Mattaniah and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were doorkeepers keeping the ward at the storehouses of the gates.
Nehemiah 12 records by name the priests and Levites who served the house of God. This verse names six men posted at the gates, guarding the storehouses. Why does God write down names like these, and what was the work He honoured?
The chapter keeps a record of service. It sets the men who watched the gates beside the men who led the music.
In the early part of this chapter (1-26) the Lord names those who were busy in the service of the house of God. In a day of weakness, it was no small thing in God's sight to keep the service of the house going. While His people were in sorrow, it was no small thing to lead the praise and thanksgiving to Himself. God has marked His approval by recording the names of the chief priests, the Levites, those who led "the thanksgiving," those who kept "the watches," and the doorkeepers who kept guard "at the storehouses of the gates."
A list of names can look like filler. One writer sees honour in it, and a reward still to come:
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 He will glorify their persons in the great day that is coming soon.
These men served in a time of sorrow, when the work took more faith than it would in better days.
It seems as if God had a special delight in those who served His house in this time of sorrow. It took more faith and more spiritual energy then to give yourself to the interests of His people. He has caused these names to be recorded… True, there was failure, very sad failure, in some of the men named here. God is never blind to the failure of His people. Yet in His eyes they were clothed with the beauty which He in His own grace had put on them. In keeping their names, He would remember nothing but their service among His people in this sorrowful time of their low estate.
The gatekeeper's job was to control who got in and who stayed out.
The porters were the doorkeepers. It was their responsibility to let in only those who had a lawful claim to enter the city, and to keep out everyone who could not show the necessary qualification to be inside. In a word, they had authority over the opening and the shutting of the doors. They held a most important post, and so do the doorkeepers of today. It is true, and must always be insisted on, that every believer — every member of the body of Christ — has his place, for example, at the Lord's supper. Yet the "doorkeepers" of the assembly are responsible to ask for the evidence that people are what they claim to be. Slackness or neglect here has produced the most serious consequences in many an assembly.
The same post carried a second duty, one that pulls the other way:
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 no priest with the right to enter the temple was shut out.
One writer ties the work at the door directly to the worship inside:
The singers gave the Lord His portion. Only the redeemed can sing the songs of Zion. So the doorkeepers must carry out their responsibilities faithfully, if the Lord is to have His portion. To let in those without divine qualifications is to admit those who cannot sing. Slackness in the doorkeepers will mean loss to the singers. Where the doorkeepers are lax, worship is lost.
Not everyone was fit to stand at the door.
Those who undertake the work of porters, singers, or Levites must be men who, like Hananiah, are marked by faithfulness and the fear of God. Neither social position, wealth, nor having a gift would qualify anyone for the care of the Assembly of God. Such work calls for moral qualifications.
- Watched — Six men guarded the gates where the storehouses stood — the entrance, and all that was kept behind it.
- Named — God wrote their names down. He takes pleasure in recording the names of His servants, and will honour their persons later.
- Costly — The service came in a time of sorrow and weakness, when it took more faith. God delights in that.
- Two duties — The door works both ways: keep out what defiles, and stay open to everyone with a right to enter.
- Guarded song — Only the redeemed can sing, so a lax gate silences the singers. The post belongs to men marked by faithfulness and the fear of God, not by position or gift.
These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.
The long list of priests and Levites in this chapter ends with a date instead of another name. Why does Scripture pause to fix these servants in time, and why does it tie them to Joiakim, Nehemiah and Ezra?
The verse sits at a seam in the book:
Nehemiah 12:1-26 gives a list of the priests who went up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and also of the Levites recorded as chief of the fathers at certain periods. In Nehemiah 12:27-43 we have the dedication of the wall.
The paragraph before this verse names Levites and doorkeepers and their duties. This verse says when they served:
In due place the Levites follow. First they come in a general way down to the days of the latest high priest named (v. 22). Verse 23 records them "in the book of the chronicles" until the days of the high priest before him, Jonathan or Johanan. Then in verses 24, 25, we have the specific services. First come the chief Levites, then the doorkeepers who kept the watch at the storehouses of the gates in the days of Joiakim, Jeshua's son, and in the days of Nehemiah and of Ezra. This gives the connection, if not the reason, for putting the paragraph here.
The verse calls Joiakim the son of Jeshua. The verses around it trace that family further:
In verses 12-21 we have the names of the chief of the fathers (priests) in the days of Joiakim. Joiakim was the son of Jeshua (v. 10). Then verse 22 states that the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua were recorded as chief of the fathers, and the priests too, to the reign of Darius the Persian. Comparing this with verses 10, 11, we find that this goes five generations down from Jeshua. In other words, those names are the line of high priests to the fifth generation from Jeshua.
The verse gives each man a title. The two titles point to two kinds of work:
Ezra seems to have moved on the religious side of things, while Nehemiah was more on the line of the kingdom. Nehemiah was a governor; Ezra was a priest.
That difference runs through both books as a whole:
Ezra, as priest, gave us under the Holy Spirit the sacred relations of those that came back from Babylon to Jerusalem. Nehemiah felt no less for God and His people in their low estate. In his position he was inspired to set out their civil condition.
The list does more than keep records. It shows what God thought of the work:
In the early part of this chapter (1-26) the Lord picks out by name the men who served in the house of God. In a day of weakness it was no small thing in His sight to keep up the service of the house. It was no small thing, in the middle of the sorrows of His people, to lead the praise and thanksgiving to Himself. And God has marked His approval by recording their names: the chief priests, the Levites, those who led "the thanksgiving," who kept "the watches," and the porters who kept "the watch at the storehouses of the gates."
Some of the men named here failed later. The list does not hold that against them:
It would seem as if God had a special delight in those who served His house in this time of sorrow. Being devoted to the interests of His people then took more faith and more spiritual energy… It is true that there was failure, very sad failure, with some named here. God is never blind to the failure of His people. Yet in His eyes these men were clothed with the beauty which He in His own grace had put upon them. In preserving their names, He would remember nothing but their service among His people in this sorrowful time when they were brought low.
The comfort in that reaches down to the smallest name on the list:
It is good to serve the Lord in the place He gives to each of us, and to serve for the purpose of showing His glory. It is full of cheer to know that He remembers each one. He would have all of us forget not even the least one who serves Him.
- Recorded — The verse closes a long register of priests and Levites. It stands just before the dedication of the wall.
- Dated — Naming Joiakim, Nehemiah and Ezra fixes when these Levites and gatekeepers served. It also explains why the paragraph stands here.
- Paired — Two titles, two kinds of work. Nehemiah the governor cared for the people's civil condition; Ezra the priest and scribe for their sacred relations.
- Approved — Keeping the service of God's house going in a day of weakness was no small thing in His sight. He marked His approval by writing the names down.
- Remembered — Some of these men failed later. Yet in keeping their names, God remembers their service, down to the least one who serves Him.