During the time of Saul we see a reference to those who had been gatekeepers for the camps of Israel in the wilderness.
1Ch 9:17 And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief.
1Ch 9:18 Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King's Gate on the east.
And, though King David was not allowed by the LORD to build him a temple, David did most of the preparation for it, including who would do the various duties in this new temple, like the gatekeepers.
1Ch 23:4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the LORD, six thousand were officers and judges,
1Ch 23:5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, "which I made," said David, "for giving praise."
1Ch 23:6 Also David separated them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Jumping forward to chapter 26 where the various men are named who would participate in gatekeeping, we read…
1Ch 26:10 Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the first (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him the first),
1Ch 26:11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.
Here are some speculations about verse 10 by a couple of commentators.
Matthew Henry
It is said of one here that though he was not the first-born his father made him the chief (1Ch 26:10), either because he was very excellent, or because the elder son was very weak. He was made chief, perhaps not in inheriting the estate (for that was forbidden by the law, Deu 21:16, Deu 21:17), but in this service, which required personal qualifications.
John Gill
Simri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief); the firstborn being unfit for service, either through want of an intellectual capacity, or of strength of body, or through some defect or another; according to the Syriac version, he was dead; so some understand the words, he, the father, had no firstborn remaining or living.
This suggestion by John Gill of a “defect” would be a reference to anything that would not allow the man to do his duties as a gatekeeper, not the same thing as relates to the Aaronic priesthood. You can reference those restrictions in Leviticus 21:17-23.
The description of Shimri in 1 Chronicles 26, identified as the first even though he was not the first, gripped my imagination in relation to us, the brethren of today. Whether or not this association was intended in scripture, it drew me to what I want to share with you today.
Mat 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
Mat 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Once upon a time, there was a man named, Albert. He was a prince, seemingly destined to remain a prince, except that his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated his duty to become king, so Albert received a new name, King George VI. Why did his brother abdicate the throne? He was in a relationship with an American woman, not an allowance for a British king, so he chose the woman over the throne.
Might Shimri have become the first for a similar reason? Might his older brother have chosen a relationship with a foreign woman? We’ll not know in this age. The unnamed brother may have simply been unfit for the physical requirements of gatekeeping. Maybe he had even died. The bottom line is that he was no longer the first son of his father, at least in relation to being a gatekeeper.
Many in the world SHOULD be FIRST if we were to look at them only through human eyes. Think about people you admire from history or even now in our own lifetime. Think about what God might have been able to do with their natural abilities, inserting His Holy Spirit into their lives, how much they might have accomplished for promoting the Gospel of salvation and the coming Kingdom of God.
Instead, God chose us.
1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
1Co 1:29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
God is definitely up to something intentional by choosing people like you and me, because someday the naturally capable and influential people of the world will realize that it is not by any man’s or woman’s own skill or ability that godliness is achieved. Our example will show them that only by the power of God do we enter into salvation.
1Co 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written: "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND BRING TO NOTHING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRUDENT."
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Your future, my future, is very promising. By most accounts, we should not be the first, but secondary, or even last, but by God’s Holy grace we are selected to be first.
Jas 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
This is an exceptionally good reason, then, for encouraging us to live godly lives, to overcome the bits that are evil, so that we can accentuate the good, knowing that we can achieve all things by the present power of God’s Spirit, the nature of godliness, in us.
We, the brethren, are warned by James in chapter 2…
Jas 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
Stumbling is a given in our imperfect lives, something that can happen “by accident” as it were, due to our human frailty. But, the point remains true as well for those who do it purposely. We cannot be a people who justify ANY discord with God’s way. I can’t be someone who justifies any sinful habits simply because I believe I’m so good at most of what God tells me to do with my life.
God is creating children. These children, even in our begotten state, are considered Holy. And the end of the process is to be born PERFECT (100%) into the Family of God. We can’t send God the message that we are happy to reflect 99%, even 99.99%, of godliness.
I don’t know if the example of Shimri (or his unnamed older brother) is a lesson for us of and by himself, but like his own father determined, our Father in Heaven has determined that those He calls to salvation who choose to give their lives up for Him by accepting the covering blood of Christ, He has determined that we will be a sort of “firstfruits of His creatures.”
