Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may grant me passage until I arrive in Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, directing him to give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me. Nehemiah 2:7-8
“The keeper of the archives, George of Constantinople, now presented a third codex, which in the meantime he had found also in the patriarchal archives, and swore upon the Holy Gospels that neither himself nor any other, with his knowledge, had made any alteration”
Third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680-681) in “Notes from the Ninth and Tenth Sessions” in History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 5; by Charles Joseph Hefele, 148.
I shot this header photo of the sixth of the seven councils in the cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv of this council. This council was sorting out heresies so they called for codices from the keeper of the archives.
1. Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325)
2. Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381)
3. Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431)
4. Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451)
5. Second Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553)
6. Third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680)
7. Second Council of Nicaea (A.D. 787)
I love this term, keeper. It’s a synonym for steward.
Just as Asaph was the keeper of the king’s forest, George was the keeper of the archives, the books and manuscripts that recounted history of the church in Constantinople. He played a pivotal role in the discussions by accessing important information.
His work was likely and largely mundane. We can envision a modern day librarian who may know how to locate thousands of books that may only be called for on rare occasions. But he or she knows right where they are!
Of what has God made you keeper? How might your role, which often might seem boring or meaningless actually play a key role in the big picture of mission? Ponder this with the LORD as you aspire to generous service.