1 Chronicles 26:1 - Meaning and Application

There were porters appointed to serve at the temple. They guarded every entrance that led to it, opened and closed the outer gates, and stayed at the gates on duty. They did this not only for honor and order, but also for service. They directed and instructed worshipers in the proper way to behave in the courts of the sanctuary, encouraged those who were afraid, sent back strangers and those who were unclean, and protected God’s house from thieves and other enemies.

This is why ministers are said to have the keys of the kingdom of heaven committed to them (Matthew 16:19). That means they are to admit and exclude people according to Christ’s law.

Several of those chosen for this work are described as mighty men of valor (1 Chronicles 26:6), strong men (1 Chronicles 26:7), able men (1 Chronicles 26:8), and one is called a wise counselor (1 Chronicles 26:14). He likely had first served well in the work of a deacon, a servant who cares for practical needs in the church, and had shown more wisdom than usual. Because of that, he earned a good standing and was advanced from the gate to the council chamber, as in 1 Timothy 3:13. Those who had great bodily strength, courage, and steady minds were well suited for this job. Whatever work God calls people to do, he either finds them fit for it or makes them fit for it.

The sons of Obed-edom were also used in this service, sixty-two from that family. This was the man who welcomed the ark with reverence and joy, and we see how God rewarded him. First, he had eight sons (1 Chronicles 26:5), because God blessed him. The growth and strength of families come from God’s blessing, and it is a great blessing to a family when many children are able and eager to serve God. Second, his sons were given places of trust in the sanctuary. They had faithfully cared for the ark in their own home, and now they were called to care for it in God’s house. Anyone faithful in small things will be trusted with more. If a man keeps God’s ordinances in his own home, he is fit to have care of them in God’s tabernacle (1 Timothy 3:4, 1 Timothy 3:5). David says, “I have kept your law,” and then adds, “This I had because I kept your precepts” (Psalm 119:55, Psalm 119:56).

One of the men mentioned here was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief (1 Chronicles 26:10). This may have been because he was especially capable, or because the older son was very weak. He was made chief, perhaps not in receiving the family estate, since the law did not allow that to pass over the eldest son (Deuteronomy 21:16, Deuteronomy 21:17), but in this service, where personal ability mattered.

The porters, like the singers, had their duties assigned by lot. Each man was placed at a certain gate so that everyone would know his station and keep it faithfully (1 Chronicles 26:13). It is not said that they were divided into twenty-four groups as before, but there are the names of about twenty-four men here (1 Chronicles 26:1-11), and there are twenty-four assigned posts (1 Chronicles 26:17, 1 Chronicles 26:18). So it is reasonable to think they were divided into as many companies.

Happy are those who dwell in God’s house. They are well fed, well taught, well employed, and well guarded. Men stood at the gates of the temple, but angels stand at the gates of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12).