1 Chron 26:15 – to Obed-Edom the South Gate, and to his sons the storehouse.

God specialises in great outcomes! I think I want to say that once again. GOD SPECIALISES IN GREAT OUTCOMES!

Luke 1:37 says with God nothing shall be impossible. Jer 32: 27 – God says’ behold, I am the God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah also cried out in Jeremiah 32:17  ‘Ah Lord God, You have created the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you.

Who you align with; who you serve; who you worship; who you fear; who you follow and who you submit to, has a great implication of who you end up becoming in this life!

Such is the curious story of Obed-Edom. How can a Philistine, a sworn enemy of God, a pagan, an idolater, under divine judgement, end up among the Israelites and even more profoundly, a Levite? Levites are from the tribe of Levi and they are exclusively separated unto God for the temple worship and caring for the tabernacle. Out of the Levites, you have the priests, and only they can offer the sacrifices in the Old testament. All Priests are Levites, but not all Levites are Priests. Such was the exclusivity of these roles, that only one family were made priests. The family of Aaron. So, how does Obed-Edom and his sons end up in the tabernacle as Levites?

1 Chron 26:1-8 Concerning the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, ^[a]Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of ^[b]Asaph. ² And the sons of Meshelemiah were Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³ Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.⁴ Moreover the sons of Obed-Edom were Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵ Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth; for God blessed him.⁶ Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born who governed their fathers’ houses, because they were men of great ability. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers Elihu and Semachiah were able men.⁸ All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons and their brethren, able men with strength for the work: sixty-two of Obed-Edom.

In the previous blogs, I have explored possible reasons why God blessed Obed-Edom and his household. I have also considered the level of sacrifice Obed-Edom and his family expressed as they took the Ark of God into their house.

It has just also occurred to me that Obed-Edom was not a random choice for David. David knew this man quite well. He must have become one of David’s men, whilst David was a fugitive in the land of the Philistines. He must have shown David unusual loyalty, dedication to service and to God, to warrant David bringing him along into Israel and giving Obed-Edom a place in Jerusalem.

But after the three months of looking after the Ark, and God having blessed him and his entire household, David established an elaborate Levitical system of worship, appointing roles to different Levitical and Priestly families. He then drops inside this exclusive family of Levites, the man Obed-Edom and his sons. A Gittite. A Philistine. They were appointed gate keepers of the of the South Gate to the tabernacle area, and in addition, they were also appointed as the store keepers of the tabernacle! Wow! This is like double promotion.

A non-Jew, non-Israelite, ends up as a Levite! How does that happen? Simple answer, God. Obed-Edom allowed God into his life, altered his setup to accommodate God, like I said, made room for God, and God completely transforms him and his family and grafts them into an exclusive family, with incredible privileges in Israel. This is our God. This is the God we serve.

He took Ruth a Moabites and turned her into the great grand Mother of King David and consequently the Great, great, great, great grand mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth today is seen as a matriarch in Israel, not as a foreigner. The day Ruth decided to follow Naomi and align with the God of Naomi, that day her destiny changed and her eternal status changed.

How about Rahab? A prostitute from Jericho, a Canaanite woman, became the mother of Boaz and also ends up in the genealogy of David and Jesus the Christ. The day Rahab chose to show the Israelite spies favour and habour them in her house. The day she aligned herself with Israel and consequently the God if Israel, her destiny changed forever.

Now, let us not be in doubt. God can take anyone from anywhere and make them whoever he wants them to be and use them wherever He so desires to use them. God will render all protocols, discrimination, prejudices, nuances, preferences and preconceptions useless, if he so chooses to use you or make you! No one can stop Him.

We have a saying in Africa, that God can choose to fetch water in a basket, just to disgrace a bucket. He can decide to crack a palm kernel with an egg, just to disgrace a stone.

We call this AWAMARIDI. Unsearchable God. What is the most preposterous thing you can imagine. God can do it!

But this narrative will not be complete, if I fail to let you know, that God specializes in great outcomes and for some of us, He has already performed the impossible.

We were gentiles, pagans, unbelieving, idolaters and sinful people. But we heard the gospel of His Kingdom, we believed in the perfect atoning work of Jesus on Calvary. In that moment, God transferred us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. He made us earthlings into citizens of heaven. He grafted us into the commonwealth of Israel. He adopted us as sons and gave us a place next to Him. He made us heirs along with Jesus of His Kingdom. He made us Levites like Obed-Edom,  who can access the temple, but He went further and made us Priests, so we not only can worship before Him, we can handle the holy things of God and not get struck down like Uzzah! But He went even further and made us kings. What can I say? All I can say is THANK YOU LORD!

1 Sam 2:8 – He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them.

1 Peter 2:9-10 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

It seems a ‘no brainer’ to give all our hearts to God. It seems a bit obvious that if we allow God to rule our lives, we will reign in life. So, why don’t we all submit to God without reservation? I am not going to answer this question, because it is rhetoric.

All I would say is be wise! If you are looking for a great outcome! An ‘awamaridi’. Then go with God with all you have. He still specialises in GREAT OUTCOMES!

Let us Pray: Lord today, I just want to thank you for the radical transformation you have already wrought in my life. I am amazed at how You have taken me from being an enemy to being a son of Yours. I want you to do the same for anyone who is reading this and has not yet committed their heart to you by believing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that the will also experience the joys of the new birth in Christ Jesus. I also pray today, that you will make us who You want us to be. You will take us where You want us to go and You will establish us in whatever position or estate in life You so desire for us. I anticipate Your AWAMARIDI in my life. In Jesus mighty name, I pray. Amen