4.27 1 Chronicles 22-25

1 Chronicles 22-25.

Transcript

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Hello, friends and neighbors. Welcome to the Sunny Side of Life Bible in a Year experience. Join me each day as I read the Bible from start to finish. I'm reading from the Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation, published by Tyndale House Publishings. I pray this daily reading will bless you as much as it does me. So let's get started. April 27. First Chronicles, chapters 22 through 25. Then David said, This will be the location for the temple of the Lord God and the place of the altar for Israel's burnt offerings. So David gave orders to call together the foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing finished stone for building the temple of God. David provided large amounts of iron for the nails that would be needed for the doors and the gates and for the clamps, and he gave more bronze than could be weighed. He also provided innumerable cedar logs, for the men of Tyre and Sidon had brought vast amounts of cedar to David. David said, My son Solomon is still young and inexperienced, and since the temple to be built for the Lord must be a magnificent structure, famous and glorious throughout the world, I will begin making preparations for it now. So David collected vast amounts of building materials before his death. Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. My son, I wanted to build a temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, David told him. But the Lord said to me, You have killed many men in the battles you have fought, and since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a temple to honor my name. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. He is the one who will build a temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father, and I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, may the Lord be with you and give you success as you follow his directions in building the temple of the Lord your God, and may the Lord give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the law of the Lord your God as you rule over Israel, for you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations that the Lord gave Israel through Moses. Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or lose heart. I have worked hard to provide materials for building the temple of the Lord, nearly four thousand tons of gold, forty thousand tons of silver, and so much iron and bronze that it cannot be weighed. I have also gathered timber and stone for the walls, though you may need to add more. You have a large number of skilled stonemasons and carpenters and craftsmen of every kind. You have expert goldsmiths and silversmiths and workers of bronze and iron. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you. Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon in this project. The Lord your God is with you, he declared. He has given you peace with the surrounding nations, he has handed them over to me, and they are now subject to the Lord and his people. Now seek the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that you can bring the Ark of the Lord's covenant and the holy vessels of God into the temple built to honor the Lord's name. When David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel. David summoned all the leaders of Israel together with the priests and Levites. All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to thirty eight thousand. Then David said, From all the Levites twenty four thousand will supervise the work at the temple of the Lord, another six thousand will serve as officials and judges, another four thousand will work as gatekeepers, and four thousand will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made. Then David divided the Levites into divisions, named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Morari. The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni and Shemei, the sons of Gershon. Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehael, the family leader, Zetham, and Joel. These were the leaders of the family of Libni. Three of the descendants of Shemei were Sholomoth, Hazel, and Haran. Four other descendants of Shemei were Jahath, Zizah, Jaush, and Bariah. Jehath was the family leader, and Zizah was next. Jaush and Bariah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons. Four of the descendants of Kohath were Amram, Izar, Hebron, and Uziel. The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the Lord's presence, to serve the Lord, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses were Gershem and Eliazar. The descendants of Gershem included Shebuel, the family leader. Iliazar had only one son, Rahabia, the family leader. Rahabia had numerous descendants. The descendants of Izar included Shalomath, the family leader. The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah, the family leader, Amariah the second, Jehaziel the third, and Jacam, the fourth. The descendants of Uzel included Micah, the family leader, and Isha, the second. The descendants of Morari included Mali and Mushi. The sons of Mali were Eliazar and Kish. Eliazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. Three of the descendants of Mushi were Mali, Eder, and Jeremoth. These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family 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 carefully 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, Eliazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons, so Eliazar and Ithamar were left to carry on as priests. With the help of Zadok, who was a descendant of Eliazar, and of Ahimelech, who was a descendant of Ithamar, David divided Aaron's descendants into groups according to their various duties. Eliazar's descendants were divided into sixteen groups, and Ithamar's into eight, for there were more family leaders among the descendants of Eliazar. 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 Eliazar and Ithamar. Shemiah, son of Nathanael, 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 Eliazar and Ithamar took turns casting lots. The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second lot fell to Jediah, the third lot fell to Harem, the fourth lot fell to Siorim, the fifth lot fell to Malkaijah, the sixth lot fell to Mejaman, the seventh lot fell to Hakaz, the eighth lot fell to Abijah, the ninth lot fell to Jeshua, the tenth lot fell to Shekaniah, the eleventh lot fell to Eliashib, the twelfth lot fell to Jakim, the thirteenth lot fell to Hupa, the fourteenth lot fell to Jeshab, the fifteenth lot to Bilgah, the sixteenth lot fell to Imr, the seventeenth lot fell to Hizar, the eighteenth lot fell to Hipizes, the nineteenth lot fell to Pethiah, the twentieth lot fell to Jehezkal, the twenty-first lot fell to Jakin, the twenty-second lot fell to Gamul, the twenty-third lot fell to Daliah, the twenty-fourth lot fell to Maazah. Each group carried out its appointed duties in the house of the Lord according to the procedures established by their ancestor Aaron in obedience to the commands of the Lord, the God of Israel. These were the family leaders descended from Levi. From the descendants of Amram, the leader was Shibul. From the descendants of Shibul, the leader was Jedeah. From the descendants of Rahabia, the leader was Ishiah. From the descendants of Izar, the leader was Shalomoth. From the descendants of Shalomoth the leader was Jahath. From the descendants of Hebron, Jeriah was the leader, Amariah was second, Jehaziel was third, and Jechaim was fourth. From the descendants of Uziel, the leader was Micah. From the descendants of Micah, the leader was Shemir, along with Ishiah, the brother of Micah. From the descendants of Ishiah, the leader was Zechariah. From the descendants of Morari, the leaders were Mali and Mushi. From the descendants of Jazeiah, the leader was Bana. From the descendants of Morari through Jaaziah, the leaders were Bano, Shoham, Zakur, and Ibri. From the descendants of Mali, the leader was Eliazar, though he had no sons. From the descendants of Kish, the leader was Jeremiel. From the descendants of Mushi, the leaders were Mali, Eder, and Jeremoth. These were the descendants of Levi and their various families. Like the descendants of Aaron, they were assigned to their duties by means of sacred lots, without regard to age or rank. Lots were drawn in the presence of King David, Zadak, Ahimelech, and the family leaders of the priests and the Levites. David and the army commanders then appointed men from the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthan, to proclaim God's messages to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. Here is a list of their names and their work. From the sons of Asaph there were Zachar, Joseph, Nathania, and Azrah. They worked under the direction of their father Asaph, who proclaimed God's messages by the king's orders. From the sons of Jedethan were Gedaliah, Zeri, Jesheah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Matathiah, six in all. They worked under the direction of their father Jedethan, who proclaimed God's messages to the accompaniment of the lyre, offering thanks and praise to the Lord. From the sons of Heman, there were Bukiah, Mataniah, Uziel, Shubael, Jeremoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliatha, Gedalti, Romamte Ezir, Josh Bekasha, Molathi, Hother, and Mahosiath. All these were the sons of Heman, the king's seer, for God had honored him with fourteen sons and three daughters. All these men were under the direction of their fathers as they made music at the house of the Lord. Their responsibilities included the playing of cymbals, harps, and lyres at the house of God. Asaph, Judith, and Heman reported directly to the king. They and their families were all trained in making music before the Lord, and each of them, two hundred and eighty-eight in all, was an accomplished musician. The musicians were appointed to their term of service by means of sacred lots, without regard to whether they were young or old, teacher or student. The first lot fell to Joseph of the Asaph clan and twelve of his sons and relatives. The second lot fell to Gadalia and twelve of his sons and relatives. The third lot fell to Zakir and twelve of his sons and relatives. The fourth lot fell to Ziri and twelve of his sons and relatives. The fifth lot fell to Nathania and twelve of his sons and relatives. The sixth lot fell to Bekiah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The seventh lot fell to Azarelah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The eighth lot fell to Jeshiah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The ninth lot fell to Mataniah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The tenth lot fell to Shemai, and twelve of his sons and relatives. The eleventh lot fell to Uziel and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twelfth lot fell to Hashabiah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The thirteenth lot fell to Shubael and twelve of his sons and relatives. The fourteenth lot fell to Matathiah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The fifteenth lot fell to Jeremoth and twelve of his sons and relatives. The sixteenth lot fell to Hananiah and twelve of his sons and relatives. The seventeenth lot fell to Josh Bakesha and twelve of his sons and relatives. The eighteenth lot fell to Hanani and twelve of his sons and relatives. The nineteenth lot fell to Malathi and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twentieth lot fell to Eliatha and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twenty-first lot fell to Hother and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twenty-second lot fell to Gedalti and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twenty-third lot fell to Mahazioth and twelve of his sons and relatives. The twenty-fourth lot fell to Ramanthizer and twelve of his sons and relatives. That's it for today, friends. Feel free to read ahead on your own. Before I go, let's share the Lord's Prayer together. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, power, and the glory forever. Amen.