In his sermon titled 'A Doorkeeper in the House of My God', Jason Dohm discusses the roles and responsibilities of various groups involved in worship as described in Ezra 2:36-58, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, and Solomon's servants. He draws a parallel between the phrase from Psalm 84:10 about preferring to be a doorkeeper in God's house than dwelling in wickedness, underscoring the privilege of worship. Dohm emphasizes that while the New Covenant changes the specifics of these roles, the essence of being set apart for God remains. The sermon highlights the continuity of the heart's longing for God from the Old Covenant to the New Testament, where believers are seen as a holy priesthood in Christ. Dohm calls attention to the importance of genuine worship, not merely outward actions, and encourages believers to embrace their roles in the spiritual temple. He also reflects on the historical context of the Israelites returning from Babylonian captivity and the disproportionate number of priests among them, illustrating the prioritization of worship. The sermon ends with applications for modern believers, urging them to appreciate the privileges of worship and to engage their hearts fully in it.

Our scripture for today is Ezra 2 verses 36 through 58. The priest, the sons of Judiah of the house of Jeshua, 973. The sons of Emmer, 1052. The sons of Pasher, 1247 the sons of harem 1017 the Levites the sons of Jeshua and cadmiel of the sons of hoda via 74 the singers the sons of ASAP 128 the sons of the gatekeepers, the sons of Shalom, the sons of Ater, the sons of Taumann, the sons of Agbuk, the sons of Hattitah, and the sons of Shobai, 139 in all. The Nethinim, the sons of Zihah, the sons of Hatifa, the sons of Solomon's servants, the sons of Sotai, the sons of Safaref, the sons of Peruda, the sons of Jayla, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Gedel, the sons of Shefataya, the sons of Hato, the sons of Pakareth of Zebeim, and the sons of Amai.

All the Nephthahim and the children of Solomon's servants were 392." Well when we read the whole book of Ezra a number of weeks ago, Josh made the mistake of reading a name chapter really well. And So now I think he's in great danger of being typecast as the name reader and sort of the go-to guy for these texts. So you might want to mess it up really bad the next time you have the opportunity. The title of the sermon this week is Doorkeeper in the House of my God. It's a phrase that doesn't even come from our text today.

It's a phrase that comes from Psalm 84 verse 10. Listen to that verse. Psalm 84 verse 10. The psalmist writes, For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." The sons of Korah are the Psalmists of Psalm 84.

The sons of Korah recognize the utter privilege of worshipping God to the point that they say it would be better to be assigned what seems to us as a menial task in the Lord's house, to be a doorkeeper in the courts of the Lord than to have a thousand days dwelling among the wicked. As we study these particular groups in our text in Ezra chapter 2, we're going to see that they have different specific responsibilities in the worship of God. I pray as we study these six different groups that we'll have a longing in our hearts that the sons of Korah have in Psalm 84. That just to be anything in his courts for a day would be better than a thousand days occupied in other ways. That We would long to be in the courts of the Lord, just to take our place.

Whatever place he would have us, he would assign to us, would be such a pleasant place that we would prefer that place to a thousand days doing other things. The New Covenant has changed the particulars. We don't see these particular functions this way in the New Covenant. So we're going to be talking about priests and Levites and gatekeepers and singers and Nethanim and the sons of Solomon's servants in this text. And Under the New Covenant, things have shifted, so we don't see the same things, at least not in the same ways.

In the New Covenant, New Testament believers fulfill these functions in certain ways. It has application to you. Even though the covenant has changed, and it means the particulars are somewhat different, when we look at how the New Testament plays out and the functions that New Testament believers play, we find that these functions are still alive and well, and we are these things in the New Testament. There is still such a thing as the courts of the Lord, and it's still a pleasant place to be. It's better to have a day in his courts than a thousand days occupied elsewhere.

The particulars have changed in the New Covenant, but the heart of it is still the heart. That's not different between Old Covenant and New Covenant. There was the possibility of having horrible worship in the middle of doing things right externally in the Old Covenant. And there's still the possibility of having horrible worship even though doing things externally in the new covenant. The heart of the matter is still the heart.

Do we have a heart that longs for the courts of the Lord? Do we have hearts that are inclined towards God and relish the thought of going to meet with Him. Hopefully we'll be able to plumb that out of our text this week. Last week our text began giving the specifics of all those who were coming back from captivity, who had been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years, and now have the freedom and the encouragement to come home to Jerusalem and Judah to rebuild the temple and to re-inhabit the land that had been promised to the people of God. It focused on certain families, particular families that were coming back, and it focused on locations, certain spots, cities and towns that God wanted to re-inhabit.

When you totaled up all the families and the people that were going back to these particular locations, it was 24, 146 people. A very precise number. This is about half of the first wave. And now in this text we get more people. This week we get another 5, 022 people who are coming back divided into these particular groups.

As we go to the text, let's pray. Oh God, I pray that you would please fashion us into a people who long for your courts, who prefer a day with you to a thousand days otherwise occupied. God, that our greatest affections would be saved, reserved, pointed towards being with you. We wouldn't be found as a people who do things rightly, outwardly, but are terrible in our worship because our hearts are not engaged. Oh God, help us to long for your courts like the psalmist in Psalm 84.

Help us to thirst for you like a deer, pants for water. Thank you for this text, and I pray that you would cause it to bless your people. In Jesus' name, amen. So This week we're looking at six different groups. We're looking at priests, we're looking at Levites, we're looking at singers, we're looking at the sons of gatekeepers, we're looking at the nethanym, whatever they are, and we're looking at the sons of Solomon's servants.

We're just going to work through them one by one and try to end each time with the significance of it for us under the new covenant. Beginning in verses 36-39, we're looking at the priests. The priests were holy. If you can only say one thing about the priests, that's probably the thing that you should say, that they're holy. They're special.

They're set apart. They're set way apart. So here's the picture of the priests. Out of the whole of the world, all these different peoples, in the different corners of the earth, God says, Israel is a special nation. This is a special people out of the whole world.

I'm setting them apart. And out of this special nation, God says Levi is a special tribe. I'm setting them apart. And out of this special tribe, God says, this is a special family. Aaron and his descendants are going to be a special family out of this tribe.

I'm setting them apart. And even in this family, God says, this is going to be a special man, the high priest, within this family. I'm setting him apart. So, it's the special of the special of the special of the special. Really special.

Holy! Set apart from those who are set apart from those who are set apart from those who are set apart. And That leaves us whittled down to a high priest, and the high priest points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the most special of the special, the most set apart of the set apart, meant to point to Jesus Christ. In Exodus 28, there's a description of a plate of pure gold that's going to have the words, Holiness to the Lord, inscribed on it.

And Aaron's going to put this on his forehead for when he is supposed to do his priestly duties as the high priest. Don't you know when there is a plaque of pure gold, a plate of pure gold that is supposed to be worn on the forehead. There is something important and significant there. It tells us what we need to know about priests. Holiness to the Lord, set apart from those who are set apart.

The special of the special and all pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2 verse 5. Paul in 1 Timothy 2 verse 5 says, For There is one God and one mediator between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus. One mediator, the most special of the special, the most set apart for the work, even among those who are set apart for the work.

It's Jesus Christ. Only one mediator between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. So the priesthood is indicating something and it's pointing forward as so many things in the Old Testament do to Jesus Christ and, doesn't end there, because it points to Jesus, it ultimately includes us. I'm saying us, New Testament believers.

How? Because in our position in Christ, if we are in Christ, we form a holy priesthood. We are included in his priesthood. He is the ultimate high priest of all high priests and those who are in him form a holy priesthood. Says who?

Says Peter. James already read it earlier on, but I'm going to read again 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 and 5, just to help you get a sense of what it means to be in Christ and to be a priest, like an Old Testament priest in a way, by being grafted into Christ and having your position be in the ultimate high priest of all high priests. 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 and 5, Peter writes, Coming to him, coming to Jesus Christ, As to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So Peter gives us a picture of those coming to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone.

There is life in Him. When you come to Him, you can derive life from Him. You can receive life from Him. So we come to Him because life is in Him. He has the words of life.

You want life, you come to Him as to a living stone. He imparts life to all who come to Him. It makes you a living stone too, and then he starts building. He starts building us together into a holy temple. Spiritual sacrifices are going to be offered in this holy temple.

In this holy temple, we are stones that make the temple, but not just stones that make the temple also a holy priesthood set apart to offer these spiritual sacrifices. Like we saw last week in Ephesians chapter 2, we are created in him for good works. Where his workmanship, he's been crafting us for this purpose, for the purpose of offering spiritual sacrifices, of being built up together, a family, a building, a holy building to offer these spiritual sacrifices, which are just good works that he's prepared in advance, that we should walk in them. Do you see how all this fits together? So those who are in Christ share in the priesthood of our Christ, of the high priests, of all high priests, the one who is most special, most set apart for the worship of God.

That is our Lord Jesus Christ. The priesthood of the believer is such an essential doctrine of the Reformation. The church at that time was completely overrun with unnecessary priests. We don't need them anymore to stand between us and God because God has finished that work. The high priest of all high priests has finished that work and now there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.

We don't need those priests anymore. In fact, it's blasphemous to put a person between you and God anymore because Jesus is directly filling that role now. So how many of these priests return in the first wave? A big number. 4, 289 is what you'll add, verses 36 through 39.

If you add those numbers up, that's the number you get. 4, 289 priests return. So of all the Israelites who return, we get this summary in verse 64, It's a tenth of them. A tenth of the whole first wave of Israelites returning are going to be priests. Disproportionate.

That's what you should get from your calculator, adding up to this big number, 4, 289. Disproportionate. Just looking at things proportionally, there shouldn't be this many priests. It's one little family out of the twelve tribes. It shouldn't be a tenth, but God would have it be a tenth.

It's not really surprising When Cyrus made the proclamation that the mission was to rebuild the temple and to restore the worship of God, it makes sense that this disproportionately affects those who serve in the temple and preside over the worship of God. This is not surprising, but it is worthy of noting and talking about how disproportionate the number of priests is one family among Israel supplying a tenth out of a single family. A final point, the names in verses 36 through 39 can all be traced genealogically to Aaron. Meaning they're really priests. Not just anyone can be a priest.

I can't designate myself an Old Testament priest. They have to be in the line of Aaron. These names that we find in Ezra chapter 2 verses 36 through 39 can be traced in 1 Chronicles 9 and in 1 Chronicles 24. You can trace them genealogically back in Bible text right to Aaron. So these are real live priests.

That's going to be very important next week when we get to a group of people who think they're priests, say they're priests, but can't prove genealogically that they're priests, and they'll end up being excluded. So these ones listed this week actually can go back to texts of scripture and trace their family line back to Aaron so that they are known as real priests as God has prescribed it. Verse 40, Levites. That was priests, now we are looking at Levites. This week we are looking at six groups.

Four of these six groups are Levites. Priests are Levites. It's impossible to be of the family of Aaron without being a Levite, because Aaron was part of the tribe of Levi. It's a family within a family. All priests are Levites.

All priests are Levites. So in the analogy, Levi is the pie and Aaron is a slice of the pie. So you can't be part of the slice without being part of the pie. It's impossible. It's a subgroup.

Levites are Levites. I don't need to prove that. Singers are Levites. We'll get to the proof for that. The singers listed here are Levites also, and gatekeepers, the sons of the gatekeepers, are all Levites.

These are Levites being listed in verse 40 that don't fit in the other group. They're not of the line of Aaron, so they're not priests. They're not singers. They're not gatekeepers, so they're miscellaneous Levites, I guess is how you would think of them. There are only 74 of them.

Levi is the tribe. Aaron is the family. You have the pie and the slice of the pie, which means that you would expect many more Levites than priests. Levi is the pie, so If the number of priests is 4, 289, you would expect the rest of the pie to add up to more of that. These are just the ones that are coming back from captivity and we find a surprisingly little number.

If you add up the other Levite groups, the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers who are not priests, you end up with a relatively small number. You end up with the number 341. So it's dwarfed by the number of priests that come back. And actually we're going to find this again in the second wave. When Ezra is ready to lead the second wave back from Babylon to Jerusalem, we're going to find the same thing.

They're going to gather beside the river, ready to go back, they're going to count heads, and they're going to be priests there and they're going to say, we don't have any Levites. We need Levites. So they're going to send, because they want to take Levites back with them in the second wave. They're going to have to send and they only are able to muster 38 for the second wave. So this is going to continue to be a difficulty.

I wish I had something profound to say about why, but I didn't encounter anything this week that helped me so I don't have anything for you. But I'll say it's a problem in the first wave, or at least it's something unusual to observe in the first wave, and it's going to be the same thing in the second wave. I'm not sure why God stirred up so many priests but not very many Levites, but that is what we see in both the first and the second wave. Who are the Levites? They're a tribe, but they're a special tribe.

Please turn to Numbers chapter 3. Numbers chapter 3 goes a long ways to helping us understand this tribe and the special nature of this tribe. Numbers 3, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 3, I'll be reading verses 9 through 13. This is the Lord speaking to Moses.

Chapter 3, beginning in verse 9. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood. But the outsider who comes near shall be put to death." Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Now behold, I myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel, instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel.

Therefore the Levites shall be mine, because all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be mine. I am the Lord." So here the Lord speaks of what happened in Egypt in the striking of the firstborn and in setting apart among the Israelites the firstborn of man and beast and crops. It doesn't say that here, but we know that's true.

There's the firstborn, there's the principle of the firstborn, and the principle of the first fruits. God gets the first and best of the crops, and he gets the first of every family, even down to the animals. But God says, instead of the firstborn across the board in the tribes, instead of doing that, In lieu of that, I'm going to just take this whole tribe. They're mine. The Levites are mine.

They count to me as the firstborn. They're going to be special. I'm sanctifying them. I am setting them apart for my own purposes. In Numbers chapter 8 verse 19 we read this, And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons.

So that just further fills out what we've seen. From among all the children of Israel to do the work for the children of Israel in the Tabernacle of Meeting and to make atonement for the children of Israel that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary. So they're a holy tribe, a set-apart tribe, and they've been given as a gift to the priests to help them in all the work that has to be done under this covenant, where there are requirements that are very real and take a lot of resource. So instead of leaving all that work to just the priest, just to the descendants of Aaron, this tribe of Levi is given to the priest as a gift to help them in their work. So they're going to be working in the temple, will be one of the functions of the Levites.

This will give you a sense of proportion. In 1 Chronicles 23, we have the handover of the kingdom from David to Solomon. David is old and he is ready to not be king. He hands over the kingdom to Solomon. We get a description of the Levites at the time of the handover of the kingdom.

Here it is. 38, 000 Levites who are male who are over the age of 30. Here's the breakdown. 24, 000 of them working in the temple. 6, 000 as officers and judges.

4, 000 as gatekeepers. We're going to see them again today. Four thousand as musicians and singers. We're going to see them again today in our text. So that's the breakdown of the Levites who were in service at the time of the handoff of the kingdom from David to Solomon.

38, 000 of them, 24, 000 working in the temple. A lot of work to be done. And a lot of workers provided by God as a gift to the priests. They did not have a physical inheritance. The other tribes got land as their inheritance.

The Levites got God. Don't ever trade land for God. Want God instead of land. The Levites got the pleasant inheritance. They were given 48 cities.

Sprinkled throughout the tribes are these 48 Levitical cities that were given to be a place of residence for the Levites. They were supported by the Levitical tithe. They were supposed to be about the work of helping the priests serve God. So their provision, their support was going to come from a tithe of the rest of the tribe, the Levitical tithe. In Nehemiah chapter 8 when we get there, it's going to be a great public reading of the law.

And Ezra is actually going to do the reading. He's going to be up on a big wooden scaffold, elevated, so that people can hear him. They're going to start early in the morning and they're going to read throughout the whole morning the law of God. The Levites are going to be at Ezra's side helping the people understand the law and teaching the people. So here's what we should take away from this.

It is a privilege to be a Levite. It's a blessing. Your inheritance is God. If you're a Levite, you have the most pleasant inheritance. Your support will come from tithes of the other tribes so that you can focus on these acts of worshiping the living God.

It's a privilege. Listen to what James says in James 1 verse 18. James 1, 18, he's speaking of New Testament Christians. That's you if you've repented and believed the gospel. So he's speaking of us.

Of his own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth. He's talking about the will of God, what God wants. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of the first fruits of His creatures. That's what New Testament believers are. First fruits of all the people of the earth.

Like Levites. In the Old Testament it was a particular tribe among the special people. In the New Testament it's all who repent and believe the gospel are a kind of first fruits among all his creatures. God, if you're born again, God put his hand on you to set you aside for his worship. You're part of the first of the crops, the best in the first to go to God.

He says, this is mine, sets it aside for his own purposes and for his own glory. That's what we are. Verse 41, the singers, also Levites, these are sons of Asaph. In 1 Chronicles chapter 6, you can trace Asaph genealogically to Levi. Everybody who is listed as a singer, all 128 of them here in Ezra 2 verse 41, is a son of Asaph, a descendant of Asaph.

You can track him back to Levi in 1 Chronicles 6 if you have the appetite to do that. We don't think much of Asaph, but we should think more of him because he's a very significant figure in the Old Testament. He's written 12 of the Psalms. There's 150 Psalms. Asaph wrote Psalm 50 and Psalms 73 through 83.

They're wonderful Psalms. I don't know any bad Psalms, but Asaphs are also wonderful. In 1 Chronicles chapter 16, David is appointing men to minister praise before the ark of the Lord. Full-time praisers. A daily occupation.

This is 1 Chronicles 16. David's appointing you and you and you and your sons do that. And Asaph is called out as the chief among them in verse 5, 1 Chronicles 16 verse 5. Asaph the chief, and they're given this daily occupation to be before the ark of the Lord, ministering praise through music, through singing, and playing musical instruments. What should we learn from this?

Singing has always been integral to the worship of God. It's not a tradition of man when we break out the song sheets. It has always been integral, it's always been important, it's always been prescribed by God that he would be sung to by his people. I'm so glad. God has always been worthy of more than cold, unemotional, robotic actions of worship.

God has always been worthy of more than cold, unemotional, robotic actions of worship. That's not worship at all. That's hypocritical actions offered to feel nice about yourself and to look good to others. But it certainly is not worship. Nor is worship intended the contrived, super emotive baloney.

This is kind of the extremes of what you find out there, trying to pass itself off as worship. On one hand, cold and emotional robotic actions let us gather together to worship the Lord. And on the other hand, contrived super emotional, frenzy. Neither have a relation to true worship. True worship is to be in spirit and in truth.

If you lose truth, you don't have true worship. If you lose spirit and the affections are disengaged, then you lose worship. True worship is to worship God in spirit and in truth. We have to bring these when we come together to sing. It's always been an integral part of worship.

God has always desired it to be a part of worship. It shouldn't be robotic and it shouldn't be super emotive. It should engage the emotions and be according to truth. Here's what Paul writes in Colossians 3 verse 16, Paul in Colossians 3 verse 16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. So far we are talking about brain.

The Word of Christ, the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly, going down deep in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. So far we've got the Word of God and ministering it to each other, teaching each other, admonishing one another. Now he says what surprises us in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So we take the word of God, the word of Christ that we desire to dwell richly in our hearts. We're supposed to minister it to one another and Paul tells us a way, a very effective way to do it.

In Psalms, in hymns, in spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So here we've got brain and heart, Spirit and truth, and God's desire for us to merge these things in our singing. So that all of our affections, may we never have unemotional singing here among us. With our affections not engaged. And may we never be hyper-emotional, where it just becomes a frenzy, and we don't hardly even know what's at the bottom of it.

I've done both in public worship in my life. But I want to have both Spirit and truth in my worship. To have the brain engaged in the Word of Christ, ministering it to you and you ministering it to me, but also the affections. And to not even be able to wait to come and start the singing. Because the joy of the Lord is so rich in our hearts.

It's bubbling up and it's looking for the mouth to open and the vocal cords to go. May our singing be so robust. I think half-hearted singing is such a grief. May we not be known for half-hearted singing. May we be known for gusto in our singing.

Not because we're trying to work ourselves up into something, but because we love God, and that's bubbling up, and we can't wait for the chords to start. Verse 42, the sons of the gatekeepers? Also Levites. 1 Chronicles 9, 1 Chronicles 26, you can read about gatekeepers and trace them back as Levites. Here's a note from the Nelson Study Bible.

The gatekeepers who were also Levites prevented unauthorized people from entering the restricted area of the temple. So this is their job. They are Levites, so they are set apart by God for working in and around the temple in worship activities. And these specialize in keeping people out of certain areas. The temple was a place of different areas and not everyone can go everywhere in the temple.

The most restrictive place, as you know, is the Holy of Holies, where one man goes on one day of the year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies. Not any other day, not any other person. That's very restrictive. You can believe there's a gatekeeper making sure that it's only on that day and that it's only that person. So not everyone can go willy-nilly anywhere they want.

Then there is the holy place and only the priests are going there to the altar to minister. And then there is a place where only men can go in the temple. There is a place where only women can go in the temple. There is a court for Gentiles in the temple. And This is not the honor system only.

It is the honor system plus. The gatekeepers have been given by God among the Levites to restrict access to particular places in the temple. Sounds like a low level job. We hear about the gatekeepers and we're envisioning maybe if you're like me the person who's got half an eye on the turnstiles at a public event just to make sure you got a ticket or whatever. This is not the low level position we might be thinking of.

In 1 Chronicles 26, the text is speaking of gatekeepers and It's naming particular ones and it says, among the chief men. Not a low level position. Gatekeepers are among the chief men. They have an exalted, honored position. In verse 14 of 1 Chronicles 26, there's a particular gatekeeper named Zechariah, a wise counselor.

A wise counselor, so not the low-level position. Access control is very important to God. God is holy. His worship is holy. It's a privilege.

God's not begging you to come and worship Him. He's not a beggar. He is a holy, holy, holy God who's worthy of your worship. And not just anyone can come before this three times Holy God and worship Him. In the Old Covenant we have physically restricted areas with, at the time of the handover from David to Solomon, 4, 000 men given to this activity, keeping the gates, restricting the access to the right people at the right place at the right time.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is in control of the access. So this has not gone away. You say, the gatekeepers, we don't have a temple anymore, we don't have gatekeeping anymore, There's no more access control. Not true. In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ is in control of access.

In John chapter 10, Jesus says, I am the door. In John chapter 14, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says, enter at the narrow gate. Access is controlled under the new covenant and Jesus Christ is in charge of it. And God is not a beggar hoping someone will come and worship Him.

He is a holy God who is worthy of worship. And you only come if you come on his terms through his mediator, the man Jesus Christ. This is a key point that we get from studying the gatekeepers, that God determines how worshippers worship Him. So you can bring stuff you like and call it worship, but God determines whether it's worship. You can slap the label of worship on things that make you feel how you want to feel, But God will determine whether those things are worship or not.

The object of worship calls the shots. That's the deal. Because the object of worship is worthy of worship. This is completely lost in our modern day. In our modern day, if I like it and I want to offer it, you have to accept it as worship God.

No one would ever say that, but people think it and live like it. If I like it, and I'm willing to offer it, God has to accept it as worship. That's not true. That's never been true. It's not true in the old dispensation.

It's not true in the new covenant. Worship is what God says it is. Just like God can say to Cain and Abel, I accept your worship, I reject your worship. God as the object of worship, as the one who is worthy, does the same today. He controls access into his presence through the mediator, Jesus Christ.

Those who are in Christ are welcome. Those who are not in Christ would be consumed if they came into the presence of God. Verses 43-54. The Nephilim. Who in the world are the nethonym?

Jake last night said, aren't those the giants? No, that's the nephilim. Goliath was not a nethonym. Similar word, but very different meaning. So I'm going to start out with the part that I can say with confidence from scripture.

And then I'm going to take us to some clues in scripture and I'm going to give you some informed speculation. And I'm going to try to keep them very separate. Okay, there's The first part I can stand on with confidence and just read the verse and you'll know. And then the second part I'm going to say, let's look at these other places in Scripture. And so you have these two dots and I think for these reasons that it makes sense to connect them, but Scripture doesn't explicitly connect them.

The part I have with confidence is Ezra 8 verse 20. Ezra chapter 8 verse 20 says exactly who the nethineim are. Listen, Ezra 8 verse 20, also of the nethineim whom David and the leaders appointed for the service of the Levites. So the nethonym, whoever they are, is a group of people that David and the leaders at the time when David was king appointed for the service of the Levites. So they serve the Levites.

The word literally means given. That's what nethonym literally means. Given. Because they're given to the Levites to serve them. So here is the progression.

The Levites are given to the priests. We saw that. That is explicit in the text. The Levites are given to the priests to help them. The nethineim are given to the Levites to help them.

So you have priests, you have people that help them, that's the Levites. You have the Levites, you have people that help them. It's the nethineim. The NASB, the ESV, the NIV all render nethonym temple servants. So if you have one of those translations you won't even see the word nethineim, you'll just see temple servants.

It's because they serve the Levites. So we have two groups that ought to be considered together. The nethonym and then the next group that we haven't talked about yet, the sons of Solomon's servants. Why should they be considered together? Because they're grouped together in verse 58.

With all the groups so far we've had group, number, group, number, group, number, now we have the nethonym group, no number. Where's my number? Next group, combined number. So at the end of verse 58 you're going to see that there's a combined number for the nethonym and the sons of Solomon's servants. So Ezra groups them together, so we should consider them and how they're grouped together.

Between the two groups there are 392, we don't have a breakdown. Total of the nethineb and the sons of Solomon's servants are 392 people. I conclude from this that there must be similar characteristics to explain them being grouped together. Because none of the other groups are grouped together. It's group, total.

Group, total. Group, group, total. So I conclude from that that they share certain characteristics. And I'll lay out my case for what I think those characteristics are. I turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 9.

Joshua chapter 9 is an exciting time of Old Testament history. The People are coming into the promised land and their enemies are melting away before them. There are all these mighty nations within the promised land. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. It's a desirable place to live.

That's where the mighty nations are living. Yet they cannot stand before the Lord's people. And they're displacing one mighty nation after another mighty nation. The nations of the promised land are banding together, they're trying to fight these people that they cannot defeat the Israelites. But one of them decides not to fight them, but decides to trick them.

No fighting, yes tricking. And it's the Gibeonites. They make it look like they're coming from thousands of miles away. They're on their most beat up donkeys. They've got moldy bread, and they've got old wine scans.

They're a rough looking bunch. They come to say, we've heard of the exploits of God, how he's favored you, and we've come to make a treaty with you. They say, how do we know? They say, look at our animals, Look at our moldy bread, look at our old wine skins, look at how we look. You can tell we come from a long ways away, so they don't consult God.

And they make a treaty with them. Now they've been charged to annihilate the people of the land. They're being given the promised land because the sins of all these people in this land have come, they've filled up their cup all the way full of sin. They are peoples deserving of death and the people of God are supposed to execute it upon them. They are supposed to annihilate them.

But because they don't consult God, they make a treaty with these people. Then they find out. So this is where we are in Joshua 9. They've just found out that they've been deceived. So they go to the Gibeonites.

Joshua chapter 9 verse 21, I'll read to the end of the chapter. And the rulers said to them, let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation as the rulers had promised them. Then Joshua called for them and he spoke to them saying why have you deceived us saying we are far from you, we are very far from you when you dwell near us Now therefore you are cursed and none of you shall be freed from being slaves, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." So woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God. So they answered Joshua and said, because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all of the land and to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you and have done this thing.

And now here we are in your hands. Do with us as it seems good and right to do to us." So he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel so that they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation for the altar of the Lord in the place which he would choose even to this day." So here we have the two dots. Ezra says the nethonym are those that David and the leaders had given to the Levites to help them in their work. Here in Joshua 9, we have a people who are enslaved because of this treaty that was made and made to be servants in more menial things in the worship of God at the altar.

So I believe that the Gibeonites are the start of the Nethanem. And that as they conquered peoples and brought them into servitude, that Gentiles were grafted into the people of God to the point where now they're not separate Gentile peoples anymore. They've actually become grafted into the people of God. The commentators, when they look at the names associated with the nethineims, say there are many foreign names. Now they're all foreign to us, so I didn't recognize this when I go through the name.

But the commentators say, those aren't Israelite names, a lot of them. Those are names that fit with other nations. Verse 50 in particular speaks of the sons of Meunim and the sons of Nephushim. Those are known conquered tribes. Those are tribes that are known to be of foreign nations that were conquered by the people of Israel.

So I believe what we have here in the Nethanam are those who were conquered, who were brought into servitude, and actually they're Gentiles that are grafted into the people of God. So that now when they're coming back from captivity, these Gentiles who have been grafted in and made part of the people of God, they are voluntarily coming back to take up their place in the house of the Lord to serve God in this way. Remember, the people who are coming back are those who are stirred up by the Spirit of God. They don't have to come back. It's voluntary.

You don't want to come, you don't come. So the nethineem are not coming back as gentile slaves. They're coming back as those who have a place of privilege and honor because there is a living God who's worthy of honor and worship. And they want to get back to Jerusalem to take their place in the house of the Lord. I think that's who the nethineen are.

Foreigners, often known as strangers in the Old Testament, can become Israelites. You see this in Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12 talks about the Passover, gives regulations for the Passover, and if it says you have a foreigner, if you have a stranger who wants to participate in the Passover, circumcise them in all his house, and then they can participate in the worship of God as a member of the people of God. Women can become a part of the people of God through marriage. We see this in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5.

Who do we have there? Rahab, Ruth, Gentile women who become part of the people of God through marriage. We see this in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5. Who do we have there? Rahab, Ruth, Gentile women who come, become part of the people of God, and then start giving birth to Israelites.

So much so that the line of Jesus Christ comes through a prostitute from Jericho and a Moabitess. Gentiles could be grafted into the people of God. It seems that in the neth and them we see this, Gentiles who were grafted in. Verses 55-58, The sons of Solomon's servants. We know from reading of the times of Solomon, Solomon had a lot of servants.

He was doing a lot. He was building a temple. He was building a lot. And he had many servants. As a group though, so in the time of Solomon you can find people that are called his servants.

But as a group of descendants, the sons of Solomon's servants, You see this group mentioned multiple times in Ezra and Nehemiah and nowhere else in the Old Testament. We're going to keep bumping into them in Ezra and again in Nehemiah, but you won't hit them anywhere else in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament. So my best understanding of who these might be is founded in 1 Kings chapter 9 verses 20 and 21. Listen to 1 Kings 9 verses 20 and 21.

All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, that is their descendants who were left in the land after them who the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely. From these Solomon raised forced labor as it is to this day. So the writer of First Kings looks back at Solomon's rule and he sees these descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, people who were supposed to be annihilated when Israel came into the promised land, but they were never able to completely do that. So Solomon presses their descendants into service and into forced labor. The writer of 1 Kings says, as it is to this day.

So I think that is the relationship between the nethonym and the sons of Solomon's servants. Again, these are people who, according to what God prescribed, would have been annihilated, but because they were not, certain ones were grafted into the people of God and continued and were actually given a role of service even in other things of worship. More Gentiles grafted in. Okay, three quick applications. Three quick applications.

Friends, what we have seen today is thoroughly un-American. Thoroughly un-American. The thought that an American would be born into a vocation is anathema, is heresy. Americans have the world at their feet. They can do anything.

No constraints, no restrictions. But the Bible gives us a different picture. At some point you have to reconcile yourself with the fact that in many places the Bible is un-American. And that God often restricts us to something better than we would have done for ourselves out of our own thoughts. That happens a lot.

God restricts us to something better. In other words, if He just leaves you with the world at your feet, able to do anything, you would go and end in misery. But he says, not you. And he keeps you from that. God does that with your time.

He says, tonight's your time, I bought your time. Here's a day, and I'm going to call it the Lord's day. I want you to take that day. Come apart and rest. Do you know, we didn't have what the Bible said.

We would never take a day to restfully worship. We would never be able to set aside a seventh of our time to restfully worship. Never. We would be busy in a thousand other things and be thinking ourselves wise for it. God actually has restricted us to something better in the use of our time.

It's not just on the Lord's Day either. He wants to command our time, tell us how to use our time, boss us around, He wants to act like God. He does that with our money. We could find other stuff to do with our money rather than giving to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. Everybody here can think of ten things you'd like to do with money.

God says, nope, some of it goes to advancing my kingdom. I want to act like God over you and your checkbook. It's Mother's Day. Many women have forgone the opportunities that are afforded to them in the time and place where we live. And said, because of how I understand the Bible, I'm going to be restricted to something better.

I'm going to trust that God knows best and I'm willing to be restricted even though there are no other constraints. You can't. You're American. You can. You can.

There are women in the room, smart enough, hard working enough to be executives, and earn big salaries. Big salaries. But many have allowed themselves to be restricted to something better. And at the end of your days, may your children rise up and call you blessed. May your husband say, many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.

May God give you the work of your hands. May you be praised in the gates for allowing yourself to be restricted to what He has said is beautiful and good. Number two, don't miss how vital the worship of God is. We should take this text as grounds to prioritize the worship of God. All these people who have functions completely devoted to the worship of God.

So we should see the priests and the Levites and the singers and the gatekeepers and the nethineb and the sons of Solomon's servants and feel thoroughly ashamed when we walk into worship and are just shooting from the hip. When we see what God has devoted to His worship, we should think about what we bring to worship. It's not right. I've done it a thousand times. I'm not saying, you people don't do enough.

I'm saying, we don't do enough. We should look at these functions and the devotion that God has arranged for in His worship, and have a desire never to come and shoot from the hip. I'm not saying God won't accept it. I'm not saying that any of our worship is pure without coming through our Mediator, Jesus Christ. He has such a purifying effect on all of our polluted worship.

Thank the Lord for the mediation of Jesus Christ, who takes the impure and brings it before His Father as a sweet aroma. I'm not denying any of that. I'm just saying we should see the devotion to things of worship and say, that's a priority. I don't want to come and shoot from the hip as if it's a small thing to come before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is worthy of more than shooting from the hip.

Number three and finally, understand the privileges of the New Testament believer. You're all these things. The sons of Korah say, it's better to be in the courts of the Lord for a day, to be a doorkeeper, to do the odd job than to be occupied elsewhere for a thousand days. So you know I like to do the math on these things. What's a thousand days?

Two years and nine months. That's the ratio. A day versus two years and nine months. It's better. Take the day with God.

We are the priests in the New Testament. In Christ, we share. We are part of a holy priesthood. We are the Levites. We are the firstfruits of His creatures.

We are the singers, the one who are to come and sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. If you have repented and believed the gospel, then you have access. There's still access control, Jesus controls. He's the door, He's the way. He's controlling access to worship.

But if you're in Him, you have free access. You can come with confidence, with boldness. You're told to come with confidence and boldness. What a privilege we have to live in the time that we live after Christ, when all this has been fulfilled. We can come into the presence of God through Christ.

Let's pray. Oh God, I thank you for the privileges we enjoy just by being born in the time and place where we've been born. Thank you God, you've been so kind to us. God, now teach us to relish your courts. We might long to be with you.

That our worship might be characterized by spirit and truth. That the Word of Christ would be dwelling richly here, and every affection would be engaged. May it be so In Jesus' name, Amen.