1 CHRONICLES 26 (NOTES OF A READING)
1 CHRONICLES 26 (NOTES OF A READING)
CAC These five chapters 23 - 27 are full of instruction, particularly as to service; so they are to be much pondered by those who wish to have part in the service of God. We get the priestly service, and the levitical service, and there is the general service.
What we come to tonight is the service of the doorkeepers. We were considering the singers last week, and it is noticeable that there were just as many singers as doorkeepers, four thousand of each, indicating that the service of song requires to be accompanied by the service of doorkeeping.
Ques Is that to safeguard the service of song?
CAC I thought so; this service must necessarily go alongside the service of song, and it is perpetual service, not something that acts once and is done with. Every time an Israelite came up to worship he came under the scrutiny of the doorkeepers. It would be linked up with the power to discriminate, especially as the doorkeepers evidently kept watch that there should be suitability to God in whoever approached Him; not whether it was a rich or a poor man, or whether he had qualifications recognised amongst men; that would not enter into their considerations at all, but was he suitable to enter into the service of God?
Ques Can that be applied as a principle today, and how?
CAC It not only may be applied, but it must be applied!
Rem I wondered if it could be applied to each one of us individually? “Let a man prove himself, and thus eat” (1 Corinthians 11: 28).
CAC I think that is very good. It refers to the principle of holy watchfulness that applies to the service of God. So the persons are scrutinised all the time, and I do not think there could be any house of God without that. It is not only what sort of person comes into fellowship, but this comes in continually, it is the principle of holy vigilance in what concerns God.
Rem “I will be hallowed in them that come near me” (Leviticus 10: 3).
CAC That is very helpful. I think the principle is seen in action in Hebrews 12: 15: “Watching lest there be any one who lacks the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person”.
It says you are to be on the watch that no evil thing come in. “They watch over your souls, as those that shall give account” (Hebrews 13: 17).
It is a general principle now that there is a care meeting. The care meeting involves doorkeeping; it is to keep a careful watch that there is nothing contrary to God. If that is not it, I do not know what is!
Rem It is not merely for accounts!
CAC The great subject of care in the house of God is persons.
Rem And not only the persons, but what they might bring in with them. Energy and often courage would be needed in the care.
CAC Yes, it would take some courage in some of these men to speak plainly to someone who wanted to approach unsuitably, and say, ‘You must go and wash your robes before you come in here’. But it would have to be said; it is part of the service. We did not come into fellowship with the expectation that every part of it was going to be easy, did we? And this principle would be specially seen as exercised by the elders in the apostles’ time, and in our day in the care meeting. The principle of care is to be exercised by every one of us, that the assembly and every individual member of it is suitable to the service of God.
Rem We need faithfulness in pointing out what is unsuitable.
CAC I plead guilty to having little courage, but that does not excuse me. You see, when the Lord was here, many things had a footing in what He spoke of as His Father’s house, but then He dealt with it; that is the principle.
Rem Paul called the elders together in Acts 20. He said, “Shepherd the assembly of God” (not feed) and “Watch”. Is that the principle?
CAC It is “The assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own”. It is as much as to say He is entitled to it on the ground of purchase, and who is going to be bold enough to rob Him of it? We see that the service of song needs to be balanced by the service of doorkeeping.
Rem It is easier to speak to God about people than to speak to them directly.
CAC That is just where courage is needed in the service of God. It is perhaps a more important element in the service than we have been apt to think.
Rem So that one coming up to the gates would expect to be scrutinised.
CAC And that would lead to a wholesome fear, would it not? This would not only bear upon the service of song, but also upon the care of the treasures and of the dedicated things which followed.
Ques Would you link the care meeting with every gate? This function was exercised at the gates.
CAC Yes, and every gate was furnished.
Rem It would be a place of counsel and judgment, each gate, not to be exercised by one person only but it would be of general application to be effective.
CAC Quite so. We are all in responsibility in regard to it, for we do not want the service of God to suffer.
Ques Would the casting of lots show the necessity of divine choice?
CAC Yes, and it is a principle that runs through the service; it is all a matter of divine assignment. It is a principle that we have to accept in connection with divine service.
Rem The Lord has the disposing of the lot (Proverbs 16: 33).
CAC There is no mistake about the divine assignment of service. We have just to accept the position of service in which we are set.
Rem The gates suggest that the service would be in our own locality.
CAC So that this service is universal; there are four gates. The service of song and the service of doorkeeping is universal; and then we find that there is need for this care in view of the treasures in the house of God. It is a house furnished with treasures, which is a thought not much developed in Scripture until we come to this portion. They are to be conserved with great care.
Ques To be kept there and not to go outside?
CAC They are to be kept there and not to be diminished, these treasures, which are distinguished from the holy vessels. The treasures I should take to be what has taken form in the souls of the saints. The holy vessels of the sanctuary represent the divine side, things that are true in God and true in Christ; but the treasures represent something in addition to that. You see there is no possibility of increasing what is on the divine side. You could not increase the ark, or the mercy-seat, or the table of shewbread, or the altar of incense. But when you come to the treasures, there is possibility of increase, and we all want to be in it.
Rem “And I will fill their treasuries” (Proverbs 8: 21).
CAC Then they become capable of addition. Certain things are made good in the saints in relation to their affection and spiritual understanding, and this is just as great a reality as what is made good in Christ, and these are the treasures in the house. The possibility of expansion on that side is unlimited.
Rem “Which thing is true in him and in you” (1 John 2:8).
CAC Yes. The New Testament Scriptures were written by men who had the substance of the things in their souls. It was all in John’s soul before he put it down in his gospel and epistles. It is what is inwrought in the saints; and how important to conserve that.
The dedicated treasures are an advance. You get the treasures in verses 20 - 22, and then the dedicated treasures follow. So you find such a brother as Saul or Joab, that he turns out to have had something more than you expected! We come across a brother like that sometimes. A man may end his course badly; Joab and Saul ended badly, under the judgment of God, and yet they left something to be preserved. We have some hymns written by those who have gone out; they are among the dedicated things. They are the spoils of conflicts, acquired through taking part in the testimony.
Ques Should everyone acquire something through conflict?
CAC In every controversy and conflict that arises in relation to the truth there is a gaining side and a losing side. If on the divine side, there is great gain, if not, there is loss; so that those who miss their way in times of controversy go back altogether and seem to lose what they had. But those who go on with God get spoil that can be brought into the house of God.
Ques The names of these men might suggest something?
CAC Samuel represents a spiritual man who finished his course with joy. Joab and Saul finished badly, but they left something that was of equal value with the dedicated things. This would have a special bearing on the conflict of the last days. The battle for the testimony during the last hundred years has yielded permanent treasure, and it is part of the service of God to see that none of it is lost. No one is competent to serve God intelligently today who does not understand the conflicts of the last hundred years.
We are to take account of the treasures and dedicated things. It is a great thing to take account of the work of God in His people. The treasures would be rather what the saints know of God as revealed in Christ, what has taken form in the saints. We can see it clearly in the beginning; what wonderful things took form in the souls of the apostles before the New Testament was written, what took form in the minds and souls of those favoured men.
Rem The introduction of the dedicated things is by king David and the chief fathers and the captains in verse 26, king David being in the lead.
CAC Showing that it is a military matter, and that comes down to every one of us. Suppose we have to contend for any part of the truth, to contend earnestly for the faith; it pays very well to contend for it, for you get much more established in the faith than you were before.
In recent times I suppose that no one engaged in so many conflicts as J.N.D., but then look at the spoil that came out; every error met brought out the truth more clearly than before.
Rem ‘The Sufferings of Christ’ was spoil that came out as a dedicated thing.
CAC Yes, we ought to think of the wonderful working of God that has brought out this spoil through His servants, and we ought not to let it be stolen or damaged. It is to be held in every locality, and I think that is what comes out in chapter 27. We find that everything is under divine control and there are storehouses in every village, which would suggest local assemblies. What we find in chapter 27 is the detail of the management of king David, the divisions; it is typical of all the service which comes under the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 12 there are “Distinctions of services, and the same Lord”. I believe that covers chapter 27, everything is looked after. I suppose if we took up the truth as set forth in I Corinthians, we should find everything is provided for and looked after. They were not in the good of it, but it was there, and Paul wrote that they might come into the good of it; and it is for us to come into the good of it now, and see that all the servants are under the same Lord.
Rem It speaks of great wealth generally, oil and wine and herds. It seems to cover the whole inheritance.
CAC Yes, it does.