1 Chronicles 6 … Consider His Priestly Provision

Originally posted: 4/15/2020

Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded, (6:49).

Another list of names… And while the urge to skip ahead may have been tempting, there are treasures revealed.

Once again, we must remember the context: the people of Judah, after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, have now returned to a much different environment. The temple had been destroyed. How were they to worship?

And while the reinstitution of temple worship is not the subject of 1 Chronicles 6, through this genealogy of the tribe of Levi, a restored people would be once again reminded that He is faithful. And while the people were now without the temple, they were not without His priests.

And in this carefully presented genealogy the writer would impress on the restored captives an essential truth: the tribe of Levi had survived, and through His Priestly Provision, they would persevere in carrying out their assigned duties to sustain God’s people.

Consider His Priestly Provision

• His Priestly Provision: Sustain God’s people through Service.
  • :and Johanan became the father of Azariah (it was he who served as the priest in the house which Solomon built in Jerusalem)…⁴⁸ Their kinsmen the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God, (6:10, 48).

• His Priestly Provision: Sustain God’s people through Solace.
  • and Jehozadak went along when the Lord carried Judah and Jerusalem away into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, (6:15).

• His Priestly Provision: Sustain God’s people through Song.
  • Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark rested there. ³² They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they served in their office according to their order, (6:31-32).

• His Priestly Provision: Sustain God’s people through Sacrifice.
  • Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded, (6:49).

• His Priestly Provision: Sustain God’s people through their Settlements (their Place of Dwelling).
  • Now these are their settlements according to their camps within their borders… (6:54).

How do we respond to His Priestly Provision?

When we are born again, we are released from the captivity of sin and restored to the relationship with Holy God He had intended from the beginning; we are brought back to His land of promise in Christ.

Although this life is fraught with the suffering and consequences of the Fall, He has faithfully given all we need to Sustain us in this place as we await His perfect restoration in His new heaven and earth. In our Savior, Jesus Christ, He has perfectly provided His Priestly Provision.

• His Perfect Priestly Provision Sustains us through His Service.
  • “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,” (Mark 10:45).

• His Perfect Priestly Provision Sustains us through His Solace.
  • Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God, (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

• His Perfect Priestly Provision Sustains us through His Song.
  • Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, (Colossians 3:16).

• His Perfect Priestly Provision Sustains us through His Sacrifice.
  • But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8).

• His Perfect Priestly Provision Sustains us through His Settlement (His Place of Dwelling).
  • Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them;
    And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
    ¹⁷ “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.
    “And do not touch what is unclean;
    And I will welcome you.
    ¹⁸ “And I will be a father to you,
    And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
    Says the Lord Almighty, (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

His Priestly Provision also continues through those who belong to Him by faith and are called into His royal priesthood. As He faithfully grows and sustains us through His Holy Spirit and His Word, let us seek to fulfill His calling in our lives. May we commit to live as His priestly representatives before those still held in captivity and in desperate need of His marvelous salvation, that others may hear His call out of darkness and into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, (1 Peter 2:9 emphasis added).

 Let’s Grow Together!