CHAPTER 23

(1015 B.C.)

DAVID MAKES SOLOMON KING

¹So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel. (As previously stated, David was a Type of Christ defeating all His enemies, and putting down Satan and all the minions of darkness, which He did at the Cross. Solomon is a Type of Christ resting in splendor and glory, victorious and triumphant over all enemies, reigning in the coming Kingdom Age, such as the world has never known.)

²And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the Priests and the Levites (this is a foretype of the glorious day when the Lord Jesus Christ will reign supreme in Jerusalem, and will, as outlined by Ezek., Chpts. 40-48, gather the worship classes [Priests and Levites] together to establish the worship of God in Israel, and for the entire world, for that matter).

³Now 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 (this was changed to 25 years in Num. 8:24 and to 20 years by David in Verse 27; the reason for the lowering of the age was because of the need for greater numbers to service the Temple in the great Work for God).

⁴Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the House of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges:

⁵Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith (it is interesting to note that the workers and the worshippers are equal in number; consequently, we have here the tremendous emphasis placed by the Holy Spirit on worship; as well, the worship consisted of singing and music, which constitutes one of the greatest forms of praise and worship there is).

⁶And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (all the many thousands of Levites who served in the Work of God came under one of these three designations).

⁷Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.

⁸The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

⁹The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.

¹⁰And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their fathers house.

¹²The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹³The 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 (all the Priests were to be in the lineage of Aaron).

¹⁴Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the Tribe of Levi.

¹⁵The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.

¹⁶Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.

¹⁷And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

¹⁸Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.

¹⁹Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first, and Jesiah the second.

²¹The sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.

²²And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.

²³The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

THE MINISTRY OF THE LEVITES

²⁴These 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, who did the work for the service of the House of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward (this Verse and Verse 27 proclaim the lowering of the age for the Priests and the Levites to 20 years old and upward).

²⁵For David said, The LORD God of Israel has given rest unto His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever (regrettably, because of sin, they were driven from Jerusalem and all the Holy Land; but in the future, they will be restored, and will fulfill Gods original purpose [Isa. 11:1-12]):

²⁶And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the Tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof (because once the Temple is built, these Vessels will move no more).

²⁷For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above (included in his last instructions):

²⁸Because 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;

²⁹Both 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 these things were a constant necessity, meaning their work never ended; it did end when Jesus went to the Cross, thereby fulfilling all rudiments of the Law, plus its ceremonies and rituals);

³⁰And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening (seemingly, a choir met every morning at 9 a.m., and every evening at 3 p.m., at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices, in order to praise the Lord; this was done daily);

³¹And to offer all Burnt Sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD (the Priests alone performed the actual sacrifices, which was done every day):

³²And 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 (here the Priests are reminded of their representative character and position, and of the solemn responsibility which rested on them).