1 Chronicles 23-27
Here in our study
of 1 Chronicles we have seen that the writer Probably
Ezra is writing to a remnant of Israelites who have returned to
They
are returning to a
THE
It
is going to be a TOUGH job hard task Take effort sweat and unity to get
the Job done.
He
is writing to inspire them He begins by chronicling the Genealogies to help
them trace back their roots to realize who they belong to and what they owned
He
moves from that to focus on the REIGN of DAVID
- Illustrate what God can do when His people trust Him obey Him
BLESSINGS FOLLOW
As
we come to ch.23 We have seen that David wanted to Build the
A)Now
David is old time to pass the Baton to Solomon. David last thing he is
going to do is set things in order for his son.
B) Focus
tonight in Ch.23-27 { Lots of names not read them all OVERVIEW
1)
There are so REAL NUGGETS in these Chapters I think you will enjoy.
2)
Interesting PICTURE OF THE CHURCH.
V.1-2 So when David was old
and full of days, What a great way to describe getting old Full of days A)Lived a long fruitful life { Listen that is
what we all want to be FULL OF DAYS {
B)I
love this about David He is in his 70s Slowing down physically not the
warrior he once was but He is using his time. Making the most of his time.
It
was right for him to be passing the
Baton to Solomon but he is doing it the right way.
A)Listen you who are older
Retired can I encourage you to be like David and go out with a BANG
B) Young couples Single
moms YOU HAVE A HUGE PART TO PLAY.
So when David
was old and full of days, he made
his son Solomon king over
A)David is going to put the GOVT in order - David gathered these for the purpose of
organizing them to help Solomon with the work of building the temple and
administering the affairs of the kingdom.
B) David is doing all of this according the Lords instruction turn
ch.28 v.11-13
11 Then David
gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries,
its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; 12
and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit,
.. of the
courts of the house of the LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the
treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things;
13 also for the division of the priests and the
Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all
the articles of service in the house of the LORD.
Back to Ch.23
Start with the
Levites: Those who would be serving in the
A)Today these would make up the Pastors and Elders in a Church.
V.3 Now the
Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of
individual males was thirty-eight thousand.
B)This was based on the ancient command found in
C)Those who served as Levites served from age 30-50 What would they
do after 50?
1)Trained the perspective
Levites from 25-30.
1) So there was a time for
prepared training for ministry.
D) Sometimes we make light of the need for training.
1) I
love giving young guys opportunities to minister
E) But I have learned the hard way the need for them to be trained
I have seen guys
sent out into ministry too young.
A)Seen to many young men
flounder in ministry never worked a Job never developed those work skills learned
responsibility.
B) There is a need to be trained sad thing some in their youthful
pride they dont want that
1) Remember when you were 20 thought I knew it all
C) Me and my friends would sit around critiquing the Pastors in our
lives { Pastor Chuck
1) If I was Chuck I would do this
Pride
D) Finally got into full time ministry{ Know Nothing!
Interesting we
will see in this Chapter the age thing is going to change however get
younger!
A)Talk about in a minute why?
B)So 38,000 Levites brought together to accomplish central task!
V.4 Of these,
twenty-four thousand were to
look after the work
of the house of the Lord, The temple was a busy place
constantly flowing with worshippers, sacrifice, and service unto God.
C) It took many skilled people to take care of all the practical matters
behind this activity.
1) They were involved in the
maintenance of the
six thousand were
officers and judges, Leaders and counselors
Administrators over 4,000 each
four thousand were
gatekeepers, Ushers they opened and
closed doors These had the responsibility for security, both in a practical and
spiritual sense.
They made sure that only
those who were ready to serve and worship God could come to the temple and its
associated building.
and four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments,
Worship leaders: these Levites had the job of worshipping God both with their voices
and musical instruments.
They did this both to honor God directly and also to encourage others to worship God. 4000
Worship leaders WOW!!!!!
NOTE
four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments
"which I made," said
David, "for giving praise." David was a busy guy actually he probably designed the instruments
and had others make them.
Also David separated
them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
These family groupings
within the tribe of Levi were described hundreds of years before in
Gershon: The Gershonites were to take care of the skins that covered the
tabernacle itself.
TENT
MADE OF BADGER SKINS
Kohath:
The Kohathites were to take care of the FURNISHINGS of the tabernacle including
the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread / altar incense, lamp stand etc
Merari:
The family of Merari was to take care of the structural aspects of the
tabernacle including the pillars, the boards, and the fasteners
VERSES 7-11 tell us about
the Gershonites
VERSES 12-20 tell us about the Kohathites
VERSES 21-23 tell
us about the Merarites
These divisions were for the purpose of
EFFECTIVE & EFFICIENT organized service in the house of the Lord
We are not going to look at
all these names but in the family of Kohath were those who formed the
Priest
A)Descendants his son Amram
V.13The sons of
Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was
set apart, he and his sons forever, / Aaron
Special privilege of Aarons family
forever
B)4 Fold duties of the Priest: Correlation
to those who are Pastors those who want to be Pastors Things they are doing.
that he should
sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to give
the blessing in His name forever.
1) That he
should sanctify the most holy things:
1)The
priest was have an active concern for holiness, personal ceremonial washings
2)
As well as the instruments of the temple BOTH NEEDED TO BE SANCTIFIED!
2) To burn incense
before the Lord:
Incense is a picture of intercessory prayer.
A)Pastoral
Ministry: Intercessors -
3)
To minister to Him: The priest was busy with people and the work of ministry, but he must
never forget his ministry to God Himself.
First and foremost-
4) To give the
blessing in His name forever: The priest was blessed so that he could bless
others
Skip down to v.24 Rd 24 V. 27
Why the switch: -
For one reason the Temple was a much bigger building to take care of than the
Tabernacle.
A)Tabernacle traveled with the pp of
B) Now the
1)
C) So David by the Spirits
leading remember - lowered the age so that some of these younger guys who
were being trained could help in that
part of the ministry.
1) On the Job training
Intern Program
Notice their Duties: Read v. 28-32
They were what we might call ministry
interns!
A)They were the servants of the priest helping them function in their
roles as leaders.
B)Now as we come to Ch.24 We have the division of the
Priest we are not going to read thru all these names
But I want to make a couple of remarks before
moving on to Ch.25
The divisions of
the priests are given here, while in
A)Many names divided into 24 courses, or divisions
Each division served
for 2 weeks
B) 24 courses, each serving for 2 weeks.
1) About 6,000 men in each course
C)What were the rest of the men doing while they were NOT serving in
the
1) They were back in their
cities.
D)They were priests, teachers, leaders. They served in their
localities.
1)But once a year for 2
weeks they would serve in the
CH.25 Division of
the Singers and Musicians
V.1 Moreover David and the captains of the army
separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun,
who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And
the number of the skilled men performing their service was:
Interesting:
the captains
of the army took part w/ David in the selection and organization of
the musicians or worship leaders for
David
sensed a connection between the security of the kingdom and the worship and
honoring of God.
Satan hates Worship: He wants to be worshipped -
Hates it but the bible Says that God inhabits the Praises of his
people
Connection Worship and Spiritual warfare: I think that is
one of the reasons why the enemy is always seeking to distract us from Worship
A)Gods Presence shows up
B) Interesting in the OT
times
C)I think that happens still
We come into this place like we are tonight
1) Enemy has been hassling
some of you all day!
D)When you begin
to worship- The Lord inhabits those praises enthroned in those praises
1) The enemy is ambushed!
Another thing to note here: V.1 The Lord says of the worship leaders
they should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and symbols.
V.2 Who prophesied according to the order of the King.
V.3 Who prophesied with a harp to give
thanks and to praise the Lord.
Interesting truth
here: A Spirit filled worship leader who is in tune with the Lord and has an
active devotional life
A)He/she can have a prophetic aspect to their worship leading.
B)Prophecy is a manifestation... a shining forth of the Spirit -
C) Declaring the greatness
of God Song Choice One reason why I personally prefer songs
1)Speaking
more about who He is less about what we are doing saying wanting or bringing
to God.
D)Worship
leader can be functioning in a prophetic way: Songs they choose are exactly what people need to be focused on in
coming to God.
Prophecy
is also declaring the mind and heart of
God
A)
Paul said that he who prophesies speaks edification, exhortation and comfort
to men.
B)Worship leaders can have a
real prophetic ministry: Leland 18 year old kid
Ministering
Sharing Gods heart to young AMAZING so refreshing
Moving
on: V. 4 Introduced to
Heman was one of
these Worship leaders who moved in the prophetic aspect of ministry.
A)Hearing the Word of God and knowing the Heart of God he played his
instrument
B)14 sons and 3 daughters
C) He didnt JUST play music
D)He WROTE, he WORSHIPPED,
he PROPHESIED, he RAISED a family and REPRODUCED his ministry
The
Rest of Ch. 25 list the Musicians and Singers
CH.26
V.1-19 Division of the Gatekeepers Ushers and Greeters
A)I
love those who serve in this ministry at our Church.
B)
First impression of CCV Maybe even of Jesus to a Non believer
1)Your
smiling face your warm greeting.
C)
Also there to protect the flock the gate keepers had to keep out those who might
be a problem.
Though
some might see their work as humble, it was actually of great privilege.
Remember the envy of the Psalmist: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
V.
20-28 Levites in Charge of the Treasuries.
Pick it up in RD V.29 -32
Able men & Capable men !
Didnt just go to anyone
Proven men
Ch.27
Here we have the
civil administration listed as the army is set up in 12 divisions
24,000 in each course in 12 divisions
Each division had a captain
over it. You only served for
month then you went back to
your farm and family for 11
months.
RDv.23-31
God
taking note of those over Donkeys
Camels
/ sheep / oil
You
think the Lord doesnt take note of those who are over the 4th
graders / 2nd graders / nursery
RD V. 32-34
David
setting things in order
Expanded
the kingdom from 6,000sq miles to 60,000 sq miles
Getting
ready to hand this all over to his