These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.
8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9 And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service. 10 And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11 Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.
12 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 24 And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates.26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe.
Dedication of the Wall
27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.
31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35 and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36 and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.
38 The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, 39 and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah,[a] and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41 and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Service at the Temple
44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs[b] of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. Nehemiah 12 ESV
So we cover a lot the role of the priest, and in our day the preachers, those that minister through the teaching of the word. It is important to know that they are not there for our entertainment, but like MacArthur points out, to be waiters, to serve, always in an effort towards the Author's intent. Worship is important too, it is a message that is easily watered down as well. I don't have to be able to sing well in order to worship, but those that lead should, and those that play instruments should also play well, for this is their gift, a part of their call. But now, just like the pastor who adjusts his sermon to the number of empty seats, tries to develop a style that invokes the emotion, so many a church music ministry can be filled with entertainers, but empty of those that worship in spirit and in truth. Does the sermon that points you to the pastor, a system or anything other than Christ, glorify God? Is it the end when we find a good orator, a funny story teller, a charismatic speaker? I think the next chapter will answer this clearly, and all of Scripture including those letters to the early church. Should those that minister in music be under some lesser call? Is this the world or set apart from it? What of those who would not lead in praise with an eye unto God, toward their Savior, but what if they were attempting some sort of theft, that they saw themselves as the object of such worship? Well, the short of it is that it is impossible to steal from God, but the attempt of it shows your true state, delusion. God is sovereign, and while you may lie to men, stand up every Wednesday and Sunday to lead in the worship of God, yet remain unrepentant of your sin, God's spirit searches the heart. You may be a great talent, but God gave you this, you could not even birth yourself. You may sing like an angel, but like Lucifer, if you exalt yourself then you will be brought down. There may be no one in this whole world that plays instruments as well as you, but it will all be for not if you are not humbled by the things you could not have spoken into existence from the realm of all eternity, a place you had to be told about. The way you play and sing may cause tears to flow, skin to tingle and invoke a kind of awe and wonder, that men do not know how properly to respond, so point to Christ, admit the truth. You are dust and a sinner just like them, but God, Who has made and gifted you, has also provided you with something far greater, that you would give up your every talent and very life to find, Jesus.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Hebrews 4:12-13
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully. Psalm 24:3-4
It's sad how many of these stories I have and please don't think I am without fault or a hero in any of them. I thought I was the more innocent because I learned to shun the position of leadership, to turn down what I was not qualified for, but never once did the things that made me unqualified bother me. A long time ago I visited a church, and I was there for a girl, but to be sure any girl who was a part of the body of Christ, whose eyes were truly set upon Him, would be unequally yoked with me at that time. I was not there to honor God, just to get the girl, so let's be clear there before I move on to talk about the music minister. He was a talented man, married to a beautiful girl there at this church. He could play instruments well, had a wonderful singing voice, as did his wife, and he was very friendly. This is where he worked, his title was the minister of music and he had the physical resume to back it up, he was talented with music. He had been to seminary and was also a teacher to the youth. One night after clubbing and drinking in Athens with a buddy, we came back to his house where we received a call from a girl who wanted to stop by and hang out. She was with some other people who had some stuff I might be interested in. When she got there, she was accompanied by some other girls, one of the older drug dealers in the town and low and behold, the minister of music I had met a couple of weeks before. He was pretty lit, but kept starring at me and asked me why I looked so familiar. I brought up the church, and said, "aren't you the music minister?" He was cutting lines on the coffee table and came across right in my face and said, "I don't do drugs, you got that?" He stared at me for a bit and then snorted his lines. Was this the call of God upon a young man's life? Is it just a job, a pay check? He was mad at me for being there, for seeing both worlds that he thought he belonged to, but God is not mocked, by either one of us. I didn't want God to be real anymore, and I hoped that I could prove that the Bible wasn't the Word of some infinite Creator, yet I was a little scared that I might be wrong. I was, and I hope that man has found the truth, repented of his sin, and realized that it doesn't matter what he thinks he can hide from men, everything is laid open before God.
It says the priest and the Levites purified themselves and the people. The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is a call to righteousness as well, and it is all found in Christ righteousness, which will produce that same fruit in those who truly believe. What did you believe? Feelings, emotions, a pretty song, a singer who became your idol, a preacher who became your hope, is that the call?
Have we like Saul experienced the road to Damascus, or are we as Ananias and Sapphira content with the eyes of men?
Lord forgive me, I am a proud and ridiculous man. I have chased the meat that does not fill and the drink that does not quench. You alone are worthy and there is no other happiness as that which comes completely and utterly broken unto you. My hands are up, my head is down, I beg you, please Lord, just like I confess my sin, please forgive and cleanse me of it. You alone be praised, no matter what the gift, the work or the rest, to thine be the glory, the honor, forever and ever, Amen.
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24
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