1 Chronicles 26:1-19--Divisions of the Gatekeepers

1 Chronicles 26:1-19
English Standard Version

Divisions of the Gatekeepers
26 As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. 2 And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3 Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. 4 And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, 5 Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth, for God blessed him. 6 Also to his son Shemaiah were sons born who were rulers in their fathers' houses, for they were men of great ability. 7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers were able men, Elihu and Semachiah. 8 All these were of the sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers, able men qualified for the service; sixty-two of Obed-edom. 9 And Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, able men, eighteen. 10 And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him chief), 11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

​12 These divisions of the gatekeepers, corresponding to their chief men, had duties, just as their brothers did, ministering in the house of the LORD. 13 And they cast lots by fathers' houses, small and great alike, for their gates. 14 The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, and his lot came out for the north. 15 Obed-edom's came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the gatehouse. 16 For Shuppim and Hosah it came out for the west, at the gate of Shallecheth on the road that goes up. Watch corresponded to watch. 17 On the east there were six each day, on the north four each day, on the south four each day, as well as two and two at the gatehouse. 18 And for the colonnade on the west there were four at the road and two at the colonnade. 19 These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the Korahites and the sons of Merari.

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David took care of even the smallest divisions of labor for everything to be ready for Solomon--even the doorkeepers (security detail) were worked out ahead of time on a rotating schedule.  All the Levites had something to do, knew what their responsibilities were, and knew when they were to rotate on and rotate off their duties.  They system was efficient and there was enough redundancy that if they needed to call in for extra help for some reason, they easily could (we'll see that in the book of Kings when they needed to have extra security for a coronation).  While King David gave these instructions, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.  We should not imagine that this means that the executive body of the government ("The State") has absolute authority over "The Chruch.  Jesus is the Head of His Body, the Church, and He's the one that gives instructions (through the Bible and the Holy Spirit by way of a group of elders.  We should be willing to accept joyfully any position, role and duty we are given and trust Him to bestow the appropriate giftedness on us to complete the task He's given us.  We should not covet another's role, title, or giftings, but should be content to be the part of the body with the function that He has given to us.  We all work together as one following the direction of one Head, which is Christ.  It is Him we obey and glorify, even if we are simply a "gatekeeper" and not a musician, or government official or priest.  David longed to even be a doorkeeper in the house of God, not to covet the position, but to say service in any position can be satisfying when we are serving the LORD, even if it doesn't look like it would be a rewarding or fulfilling position.