1 CHRONICLES LESSON 26


     We will begin this lesson in I Chronicles 23:1 "So when David was
old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel."

     Generally speaking, a king remains king, until he dies. David
anointed his son, Solomon, king, while he was still alive. He did this
so there would be no question which of his sons was to reign in his
stead.  It was actually God who had chosen Solomon to be king.  David
was king over all twelve tribes of Israel, and so would Solomon be.

     I Chronicles 23:2  "And he gathered together all the princes of
Israel, with the priests and the Levites."

     These princes were all of David's sons. They included all of the
heads of families, as well. The Levites were all in the service of the
LORD in some capacity, or the other.

     I Chronicles 23:3 "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."

     The Levites did not begin to serve the LORD, until they were
thirty years old. This was, possibly, the reason they were not
counted, until they became this age. There was not much reason to
count the Levitical tribe, because they did not go to war, and they
were not required to pay taxes.

     I Chronicles 23:4 "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:"

     We see that these 24,000 men were to supervise the work on the
temple. We see 6,000 were officers and judges.

     I Chronicles 23:5 "Moreover four thousand [were] porters; and
four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made,
[said David], to praise [therewith]."

     The porters were keepers of the doors. They were stationed day
and night to guard the doors. Earlier in these lessons, we got into
the importance of the praise and worship conducted in the music and
singing.

     I Chronicles 23:6 "And David divided them into courses among the
sons of Levi, [namely], Gershon, Kohath, and Merari."

     All Levites were in the service of the LORD. Each family had
their uniqueness. Kohath was the father of the priests and high
priests.  Merari was more associated with the musical ministry. The
descendents of Gershon were keepers of the treasury in the time of
David.

     I Chronicles 23:7  "Of the Gershonites [were], Laadan, and
Shimei."  I Chronicles 23:8 "The sons of Laadan; the chief [was]
Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three."  I Chronicles 23:9 "The sons of
Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These [were] the
chief of the fathers of Laadan."  I Chronicles 23:10 "And the sons of
Shimei [were], Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four [were]
the sons of Shimei." I Chronicles 23:11 "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."

     The verses above are the genealogy of Gershon.

     I Chronicles 23:12  "The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron,
and Uzziel, four."

     The Amram, mentioned here, was the father of Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam.

     I Chronicles 23:13 "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."

     Aaron was the first high priest. His family would be the priests
and high priests in the service of the LORD.  The priest burnt incense
before the LORD. We have already mentioned that this symbolizes the
prayers of the saints. Basically, he represented the people to God and
God to the people. Moses, we know was specially chosen of God to be
the deliverer of Israel. He was the one whom God decided to give His
law through.

     I Chronicles 23:14 "Now [concerning] Moses the man of God, his
sons were named of the tribe of Levi."

     "The man of God" was used five times in speaking of Moses. Moses
was chosen of God, before birth, to lead the people of Israel out of
bondage, and to the promised land. His relationship with God was on a
one to one relationship. He was of the tribe of Levi, but his sons
were not priests.

     I Chronicles 23:15 "The sons of Moses [were], Gershom, and
Eliezer."

     These two sons were born to Moses and Zipporah, while Moses was
in exile.

     I Chronicles 23:16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel [was] the
chief. I Chronicles 23:17 "And the sons of Eliezer [were], Rehabiah
the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah
were very many." I Chronicles 23:18 "Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith
the chief." I Chronicles 23:19 "Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the
first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the
fourth." I Chronicles 23:20 "Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first,
and Jesiah the second."
     I Chronicles 23:21  "The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The
sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish." I Chronicles 23:22 "And Eleazar
died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of
Kish took them."  I Chronicles 23:23 "The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and
Eder, and Jeremoth, three."

     It is interesting to note, at this point, that the houses of the
Levites had sprung to twenty-four houses. There were 11 Kohathite
families, 9 of the Gershonite, and 4 of the families of Merari. The
daughters, were taken in marriage by their nearkinsmen. They remained
Levites.

     I Chronicles 23:24  "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."

     The twenty years, here, is most of the time spoken of as thirty
years. I would assume thirty years to be the age for taking on duties
as priests and high priest, because Jesus' formal ministry began when
He was thirty. All of the Levites were in service of the LORD. The
Kohathites through Aaron were the priests.

     I Chronicles 23:25 "For David said, The LORD God of Israel hath
given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for
ever:"

     There would be no more journeying with the tabernacle. The place
of worship would be established forever in Jerusalem. Three times a
year, all of the Hebrew men were to come to Jerusalem to worship. The
women came, also, when they did not have a baby to care for. The
central place of worship would be in the temple in Jerusalem.

     I Chronicles 23:26 "And also unto the Levites; they shall no
[more] carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service
thereof."

     Part of the duties of the Levites had been to carry the
tabernacle, and set it up at each spot God chose. Each Levite had a
particular job to do. Now, we see that the tabernacle would not be
moved again. Those who were in the service of moving it would, now, be
assigned new jobs.

     I Chronicles 23:27 "For by the last words of David the Levites
[were] numbered from twenty years old and above:"

     I will not belabor whether they were twenty, or thirty. It really
is unimportant. We are, probably, looking over some minor detail here,
that would explain it, such as they could have been in training when
they were twenty, and actually began to minister when they were
thirty.

     I Chronicles 23:28 "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;"

     We see that the twenty year old's were like apprentice workers
who were serving those who were ministering. The young people did the
menial labor.

     I Chronicles 23:29 "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;"

     This is saying, that much of the cooking of the bread and the
preperation of the meat and flour offerings were done by these young
Levites.

     I Chronicles 23:30 "And to stand every morning to thank and
praise the LORD, and likewise at even;"

     We remember, from a previous lesson, that some of the Levites
were to sing and play instruments in the temple and around the temple.
They led the praise and worship in song. They would lead praise, also,
where they would lift their hands in praise to the LORD and praise and
worship the LORD.

     I Chronicles 23:31 "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:"

     The priests did the actual sacrificing to the LORD. The other
Levites could help with minor preparations for the sacrifices. The
priests were to keep the sabbaths, new moons, and the feasts ever on
the minds of the people. The priests and the high priest were the
spiritual leaders of these people.

     I Chronicles 23:32 "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."

     Just as in a church, the ministering body does not just pertain
to the pastor, there were many ministering functions in the temple.
The high priest and the priests were the family of Aaron set aside and
made holy for their service, but all the Levites ministered in some
capacity.








                      1 Chronicles 26 Questions


1.  When did David make Solomon king?
2.  What was unusual about this?
3.  Who had actually chosen Solomon to be king?
4.  Who were the princes that were gathered?
5.  How many Levites above thirty were numbered?
6.  Why was there not much reason to number the Levitical tribe?
7.  How many were to supervise the work on the temple?
8.  How many were officers and judges?
9.  What was the job of the porters?
10. How many were involved in praise on instruments?
11. What were the three families of the tribe of Levi?
12. Kohath was the father of the _________ and _______ ________.
13. The descendents of Gershom were keepers of the ___________ in the
    time of David.
14. Amram was the father of whom?
15. Who was the first high priest?
16. What did the burning of incense before the LORD symbolize?
17. What did the high priest do, basically?
18. What was Moses called in verse 14?
19. Who were sons of Moses by Zipporah, while he was in exile?
20. How many houses had the Levites become, at the time of this
    lesson?
21. What would change about their worship, after the temple was built?
22. What were these 20 year olds to do?
23. Much of the cooking was done by whom?
24. Who actually did the sacrifices?
25. How does this resemble our church today?