Zadok - An Unknown Hero; Meditations from Ezekiel 40:46

Ezekiel 40:46 "and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him. "

The Lord has spent a lot of time decrying the abuse of the priests in Ezekiel's day. However, there was one family that stayed true to Him: the family of Zadok. Who was Zadok and what lessons can we learn from his life?

Zadok was a priest at the time of David and stood by him and fought for him (and fled with him) during difficult times, including Absalom's insurrection. One of his sons, Ahimaaz, was known as a good man and brought the news of Absalom's death to David. Zadok stood by David during Adonijah's attempt to overthrow the throne and helped Solomon take over, actually anointing Solomon as king.

He continued to serve as priest under Solomon while it seems his son, Azariah became high priest. He also had a daughter named Jerusha who married King Uzziah. Their son, Jotham, served well while Uzziah was incompacitated and became a very righteous king himself.

Zodak's descendents did a great job as well. During Hezekiah's reform, Azariah was there, acting justly and perhaps Zadok's most famous direct descendent would be Ezra, the scribe so very important to post-exilic Israel. As the grandfather of Jotham, Zodak is an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Now, in Ezekiel, Zadok's descendents are singled out as examples of faithfulness. The Lord describes them as the ones who "who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did." He also gives them the fantastic job to "come near to me to minister to me."