What I Noticed Today (1 Chronicles 21-23)
1 Chronicles 21
In verses 1-6, David’s success led to pride.
- Satan incited David to number the people of Israel.
Note: The act of conducting a census was not sinful. Moses had conducted a census twice before (Numbers 1:2, Numbers 26:2). The issue here seems to be David’s pride and perhaps trusting in himself rather than in God.
Note: The parallel passage in 2 Samuel 24: 1-3 suggests the Lord was angry with Israel and incited David to take the census and here it says Satan incited David to take the census. There is no conflict between the two accounts; the Lord used Satan to accomplish His ends.
- Joab, David’s military commander, pleaded with David not to conduct the census and even warned him that this would bring trouble on the people, but David insisted, and Joab complied.
Note: David’s command to number the people from Beersheba to Dan is a reference to the northern boundary to the southern boundary.
In verses 7-17, David realized he had displeased God.
- The Lord instructed Gad, David’s seer to go and tell David to pick one of three punishments: three years of famine, three months of devastation by their enemies, or three days of plague from the Lord.
- David selected three days of plague from the Lord preferring to fall into God’s hands rather than the hands of man.
- David humbled himself, admitted his sin, submitted to the Lord’s judgment, and repented of his sin.
In verses 18-30, David was obedient to everything he was told to do.
- The angel of the Lord commanded Gad, David’s seer, to tell David to build an altar to the Lord.
- David offered burnt, and peace offerings to the Lord, and the Lord accepted his offerings through the fire that consumed them.
1 Chronicles 22
1 Chronicles 22 describes David’s preparation for the building of the Lord’s temple, including his charge to his son, Solomon, to build the temple, and his charge to the leaders to help his son. David left nothing to chance.
In verses 1-5, David gave orders for the stonecutters, metalworkers, and woodworkers to prepare materials for building the house of the Lord.
- David himself gave large quantities of materials for the building of the Lord’s house.
In verses 6-12, David claimed God’s promise that his son, Solomon, would build the temple and have a time of peace.
- David summoned Solomon and gave him specific instructions for building the Lord’s house, encouraged him, and exhorted him to follow the statutes and ordinances of the Lord carefully.
In verses 13-16, by following God’s statutes and commands, David enjoyed prosperity.
- David personally gave vast quantities of gold, silver, and other materials to build the temple.
Note: The quantity of gold was 100,000 talents or 750,000 pounds, or 12,000,000 ounces, valued today at $147 Billion!
In verses 17-19, finally, David commanded all the leaders to join in partnership with his son in the building of the temple.
- David ordered the leaders of Israel to come together to help his son, Solomon complete the building of the Lord’s house.
- David admonished the leaders to set their hearts and minds on seeking the Lord.
1 Chronicles 23
1 Chronicles 23, explains how David reorganized the ministry of the Levites.
In verses 1-23, since the ark was now in Jerusalem, the Levites who were responsible for carrying the ark and the temple furnishings were re-assigned to caring for the tent of meeting, the sanctuary, and the service of the temple priests.
- David had the Levites over 30-years old counted and found there were 38,000 men.
Note: Levites were not allowed to enter into service to the Lord until they were 30-years old (Numbers 4:3).
- He ordered 24,000 of them to be in charge of the Lord’s temple, 6,000 to be officers and judges, and 4,000 to praise the Lord with musical instruments.
- David divided them into division according to Levi’s sons; Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
- Arron’s descendants (Aaron’s father was Amram, a descendant of Kohath) were set apart for service to the holiest things and to minister before the Lord.
- Moses’ descendants (Moses’s father was Amram, a descendant of Kohath) were listed among the tribe of Levi.
In verses 21-32, David summarized the Levitical duties and assignments.
- David lowered the age for Levites to enter service to the Lord to those over 20-years old.
- The Levite’s duty was to assist the sons of Aaron (priests) in the service of the Lord’s temple.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- David enjoyed great success because the Lord was with him. But with that success he became prideful. This allowed Satan to tempt him to number the people and even caused him to ignore the advice of his own commander.
- But when he realized his sin, David humbly admitted his error, submitted to God’s judgment, repented of his sin and was obedient in restoring his relationship with the Lord.
- How much are we like David today? We attribute our success to our own efforts, become prideful, and enter into sin! This sin separates us from God, but our relationship can be restored through admission, submission, repentance, and obedience.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
