KNOWING YOUR ROLE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand. David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges. Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”

David separated the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

Belonging to the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.

These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah.

These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.

The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses.

Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

The descendants of Gershom: Shubael was the first.

The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first.

Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first.

The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.

The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first and Ishiah the second.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.

These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more who served in the temple of the Lord. For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.” According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.

The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the special flour for the grain offerings, the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals. They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.

And so the Levites carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you have a role in your church?

I’m not talking about just attending worship and giving an offering each week. I’m rather talking about you having some active role in the life of your church, serving in some capacity. I have been a part of several churches in my lifetime and I can say that although they had differences in denomination and polity, one thing that they all held in common was a need for people to serve and meet the diversified needs of providing for a congregation and preserving the church building and grounds. There is no shortage of places where a person can help and get involved.

With this, I encourage you to get involved if you aren’t already and if you’re not sure what to do, just ask someone in church leadership. They will tell you where the needs are and all you need to do is pray over which one the Lord wants you to do.

You see, the Lord definitely wants us involved in serving Him through the church and one could say that it is an obligation for anyone who calls themselves Christian. For to be like Christ, one must be a selfless servant and a selfless servant always commits themselves to others first, just as Jesus did during His life.

You also need to see that the Lord has a purpose for us in the church already set aside. We only need pray and ask Him what He would have us do and He will reveal His will and way to us. The Lord has something for everyone to do.

We see this truth on full display as we look at the 23rd Chapter of 1 Chronicles. For after David officially makes his son Solomon the king over Israel, he sets specific guidelines regarding responsibilities in the temple for the Levites.

Now all priests were Levites, the descendants of Levi, but all Levites were priests. As we look at our scripture, we find that only the descendants of Aaron were permitted to perform priestly duties. That was their role. Look at the following:

Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

We’re told that Aaron and his descendants were set apart to do the special work of the priests in the temple. No one else was permitted to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, or minister before Him, pronouncing blessings in His name. No one but the priests and those priests had to either be Aaron himself or a descendant, all set apart and set aside for special roles by the Lord.

So what about the other Levites, the ones who were not priests?

They were given support roles and tasked with assisting the priests. Again, God’s words defines their duties as follows:

The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the special flour for the grain offerings, the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals. They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.

Look at some of the roles listed here and you can see how much work went into supporting the temple worship. Levites were tasked with the following responsibilities:

- being in charge of the courtyards and the side rooms.

- the purification of all sacred things.

- setting out bread on the table,

- preparing special flour for the grain offerings.

- making thin loaves of bread without yeast, baking and the mixing, and responsible for all measurements of quantity and size.

- They were to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord.

- They were to also stand in the evening and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals.

- They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.

Lots of varied roles. All equally important when it came to making sure the Lord was glorified and magnified through worship.

Nothing has changed today. We still have many people filling many different roles to ensure that the Lord is gloried and magnified and praised through our worship and our worship experiences.

If you have a role in your church, then thank the Lord for granting you that opportunity to serve Him and do so to the best of your ability.

And if you haven’t yet gotten involved, know two things: first, the Lord demands that you get involved and, second, He has a place already set aside for you. All you need to do is seek it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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