Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.
When we left off in David's storyline, he was helping Solomon prepare to build the temple in Jerusalem. And today he continues preparing Solomon to be his successor. First, he makes Solomon king. This only gets one sentence in today's reading. Then we move on to the more important stuff, God's house. Maybe it seems like more attention should be paid to this transition of kingship. And don't worry, we'll cover that more over the next few days. But the reason the chronicler doesn't give it more time here is probably because it is truly secondary to the temple.
It's hard for us to grasp this today, since we are now the dwelling place of God. But if we lived back then, it would be difficult to overestimate how important the temple will be. It is absolutely central to their relationship with God. So while a relationship between a king and his people will always be temporary, a relationship between God and his people is forever.
Since this is such a big deal, David offers his expert advice and connections to help Solomon prepare for this massive upgrade that God's dwelling place is about to undergo. From tabernacle, which was a tent, to temple, which is a building. David is really thorough in all these details, which goes to show not only that David is a planner, but that the temple is a big deal.
It reminds me of when God gave all the instructions for the tabernacle, except this is permanent. If you've ever lived somewhere temporarily, you probably didn't spend as much time decorating it or redoing the cabinets, but you probably take more time and give more attention to something when you expect it to be permanent.
Also, if you've ever been a part of a mobile church where you have to tear everything down and set it back up each week, you're probably very excited for the Levites that they don't have to do this for the tabernacle anymore. Even though they haven't had to move the tabernacle for a while, it's nice that they don't have to show up for load-in at 4 a.m. ever again. They can sleep in.
Now all they have to worry about is showbread and offerings and incense and daily worship and sacrifices and feasts. Okay, it's still a lot. So David sets up 24 divisions of priests to handle all these things. And at first, he starts out with the minimum age requirement being 30 years old. But he later drops that to 20 years old. Maybe he needs more people than they have available in that age bracket. Or maybe he sees that they have some really mature 20-year-olds. Who knows?
Then David organizes all the musicians. And just like the Levites had three divisions, the musicians have three divisions too. They're divided under Asaph, Jaduthun, and Haman, all of whom wrote one or more of the Psalms. There are singers and psalmists and people who play stringed instruments and percussion instruments. I grew up in a church that wasn't keen on percussion, but my brothers really liked percussion, so they were always happy to see any mention in scripture that God wanted to be praised with the cymbals.
One of the unique things about the temple musicians is that they're only required to play music. They have no other tasks. The songwriters are considered musical prophets. According to 25.3, they prophesy in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. There are 288 musicians in all, separated into 24 divisions, just like the priests, and it includes a wide variety of ages. Some of them are teachers and some are students, possibly people who are just learning to play their instruments even.
I wonder if there were any American Idol-style tryouts where one of the priests was like, um, with this guy, I think we need to see less show choir and more show bread. Give his harp to someone else. Where did you see your picture of God in his character today? What was your God shot? Mine was in 2325, where David says, "'The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.'"
Think about all the weight and beauty and relief this sentence holds. Yahweh is the God of Israel, and He has taken them out of slavery, and given them rest instead, and they're His people, and He has come to live among them, and it's not in the wilderness where they have to move around all the time. It's in the Promised Land. And not only that, it's in Jerusalem, the most glorious spot in all the Promised Land, the place where God has put His name.
This sentence is one giant hallelujah. The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. I'm so relieved and so happy for the Israelites right now. God is with them, and He's where the joy is. ♪
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