The Importance of Doorkeepers (Gatekeepers)

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. (Psalm 84:10 NKJV)

There are three references to doorkeepers in the NKJV of the Bible.  They include the above verse as well as the following:

“It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. (Mark 13:34 NKJV)

“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3 NKJV)

What does a Doorkeeper Do?

Often a doorkeeper is translated as a gatekeeper in the old testament and if one looks at their responsibilities and the number of them, they had an important role in protecting the temple.  Obviously, the Doorkeeper keeps the wrong people out and the right people in.  The Doorkeeper was a guard that kept the precious treasures in the temple safe.

Do We Need Doorkeepers Today?

Obviously the answer is yes.  The idea of being a guard is really associated with a gatekeeper in the New Testament.   The Lord has delegated responsibility to his doorkeepers while He is in a far country (Heaven).  They are to be watching.  Watching for what?  For the master of the house to return!  They are responsible for making sure the sheep are following the right shepherd.

Guardians of the Truth

Doorkeepers today are to be keepers or guardians of the truth.  We do not amass gold and silver today, but we have precious things called “truths” that must be protected.  The Corinthians were  in danger of being deceived.  Paul says, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV)

In Galatians they had been willing to accept “another Gospel”.  Paul said, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7 NKJV)

The early church dealt with those who wanted the believers to be another sect of Judaism as well as those gnostics who claimed that they had knowledge that was superior to that of the apostles.  That is why Paul says before he died, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (or I have guarded the truth). (2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV)

Guardians of the Inside and the Outside of Assembly Gatherings

A local assembly has an inside and an outside.  We read, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person.’” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13 NKJV)

Gatekeepers have an important job.  They are to make sure that the doctrine being promoted is pure. That is not an easy task when there are so many experts in our day who disagree on basic truths dealing with Who Christ really is and with the doctrines of salvation.  Some add to the Scriptures and some forget that it is not the church that saves, but Christ.  They need to be able to keep the unsaved and immoral out of the local church fellowship and the saved and those walking with the Lord in the church.  Obviously, some of our preaching should be open to people that are not “in fellowship” with what we teach and practice.  But the inside and outside of the assembly is necessary for it to be holy.  The gatekeeper did not dwell in the tents of the wicked.  The unsaved and the immoral and those with their own version of the Gospel are not to be participating in the assembly worship and teaching.   We need to recognize that God separates light from darkness and so should we.  

Conclusion

I used to think that being a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord was a very lowly or humble calling.  However, I did not understand that a doorkeeper was a guardian of that which is precious to the Lord.  The job is not for the timid or fainthearted. It is a very important calling. 

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of May 25, 2025

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.