The Sanctity of Stuff: God's Holy Treasury
Introduction: The War on Administration
We live in an age that despises administration. Our culture is allergic to ledgers, genealogies, and detailed lists of responsibilities. We want the fireworks of the spiritual experience, but we have no patience for the careful work of setting them up. We want the feeling of worship without the form of it. We want the New Testament spirit, as we imagine it, without the Old Testament structures that give it shape and substance. This is a profound mistake, a gnostic impulse that seeks to detach spirit from matter, faith from faithfulness, and worship from the warehouse.
The modern evangelical mind often glazes over when confronted with a passage like this one in 1 Chronicles. We read through long lists of names and duties, and we wonder what this has to do with our relationship with Jesus. The answer is: everything. These lists are not holy filler. They are the sinews and bones of a covenant community. They are a declaration that God is not a God of confusion, but of order. He cares about details. He cares about who is in charge of what. He cares about the treasure, the stuff, the material goods dedicated to His service.
This passage is a direct assault on the pietistic notion that holiness is something that happens only inside your head or heart. The Bible teaches that holiness has hands and feet. It has a budget. It has a key to the storeroom. Our sanctification is not an ethereal mist; it is worked out in the gritty, tangible realities of life, including financial administration. The world wants you to believe that money and things are either ultimate, the goal of all life, or that they are dirty, unspiritual, and beneath the concern of the truly devout. The Bible says neither. It says that all of life, including the treasury, is to be consecrated to God and managed with scrupulous integrity for His glory.
What we have here is a theology of the treasury. It is a lesson in the sanctity of stuff when that stuff is set apart for the Lord. David is preparing for the construction of the temple, and he understands that a glorious temple requires a glorious and well-ordered administration. He is not just organizing singers and gatekeepers; he is organizing accountants and asset managers. And in doing so, he is teaching us a timeless principle: faithful worship requires faithful administration. God's house must be in order, and that order extends to the balance sheets.
The Text
As for the Levites, Ahijhah was over the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of the holy gifts. The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, namely, the Jehielites, were the heads of the fathers’ households, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite. The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were over the treasures of the house of Yahweh. As for the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites, Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasures. And his relatives by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son. This Shelomoth and his relatives were over all the treasures of the holy gifts which King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had set apart as holy. They set apart as holy part of what was won in battles and part of the spoil to repair the house of Yahweh. And all that Samuel the seer had set apart as holy and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had set apart anything as holy, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.
(1 Chronicles 26:20-28 LSB)
God's Holy Accountants (vv. 20-25)
The passage begins by diving straight into the organizational chart for the temple treasury.
"As for the Levites, Ahijhah was over the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of the holy gifts... The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were over the treasures of the house of Yahweh... Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasures." (1 Chronicles 26:20, 22, 24)
Notice the specificity. God does not just say, "And some guys were in charge of the money." He names them. He records their lineage. Why? Because accountability is personal. Responsibility is not a vague corporate concept; it is attached to a man, to a family. Ahijhah, Zetham, Joel, Shebuel. These are not just names; they are men entrusted with a holy stewardship.
We also see a distinction being made. There are "the treasures of the house of God" and "the treasures of the holy gifts." The first likely refers to the regular tithes and offerings that supported the day-to-day operations of the temple and its staff. The second refers to special, dedicated gifts, which the rest of the passage will describe. This is basic, sound financial practice. You have your general fund, and you have your designated funds. God is the inventor of good accounting.
And look who is put in charge. Shebuel, a descendant of Moses himself. There is a profound principle here about legacy and faithfulness. The grandson of the great lawgiver is now tasked with managing the material substance that supports the worship prescribed by that law. Faithfulness is generational. God honors lineage, not because of some magic in the blood, but because He is a covenant-keeping God who works through families. This is why the genealogies matter. They trace the line of God's covenant faithfulness through history. They remind us that we are part of a story that began long before us and will continue long after us. We have a responsibility to steward our family name and our spiritual inheritance well.
The Consecration of Wealth (vv. 26-27)
Now we get to the heart of the matter: where did these "holy gifts" come from?
"This Shelomoth and his relatives were over all the treasures of the holy gifts which King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had set apart as holy. They set apart as holy part of what was won in battles and part of the spoil to repair the house of Yahweh." (1 Chronicles 26:26-27 LSB)
The source of this capital fund was the spoils of war. This is deeply significant. In the ancient world, the spoils of war were the ultimate proof of a god's power. When you conquered a nation, you plundered their temples, took their idols, and declared that your god had defeated their god. The wealth of the vanquished was a testimony to the strength of the victor's deity.
David and his commanders understood this principle perfectly, but they applied it to the one true God. When Israel was victorious in battle, it was not because their army was superior or their strategy was brilliant. It was because Yahweh fought for them. Therefore, a portion of the plunder, the profit of that victory, belonged to Him by right. To dedicate the spoils of war to the "repair" and maintenance of the house of Yahweh was a tangible act of worship. It was a national declaration that "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty" (1 Chronicles 29:11).
This demolishes the sacred/secular divide. The battlefield and the budget are brought into the sanctuary. The work of the soldier is directly connected to the work of the priest. Our work, our battles, our victories in the marketplace, in the classroom, in the home, are not separate from our worship. The fruit of our labors, the "spoil" of our daily vocations, is to be consecrated to God for the building of His house, the extension of His kingdom. We fight our battles during the week so that we can bring the plunder to the house of God on Sunday as an offering of thanksgiving.
A Legacy of Dedication (v. 28)
The passage concludes by reminding us that this practice of consecration was not new with David. It was an established pattern.
"And all that Samuel the seer had set apart as holy and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had set apart anything as holy, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives." (1 Chronicles 26:28 LSB)
This is a fascinating and somewhat startling list of donors. We have Samuel, the great and godly prophet. That makes sense. But then we have Saul, the failed and rejected king. We have Abner, Saul's commander who played politics with the kingdom. And we have Joab, David's ruthless general who was not above political assassination. It is a motley crew.
What does this tell us? It tells us that God's treasury is able to receive gifts from imperfect people. During moments of clarity or in acts of public duty, even compromised men like Saul, Abner, and Joab participated in consecrating spoils to the Lord. The holiness of the gift was in its dedication to God, not in the personal piety of the donor. Once given to God, it became holy, and it was the responsibility of Shelomoth and his team to guard it as such.
This does not excuse the sins of these men. Joab and Saul were judged for their rebellion. But it does show that the work of building God's house is a multi-generational project that even involves the contributions of flawed individuals. God, in His sovereignty, can use the victories He grants to even compromised leaders to build His kingdom. The treasure is what matters. Once it is in the treasury, it is holy, and it must be managed with absolute integrity by the men God has appointed to the task.
Conclusion: Your Holy Treasury
This passage, buried in the middle of Chronicles, is intensely practical for us today. The church of Jesus Christ is the new temple. And this temple has a treasury. It has budgets, bank accounts, and building funds. These things are not unspiritual distractions from the real work of the church; they are an essential part of the real work of the church.
First, this passage calls for order and accountability. A church that is sloppy with its finances is a church that is dishonoring to God. We should have men of integrity, modern-day Shelomoths, overseeing the treasures. Budgets should be clear, records should be meticulous, and there should be transparency. This is not just good business practice; it is a spiritual discipline.
Second, it calls us to consecrate the spoils of our own battles. When God gives you a victory, a promotion, a successful business deal, a bonus, your first thought should be, "What portion of this plunder belongs to the King?" Our giving should not be a reluctant payment of dues, but a joyful presentation of the spoils of war, a testimony that it was God who gave us the victory. We work and we fight in the world in order to acquire resources for the advancement of the kingdom.
Finally, it reminds us that all of this is for the "house of Yahweh." The purpose of the treasury is the worship and glory of God. These consecrated funds are not for our comfort or for building our own little kingdoms. They are for the repair, maintenance, and expansion of the church's work in the world: to preach the gospel, to make disciples, to build a Christian civilization. The Levites were guarding more than gold and silver; they were guarding the fuel for the engine of worship. We are called to do the same, with diligence, with integrity, and with a clear-eyed understanding that even our bank statements are a part of our worship.