David knew that the ministers of the temple also had to be organized and prepared if God was to be glorified. Too often local church building programs concentrate so much on the financial and the material that they ignore the spiritual, and then a backslidden and divided congregation meets to dedicate the new edifice! A gifted administrator, David organized the Levites (chap. 23), the priests (chap. 24), the temple singers (chap. 25), and the temple officers (chap. 26). David wanted to be sure that everything in God’s house would be done “decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14: nkjv). In making these decisions, David and his two priests drew lots (24:5–6, 31; 25:8; 26:13–14, 16). This was the process Joshua used when he gave the tribes their inheritance in the Promised Land (Josh. 14:2; 23:4).
But organization wasn’t an end in itself, for these people were being organized for service. The phrase “for the service of the house of the Lord” (or its equivalent) is used several times in these chapters to remind us that ministry is the major responsibility of God’s servants in God’s house. (See 23:24, 26, 28, 32; 25:1, 6, 8, 30; 28:13, 14, 20, 21; 29:5, 7; 2 Chron. 31: 16, 17.) It’s one thing to fill an office, but quite something else to use that office to serve the Lord and His people.
The Levites (23:1–32; see also chap. 6). The author of Chronicles doesn’t record the family struggle that occurred when Solomon became king (1 Kings 1–2), but verse 1 indicates an earlier appointment and 29: a second one. However, verse 1 may simply mean that David announced Solomon as his successor, as in 28:4–5, while 29: describes the actual coronation. (We get the impression that Solomon’s coronation described in 1 Kings 1 was very hastily arranged.) Solomon’s formal public accession to the throne is described in 29:21–25.
The Levites assisted the priests in the sanctuary ministry and were required by the law to be at least thirty years old (v. 3; Num. 4:3; see also Num. 8:24). Later that was lowered to twenty years (v. 24). The 38,000 Levites were divided into four groups, each with a specific ministry: 24,000 Levites who helped the priests in the sanctuary, 6,000 who were “officers and judges” (see 26:1–32), 4,000 who were gatekeepers (“porters” kjv; see 26:1–19), and 4,000 who were singers (see 25:1–31). There was one temple, one high priest, one divine law, and one Lord to serve, but there was a diversity of gifts and ministries, not unlike the church today. The fact that the Levites took care of the sanctuary while the priests served at the altar didn’t mean that their work was less important to the ministry or to the Lord. Each servant was important to the Lord and each ministry was necessary.
David not only organized the sanctuary musicians, but he also provided them with proper musical instruments to use in praising the Lord (v. 5; 2 Chron. 29:25–27; Amos 6:5). Nothing that the priests and Levites did in the temple was left to chance or human invention, but was ordained by the Lord. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, the first high priest (24:1–2), were killed by the Lord for devising their own form of worship (Lev. 10).
The Levitical duties are given in verses 24–32. The Israelites were at rest in their land and no longer a nomadic people, so the Levites didn’t have to carry the various parts of the tabernacle from place to place (see Num. 4). The construction of the temple meant that the Levites would need new assignments. One of their tasks would be to keep the temple clean and in good repair and make sure that the temple precincts were ceremonially pure. They also saw to it that the supply of meal was available for the offerings. Whenever the daily, monthly, and annual sacrifices were offered, the Levite choir would provide praise to the Lord.
The priests (24:1–31). It was important that the priests truly be descendants of Aaron. In David’s day, he had two high priests, Zadok, a descendant of Aaron through Eleazar, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, who was from the line of Ithamar. Abiathar was David’s friend and priest during his exile days (1 Sam. 20:20ff.) and also during the rebellion of Absalom (2 Sam. 15:24–29). Unfortunately, Abiathar wasn’t loyal to Solomon and sided with Adonijah in his quest for the throne, and Solomon had to banish him from Jerusalem (1 Kings 2:22–27). Abiathar came from the line of Eli, and that line was rejected and judged by God (1 Sam. 2:30–33; also see 2 Sam. 22:26–27). The twenty-four families (clans) of priests were assigned by lot to serve in the sanctuary at scheduled times and the rest of the time would be in the priestly cities instructing the people. This procedure was still being followed when Zacharias served in the temple (Luke 1:5–9). He was from the clan of Abijah (24:10).
The musicians (25:1–31). Apart from the ritual blowing of the trumpets (Num. 10), nowhere in the law of Moses is there any mention of music in connection with Jewish worship, yet this chapter describes an elaborate organization of twenty-four courses of singers and musicians. David was a writer of psalms and a gifted musician (2 Sam. 23:1–2; 1 Sam. 16:18), and it’s likely that the sanctuary musical worship came to fruition under his direction (v. 6), and the Lord approved these innovations (2 Chron. 29:25). Harps, lyres, and cymbals are mentioned here (v. 1), and trumpets are mentioned elsewhere (1 Chron. 13:8; 15:24, 28; 2 Chron. 5:13; 20:28). There were also choirs (1 Chron. 15:27).
Three gifted Levites were put in charge of the instrumental music and the singing in the worship services. Asaph wrote at least twelve psalms (50, 73–83) and played the cymbals (16:5). Heman was also called “the king’s seer” (v. 5), which suggests that he had a special gift of discerning the Lord’s will. The Lord promised to give Heman a large family (v. 5 niv), and all his children were musicians. Jeduthun’s name is related to “Judah” and means “praise,” a good name for a choir director. Jeduthun is also associated with Psalms 39, 62, and 77.
The word “prophesy” is used three times in verses 1–3 to describe the ministry of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. The word usually refers to the ministry of the prophets in declaring God’s Word. As has often been said, “The prophets were forth-tellers as well as fore-tellers.” They spoke to present needs and didn’t just predict future events. Miriam led the women in praising the Lord, and she was called a prophetess (Ex. 15:20). The root of the Hebrew word naba means “to bubble, to boil up,” referring to the fervor and excitement of the prophet declaring God’s message. Others say it comes from an Arabic root that means “to announce.” The point is that the men who led Israel’s sanctuary worship were not necessarily prophets in the technical sense, but they and their singers declared the Word (God’s message) with enthusiasm and joy.
Temple officers (26:1–32). These officials included gatekeepers (vv. 1–19), treasurers (vv. 20–28), and miscellaneous officials scattered outside Jerusalem (vv. 29–32). The gatekeepers were assigned to guard the temple gates, with four guards at the north and south gates and six at the east and west gates (vv. 17–18 nlt). Two guards watched over the storehouse, and there were also guards outside the temple area. There are details about the temple area that aren’t recorded in Scripture, and this makes it difficult for us to be exact in our description. It seems that the gatekeepers watched the people come and go and made sure that nobody was deliberately defiling the temple or behaving in a way that disgraced the sanctuary of the Lord.
The treasurers (vv. 20–28) guarded the two temple treasuries, one for general offerings and the other for “dedicated things” from the people, especially the spoils of war (vv. 20–28). (See 2 Kings 12:4–16.) Saul and David added to this treasury, but so did other leaders, such as Samuel the prophet and Abner and Joab, the two generals.
The third group of temple officers (vv. 29–32) were the “officers and judges” assigned to tasks away from the temple and even west of the Jordan. They kept the king in touch with the affairs of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. But these officers were also responsible to keep these tribes involved in “every matter pertaining to God” (v. 32 niv), that is, the all-important religious events of the nation. Separated from the other tribes, the trans-Jordanic Israelites might easily grow careless about observing the annual feasts or even the weekly Sabbaths. This explains why these officers are listed among the temple workers. It’s also likely that these officers were also responsible to collect taxes.