The next few chapters of 1 Chronicles contain information that is not included in the parallel account in 2 Samuel. It is material that may seem irrelevant to us but was enormously relevant at the time of the building of temple and the later rebuilding of the temple in the post-exilic period. One of the main roles of the Levites was the transportation and assembling of the tent-tabernacle. Now that a permanent solid temple was being built to replace the tent-tabernacle, their role had to be recast. This is what is happening here. The Levites were now to help maintain the ministries of the temple. Part of this change was the establishment of a new guild of musicians to bring a new dimension of musical expression to the temple worship system. In a sense, all Christians are to the church what the Levites were to the temple. We are all servants of the house of God. We fill different roles, but the goal is the same, as Paul says, it is “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Paul goes on to say: “From [Christ, the head] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16). As each person does their part, the church becomes ‘the body of Christ,’ the temple of God in the midst of the world. A church can only be truly built up when everyone is involved.
Reflect on how you are serving God to build up Christ’s church.
Read 1 Chronicles 23 and look over chapters 24-27
