“[From the Levites]:
…Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the heads of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God…”
Nehemiah 11:16
Last time we began looking at a Levite and his family line, remembering our Help rises to meet us. Today we see two heads of the Levites who stayed in our capital city.
Shabbethai is listed first. His name comes from shabath, as in Shabbat, meaning to cease, desist, rest, celebrate, cause to make fail. I’ve been thinking about sabbath this week, as yesterday was our last day of school for the summer. I’m ready for more relaxed schedules, time with friends and family, working on neglected projects, and longer daylight hours.
And the idea that we’re commanded to rest weekly, combined with our Shepherd leading us beside green pastures and quiet waters, makes me grateful for a God Who isn’t impressed with our productivity.
But the word celebrate in this definition also makes me grateful. Someone pointed out on social media recently how the Sabbath was a social justice issue for the people of God. Everyone was given the opportunity to rest – the land, the animals, those with greater means to those without – no one’s work could be exploited. And not just for legalistic reasons of keeping the sabbath, but to celebrate!
We get to find happiness and beauty from Him in the daily grind, but sometimes the command to rest makes such things all the more apparent. When we have time to observe a butterfly or marvel with a toddler over a ladybug, the last thing we need is rushing or deadlines, quarterly projections or brainstorms. We simply get to celebrate the God of creation.
The second Levite is Jozabad whose name means “the LORD has bestowed” from Yah and zabad – bestow upon, endow with, to confer, endure. This reminds me of Zabdiel’s name from our study two weeks ago. His name came from a very similar word, zebed, which means gift or dowry. And it all points to something given to us, rather than earned on merit.
So what has Yah endowed you with? Not for your personal fulfillment, but for the building up of His Body? Any gift from the Spirit is conferred upon you because He has conferred on us a Kingdom, which He told His first followers about over a Passover celebration meal. And this Kingdom looks better and better the more suffering we see in the present one.
So these two men, Shabbethai and Jozabad, are said to have charge of outside work of God’s House. Have charge is the word melakah we have seen before for “labor, project, cattle, craftsmanship, business.” And outside work is the word chitson which means “outer, external, utter, without, outer wall, secular (as opposed to sacred); same as chuts – abroad, field, highway, to sever; from chayits – a party wall; outside street.”
What do we make of this? Is this yard work and building repair as needed, or does it refer to those Levites whose work was beyond the walls of the Temple in everyday life? While I didn’t seek more specifics about their roles, I like to think of both contexts.
Do you know anyone who’d rather be outside than in? Who feels most at home among the earth and sky, animals and trees? Who would rather pluck out their eyes than sit at a desk eight hours a day? If that’s you, I love thinking of all the possibilities in serving God’s kingdom out of doors. Planting and reaping, caring for animals, gardening and landscaping, farming and investigating. Serving creation is sublime.
How about those whose work is beyond the Temple walls? Which is to say, everyone. Even those with the title pastor walk on this very real earth, with everyday wounds and hurts, difficult people and rejections, health diagnoses and arguments. But what of this secular versus sacred bit? I looked up secular just to see its definition, and was most struck with temporal and layman as synonyms. Those whose work has to do with space and time – versus eternity – or whose work is not specifically spiritual.
I tend to be of the belief that when the Spirit resides in you, everything you touch can be sacred. So what about those on the outside? Those who would rather be on the outer wall than the inside Temple? Or, for various reasons, do not feel they deserve to be on the inside?
I think our ministry to those who feel severed from God is of utmost importance. If what we do inside Temple has no bearing on the people we live among every day of the week, we need to beg to see with His eyes. And please note the delightful phrasing of party wall.
Where does that take you in your head? Please don’t tell me the fun is all outside Temple and only dull drudgery is inside. If that’s the case, we don’t know our Father. But what about the version of partying when you’re running from emptiness? Or you are trying to forget and end up using others in your quest? Or you simply want your own way and refuse to be told how to live your life?
Perhaps that’s where severed and party come to meet. It seems like a common theme in this way of life is intensity, excitement, and adrenaline in the beginning, only to realize you have cut yourself off of genuine life – relationship with God and others. Out of sync with how our universe is designed, loneliness nearly always sets in.
And what of those whose labor is among such as these? Whose work, craftsmanship is among the fields ripe for harvest, outside Temple? Unless you know in your bones how God has saved you from yourself, and any opportunity to love others is zabad – a gift of grace – your work will likely be tied to pride. But if rejoicing in your salvation is your heart, there’s no better place to be when seeking to share Hope than among those desperate for it.
May we find such joy in Him our work among the fields is overflow.