the ark in his house for three months? It was at that time that the Lord had blessed his house.
The blessing did more than enrich his house. It showed something about the man.
Those three months when the ark was in the house of Obed-edom had shown one thing. Here was a man who knew how to care for the ark of God, and who had the Lord's approval in doing it. It was therefore fitting that he should have a special place in caring for the ark when it came to the city of David.
David stopped short of bringing the ark home, and it went to this house instead. What the king drew back from, another man received.
This was David's loss. By stopping short he gave up much blessing and privilege. The ark of God could do nothing but bless all who were rightly connected with it. To be connected with it in any other way brought judgment, as with the men of Bethshemesh, and Uzza. It was a happy time for Obed-edom while the ark was in his house, for "the LORD blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had." The whole time David was "afraid" and without the ark, Obed-edom had the ark and its blessing.
His family line makes him a Levite, from the house of Korah. His name and his hometown point the other way.
Obed-edom, as we see by the reference to the blessing on him elsewhere (1 Chr. 26:4-5), was a Korahite Levite, and so his house was not unsuited to receive the ark. Yet his name means "servant of Edom" (a picture of the flesh). And the place where he once lived, or more likely was born, is Gath, the "winepress" — a type, as we know, of divine wrath. It is nothing strange to tell any of God's Levites that we were indeed "by nature children of wrath"; and the apostle adds (Eph. 2:3), "carrying out the desires of the body and the mind" — we were Obed-edoms. So also we are now Korahites, saved as the children of Korah were in the wilderness, from their father's penalty.
The sons God gave him served at the doors. The record calls them capable men, strong for the work.
Of his sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests (1 Chron. 9:13), required these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed too.
Guarding a door looks like the lowest job in the house of God.
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the gatekeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange the gatekeepers through David, just as truly as He did the high priest, or the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
- House opened. David was afraid to take the ark home, so it turned aside into this house. The man who welcomed what the king shrank from became the man God blessed.
- House blessed. Three months with the ark under his roof settled his family's future. The record still points back to it here: first the sons, then the reason.
- House filled. Other families supply eighteen or thirteen men. His line supplies sixty-two. The blessing showed up as children, not just comfort.
- House qualified. His sons are called capable and strong. Guarding a door looks like a small task; it still calls for humility and valour together.
- House honoured. God arranged for the gatekeepers just as truly as for the high priest. Only we rank service as great or small. To God the smallest thing has value.
And to Shemaiah his son were sons born, who were rulers in their father's house; for they were mighty men of valour.
This chapter lists the gatekeepers of the temple family by family. Here the list reaches a third generation, and it stops to praise the ability of these grandsons. Why does Scripture count one doorkeeper's descendants so carefully, and why does a job at a gate call for men like this?
One commentator sets Obed-edom's numbers beside the other gatekeeper families and traces the size of his line back to God:
Obed-Edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers set apart for this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen sons and brothers. But Obed-Edom counts sixty-two in his direct line. He had eight sons, for it is said that God had blessed him.
The reason for that fruitfulness lies earlier in David's story. David stopped short and left the ark — the chest that marked God's presence among Israel — in Obed-edom's house for three months. Those three months changed the household:
This was David's loss. He forfeited much blessing and privilege by stopping short, for the ark of God could do nothing but bless all who were rightly connected with it... It was a happy time for Obed-edom while the ark was in his house, for "the Lord blessed his house and all that he had." All the time that David was "afraid" and without the ark, Obed-edom was blessed with the ark.
So the grandsons in this verse are the late fruit of a house that once made room for God. The same commentator follows this family from the ark to the temple:
He became a doorkeeper of the ark when David brought it up to Jerusalem. Here we see him, and his large family with him, as doorkeepers of Solomon's future temple.
Other translations end the verse with "mighty men of valour." That is a strange title for men who stood at a door. One commentator says why they needed it:
Of his sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not think often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, needed these qualities. It is hardly enough to say that this unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed too.
The task needed valour because a gate works two ways. It shuts, and it opens:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to turn back any attack on the house of God. They had to watch with unbroken energy, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
Another writer takes these same words and sees the gatekeepers as a picture of Christians, called to guard what is precious:
Strength was given to these sons of Korah. They were "mighty men of valour," "strong men," "able men for strength for the service," and each had his appointed service... Saved from the pit, we are called to be the royal guards of the hidden but coming King of glory. We are guards of the house of God, guards of foundation truth.
God records names like these, and that tells us what He counts as important. This chapter treats the doorkeepers as carefully as the priests:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the gatekeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. Through David, the Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the gatekeepers. He does it just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different groups of the priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
- Cause — Obed-edom once housed the ark, and the Lord blessed his house and all he had. This family's later standing is a gift, not an achievement.
- Gift — Eight sons, and sixty-two in his direct line. Other gatekeeper families count eighteen and thirteen. Here the blessing shows up as children.
- Reach — The blessing runs past Obed-edom to his grandsons. They lead in their own homes, and then serve at God's house.
- Strength — A door is not a soft job. Humility, dependence, zeal and self-forgetfulness are not enough. A gatekeeper also needs strength and valour.
- Result — Men strong enough to shut the gate on what defiles, and to keep it open for those with the right to enter. God records every name, because to Him the smallest thing has value.
The sons of Shemaiah Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, [and] Elzabad, whose brethren were valiant men, Elihu and Semachiah.
These names belong to the household of Obed-edom. The list enrolls his grandsons as gatekeepers for the temple, and pauses to call them able men. Two questions follow. Why is this one family so large? And why would guarding a door take men of strength?
One commentator ties the size of Obed-edom's line to the three months when the ark of God stayed in his house. The ark was the sacred chest that marked God's presence among His people:
Obed-Edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, numbers eighteen sons and brothers destined to this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, numbers thirteen. Obed-Edom numbers sixty-two in his direct line. He had eight sons, for it is said that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, together with his family, been the keeper of the ark in his house for three months? It was at that time that the Lord had blessed his house.
The men named here trace back to Korah. A dictionary entry on one of the names ties the family to him and calls the man valiant:
Son of Shemaiah, a Korahite of the family of Obed-edom, a valiant man and one of the doorkeepers. 1 Chr. 26:7.
That ancestry makes the appointment remarkable, and one commentator draws out why:
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When he and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons. Scripture says, "But the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). Sovereign mercy snatched them from the very brink of destruction. Later God brought them into His sanctuary and gave them places of honourable service there (1 Chron. 26).
"Able men" is not decoration; older translations render the phrase "valiant men." The post carried a double duty, and both sides of it took energy:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They must be able to turn back any attack on the house of God. They must watch with unbroken energy, so that no defiled person enters the courts of the Lord. But they must also keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple is shut out.
The same writer says a humble task still calls for strong qualities:
His sons were rulers in their father's house. They were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests (1 Chron. 9:13), required these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed too.
One writer starts with how people usually rank such a job:
Most people's first thought about a doorkeeper in any place of work is that it is the lowest position. And it is true here also; if anyone would serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
The same writer notes how each post was filled, and applies it to believers today:
Lot decided which post each doorkeeper held; that was how every gate was assigned then. Now the Holy Spirit gives each doorkeeper his own work. (1 Cor. 12.)
One writer notes where that strength came from, and what it is still for:
Strength was given to these sons of Korah. They were "mighty men of valour," "strong men," "able men for strength for the service," and each had his appointed service. (1 Chron. 26:1-20.) Saved from the pit, we are called to be the royal guards of the hidden but coming King of glory — guards of the house of God, guards of foundation truth.
- Blessing first. The family is this large because God blessed Obed-edom's house while the ark rested there.
- Mercy next. These men come from Korah's line. God spared his sons when he perished, then brought them into the sanctuary for honourable service.
- Strength given. "Able men" is no throwaway line. A gatekeeper had to hold the door shut against defilement and open for everyone with a right to enter.
- Post assigned. Lot decided each gate then; the Holy Spirit gives each servant his work now.
- Trust highest. The lowest place carries the greatest charge: guarding God's house and foundation truth until the King appears.
All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom they and their sons and their brethren, able men in strength for the service, were sixty-two of Obed-Edom.
1 Chronicles 26 lists the men set over the gates of the house of God. When the count reaches Obed-edom's family, the number leaps far above the rest: sixty-two men fit for the work. Why should one family be so large, and why does a list of doorkeepers need men of strength at all?
The size of this family is not an accident of genealogy. One writer traces it back to the three months when the ark of God — the chest that stood for God's throne among Israel — rested in Obed-edom's house.
Obed-edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and relatives marked out for this office in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen. Obed-edom counts sixty-two in his direct line. He had eight sons, for it is said that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, together with his family, been the keeper of the ark in his house for three months? It was at that time that the Lord had blessed his house. He had become a doorkeeper of the ark when David brought it up to Jerusalem. Here we see him and his large family as doorkeepers of Solomon's future temple.
A doorkeeper sounds like the bottom of the staff list. One commentator agrees — and says that is where service starts.
The first thought most people have about a doorkeeper in any organization is that it is the lowest position. And it is true here also; if anyone would serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
Yet the verse does not ask for meekness alone. Rossier notes that the doorkeepers needed the same qualities as the priests:
Of his sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, required these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed too.
The gate has two jobs at once, and both take nerve.
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to push back any attack on the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person might enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that no member of the priesthood with the right to enter the temple would be shut out.
It might seem odd that a book about kings and the temple stops to name gatekeepers. One writer takes that as a window into the mind of God.
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the doorkeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. Through David, the Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the doorkeepers. He does it just as truly as for the high priest, or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
The sixty-two were not a crowd milling at one door. Stanley reads the lot that fixed each man's gate as a picture of how the Spirit assigns service now.
Strong men these doorkeepers need to be. Such were the sons of Obed-edom — able men in strength for the service, sixty-two. The lot decided which post each doorkeeper held, the way of appointment then for every gate. Now the Holy Spirit gives each doorkeeper his own work. … So now each doorkeeper has his appointed place and service.
Where did such strength come from? Writing of the descendants of Korah among these gatekeepers, one commentator points to a gift rather than to natural ability. His wording follows an older translation of this verse, which reads "able men for strength for the service."
Strength was given to these sons of Korah. They were "mighty men of valour," "strong men," "able men for strength for the service," and each had his appointed service. … Saved from the pit, we are called to be the royal guards of the hidden but coming King of glory — guards of the house of God, guards of foundation truth.
- Blessed. Obed-edom's family is large because God blessed the house where the ark had rested. This number is that blessing made visible.
- Strengthened. The strength is given, not owned. Men saved out of the pit are handed courage for the work.
- Stationed. The strength is spent at a door, the lowest post in the house; whoever would serve the Lord takes that place first.
- Guarding. A gate keeps the defiled out and the rightful worshipper in. Both sides of the trust take courage, and both fell to these sixty-two.
- Counted. God stoops to arrange the doorkeepers with the same care He gave the high priest. Only we rank service as great or small. To Him the smallest thing has value.
-- And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, men of valour, eighteen.
This verse sits inside a long list of temple gatekeepers. It records one family's share of the work: eighteen able men from Meshelemiah's sons and relatives, set to watch the doors of God's house. Two things make the line worth a pause. Who were his ancestors? And why did watching a door need "able men"?
Meshelemiah belonged to the line of Korah. What happened to that family is the quiet miracle behind this list.
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When Korah and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons: "But the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). Sovereign mercy snatched them from the very edge of destruction. Later God brought them into His sanctuary and gave them places of honourable service there (1 Chron. 26). What a picture this is of our own case! We were once standing on the edge of a worse destruction than theirs, but God has saved us in His grace.
So the eighteen counted here stand as evidence of mercy.
"Able men" sounds like faint praise. One writer ties the phrase to the strength needed in battle, quoting an older rendering of 1 Chronicles 9:13.
In 1 Chronicles 9:13 the priests are called "able men for the work of the service of the house of God." The service of the house of God needs the same strength as battle does. The two kinds of work are very different, but both need the same spiritual energy.
We tend to assume a gatekeeper needs only patience. Looking at another family in the same list, the same writer asks for more.
Scripture says of Obed-Edom's sons that they ruled in their father's house, and that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not think often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests (1 Chron. 9:13), needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed too.
The job had two edges. A door must shut some people out and let others in. Both duties fell on these men.
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that they shut out no priest who had the right to enter the temple.
Meshelemiah's eighteen stands beside a much larger number further down the list. Something that happened years earlier explains the gap.
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers set apart for this work in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen sons and brothers. But Obed-Edom counts sixty-two among his direct descendants. He had eight sons, for Scripture says that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not kept the ark in his house, with his family, for three months?
Each of these men had his own post. The strength they received came with something to guard.
Strength was given to these sons of Korah. They were "mighty men of valour," "strong men," "able men for strength for the service," and each had his appointed service. (1 Chron. 26:1-20.) ... Saved from the pit, we are called to be the royal guards of the hidden but coming King of glory — guards of the house of God, guards of foundation truth.
One writer turns this into a rule for whatever task we are handed.
How many different tasks these humble servants carried out! Small tasks, yes, but without them the whole order of the Lord's service would have broken down, or even stopped! ... When the Lord entrusts a service to us, however unimportant it may look, let us carry it out with zeal, remembering that it is necessary for the order of the house of God.
- Mercy first. Meshelemiah's line went back to Korah, the rebel of the wilderness. Mercy spared Korah's sons. God then brought them into His sanctuary and gave them honourable service there.
- Mercy makes able men. Rescue did not leave them weak. They received strength, and Scripture calls them mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service.
- Ability for a door. Service in God's house needs the same spiritual energy as battle. Guarding a door asked for valour as much as humility.
- A trust with two sides. They had to drive back attacks on God's house and keep out the defiled. They also had to keep the doors open to every priest with the right to enter.
- Counted, named, needed. Eighteen here, sixty-two for Obed-Edom, whom God blessed. The posts were modest, yet without them the whole order of the Lord's service would stop.
-- And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons Shimri the head, for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the head;
A list of temple gatekeepers carries one small family note: Hosah, a Levite of the line of Merari, gave the top place to a son who was not the eldest. Two questions follow: what does "firstborn" mean in Scripture, and why record a list of door-guards at all?
One writer defines the word "firstborn" and points to this verse as an example.
In the way Scripture uses it, the term "firstborn" means the chief rights that go with a father's authority, standing, property, and the like. So it means first in rank in the family. That leading rank may or may not come from order of birth (see 1 Chron. 26:10).
The same writer gives another case. David had older sons, yet the crown went to Solomon.
God's sovereign grace gave this high distinction of "firstborn" to the son of David and Bathsheba (Ps. 89:27). This shows that birth order was not always followed for firstborn rights. Solomon was not the first of David's sons to be born. Yet he became the firstborn in the royal family, and inherited the crown of Israel.
Hosah's choice fits a pattern. One writer looks back at Reuben, who lost his birthright, and draws the wider lesson.
Reuben is set aside, and the natural prominence of the birthright only sank him lower when he lost it. When did the natural order ever maintain itself according to the righteous government of God? For this is how it is. The order of nature is not God's order. Nothing can meet the wandering of nature but the sovereign mercy of God.
Another writer traces the same pattern through other lives.
Again and again we meet firstborn sons who fail. Their blessing goes to another who has no claim to it. Cain was the firstborn, but Seth took his place. Isaac replaced Ishmael, Jacob replaced Esau, Joseph replaced Reuben, and so on. The underlying principle is clear: the firstborn speaks of man in his natural strength. And this is the point — natural man acting in his own strength always leads to failure. For blessing to come, God has to provide the "second".
One writer counts the doorkeeper families and reads meaning in the numbers.
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, has eighteen sons and brothers marked out for this office in his family. Hosah of the family of Merari has thirteen. Obed-Edom has sixty-two in his direct line. He had eight sons, for the record says that God had blessed him. […] We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, required these qualities. This unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal and self-forgetfulness. But that is not the whole of it. Strength and courage are necessary too.
The work itself had two sides.
They had to be able to turn back any move against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open. No member of the priesthood who had the right to enter the temple should be shut out.
A father could name his own chief. But no doorkeeper chose his own gate.
These porters were placed in their wards by lot, which was then the way of appointment for every gate. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to the porters every man his work. […] So now each porter has his appointed place and service.
Chapters like this can read as bare lists of names.
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the porters, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stooped to arrange the porters through David, just as truly as He arranged the high priest and the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
- Place, not birth. "Firstborn" in Scripture means first in standing. That place may or may not follow birth order — here it does not.
- Nature loses the place. The order of nature is not God's order. The natural claim keeps giving way, because the firstborn stands for man in his own strength.
- The place takes strength. Guarding the gates meant keeping the defiled out and the qualified in. That took strength and courage, not humility alone.
- The place is given. Lot decided each gate, not preference. Every keeper had his own place and service.
- No place too small. It is part of majesty to think of what is least. We make much of great and small; to God the smallest thing has value.
Hilkijah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.
Verse 11 closes the list of one family of temple doorkeepers. Three more sons bring Hosah's sons and brothers to thirteen men in all, set to guard the doors of God's house. Three unfamiliar names and a number. They sit in a chapter where David, near the end of his reign, arranged every worker for the temple his son would build. So why does God keep such a list at all?
One writer notes that God arranged the lowest rank on David's list with as much care as the highest:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the doorkeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the doorkeepers through David, just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different groups of priests. Everything has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. It is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has value.
Hilkiah, Tebaliah and Zechariah come from the line of Merari, the third son of Levi. His descendants carried the heavy parts of the tent of worship:
They were in charge of the heavier parts of the tabernacle, and they had four wagons and eight oxen to carry them… They took their share of the duties that fell to the Levites during the kingdom. A third of the singers and a third of the doorkeepers were Merarites.
One writer draws out what the family name itself says about this work:
Merari's service has to do with the house of God, the church of the living God. It has to do with holding up Christ as the way in to God. And it has to do with supporting, strengthening and steadying what is His witness in the world… His name — Merari, "bitterness" — speaks of the painful character of such service. Self-love will break down at it, or run off from it into some odd path that is less of a burden to flesh and blood… Who cares for these boards and bars, and pillars and pins and cords? Who wants work of this lowly kind, costing so much and bringing in so little?
The job pulled in two directions at once:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They had to watch without letting up, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. They also had to keep the doors open, so that they shut out no priest who had the right to enter the temple.
One writer sets the doorkeepers beside the priests and lists what the job took:
We do not think often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal and forgetfulness of self. Strength and courage are needed too.
Another writer treats the porter's post as the lowest rung, and says the lowness is the point:
The first thought most people have about a doorkeeper in any household is that it is the lowest position. And that is true here too. If anyone wants to serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
A verse of three names and a number can look like filler. Writing about a similar list elsewhere in Scripture, one writer explains why God keeps such records:
He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does not only remember it Himself: He takes special care that untold millions will read the record.
The same holds for small services now:
These modest jobs are very valuable in the eyes of the Lord… It is the same today. Whether it is a matter of serving tables, of passing the bread and the cup, or of taking care of the "upper room", the Lord forgets none of it. He records the names of those who have kept the charge of this service just as fittingly as He records the others.
- Least noticed — God arranges doorkeepers with the same care as high priests. To Him the smallest thing has value. The split into great and small is ours, not His.
- Least glamorous — Hosah's family came from Merari, the branch that carried the heavy frame of the tent. That name speaks of the painful side of serving God's house, and anyone who would serve the Lord must take the lowest place.
- Least easy — the door had to be shut against defilement and open to every priest with a right to enter. That takes watchfulness both ways.
- Least expected — this lowly post called for strength and courage, not only humility, dependence, zeal and forgetfulness of self.
- Least forgotten — three names and a total of thirteen survive because God records every small act of service. He still records the names of those who keep such a service today.
Among these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, among the head-men, as to the charges together with their brethren, for performing the service in the house of Jehovah.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And they cast lots, the small as well as the great, according to their fathers' houses, for every gate.
The list of gatekeepers ends with a scene: heads of families drawing lots to see which entrance of the future temple each would guard. Why settle a simple duty roster this way? The answer shows how God hands out places in His house.
No one won a gate by seniority, family standing, or bargaining between the houses. The lot had already settled the places of the priests, the Levites and the singers:
Like the priests and the Levites, the singers were divided by lot, marked out by God's free choice. Man's will decided nothing, and that matters more than anything. The Lord's Anointed gives the order and the Lord makes the decision.
The lot did not only pick who would serve. It fixed where. It also fell by household, so sons served with their father at one named gate:
The lot showed who the doorkeepers of the future temple would be, and it also showed which gate each man was to keep. Shelemiah had charge of the east door. His son Zechariah, a wise counsellor, had charge of the north gate. Obed-Edom had charge of the south door. He was always blessed in a special way among all the others, because his sons had the storehouse under their care.
The man at a gate can fail in two opposite ways. He can let in what should stay out. He can also shut out what has every right to come in:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no unclean person entered the courts of the Lord. They also had to keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
Small and great drew alike, so no one could call the job beneath him. Nor was it an easy post. The list calls these men able and strong:
His sons are called leaders in their father's house, men of great courage, strong enough for the service. We do not think often enough that the work of the doorkeepers, like the work of the priests, needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed too.
The post wins no applause, because the job means saying no. Still, one man preferred it to anywhere else:
The psalmist would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than live in the tents of wickedness. A doorkeeper is not popular with people. He is responsible to keep out those who ought to be out, and to admit only those who ought to be in. But even the least appreciated work in God's house is far better than dwelling in the tents of wickedness.
One family in this list goes back to Korah. That background turns the roster into an account of mercy:
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When he and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons. As we read, "But the sons of Korah did not die." God's sovereign mercy snatched them from the very edge of destruction. Later He brought them into His sanctuary and gave them places of honourable service there. How closely this pictures our own case!
The lot belonged to that era. The principle did not end with it. One writer carries the chapter straight into Christian service:
These gatekeepers need to be strong men… They were placed at their posts by lot, which was how every gate was assigned at that time. Now the Holy Spirit gives each gatekeeper his own work. So each gatekeeper has his appointed place and service.
- Appointed, not applied for. The lot removed human will from the roster: the Lord's anointed gave the order and the Lord made the decision.
- Appointed to a place. The lot fixed the gate as well as the man — east, north, south, and the storehouse. Every entrance had its watchman.
- Appointed to a weight. The gatekeeper turns back what threatens the house. He also keeps the door open to everyone with a right to enter.
- Appointed regardless of size. Small and great drew alike. The lowly post still called for strong and brave men, not only humble ones.
- Appointed by mercy. God spared Korah's sons from destruction and later gave them honoured service in His sanctuary. That is how anyone comes to serve Him.
And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah; and they cast lots for Zechariah his son, a wise counsellor, and his lot came out northward;
Between the long lists of names in this chapter sits a small sentence about the work at the gates. Lots decided who guarded each door of God's house, and the north gate went to a man called a shrewd counselor. Two questions press on the reader — why leave such appointments to a lot at all, and why place a man of counsel at a door?
The lot was not chance. One writer traces the same method through these chapters. He sees God's own choice in it, not man's will:
Like the priests and the Levites, the singers were divided by lot, designated by God's free choice. Nothing was left to the will of man: that is of all importance. The Lord's Anointed orders and the Lord decides.
The lot did more than sort families into groups. It fixed which man stood at which gate. The same writer lists the result, and one family received more than a gate:
The lot showed who the doorkeepers of the future temple would be, and it also named the keeper of each gate. Shelemiah had charge of the door to the east. Zechariah, his son, a wise counsellor, had charge of the gate northward. Obed-Edom was in charge of the door to the south. But he was always specially blessed among all the others, for his sons had the storehouse under their direction.
A gate has two duties, and they pull in opposite directions:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They also had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. Yet they had to keep the doors open too, so that no member of the priesthood with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
Keeping a door sounds like the humblest of jobs. One writer says humility alone is not the whole story:
We do not think often enough that the service of the doorkeepers needed the same qualities as the service of the priests. It is not enough to say that this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are needed as well.
These doorkeepers came from the line of Korah. One writer explains who Korah was, and where his sons ended up:
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When he and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons. As we read, "Nevertheless, the sons of Korah did not die." Sovereign mercy snatched them, as it were, from the very brink of destruction. Afterwards they were brought into God's sanctuary, and given places of honourable service there.
Why does Scripture spend a chapter on who watched which door? One writer answers that caring about the least thing belongs to greatness:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the porters, for it is a part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God condescends to arrange by David for the porters, just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
Later in Israel's history, gatekeepers again stood at the doors of the house of the Lord. One writer carries that duty into the present day:
Gatekeepers were also set at the gates of the house of the Lord, to keep out what was unclean. This godly care is important in the Church of God today also. Many may not appreciate such work, but we must not ignore it for that reason. We always need discernment about what to let in and what to refuse. For if the enemy once gets in, even in a small way, he will use that to gain more ground, and so corrupt the Christian testimony.
after
- The Lord decides. The lot took the choosing out of human hands. The king ordered; the Lord decided.
- The place is given. Zechariah did not pick the north gate. Obed-Edom did not choose the storehouse. Each post came to a named man.
- The door is guarded. The door shuts out what is defiled. It opens for everyone with a right to come in.
- The grace is older than the gate. God spared Korah's line at the edge of destruction, then gave them honourable service in His sanctuary.
- The small is not small. The same Spirit who arranged the high priest arranged the doorkeepers. Only we sort service into great and small.
to Obed-Edom southward; and to his sons the storehouse.
This chapter posts every Levite family at a named gate, and the lot decides who gets which. Verse 15 sends Obed-edom to the south side and gives his sons the store-chambers. That raises two questions: why this man, and what is a door worth?
This family is far bigger than the others. One writer traces the reason back to the months when the ark of God stayed in Obed-edom's house.
In verses 1-21 we find the courses of the doorkeepers. Obed-Edom is here, as always, the object of special blessing. Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, has eighteen sons and brothers in his family marked out for this office. Hosah, of the family of Merari, has thirteen sons and brothers. Obed-Edom has sixty-two among his own descendants. He had eight sons, for the text says that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, together with his family, been the keeper of the ark in his house for three months? It was at that time that the Lord had blessed his house.
Rossier walks through the gates one by one. He reads verse 15 as one more mark of favour: this house gets a door and the storehouse as well.
The lot indicated the doorkeepers of the future temple, and it also settled who kept each gate. Shelemiah had charge of the door to the east. Zechariah, his son, a wise counsellor, had charge of the gate to the north. Obed-Edom had charge of the door to the south. But he was always blessed in a special way above all the others, for his sons had the storehouse under their direction.
So what did the sons actually receive? English Bibles differ: the ESV says "gatehouse," others say "storehouse." The older text left the Hebrew word standing as it was.
In 1 Chronicles 26:15, 17 the Hebrew word stands untranslated. The same word occurs in Nehemiah 12:25, where it reads "thresholds," with "treasuries" in the margin. It probably refers to the rooms used as storehouses in the outer temple.
C. Stanley quotes the older English wording of the verse and draws a line from the casting of lots to service today.
These doorkeepers need to be strong men. Such were the sons of Obed-Edom — "able men for strength for the service, sixty-two" (v. 8). The lot placed these doorkeepers at their posts; that was how every gate was assigned then. Now the Holy Spirit gives each doorkeeper his own work (1 Corinthians 12). Some serve in the gatherings, as it says, "To Obed-edom, southward, and to his sons the house of Asuppim" (margin, "gatherings")… So each doorkeeper now has his appointed place and service.
Rossier names the inner qualities the work takes, then says they are not the whole of it:
It is not enough to say that this unglamorous task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed too.
Guarding a gate was never only about keeping people out.
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attack on the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that they never shut out a priest who had the right to enter the temple.
A man who once housed the ark now stands at a doorway. That is no step down.
"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." It is easy to see the force of that. The doorkeeper has to be first to admit others, and has to remain till the last; he is there longest of all. In the margin it reads, "I would choose rather to sit at the threshold." We get a different thought here. He is content with the threshold, the lowest place, as long as he is in God's presence. Was God there? He would be there too.
- Cause — Obed-edom had cared for the ark in his own house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household then.
- Gift — The blessing shows in numbers. He has sixty-two descendants. The other two doorkeeper families have eighteen and thirteen.
- Post — The lot gave him the south door and gave his sons the store-rooms of the outer temple. The older text left that word, "Asuppim," untranslated; it may mean "thresholds" or "treasuries."
- Fitness — The task needs humility, dependence, zeal and self-forgetfulness. It needs strength and courage too. The sons were "able men for strength for the service."
- Trust — A doorkeeper keeps out what defiles and holds the door open to all who may enter. That place at the threshold beats the tents of wickedness.
To Shuppim and Hosah westward, with the gate Shallecheth, by the causeway of the ascent, watch against watch.
Deep in a long list of names and gates, the lot gives Shuppim and Hosah the west side of the temple, by a gate on an uphill road, one watch answering another. Why does God record which man stood at which door, and what does that say about how He hands out service?
One of the two men here appears elsewhere in David's arrangements, and the record keeps him tied to a single task.
A Levite and doorkeeper in the time of David.
The west gate did not come to these men by preference, seniority, or bargaining. The lot settled every post in this chapter, including theirs.
The lot indicated the doorkeepers of the future temple, and it also decided who kept each gate.
One writer sees the same appointing hand at work today, by another means.
The lot placed these doorkeepers at their posts. That was how every gate was assigned at that time. Now the Holy Spirit gives each doorkeeper his own work. So each doorkeeper still has his appointed place and service.
Guarding a gate meant two duties at once, pulling in opposite directions.
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attempt against the house of God. They had to watch with constant energy, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that they shut out no priest who had the right to enter the temple.
Being the man at the door looks like the bottom of the ladder, and one writer agrees that it is.
Most people think of a doorkeeper in any organisation as the lowest position. And it is true here also. If any man would serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
Yet the qualities listed for the family of Obed-Edom, another of these doorkeepers, are not what we expect from such a post.
Scripture says of Obed-Edom's sons that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not think often enough that the work of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and valour are necessary too.
The west gate stands on a road that climbs. One writer makes that uphill road a test of where a servant's work is heading.
It is good for each one to know his own appointed place. Service that is of the Spirit will be going up, waiting for the coming of the Lord. Service that is of the flesh will be going down to the world.
Behind the temple's doors, one writer sees another door to guard.
What is the door now but Christ? Their first service was to keep the door. Do we not now have to guard the door too? We must not only keep Satan and men from closing the doors again. We must also maintain the gospel of Jesus, the way into the holiest place. Note, they were placed by watches. The doorkeepers stood in four quarters — toward the east, west, north, and south. Oh, that each beloved servant of the Lord may know his appointment from the Lord!
- Appointed. The west gate came to Shuppim and Hosah by lot, not by choice. What the lot did then, the Holy Spirit does now: He gives every servant his place and his work.
- Guarded. The post is a double trust. Shut out what defiles the house, and never bar anyone who has the right to enter.
- The door. The door now is Christ. The servant keeps it open, holding out the gospel as the way into the holiest place.
- Strong. The post is the lowest one, yet Scripture calls these men mighty and able. Humility alone is not enough. It takes strength too.
- Going up. The gate stands on a road that climbs. Service in the Spirit goes up and waits for the Lord's coming. Service in the flesh goes down to the world.
Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and in the storehouse two [and] two.
This verse is a duty roster for the men who kept the gates: a set number on each side, day by day. Commentators treat it as a window into how God values small service, and how He hands it out.
The list has moved from priests to men who simply stand at doors. One writer sees greatness in that:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the porters, for it is a part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange the porters through David, just as He arranged the high priest and the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
One commentator sets this roster beside the service Christians receive now, and beside the direction that service takes:
Strong men these porters need to be. Such were the sons of Obed-Edom — "able men for strength for the service, sixty-two." Lots placed these porters in their wards, and that was how every gate was assigned then. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to the porters every man his work (1 Cor. 12)... Toward Asuppim, two and two... So now each porter has his appointed place and service. Some serve in the gatherings, in fellowship, two and two; others serve in the open air, on the road going up. Service that is of the Spirit will be going up, waiting for the coming of the Lord. Service that is of the flesh will be going down to the world.
His older translation keeps the Hebrew name Asuppim, where the ESV has "at the gatehouse."
Standing at a door looks like work anyone could do. The sons of Obed-Edom who held these posts were called able men for strength. One writer presses the point:
We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, required these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unappealing task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed too.
A gatekeeper's work sounds like nothing more than saying no. The same writer describes what the post actually demanded:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attack on the house of God. They had to watch with unbroken energy, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
The gates in this verse were guard posts. One writer sets out what that trust involved, and what follows when it is held loosely:
The porters, of course, were the doorkeepers. They carried the responsibility of admitting only those who had a lawful claim to enter the city, and of keeping out all who could not show the qualification needed to be inside. In a word, they had authority over the opening and the shutting of the doors. They held a most important post... Laxity or neglect here has produced the most serious consequences in many an assembly. In some cases it has destroyed all testimony for Christ, and brought positive dishonour on His blessed name.
A door is not a prominent place to stand. One writer starts with how such a post looks to us, and then draws a condition from it:
The first thought about a porter in any establishment is that it is the lowest position. And it is true here also; if any man would serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
- Appointed. Scripture records this roster because God Himself arranges the smallest service in His house, and "to God, the smallest thing has a value."
- Assigned. Lots settled each gate, not preference. Every servant should know his own appointed place and service.
- Equipped. The men at these doors were "able men for strength for the service" — the task called for courage and strength as much as humility.
- Watching. "Four each day" means the guard never lapsed. The door stayed shut against defilement and open to everyone with a right to enter.
- Honoured. The doorkeeper holds the lowest post and a most important trust. Whoever would serve the Lord must be willing to take it.
At the portico westward, four at the causeway, two at the portico.
This verse sits inside a list of gate assignments. It posts four men on the road going up the west side of the temple. Two more stand at the colonnade, a place better known by its Hebrew name, Parbar. Two questions follow: what were these places, and why does God's word keep such a small detail?
One Bible dictionary is frank about how little is known:
Some place connected with the temple, where two doorkeepers were stationed. Its meaning or location is not known. One revision's margin reads "the Precinct." Gesenius links the word to parvar, "suburbs" in 2 Kings 23:11 and "precincts" in that revision.
The same dictionary explains the causeway, the road named earlier in this list:
A gate "by the causeway of the going up." 1 Chronicles 26:16. The "going up" no doubt refers to a pathway that climbed from the lower part of the city to some entrance of the temple: compare 1 Kings 10:5. Such a causeway can still be traced, but it is hidden under the houses built in the valley.
A list of four men here and two men there can look like filler. One writer reads it as a mark of God's majesty:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the porters, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the porters through David, just as He did for the high priest, or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
Nobody in this chapter picked his own gate. Every post came by lot. One writer carries that straight over to the believer's service today:
Now read 1 Chronicles 26:1-19. These porters were placed in their wards by lot, the way of appointment then for every gate. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to the porters every man his work (1 Corinthians 12). Some have service in the gatherings, as it says, "To Obed-edom, southward, and to his sons the house of Asuppim" (margin, "gatherings"). Others have service on the causeway going up, ward against ward… So now each porter has his appointed place and service. Some in the gatherings in fellowship, two and two; others in the open air, the causeway going up. It is well for each one to know his own appointed Parbar. Service that is of the Spirit will be going up, waiting for the coming of the Lord. Service that is of the flesh will be going down to the world.
Commentators keep the lot in its own setting — it was how God's choice was shown before the Spirit was given, and the assignments it produced are traced gate by gate:
The doorkeepers of the future temple were indicated by lot, which also designated the keepers of each gate. Shelemiah had charge of the door to the east; Zechariah, his son, a wise counsellor, had charge of the gate northward; Obed-Edom was in charge of the door to the south.
Standing at a gate is not passive. It runs both ways — shutting and opening:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any move against the house of God. They had to watch without ever slacking off, so that no defiled person could enter the courts of the Lord. But they also had to keep the doors open, so that no member of the priesthood who had the right to enter the temple might be shut out.
The chapter describes these gatekeepers as fighting men:
Of Obed-Edom's sons it is said that they were rulers in their father's house, that they were mighty men of valour, able men in strength for the service. We do not reflect often enough that the service of the doorkeepers, like that of the priests, needed these qualities. It is not enough to say that this unimpressive task needs humility, dependence, zeal and self-forgetfulness. Strength and courage are needed too.
The gate at Parbar was nobody's idea of promotion. That is the point:
The first thought about a porter in any establishment is that it is the lowest position. And it is true here also: if any man would serve the Lord, he must take the lowest place.
Yet remove these men and the whole order collapses:
How many different functions these humble servants carried out! Modest functions, yes! But take them away, and the whole order of the Lord's service would have been interrupted, or even stopped altogether. Let us think about this. When the Lord entrusts a service to us, however small it looks, let us carry it out with zeal. It is necessary for the order of the house of God.
- Place — Parbar's meaning and location are unknown. The causeway was the road that climbed up to the temple.
- Placed — Every post came by lot, not by preference. One writer applies this to the Spirit giving each believer his own work.
- Purpose — A gatekeeper works in two directions. He keeps out what defiles. He keeps the door open to those with the right to enter.
- Power — The job called for humility and dependence. It also called for strength and courage. These were able men, not spare men.
- Prize — The lowest place carries the highest trust. God counts the smallest thing as great, and nothing in His house runs without it.
These are the divisions of the doorkeepers among the sons of the Korahites and among the sons of Merari.
Chapter 26 has gone through the temple gates one by one — east, north, south, west — and now gathers them under two family names. Why does Scripture record who watched which door, and what did the work involve?
The first name in the verse belongs to a family already known in the sanctuary:
They were descendants of Korah, the grandson of Kohath. Their two main duties were the service of song and keeping the doors of the sanctuary.
One writer traces what happened to the children of that family:
These were the family of the man who led the disastrous revolt in the wilderness described in Numbers 16. When he and his company were swallowed up, God in His mercy spared his sons, as we read, "Nevertheless, the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). Sovereign mercy snatched them from the very brink of destruction. Later God brought them into His sanctuary and gave them places of honourable service there (1 Chron. 26). How remarkably typical of our own case! We were once standing on the brink of a more dreadful destruction than they, but God has saved us in His grace, brought us into His own presence, and given us the privilege and joy of serving before Him.
The word "divisions" points to households counted one by one. One writer lines up the numbers, and one family stands out:
Meshelemiah, the son of Korah, counts eighteen sons and brothers set apart for this work in his family. Hosah, of the family of Merari, counts thirteen sons and brothers. But Obed-Edom counts sixty-two among his direct descendants. He had eight sons, for Scripture says that God had blessed him (v. 5). Had he not, together with his family, been the keeper of the ark in his house for three months?
Door duty sounds like an easy post. The same writer shows two halves to it, pulling in opposite directions:
The doorkeepers had charge of all the gates of the temple. They had to be able to drive back any attack on the house of God. They had to watch without a break, so that no defiled person entered the courts of the Lord. They also had to keep the doors open, so that no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
Rossier adds that the usual list of qualities is not the whole of it: "this unattractive task needs humility, dependence, zeal, and self-forgetfulness; strength and courage are needed also."
A whole chapter spent on door duty says something about the God who inspired it:
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the doorkeepers, for it is part of true greatness to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange, through David, for the doorkeepers, just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different courses of priesthood. All has its place, and whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the differences between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
One writer moves from how these posts were filled to how service is assigned now:
These doorkeepers need to be strong men. So were the sons of Obed-Edom — "able men qualified for the service," sixty-two of them (v. 8). The lot placed these doorkeepers at their posts, which was how every gate was assigned in that day. Now the Holy Spirit appoints to the doorkeepers every man his work (1 Cor. 12). … So now each doorkeeper has his appointed place and service.
One writer brings the same duty into the church of today:
Gatekeepers are mentioned first. Theirs is a job with heavy responsibility, for they must let in all who should be in and keep out all who should be out. So they need to tell apart those who make false claims and those who are true. In the Church of God today we need such gatekeepers, but the Church has no authority to appoint them. Since the Spirit of God dwells in the Church, He will stir godly men to do this needed work willingly, with no appointment at all. They have the Word of God to guide them in this, for the Spirit of God always works by means of that Word.
- Mercy — these families trace back to a rebel's household that God spared, and mercy alone brought them into the sanctuary.
- Place — the record counts every household and gives each a post; Obed-Edom's sixty-two mark a house God had blessed.
- Strength — the lowest post needs strong and able men, since the door must stay shut to defilement and open to everyone with the right to enter.
- Value — the Spirit arranged the doorkeepers with the same care as the high priest; only we split service into great and small.
- Today — the Church cannot appoint gatekeepers, yet the Spirit still stirs godly men to guard the door by the Word.
And the Levites Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things.
David is at the end of his life, arranging a temple he will never see built, and this verse puts Ahijah over its two treasuries. Why record the men who guarded the money and gifts, and what were these "dedicated gifts" stored up for?
This verse does not stand alone. It belongs to a long block of chapters with a single subject.
From this chapter to 1 Chronicles 26:28-29 everything refers to the house which is to be built. We see the provision that David made of everything needed to build it. We see the order of the Levites' service: those appointed to sing, those among them who were doorkeepers, and the priests in their divisions. David ordered and arranged all of it.
The Levites named here come from one branch of the tribe. Their history runs from carrying curtains in the desert to guarding gold.
Eldest son of Levi, born before the children of Israel entered Egypt, and his descendants... Their charge was the framework of the tabernacle and the tent, with the hangings and curtains... In the kingdom, under Asaph and his sons, they "prophesied according to the order of the king." Others had charge of the "treasures of the house of God, and were over the treasures of the holy things," and of the precious stones.
The two treasuries are not the same. The second holds gifts that people set apart, and those gifts came out of Israel's wars.
Among the Levites (vv. 20-28) we find those appointed over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the holy things. This period came before the reign of peace. A descendant of Moses (v. 24) was the overseer of the treasures. Another, Shelomith with his brothers, had charge "over all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts, which David the king and the heads of the fathers' houses and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated. From spoil taken in battle they had dedicated gifts for the maintenance of the house of the LORD"... until the moment when Solomon would use all these treasures.
(The commentator quotes an older English version; the wording above follows the ESV.)
These same two treasuries reappear when David hands the plans to his son. The arrangement was not David's idea.
We see how completely David is the source of everything here. It was not any question of his own will. "And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of Jehovah, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things"... "All this, said David, Jehovah made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." It was really God arranging all by His servant.
(This commentator also quotes an older English version of the Bible.)
Stored wealth taken in conflict has a lesson for believers now. What one generation fought for, the next inherits.
Here again we may be enriched by "the revenues of the ages," for in the house that serves as a picture we read of treasures, both the dedicated things and what was taken as the spoils of war. (See 1 Chr. 26:20-28.) We may take the spoils of victory found there as a picture of the way the whole circle of truth is available for us today. Men of God won much of it through many a conflict.
The other treasury pictures something else: not spoils won in war, but the fruit of God's own work.
But there were also the dedicated things. These we may take as a picture of the spiritual realities recorded in Ephesians 2. Here all is the fruit of God's workmanship. Both Jew and Gentile are made one in a new order of grace and glory, with the dividing wall broken down. The distance is gone. Now there is the intimacy of nearness in Christ Jesus, and all of it rests righteously on His shed blood... And there is still more: we see the saints as the household of God, as a growing temple, and last of all as a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Here we are surrounded by the accumulated treasures of God's house.
- Treasure gathered. These chapters all look forward to a house not yet built, and David arranged every part of it.
- Treasure named. The verse names two stores: the treasures of the house of God, and the treasures of the dedicated gifts.
- Treasure won. The dedicated gifts came out of battle, set apart to keep the house of the Lord supplied.
- Treasure guarded. Levites who once carried the tent curtains now hold the treasures of God's house, the holy things and the precious stones.
- Treasure inherited. The wealth waited in trust until Solomon used it. Today the truth won through past conflict, and the work God Himself has done, fill the chambers of His house.
The sons of Laadan, the sons of the Gershonites of Laadan, chief fathers of Laadan the Gershonite Jehieli;
David is near the end of his life, setting the house of God in order for the son who will build it. Here the list reaches Ladan's branch of the Gershonites — Laadan in some translations — the family that kept the treasure of God's house, and it raises a question: why does God record such names at all?
This list is not an appendix. It belongs with David's preparations for the temple.
From this chapter to 1 Chronicles 26:28-29 everything refers to the house that is to be built. We see how David provided everything needed to build it. We see the order of the Levites' service: those appointed for song, those among them who were gatekeepers, and the priests in their divisions. David ordered and arranged it all. Everything depended on the king, and this shows it: with no break at all, his other royal appointments follow — his house, his administration, his officers and guard — and finally the chief men among the people.
So Ladan's sons do not simply get a job. David gives them a place in an order that points to the temple.
Ladan descends from Gershon, the eldest son of Levi. They had carried holy things before, and their work changed as Israel's worship changed.
At the counting of the Israelites in the wilderness there were 7,500 Gershonites, a branch of the Levites. Their charge was the framework of the tabernacle and the tent, with the hangings and curtains… In the kingdom, under Asaph and his sons, they "prophesied according to the order of the king." Others had charge of the "treasures of the house of God, and were over the treasures of the holy things," and of the precious stones.
The last word of the verse looks like a person but functions like a surname.
Gershonite family who had charge of the treasures. 1 Chr. 26:21-22. Apparently a family name formed from the name Jehiel.
Later, when David called Israel to give for the house of God, the people's gifts passed through Jehiel's hands.
"Those who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite." The record lists all this with the greatest care. "Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly; with a whole heart they offered willingly to Jehovah, and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."
These treasurers guarded wealth they would never spend. Many hands had given it, and it waited for a reign that had not yet come.
Among the Levites (vv. 20-28) we find men appointed over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the holy things. In this time before the reign of peace, a descendant of Moses (v. 24) was the overseer of the treasures. Another, Shelomith with his brothers, had charge "over all the treasures of the dedicated things." King David, the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army had dedicated them out of the spoils of war, to maintain the house of Jehovah. This charge lasted until the moment when Solomon would use all these treasures.
Such trustees are an example to copy. The same writer turns that into a rule for us, and shows what goes wrong when people forget it.
May we copy them in the responsibilities, great or small, which the Lord entrusts to us. May we never count anything He puts into our hand as our own. It is His, to be handed back to Him after we have managed it faithfully for Him. Most of the time the frauds, great or small, which Christians become guilty of… have no other cause than this. They count as their own something the Lord has given them to manage.
A reader may wonder why Scripture spends a verse on a storeroom family. Commentators answer that God's habit is to name His servants rather than summarise them.
He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does not only remember it Himself: He takes special care that untold millions will read the record… He will go into detail that might strike us as tedious… rather than leave out a single name of any of His servants, or a single item of their work.
- Placed — Ladan's family stands in a section where every appointment points to the house David's son would build.
- Prepared — In the wilderness the Gershonites carried the tabernacle's curtains. In the kingdom they kept the treasures and the precious stones.
- Named — "Jehieli" marks a family, not one man. Jehiel the Gershonite received the people's precious stones.
- Trusted — These treasurers held gifts dedicated from war and from many givers, and kept them untouched until Solomon's reign.
- Remembered — Nothing we hold for God is ever our own. He records even the smallest service, so millions read it.