2 Chronicles 23:1

2 Chronicles 23:1 says, And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.  Jehoiada rose up in the seventh year of the reign of Athaliah's rule and began to form a covenant with others to put the God chosen person back in power, and this was a seed of David.  We may suffer under the rule of ungodly leaders today, but we must never accept this as something permanent.  We as followers of Christ must always be in a covenant relationship with Him and join with other believers to present His word to the world.  Verse two adds, And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.  Jehoiada and those allied with him gathered the Levites and chief men from throughout Judah and brought them to Jerusalem.  We as Christians may not all be gathered in one place of service to God, but we do need to be united in purpose and that is to obey God's law and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Verse three continues, And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.  These people made a covenant with the king, the descendant of David, that he would rein as God had ordained.  We need to make a covenant with our fellow believers to always do what God has called us to do and to support those that He has put in positions of leadership in the church, but Jesus Christ is the only King we will ever have.  Verse four states, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;  Jehoiada made a plan, which started with a third of priests and Levites entering the temple on the Sabbath to be porters at the doors.  They were to control who came into the temple.  I will make the analogy that our bodies as Christians are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and we need to control what we allow into our lives.  We cannot allow the things of this world to corrupt us if we are going to be successful in our spiritual life.  Verse five adds, And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.  Another third of the the group were going to be at the king's house, and the remaining third were to be at the gate of the foundation.  I understand these thirds were to be the priests and Levites, and then the rest of the people allied with Jehoiada were to be in the courts of the house of the Lord.  We need God called leaders in the church today to be in charge of our worship services, but we all have the command to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.  Verse six continues, But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD Only the priests and Levites were to be allowed to go into the house of the Lord, because they were considered to be holy, and the rest of the people were to keep watch for the Lord.  As believers in Christ, we are a part of the priesthood of believers and are never limited in where we can go for the Lord, and we have a responsibility to make sure that we represent God wherever we may be.  Verse seven says, And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.  The Levites were charged with keeping the king safe, and anyone other than a Levite who entered into the house, which I believe was the temple, was to be put to death.  They were to always be armed and with the king when he went in or came out.  We are to always be armed with armor of God wherever we go, and we are to remain faithful to our King, Jesus Christ.  Verse eight adds, So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.  The Levites and all of Judah did as Jehoiada had commanded, and we today as followers of Christ must do as God commands us.  We all have our calling from God, and we must obey it.  Verse nine continues, Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.  Jehoiada then gave them the armor that had been David's that was in the house of God.  We all are equipped with the armor of God as His people and are empowered by the Holy Spirit.  This is a much greater security than the armor of David could ever bring.  Verse ten states, And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.  All those who were allied with Jehoiada were placed around the temple to guard the king.  As Christians, we are allied with Him and with each other and must do our best to preserve His kingdom here on earth through being obedient to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and if we are, we will be where God needs us to be.  Verse eleven adds, Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.  They then brought the king's son out and put the crown on him, gave him the testimony, and made him king.  Jehoiada and his sons then anointed him and said God save the king.  Our King has been forever anointed, and the heavenly Father established Him as King forever.