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1
Chronicles Chapter Twenty-three
1 Chronicles 23
Chapter Contents
David declares Solomon his successor. (1-23) The office
of the Levites. (24-32)
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23:1-23
(Read 1 Chronicles 23:1-23)
David
having given charge concerning the building of the
temple
settles the method of the temple service
and orders the officers of
it. When those of the same family were employed together
it would engage them
to love and assist one another.
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23:24-32
(Read 1 Chronicles 23:24-32)
Now the people of Israel were so many
there should be
more employed in the temple service
that every Israelite who brought an
offering might find a Levite ready to help him. When more work is to be done
it is pity but there should be more workmen. A new heart
a spiritual mind
which delights greatly in God's commandments
and can find a refreshing feast
in his ordinances
forms the great distinction between the true Christian and
all other men in the world. To the spiritual man every service will yield
satisfaction. He will be ever abounding in the work of the Lord; being never so
happy as when employed for such a good Master
in so pleasant a service. He
will not regard whether he is called to take the lead
or to keep the charge of
others who are placed over him. May we seek and serve the Lord uprightly
and
leave all the rest to his disposal
by faith in his word.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Chronicles》
1 Chronicles 23
Verse 2
[2] And
he gathered together all the princes of Israel
with the priests and the
Levites.
Gathered
… — To
declare God's mind and his own will
that Solomon should be his successor: and
to acquaint them with those directions which he had received from God by the spirit.
Verse 3
[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.
Upwards —
Not only 'till fifty
as it was appointed
Numbers 4:2
3
but even 'till their death: for
that was but a temporary law grounded upon a special reason
because the
Levites were employed in carrying the tabernacle and sacred vessels from place
to place; and therefore God would have them freed from those burdens when they
came to feel the infirmities of age: which reason wholly ceasing upon the
building of the temple
their work being far easier than it had been
and their
service being more a privilege than a burden
their time of service is justly
prolonged.
Verse 4
[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:
Officers — To
take care that all the work of the temple about sacrifices should be punctually
performed
either by themselves or others: which they were not to do all at
once
but by courses
a thousand at a time.
Judges —
Not in the affairs of the temple; there the priests presided; but in several
parts of the kingdom
where they assisted the princes and elders of every
tribe
in the administration of justice.
Verse 13
[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.
Sanctify —
That he might keep them from pollution: for these most holy things were
polluted when they were touched by any other person.
He and his —
Not only his eldest sons the high-priests successively
but all his posterity
or all the priests; for the works here following were not peculiar to the
high-priest
but common to all the priests.
Verse 14
[14] Now concerning Moses the man of God
his sons were named of the tribe of
Levi.
Levi —
They were accounted only as common Levites
and were not priests: which is
mentioned for the honour of Moses
and the demonstration of his eminent piety
and self-denial
who willingly left the government to Joshua
and the
priesthood to Aaron
and was content to have his posterity reduced to a private
and mean condition.
Verse 24
[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.
Twenty years — As
the Levites were anciently numbered from two several times
from the twenty
fifth year of their age
and from the thirtieth
Numbers 4:3; 8:24. In like manner they are here numbered both
from their twentieth year
when they were solemnly prepared for
and
instructed
and by degrees exercised in some parts of their work; and from
their thirtieth year
when they were admitted to the full exercise of their
office. And the reason why they were now sooner admitted to service than they
had been formerly
is given in the next verses because now their work was more
easy
being wholly discharged from that burdensome work of carrying the
tabernacle. Besides the people of Israel were multiplied: therefore more hands
were necessary
that every Israelite who brought an offering
might find a
Levite ready to assist him.
Verse 28
[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;
Holy things —
Holy places
and garments
and vessels
and sacrifices
which were to be washed
and cleansed from any filthiness that might cleave to them.
Verse 29
[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;
All measure —
All measures used either in sacred or civil things
the publick standards
whereof were kept in the temple; and therefore the care of keeping them
inviolable and producing them upon occasion
musts needs belong to the priests
and under them to the Levites
who were to examine other measures and all
things by them
as occasion required; that so the priests might be at leisure
for their higher and greater employments.
Verse 30
[30] And
to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD
and likewise at even;
Morning and even —
The two solemn times of offering sacrifices: which work was attended with
publick prayer and thanksgiving.
Verse 32
[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.
Charge —
What the priests should commit to their charge
or command them to do.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Chronicles》
23 Chapter 23
Verse 1
So when David was old and full of days.
I. An instructive view of life.
II. A touching picture
of old age.
III. A solemn
warning to all. (J. Wolfendale.)
How to employ old age
The pathos of David’s action will be more clearly recognised if we remember that the
literal translation is
“Now David had become satisfied with days.” Satisfied
with days
but not satisfied with labour. David had seen all the contents of
time
in poverty
persecution
honour
end majesty
and yet he was anxious for
the consolidation of his empire and the construction of the temple. When the
heathen poet described the death of a philosopher it was under the image of a
guest who had to the full enjoyed the feast. David as a guest of the Lord had
himself sat long enough at the table of time
and now he was desirous that his son should take up the
service and enjoyment of the empire
whilst he himself went forth to the
mysteries of another state. Old age can do for the future what mere youth is
not permitted to attempt. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 5
And four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I
made.
Music and religion
I. The object of
music. “To praise therewith” well expresses the attitude of the Bible towards
music. Plutarch says: “The chiefest and sublimest end of music is the graceful
return of our thanks to the gods.” In these words the wisdom of the Bible
representation is vindicated. A worthy conception of God is the only thing
which can give the true inspiration of music
and keep it pure and noble
through all its strains. Thus music and religion ought never to be divorced.
II. Some of the
features of the revelation of God which the Bible gives
and see how they agree
with the best features of musical life and growth.
1. The Bible reveals God to man
and man to himself; it opens up
depths of meaning which ordinary life cannot sound; it calls man the son of
God; it bases itself upon the love of God
which passeth knowledge; it speaks
of things which eye hath not seen
nor ear heard
nor hath it entered into the
heart of man to conceive. If we allow music any rights of its own
they must be
based upon its claim to give expression which is beyond the power of words
and
to utter conceptions which thought cannot formulate. It has the power to take
them out of the surroundings even of the deepest thoughts
to lift their
aspirations where nothing else can go
to carry them into the presence of a
power of harmony and order more fundamental than the skill of the hand or the
logic of the mind can represent.
2. Then there is the universality of religion. It is meant for all
men: there are all grades and kinds of reception of it. The gospel of Christ is
for all men; it has truths for the simple
and doctrines for the wise; it meets
all nations of men
each according to its nature and its needs. So music in one
way or another affects the simplest and the most cultured
appeals to the
joyful and to the sorrowing
defies lines of nationality and of language
and
is appropriated by all according to the needs of each.
3. The object of religion is harmony--harmony between heaven and
earth
between man and man
harmony in the life of the individual
with its
varying experiences. The power of man to appreciate harmony finds a response in
the growing resources of the musical art; and the yearnings of man for a better
existence
where life shall not clash with death
joy with sorrow
and love
with hate
finds an answer in a revelation which destroys death
comforts
sorrow
and makes love seen everywhere. There could be no better expression for
heaven
aa the place where such a revelation finds its completion
than as the
place of music. (Arthur Brooks
D. D.)
Verse 14
Moses the man of God.
The man of God
1. A beautiful
description of any
man.
2. A possible description of every man.
3. A needful description of each man if he is to abide in his
Father’s house for ever.
Some men have attained eminence in godliness. No renown is to be
compared with this
no influence is
equal to that which arises from such
recognition. (J. Parker
D. D.)
When is man a “man of God”?
1. When he believes in God’s existence.
2. When he is assured of God’s providence.
3. When he has sunk his will in the Divine purpose.
4. When he lives and moves and has his being in God. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 25
For David said
The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto His
people.
The rest of the people of God
I. In the
mysterious polity of the people of Israel spiritual and temporal blessings were
so closely allied that the same language might naturally be employed to signify
either.
II. It is not
unwarrantable for us to conjecture that in the joyous utterance contained in
the text David insinuated profounder truths than lie on the surface of his
words.
III. If “there
remaineth a rest to the people of God
” it becomes us to secure this great
blessing as the sole or chief object of existence.
IV. Rest and peace
must fall upon a Christian spirit.
1. From its devotion to Christ Himself
and its devoted imitation of
His pure and perfect example.
2. By the elevating tendency of the singleness of the object of his
hope. Those who have many debts often feel it a relief to exchange them all for
a single creditor; he whose whole heart is bent on reaching a single point
leaves all around him on his way in equal and complete indifference. God is
one; let our affections but partake of the unity of that object
and we shall
have reached the pathway of real and imperishable rest.
3. From the very nature of the Christian affections.
4. From its hope being anchored in a future world. To support
still
more to exalt us
heaven must mingle with earth. To direct a vessel upon the
ocean there must be two elements at work
the air must modify the agency of the
water; to set a vessel at rest there must be more elements than one employed
and the earth must afford the means of resisting the breezes and the sea. Such
is the position in the voyage of this life. The earthly and the heavenly
elements must combine
or we are powerless. Confined to the single element of
our corrupted nature
we are the sport of every accident
we have no rules for
our navigation. But they who join to the human nature the higher element
they
have a power that guides them to the everlasting haven. To have the great
object of our thoughts placed beyond the chances of human life is to place
ourselves beyond them. (W. A. Butler.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》