-- 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.