THE GATEKEEPER by Larry W Peebles December 14, 2018 18.38
I was able to secure my first job at the age of 15 while I was still in middle school. My grades were very good, and my parents consented to my working weekends at the local movie theater. I worked Friday evenings, and either the afternoon or evening on Saturday and Sunday. Positions available were the cashier, who sold tickets at the theater entrance, and the doorman, who gathered tickets in the lobby. There was also the candy counter attendant, who sold candy, popcorn and drinks, and the usher, who escorted people to their seats and maintained a watch over the audience during the movie.
The starting position was the job of usher, which required a suit and tie. My mother took my measurements, and ordered a suit from Sears. With a few ties to match, and two white shirts, my uniform for the job was complete. I learned to greet and welcome the patrons, and personally “show” them to their seats. It was important to make the theater experience special by making the guests feel the seats were designated only for them. I assisted behind the candy counter at the intermission of the big-name movies, and occasionally relieved the doorman when he had to step away briefly from his post. The cashier was a mystery, as that person worked in a closed booth behind a door that only opened from the inside, and handled all the cash collected. There were no credit cards in those days, and no checks. The cashier had to balance collections against tickets sold, which seemed a huge responsibility to me.
The theater manager took a dim view of people who tried to gain entrance without paying. While such a person might enter the theater without visiting the ticket booth, the doorman was expected to collect a ticket from everyone who entered the lobby. If someone attempted to enter without paying and was caught, they were escorted out of the theater. The manager was available to assist. The excuse was usually that they were looking for someone, or needed to get a message to someone inside. If the doorman felt the explanation was legitimate, he might grant permission to enter, but only after alerting the usher to watch the person to be sure they did not sit down for the movie. The usher was also expected to escort them back out after a short period of searching over the audience.
The doorman was the gatekeeper for the theater. Those patrons with a ticket were warmly and rightly welcomed. Those without a ticket had no right to enter, and the doorman had to be vigilant to enforce the rules as the crowds entered. Stationed near the front door, an alert doorman could see who had by-passed the ticket window before they entered the theater. The cashier also had a phone to the lobby, and could alert the doorman if someone was entering without a ticket. If during a rush, the doorman missed the person sneaking in, there was a good chance the person would not be caught. The theater company was thereby cheated out of a ticket sale, and the other patrons were also cheated in a sense because they had followed the rules and paid the ticket price. Someone who successfully sneaked into the theater would often try again, and encourage friends to try.
While every position was significant, the doorman’s role was perhaps the most important, and it carried a certain air of authority. It required one who was firm yet friendly, trustworthy and alert to potential trouble. I eventually became a doorman, and was grateful for the role models I observed as I learned the position. It was many years later I saw the spiritual connection.
Psalm 84:10 speaks of the importance of the role of the doorman or gatekeeper of the Temple of God- “For a day in your [Temple] courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” The Psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah, Levites who were chosen by God to serve in the original Tabernacle, and later the Temple. Korah was a great-grandson of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. It is the story of Korah found in Numbers 16 that underscores the importance of any and every job God gives us to do, being content with it, and respecting the jobs others have been given.
In Numbers 16: 1-14, Korah, with a few other leaders and a total of 250 followers who were not Levites, rose up against Moses. He challenged Moses’ authority, arguing that all were holy before the Lord, and Moses was no more special than anyone else. Moses should not perform the duties of burning incense before the Lord, as that was reserved for the priesthood—Aaron and the Levites. The rebels accused Moses of acting “like a prince” before the people, and not delivering on his word from the Lord regarding taking them into the Promised Land and releasing them into their inheritance. They went so far as to accuse Moses of bringing them out of Egypt to kill them in the wilderness. This anger toward Moses, coupled with what they deemed to be their own low position, led to dire consequences.
Moses replied that he had not hurt one of them, nor had he taken as little as a donkey from any of them. He challenged the 250 to bring their censers the next morning, to see whose burnt incense would be acceptable to the Lord as an offering. In verse 15, and continuing to the end of the chapter, the Lord’s anger burned against those who rebelled. When Moses’ challenge was accepted the next morning and the censers were lit, it was too late for repentance. Korah and the two leaders closest to the rebellion were swallowed up by a “split in the earth”, along with their families, tents and goods (v. 32). Korah’s tent was judged as a “tent of wickedness”. A fire then came out of the Lord (v. 35), and consumed the 250. The following day, as the congregation of the children of Israel continued to complain about the men who were killed the day before, a plague broke out among the people. Another 14,700 died of that plague before Aaron offered burnt incense as atonement before the Lord. The Bible says Aaron “stood between the living and the dead” (v. 48) to stop the plague. God had to deal with their rebellion before it spread like a cancer among the rest of the people.
It is a serious matter to receive an appointment or duty from the Lord, then grumble and complain that it is not as important or significant as we might like. It is equally dangerous to lead others to do the same. The position of doorkeeper or gatekeeper was considered “consecrated” or sacred in Nehemiah 12:47, and a “trusted” position in 1 Chronicles 9:26. The range of temple duties is described in 1 Chronicles 9: 25-33, and included week-long assignments guarding the temple rooms, treasury, furnishings and articles used in worship, special flour and wine. In addition, they were to keep out those who were “unclean”. This was a very responsible and prominent assignment. There was to be a certain order and reverence for God’s house.
Following the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, the Holy Spirit was given to men to live in their hearts. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says- “do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” When we see that we are now the temple of God, the role of doorkeeper or gatekeeper takes on a whole new relevance. God has given us a job. We must act to guard the entrances into our soul- the eyes, the ears, and the senses in order to protect what is already precious and valuable in our minds and spirits. We are to prevent unclean and polluted things from gaining access—those things of the devil that have no right to be admitted. In Psalm 131: 3-4, David prays- “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.” The Lord Himself (Jesus) will act as our gatekeeper if we will ask.
Our own conscience, a healthy fear of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will also serve as gatekeepers of our hearts if we will allow them. If we ignore them and turn away from them to the point our hearts become calloused and seared, we are rebelling against God and are doomed for trouble.
Korah lost his fear of the Lord when he publicly confronted Moses. His problem was not an employment grievance. He had allowed jealousy, impatience and discontent to contaminate his own heart to the point he was able to incite 250 others to rebel. At the last moment, when he could have repented and asked forgiveness, his pride would not allow it. He had lost control of the gate to his heart and induced others to follow. He could no longer be trusted as a gatekeeper for the tent of meeting, nor could he be allowed to remain among the congregation of the children of Israel. The Israelites would remember the lesson. His descendants memorialized it in Psalm 84, and left us something to ponder.
Jesus says in John 10:9- “I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.” God has a plan to save us, but we are appointed gatekeepers over our saved beings. The temple of God, which is produced in us as a result of our salvation, is to be treated with reverence. After we enter through The Door, we then need a strong doorman to screen who and what gets into our temple, or is denied access. The power of God, and the armor of God (Ephesians 6: 11-17) is available to assist. Pray with me for a keen and watchful eye to guard the temple of our hearts.
This is our job as gatekeepers.
