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Chronicles 24, 25 and 26 remind me that our God is a God of order.
One of David’s great strengths was his ability to organize men. As
we see in these three chapters, God worked through David to organize
His Temple ministers. While I know God works in the lives and hearts
of individuals, He does not contradict Himself. Many people have
been hurt in the name of being led by God’s Spirit. One of the
reasons we have God’s Written Word is because we love to do our own
thing. The chapter begins, “The
sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. But Nadab and
Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar
and Ithamar served as the priests“.
Once again the Chronicler omits the specific failure of men because
our past does not disqualify us for His greater purposes today. The
chapter continues, “David
separated them into divisions for their appointed order of
ministering… They divided them impartially by drawing lots, for
there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of God among the
descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar“.
Each of the priests were listed by name and given his sequence of
service. And the chapter explains the same process was used “for
the rest of the descendants of Levi“.
Have you been doing your own thing?
In
Chapter 25, David organized the musicians. Creative people tend to
resist structure, but once order is established, freedom thrives.
“David,
together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons
of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying,
accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals“.
David was a musician also, and he understood the power of music to
affect our mind, body and spirit. “All
these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music
of the temple of the Lord… for the ministry at the house of God…
under the supervision of the king… all of them trained and skilled
in music for the Lord…Young and old alike, teacher as well as
student, cast lots for their duties“.
It is important to point out how Satan has taken music that was
meant for ministry and corrupted it into a hindrance. Has your
praise become “pop”? Psalm 96 begins, “Oh,
sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation
from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders
among all peoples. For the Lord is
great and greatly to be praised“.
Finally,
chapter 26 discusses “the
gatekeepers“.
First notice, “These
divisions of the gatekeepers… had duties for ministering in the
temple of the Lord, just as their relatives had“.
It seems their role was viewed as an important ministry. That
reminds me that no matter what your job is, you have a ministry that
does not begin and end on Sunday. Gatekeepers monitored both what
went in and what went out of the city and the temple. In Matthew
15:11 Jesus said, “Not
what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the
mouth, this defiles a man“.
Our words are powerful, particularly to those close to us. And
finally notice, “Guard
was alongside of guard“.
Again and again in scripture we read of shared burden. If your
ministry has lost its joy, remember the Lords promise, “For
where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in
the midst of them“.
AMEN!