1 CHRONICLES 23 (NOTES OF A READING)

1 CHRONICLES 23 (NOTES OF A READING)

1 Chronicles 23:1-5; 1 Chronicles 23:24-32

CAC In the previous chapter the thought of material is prominent, the preparation of material; but in this chapter and in the chapters that follow it is the thought of the personnel. It is quite clear that material without persons would not result in very much.

I suppose the effect of knowing Christ as David would be that we should be prepared to come under Him as Solomon. So that David at the end of his days, so to speak, hands over not only prepared material, but prepared persons.

Ques It is significant that this takes place before David died, so that there is a kind of dual rule. What is the reason for that?

CAC I thought it showed that David and Solomon must both be taken account of, one might say, at the same time. You see, David has to do with the subjection of contrary elements. All dealings with the workings of the flesh, for instance, do not come under Solomon at all; David has to do with that (and the Lord has to deal with it in us). The subduing of what is adverse belongs to David, not Solomon. Solomon is introduced, not in a mature way, but as young and tender, signifying the early apprehension of the soul as to Christ in sonship; therefore that element in the souls of the saints is to be helped and energised and strengthened, because in the apprehension of Christ as Solomon, as the Son of the Father’s love, we are really prepared persons for the service of the house.

Rem We get the “sons” of so-and-so repeatedly in this chapter.

CAC Yes. I think the thought of sonship is introduced in Solomon, and the house is to be under Christ as Son, that is, His activities in lordship do not enter into it: in that He is dealing with contrary elements in you and me, and until subdued we cannot possibly take part in the service of the house. There is to be a subdued order of peace in which we can enter into service in divine completion.

This chapter is the Levite chapter, and the next is the priestly chapter. Unless contrary elements are subdued, we cannot possibly be Levites or priests. All in the house is under Christ as Son, Hebrews tells us; so that the great help given to the church in recent years as to the sonship of Christ has a direct bearing on the service of the house and is to prepare us for the service. Not only is material required but persons, so the next three chapters are full of names of persons — material is not enough. It is all here in a certain sense, but we want it, not in the Bible, but in the saints. Take the hymn book, for instance, containing beautiful hymns of praise and worship; what is it worth without persons to sing the hymns?

Rem “Set your heart and your soul” (chapter 22: 19).

CAC Yes, that is persons. The first levitical service is viewed in a comprehensive way because it really includes what is priestly. “Twenty-four thousand were to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith” (verses 4, 5). It requires persons.

Ques Prepared persons, would you say, under the hand of David?

CAC Yes; I think typically all these persons in these chapters are prepared under the hand of David and ordered by him, though they are going to be continued by Solomon. It is most important and ought to be done quickly. With us it is often very slow work; but in this chapter all are subdued, so they can be officers and judges and use the instruments — so they are all prepared servants. Yet Solomon’s temple is nothing compared with what we have to do with today. I cannot take up anything that God has not prepared me for — none of us can.

Ques In the first verse, was this the maturity of him as lord?

CAC I think his work, his subduing work, is finished, and all is to be handed over to Solomon — to be under the blessed influence of sonship as seen in Christ. Of course, in our own history the two things overlap. There is a suggestion of the two. The authority of Christ as Lord, rebuking and subduing what is of nature, goes on with us all, but that is not quite the teaching of the type. Then when David comes to the end of his days the work is finished and persons are handed over as qualified. The thought of sonship runs through these chapters and certainly dominates the position with Solomon.

I think there must be the spirit of sonship in us to appreciate sonship in Christ, but God sets it forth in its perfection in Christ and we learn it there.

Ques Our experience normally is to be under the lordship of David and then under Solomon?

CAC That is the teaching. It will not help us much to see how much we have entered into it, but you want to see the teaching. So here twenty-four thousand qualified persons are over the work of the house. You get multiples of twelve, an important number with the Lord; He appointed twelve.

Rem In the one hundred and twenty at the beginning of Acts you get a multiple. They are qualified persons for the house.

CAC In the time of the apostles, the elders carried out the responsibility; we all have to do it now. Of course, elder brethren have a responsibility that does not attach to younger ones, that is always true. None of the people contemplated here are novices, they are capable persons. The number twelve shows that order is a great matter in connection with the service of God. I think it is the thought of order — nothing is left indefinite, at a loose end. The one hundred and forty-four thousand in Revelation 7 and Revelation 11 all carry the same thought of things set in divine order.

Ques Should each have a definite service in the house?

CAC I think so, the thought in the service of the house of God is that we know how to blend with others. Liberty in Scripture is always subordinated to order. “Let all things be done comelily and with order”. So no one can plead liberty as an excuse for disorder.

Rem “The perfect law, that of liberty” (James 1: 25), is that it?

CAC Yes. I think that is a very good illustration. These appointments were very important. There are six thousand officers and judges; that is the disciplinary element in the service; without that everything would go to pieces. Then the doorkeepers, there are four thousand of these; for lack of them the church has come to disorder today, and it has led to ruin in the church. And lastly there are four thousand “Who praised Jehovah with instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith”. The Lord has made the instruments; no instruments are of any melody in the house of God but what Christ has made. Christ has made instruments that are suitable to the praise of God. Now, can we handle those instruments? That is the question.

Rem In Colossians 3, “Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly”. That is the necessary preliminary before psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

CAC Quite so. I think that is it. You see the instruments of praise now are those that Christ has made, so that we are to take up the praise of God as brought out by the Lord Jesus. He has brought out the whole way in which God is to be praised, there is no room for innovations.

Ques Is there a difference in blessing and praising, verse 13 and verse 30?

CAC Yes, the praising would be Godward, and the blessing would be manward.

Ques Would you say more as to the instruments — is it apprehension of Christ?

CAC I think the instruments of praise were made by Christ coming into manhood, taking up a place relative to God as Man, so that how He knew God and how He praised becomes the standard of praise. Nothing less than that would really be acceptable to God.

Ques Is the praise a good deal the outcome of suffering?

CAC Quite so; and the Lord has established the praises of God by His own suffering. I think Psalm 22 would establish that; He was suffering with the praises of God in His heart, that they might come into human hearts.

At the end of the chapter it is interesting to see that God wants the younger brethren in His service; it is the final thing that David thought about. It is very important that the younger brethren should come into the service. If they wait now till they are thirty, the probability is they will never come into it. The service is so vast and marvellous in its extent that there is scope for everyone. I do not think the Lord is pleased with a meeting where only old brothers take part. David strikes ten years off the limitation. We like to see the young men at the care meeting; how otherwise can they learn the character of the house of God?

The last addition he makes to the service is to lower the age to twenty years. It is put there to encourage the younger brethren to come forward in the service — that is why it is put there.

Rem In Exodus 24: 5 the young men are mentioned.

CAC Yes, and it is a feature that is very pleasing to God. It is what we need to be exercised about. The service cannot go on in divine order without young men.

Rem And it is continually — to stand every morning and evening to thank and praise Jehovah. It is a continuous thought therefore.

CAC And he goes on to speak of the variety of the service. The levitical service is to be suitable to the priesthood, verse 28, and then he goes on to speak of it all in detail; it is most important to consider it.

Rem It is rather interesting that “they cast lots ... . the small as well as the great, the teacher with the scholar”.

CAC That is the idea; Scripture is full of it; they blend together. The Lord sat on the ass and He sat on the colt; He would control both. All this is encouraging. Of course, the younger ones learn from the older ones, so that the older ones should serve with intelligence so that the younger ones can safely follow them.

Ques Is there a change of service here?

CAC It does not mean that the carrying service is over, but it is not the question here; that is another matter. A man cannot serve if he does not know how to carry through the wilderness so that what sets forth Christ is not damaged. But all that is done with here; it is another character here. It would be all wrong for a man to serve in the house who was not right in the wilderness.

Ques Why is it the family of Levi here?

CAC I think because here it is the general thought of service in the house. The levitical is more general than the priestly family but the latter is included in it.

Ques Would you say a word about the working out of the principle of courses in the service of God today?

CAC Yes. It seems to me that the great principle of order entered into it. Each course had its day. I think it would suggest mutuality and the acceptance of responsibility. The danger is that we are content often to let others do the service, but that is not levitical. All are priests, are they not? Well, why should they not serve? God would encourage liberty in these matters and show the vast range of material over which we can travel in the service of God, the shewbread, the meat-offering, the unleavened cakes and that which is baked or fried. So there is something that any brother could take up. No brother could say, ‘There is nothing for me to touch in the service of God’.

Rem They would make progress in that way.

CAC Yes, I think so. The shewbread would be the saints as before God in the life of Christ and therefore exceedingly pleasurable to Him — a thought to enter the service whenever we come together, and so of the oblation, the fine flour; all this is to enter into the service, that is, that new and sinless life come into manhood.

It is an exhaustless theme, and God is never tired of listening to it brought out in praise. It is Christ and the Spirit apprehended objectively; it is “saturated with oil”. God has given us the privilege of contemplating the Spirit objectively in Christ — that which is saturated.

Rem I do not quite understand.

CAC In the blessed life of Christ you see the Spirit objectively; it was permeated with the Spirit.

We bring it before God, and how He loves to see us enter into it. Perhaps we say we cannot grasp it. Are we content not to grasp it? If so we are content to take the place of not being qualified. It is a great thing to contemplate the Spirit without any admixture. It would be mixed in me, so if you looked at me, you might be disappointed, but if you look at Christ, you will not be disappointed, you see manhood perfectly saturated with the Spirit. It is an essential part of His service; God loves to have that brought before Him.

There are three thoughts; the anointing, the mingling and the saturating with oil, and all three are in Christ. There you see a life anointed and mingling with the power of the Holy Spirit, and lastly there is the thought of saturation. He was saturated with the Spirit, so all He did and spoke was by the Spirit. Even in the resurrection He gave commandment by the Spirit.

Rem There is the exhortation to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5: 18).

CAC We ought not to put that away from us as an impossibility, being filled with the Spirit; it is a spiritual possibility. How pleased God is to have these things brought before Him in the revived affections of a levitical company who can appreciate them, our whole soul permeated by virtue of the things we say.