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1 Chronicles Chapter 23
David Organizes the Levites
A hard life of wars was taking it's
toll on David. His life wasn't as long as Abraham, Moses and others
before him. We see though that David is doing all he can to make
sure Solomon has a successful reign as king.
- 1Chronicles 23:2 And
he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests
and the Levites.
- 3 Now the Levites
were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their
number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight
thousand.
- 4 Of which, twenty
and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of
the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges:
- 5 Moreover four
thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with
the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
This is awesome to read about. We need
times when we gather together to worship and praise God with music
and instruments. A few months ago I watched a youtube video of crowds
of people gathering in Times Square New York to worship and praise
God. What a wonderful thing to see when most of the time we see
riots and protests for some reason or another.
-
1Chronicles 23:6 And David
divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely,
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
As we read further, we see that Moses
and Aaron were from the sons of Kohath. David was setting all these
things in order for Solomon his son. It is good that David made sure
the Levites were in place to lead in worship and teaching the word
of God. There was no excuse for any of them to fall away after his
death.
- 1Chronicles 23:7 Of
the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.
- 8 The sons of
Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
- 9 The sons of
Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the
chief of the fathers of Laadan.
- 10 And the sons of
Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four
were the sons of Shimei.
- 11 And Jahath was
the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not
many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to
their father's house.
- 12 The sons of
Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
- 13 The sons of
Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should
sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn
incense before the LORD, to minister unto him, and to bless in
his name for ever.
Oh how I long for the day when the
whole earth bows the knee to Jesus Christ and He rules in
righteousness. There is coming a day when we will worship and praise
God as the king of kings and the lord of lords reigns forever and
ever. Even so come Lord Jesus, come. Jesus is the only one that will
bring everlasting peace upon the earth. Let us not be fooled by
those that come in the name of peace before Him. They will not be
able to do so.
- 1Chroncles 23:14 Now
concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the
tribe of Levi.
- 15 The sons of Moses
were, Gershom, and Eliezer.
- 16 Of the sons of
Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.
- 17 And the sons of
Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other
sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
- 18 Of the sons of
Izhar; Shelomith the chief.
- 19 Of the sons of
Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the
third, and Jekameam the fourth.
- 20 Of the sons of
Uzziel; Michah the first, and Jesiah the second.
- 21 The sons of
Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.
- 22 And Eleazar died,
and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of
Kish took them.
- 23 The sons of
Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
- 24 These were the
sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of
the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their
polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the
LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.
Notice how God did not object to this
type of poll. It was not a number for an army done out of pride but
a number to set up worship. It was a time of honor and remembering
God with thanksgiving, not pride in one's own ability and might.
- 1Chronicles 23:25
For David said, The LORD God of Israel hath given rest unto his
people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:
- 26 And also unto the
Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any
vessels of it for the service thereof.
- 27 For by the last
words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old
and above:
- 28 Because their
office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the
house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in
the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of
the house of God;
- 29 Both for the
shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the
unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and
for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and
size;
- 30 And to stand
every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at
even;
- 31 And to offer all
burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new
moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order
commanded unto them, continually before the LORD:
- 32 And that they
should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of
Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.
This is how it was supposed to be.
Peace, love and joy is God's plan. Sin entered later to try to stop
that plan and cause death and destruction, wars and fighting. All
the worship and the keeping of Sabbaths is an abomination to God if
one allows sin and idolatry to enter into the nation. We can't have
a mixture of idolatry and then observe feasts of the Lord at the
same time. They tried to do that at times. Idolatry brings with it,
hate, murder and all kinds of evil. It is actually departing from
God. Any worship of God then is but vain repetition and outward
religion with no change of the heart.
In the latter days through the power of God
and the reign of none other than Jesus, the Son of God, there will
be a permanent and great restoration of all Israel which is joined with the
Gentiles who also have believed in Jesus Christ as their
Lord and savior. What a glorious day that will be.
1 Chronicles
Chapter 24
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