Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Temple Officers (1 Chron. 26:1-32)


11/21/2010 7:55:18 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Temple officers

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1Chron. 26:1-32

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  For the divisions of the gatekeepers there were of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. 2  Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3  Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. 4  Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, 5  Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth; God had indeed blessed him. 6  Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were mighty men of valor. 7  The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers, Elihu and Semachiah, were valiant men. 8  All these were of the sons of Obed-edom; they and their sons and their relatives were able men with strength for the service, 62 from Obed-edom. 9  Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, 18 valiant men. 10  Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first), 11  Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and relatives of Hosah were 13. 12  To these divisions of the gatekeepers, the chief men, were given duties like their relatives to minister in the house of the LORD. 13  They cast lots, the small and the great alike, according to their fathers’ households, for every gate. 14  The lot to the east fell to Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a counselor with insight, and his lot came out to the north. 15  For Obed-edom it fell to the south, and to his sons went the storehouse. 16  For Shuppim and Hosah it was to the west, by the gate of Shallecheth, on the ascending highway. Guard corresponded to guard. 17  On the east there were six Levites, on the north four daily, on the south four daily, and at the storehouse two by two. 18  At the Parbar on the west there were four at the highway and two at the Parbar. 19  These were the divisions of the gatekeepers of the sons of Korah and of the sons of Merari.

   “ 20 ¶  The Levites, their relatives, had charge of the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of the dedicated gifts. 21  The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, namely, the Jehielites, were the heads of the fathers’ households, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite. 22  The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel his brother, had charge of the treasures of the house of the LORD. 23  As for the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites, 24  Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasures. 25  His relatives by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son and Shelomoth his son. 26  This Shelomoth and his relatives had charge of all the treasures of the dedicated gifts which King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had dedicated. 27  They dedicated part of the spoil won in battles to repair the house of the LORD. 28  And all that Samuel the seer had dedicated and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had dedicated anything, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.

    “29 ¶  As for the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned to outside duties for Israel, as officers and judges. 30  As for the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, had charge of the affairs of Israel west of the Jordan, for all the work of the LORD and the service of the king. 31  As for the Hebronites, Jerijah the chief (these Hebronites were investigated according to their genealogies and fathers’ households, in the fortieth year of David’s reign, and men of outstanding capability were found among them at Jazer of Gilead) 32  and his relatives, capable men, were 2,700 in number, heads of fathers’ households. And King David made them overseers of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites concerning all the affairs of God and of the king.”

 

            This group of people included gatekeepers (verses 1-19), treasurers (verses 20-28), and miscellaneous officials who were scattered outside Jerusalem (verses 29-32). 

            The gatekeepers stood at the various gates to watch the people go in and out, and probably made sure that the worship of the Lord was in line with what it was supposed to be.

             There were many who gave money for the building and also the maintaining of the temple including David and some of his generals, Saul, and even Samuel had left money for this purpose.  These officials were in charge of watching these treasurers.

            The last group was in charge of things outside of Jerusalem including those two and a half tribes that were on the West side of the Jordan River.  These officials likely took care of taxes and some of them may have been teaching the people the things of the Lord because they were so far from Jerusalem.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I seen in this passage is that things were organized in a very good way with a very good plan to keep it that way.  While I was working at Ford and even at Grace Baptist Church I always had to have a plan to do my job the best that I could do it.  I have a plan to do my devotions each day.  Whenever I get involved in something I have to have a plan and this is good and it seems to me it is something that is seen in various parts of the Scriptures.  God had a plan to make the earth as talked about in the book of Job when the Lord was speaking to Job.  One thing that is a must in my planning is that it be done with the wisdom of the Lord and this can only happen through Bible reading and through much prayer.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to be in the battle using all of the spiritual armor that is provided for me, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  Prayer is the other offensive weapon. 

2.      Trust the Lord through these somewhat difficult times of troubles with my health that are coming at a very difficult time.  God is in charge and knows what is going on and He has a plan.

 

11/21/2010 8:28:28 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment