1 Chronicles 23:28

_BECAUSE THEIR OFFICE WAS TO WAIT ON THE SONS OF AARON FOR THE SERVICE OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, IN THE COURTS, AND IN THE CHAMBERS, AND IN THE PURIFYING OF ALL HOLY THINGS, AND THE WORK OF THE SERVICE OF THE HOUSE OF GOD;_ Their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron - i:e., the priests for the time being....

24-32 Now the people of Israel were so many, there should be more employed in the temple service, that every Israelite who brought an offering might find a Levite ready to help him. When more work is to be done, it is pity but there should be more workmen. A new heart, a spiritual mind, which delights greatly in God's commandments, and can find a refreshing feast in his ordinances, forms the great distinction between the true Christian and all other men in the world. To the spiritual man every service will yield satisfaction. He will be ever abounding in the work of the Lord; being never so happy as when employed for such a good Master, in so pleasant a service. He will not regard whether he is called to take the lead, or to keep the charge of others who are placed over him. May we seek and serve the Lord uprightly, and leave all the rest to his disposal, by faith in his word....

Verse 1 Chronicles 23:28. _PURIFYING OF ALL HOLY THINGS_] Keeping all the vessels and utensils belonging to the sacred service clean and neat....

EXPOSITION This chapter is the first of four employed on the subject of the Levites and the services distributed among them. The twenty-four orders of priests, sons of Aaron, occupy 1 Chronicles 24:1. The twenty-four orders of the singers and musicians occupy the contents of 1 Chronicles 25:1. And the divisions of the porters, with their gates; and of those Levites who had the keeping of the treasures of the house of God; and the officers and judges, fill up 1 Chronicles 26:1. After which the compiler is again awhile clear of the Levitical tribe. Returning to our present chapter, it gives an account of the numbers of the Levites, of their classification, of David's

BECAUSE THEIR OFFICE WAS TO WAIT ON THE SONS OF AARON,.... The priests: FOR THE SERVICE OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD; to assist them therein, and not to bear burdens as in times past; the Targum is, "wherefore the place of their habitations was by the side of the sons of Aaron, for the worship of the sanctuary of the Lord:'' IN THE COURTS, AND IN THE CHAMBERS, AND IN THE PURIFYING OF ALL HOLY THINGS, AND THE WORK OF THE SERVICE OF THE HOUSE OF GOD; to keep the house, and all the apartments in it, courts and chambers, clean, by sweeping and washing them, and carrying out all the filth thereof made by the sacrifices, and otherwise....

OFFICE That is, their new office, since their former office of bearing the tabernacle was ended....

2. THE NUMBERING AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE LEVITES CHAPTER 23 _ 1. Solomon made king (1 Chronicles 23:1)_ 2. The number of the Levites (1 Chronicles 23:2) 3. The Gershonites (1 Chronicles 23:7) 4. The sons of Kohath (1 Chronicles 23:12) 5. The sons of Merari (1 Chronicles 23:21) 6. The service of the Levites (1 Chronicles 23:24) David, in h

1 Chronicles 23:1 to 1 Chronicles 24:31. THE LEVITES AND THE PRIESTS. The Chronicler implies that the organisation of the Levites and priests and the settling of their duties as existing in his day was all the work of David. 1 Chronicles 23:5. princes of the sanctuary: a title corresponding to an official in Babylonian sanctuaries of earlier days, and probably borrowed and adapted by the returned exiles; it is not identical with the princes of God. 1 Chronicles 23:6. An enumeration of the sons of Levi, and the sacred duties of the various Levitical families....

OFFICE. station. IN. over....

Duties of the Levites 28. _their office_was _to wait on_ Literally, _their station was at the hand of_. For the phrase _at the hand of_cp. Psalms 123:2, _as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master_. _the chambers_ Cp. 1 Chronicles 9:26, note....