Immerse: Chronicles Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 52
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IMMERSE
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CHRONICLES
1C
| 23:24–24:6
These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their fam
ily groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old
or older to qualify for service in the house of the Lord. For David said,
“The Lord, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live
in Jerusalem. Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle
and its furnishings from place to place.” In accordance with David’s final
instructions, all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for
service.
The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of
Aaron, as they served at the house of the Lord. They also took care of the
courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God. They were in
charge of the sacred bread that was set out on the table, the choice flour
for the grain offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the cakes cooked in
olive oil, and the other mixed breads. They were also responsible to check
all the weights and measures. And each morning and evening they stood
before the Lord to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. They assisted
with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days,
at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The required
number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all
the procedures they had been given.
And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over
the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out their duties of
service at the house of the Lord.
This is how Aaron’s descendants, the priests, were divided into groups for
service. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But
Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons. So only
Eleazar and Ithamar were left to carry on as priests.
With the help of Zadok, who was a descendant of Eleazar, and of Ahime
lech, who was a descendant of Ithamar, David divided Aaron’s descendants
into groups according to their various duties. Eleazar’s descendants were
divided into sixteen groups and Ithamar’s into eight, for there were more
family leaders among the descendants of Eleazar.
All tasks were assigned to the various groups by means of sacred lots so
that no preference would be shown, for there were many qualified officials
serving God in the sanctuary from among the descendants of both Ele
azar and Ithamar. Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, acted as secretary
and wrote down the names and assignments in the presence of the king,
the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the family
leaders of the priests and Levites. The descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar
took turns casting lots.
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