Even if you are getting a bit cross-eyed 🤪reading all these names, you have to respect the ancient Israelites for keeping such meticulous records. How many of us could name our ancestors back through more than a couple generations? And they didn’t have Ancestry.com.
There are a couple names I want to point out but mostly I want to look at some material in chapter 9.
CHAPTER 8 – MISCELLANEOUS NAMES
- Elijah in 8:27 is likely not Elijah the Prophet. While we don’t know the prophet’s genealogy, he is consistently called “Elijah the Tishbite” (because he was from Tishbee, east of the Jordan River) while the Elijah in 1 Chronicles 8:27 is said in verse 28 to have lived in Jerusalem. And the prophet Elijah – as far as we know – never lived in Jerusalem.
- Ner in 8:30 is the father of Kish who was the father of Saul. Ner also had a brother named Kish. Ner was also the father of Abner the General. So Abner was Saul’s Uncle.
- Ab = father in Hebrew
- Ner = Ner.
- So, Ab-Ner = Father: Ner
- Merib-baal in 8:34 means “quarreler of Baal.” It’s very similar to the nickname given to Gideon: Jerubbaal which means “let Baal contend.” These nicknames were similar to how Native Americans might have names like Grey Wolf or Fighting Bear.
- Merib-Baal was a nickname for Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan who was crippled in his feet.
- “Jonathan was the father of Merib-baal. Merib-baal was the father of Micah.” 1 Chronicles 8:34 NLT
- “Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica.…”. 2 Samuel 9:12 NLT
CHAPTER 9 – SPOILER ALERT!
“The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the Lord.”
1 Chronicles 9:1 NLT
It’s obvious that this part had to have been written AFTER the exile. It’s a little like peeking at the end of the book before reading the story.
The fact that these returning exiles can trace their ancestry back to the sons of Jacob is staggering to me. We’re talking like about 1500-1600 years of history for them. I know the name of ONE of my ancestors from the late 1300’s and that feels amazing to me. That’s only about 1200 years ago. I couldn’t tell you a single one of my ancestors from 1500-1600 years ago. Few people can. And we have online searchable databases.
“Among the priests who returned were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jakin, Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub. Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God.”
1 Chronicles 9:10-11 NLT
Keep an eye out for this priest, Zadok. He is an important person. His descendants were the priests in Jerusalem through the entire period of kings and again after the Babylonian Exile. But when the New Testament opens, the Zadokite priesthood is not there.
In the 400-year period of history between the end of the OT and the beginning of the NT, there were several major wars where Israel was caught in the crossfire. Four distinct religious/political parties developed.
- Pharisees – extreme law-keepers (It’s fair, I see), relied on the teachings of rabbis, went by the calendar developed during the Babylonian Exile based on the moon so they were called “Sons of Darkness”
- Sadducees – materialists, didn’t believe in the supernatural (that’s why they’re sad, you see), go along to get along, compromise with Greece and Rome so they were called “The Teachers of Smooth Things”
- Essenes – Qumran community by the Dead Sea who wrote/copied what we know as “The Dead Sea Scrolls,” started by the descendants of Zadok when they were run out of Jerusalem by the other parties above when they gained power. They continued to use an ancient solar-based calendar to know the dates of the Feasts of Israel so they called themselves “The Sons of Light.”
- Zealots – This was a group that patterned themselves after the warrior-family called The Maccabees. They engaged in guerrilla-style warfare against Rome and believed in a political Messiah.
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Next we get a whole section on the Gatekeepers who returned from the Exile; their names and ancestry and a brief history of the position of Gatekeeper.
This was not an insignificant job. These men were like holy bouncers. They had to keep the riff-raff AND the ceremonially impure out of Sacred Space. They were the armed guards. These were not “mall cops” armed with nothing more than a radio, a badge, and a golf cart.
Their founding father was Phinehas – the grandson of Aaron who ran a spear through an Israelite man and the pagan Moabite woman he was having sex with because they were defiling the holiness of God’s Camp.
But here’s what stood out to me:
“These gatekeepers and their descendants, by their divisions, were responsible for guarding the entrance to the house of the Lord when that house was a tent.”
1 Chronicles 9:23 NLT
In the camp of Israel, the Levites were camped closest to the Tabernacle. These Gatekeepers were all Levites. Their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers before them had all worked at the Tabernacle. It was like a family trade. Fathers would teach their sons what to look for, how to stop someone, how to fight and handle a sword.
There were hundreds of them. At times, thousands.
It must’ve been exciting for the Gatekeepers when Solomon’s Temple was built. Then they had actual gates to keep. Before that, it was just a curtain. Imagine the importance of being a Gatekeeper at a temple plated top to bottom in gold, silver, and bronze and filled with gold and silver items. If you’ve ever seen the armed guards and the armed trucks that transfer money to and from banks, you get the idea. You’re not just some dude that walked on the job and punched a clock. Your background has been checked six ways from Sunday. So has all your family. There is a prestige to being a Gatekeeper for the Temple.
But… these Gatekeepers were guarding the entrance of the House of the Lord “when that house was a tent.”
Jesus told a parable of a man who went away and left his servants in charge and gave each of them some money to invest on his behalf. When the master returned and took an account of his servants, Jesus describes this response to a faithful servant:
“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! ’”
Matthew 25:21 NLT
Even if the work the Lord has given you to go right now only looks like guarding a tent rather than a golden temple, be faithful in it, my friend. Don’t compare yourself to others. Just be faithful in what YOU are called to do. If you are, you will be granted a more prestigious post at the Lord’s return.
The Temple Library of Things…
“Some of the gatekeepers were assigned to care for the various articles used in worship. They checked them in and out to avoid any loss.”
1 Chronicles 9:28 NLT
If you’ve been in a larger library lately, you may have been surprised to see that you could check out cake pans and a stand mixer, a metal detector, a guitar, a fishing pole, power tools, a sewing machine, or even time on a 3D printer. There are even strange and wonderful libraries around the world that check out preserved (stuffed) critters, bird nests, art work, and sculpted models of various things.
But apparently, the Levitical Gatekeepers were the first to do a “Library of Things.”
I wonder if the temple workers had to have a library card? 🤓
FULL-TIME MUSICIANS
“The musicians, all prominent Levites, lived at the Temple. They were exempt from other responsibilities since they were on duty at all hours.” 1 Chronicles 9:33 NLT
And you think your worship service is long.
😉
There was music at the Tabernacle of David and the Temple “at all hours.” Think about that. It’s why we have this line:
“Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.” Psalms 134:1 NLT
There were literally worship teams that had the graveyard shift. 🌙
Like everything else about the Temple, I believe this 24/7 worship was meant to reflect the reality of heaven.
“Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Revelation 4:8 NLT
When you and I engage in worship, we are joining a worship service already in progress in the Heavens. It is a 24/7 worship service with no breaks. It’s going on right now as you read this. When you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep, you could toss and turn or you could join in.
Let’s practice worshiping. It’s one of the very few things we will carry with us from this world into the life to come. One of these days we will get to participate there, in person. And I for one can hardly wait.
To The Reader 