1 Chronicles 9:1-34
1 Chronicles 8 has brought us to the kingship according to the flesh, whose ruin will be shown us in 1 Chron. 10; whereas 1 Chron. 9 shows us the final ruin of the people: "Judah was carried away to Babylon because of their transgression" (1 Chron. 9:1). We then find the restoration of a feeble remnant, mentioned in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, in order to await the promised Messiah at Jerusalem. This ninth chapter (1 Chron. 9) corresponds to Nehemiah 11. Yet it differs significantly from Neh. 11, both with regard to the number of the sons of Judah and Benjamin who dwelt at Jerusalem, and with regard to their names. 1 Chron. 9 adds collateral branches. With regard to the priests and Levites, it is much closer to Nehemiah. Finally, it defines the functions of the doorkeepers of the temple very exactly. We learn also what Nehemiah does not reveal, that some of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh, probably left in the land of Canaan at the time of the captivity of their tribes, came to dwell at Jerusalem (1 Chron. 9:3) with the children of Judah and of Benjamin.
Let us note yet another detail. In 1 Chron. 9:13 the priests are termed "able men for the work of the service of the house of God." Indeed the same strength is needed for the service of the house of God as for combat. These functions are very different in nature, but the same spiritual energy is necessary for both the one and the other.
In 1 Chron. 9:17-23 we learn what the service, in part, of the Levites was. In these days of restoration they were doorkeepers at the gate of the temple, called "the king's gate." Formerly they had been "keepers of the thresholds of the tent and their fathers, set over the camp of Jehovah, were keepers of the entrance. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them formerly." Of him it was said: "Jehovah was with him" (1 Chron. 9:20), and that says everything. David and Samuel had instituted the doorkeepers in their trust when the temple, called "the house of the tent" in 1 Chron. 9:23, had not yet been built. But still more, these Levite doorkeepers were "over the chambers and over the treasuries of the house of God; for they stayed round about the house of God during the night, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them" (1 Chron. 9:26-27). Finally, "part of them had the charge of the instruments of service, for by number they brought them in and by number they brought them out. Part of them also were appointed over the vessels, and over all the holy instruments, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices" (1 Chron. 9:28-29). Others were "in trust over the things that were made in the pans. And some of the sons of the Kohathites, their brethren, were over the loaves to be set in rows, to prepare them every sabbath." Finally, there were "the singers" (1 Chron. 9:31-33).
How many diverse functions these humble servants carried on! Modest functions, yes, but without them the entire order of the Lord's service would have been interrupted, or even discontinued! Let us think of this, and when the Lord confides a service to us, insignificant though it may appear to be, let us carry it out with zeal, reminding ourselves that it is necessary for the order of the house of God. Whatever may be our task, may we know "how one ought to conduct oneself in God's house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15)!