The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 26:12,
"These divisions of the gatekeepers, through their leaders, had duties for ministering in the temple of the Lord, just as their relatives had."
The organizational structure for the work at the temple included divisions of "gatekeepers". These would have the duty to provide security for the temple area, to insure no unclean person entered, as well as other responsibilities. There was a requirement that the things of God be furnished with appropriate security and these gatekeepers were assigned the task.
While many today might mistakenly believe their church building is the temple of the Lord, we are told it is within the hearts of believers that the Lord maintains his presence. Joined together with one another, we all form a temple in which the Lord resides, "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house..." 1 Peter 2:4-5.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."
"These divisions of the gatekeepers, through their leaders, had duties for ministering in the temple of the Lord, just as their relatives had."
The organizational structure for the work at the temple included divisions of "gatekeepers". These would have the duty to provide security for the temple area, to insure no unclean person entered, as well as other responsibilities. There was a requirement that the things of God be furnished with appropriate security and these gatekeepers were assigned the task.
While many today might mistakenly believe their church building is the temple of the Lord, we are told it is within the hearts of believers that the Lord maintains his presence. Joined together with one another, we all form a temple in which the Lord resides, "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house..." 1 Peter 2:4-5.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."
In his comment, Paul speaks of the danger of destruction of the temple that exists in this age. He speaks of this in the context of folks leading others astray, resulting in jealousy, quarreling, worldliness and the resulting factions created. The presence of denominationalism, of competing theologies, the rise of cults and -sims, all point to this kind of thing in our day.
Who are the gatekeepers of today? Who protects God's temple of today- as represented in the hearts of his people? While there is no end of those who occupy ecclesiastical positions of authority within the church, and no end to the followers of such, I believe the Lord himself is his own gatekeeper.
Where we might all sense a need to start wringing our hands in the face of such a disaster as the church appears today, I think the Lord himself has things quite under control in a manner that achieves his purposes, accomplishes his agenda. The state of the church today might not please everyone, but the Lord is very effective at bringing about the culmination of his plan of redemption, and I expect that things could not be on a better track to get that done.
We don't need human gatekeepers for God's temple of today. God is his own gatekeeper and performing that function very well. He provides us his Word. He provides us his Holy Spirit. He provides all that is necessary to build and maintain his temple.
While it may appear that the "unclean" is penetrating God's presence on earth (as represented in the hearts and minds of his people), those concerns are really only relevant to what is extraneous to the precision of strategy the Lord is pursuing in building his family here on earth.
The Lord is doing a wonderful job of building and maintaining his kingdom today.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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