Year 3, Day 295: 1 Chronicles 23

Organization of the Levites

As David begins to experience the last of his days, he takes to the task of organizing the Levites.  Before we get to the lesson in today’s reading, let’s look a bit at the content of the texts.  Notice that there are nowhere near enough names to indicate that these are a complete list of the descendants.  The names listed here likely represent the major descendants between the exodus and the time of David.

As for what we can learn from this passage, we can look at the fact that David organizes the Levites before he dies.  David knows that this is an important task, but also a task that comes out of a perspective of maturity.  I’m sure David realizes that Solomon in his youth wouldn’t think about organizing the Levites once the temple is built.  Again we see that David is helping out his young son who is about to take over the kingdom.

This leads us to another point.  David is not just doing this for Solomon.  David is doing this for God.  He knows that God deserves the praise and the worship.  David also knows that he was prevented from building the temple.  Thus, David wants to know that the God who has blessed him so greatly in his life will be remembered properly after his death once the temple is built.  For David, he has the opportunity to set up his son and give glory to God.

However, there is something else to look at in this passage.  David organizes the Levites.  Remember that the Levites were the people who were to assist the priests in their daily duties as well as to pack up the tabernacle when it was to move across the land.  With the coming of the temple, the Ark of the Covenant isn’t going to move anymore.  The Levites will need a different set of tasks.  Thus, David puts them in charge of helping with the priestly duties and caring for the temple grounds.

I enjoy the message that David is sending here.  The nation may be evolving.  The worship practices of the Hebrew people are likewise evolving.  The tasks of the Levites can evolve with them.  Just because things change doesn’t mean the Levites are set aside or cast away.  David finds new things for the Levites to do rather than caring for the tabernacle as it moved about the land.

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