And the divisions of the sons of Aaron the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Chapter 24 opens the register of the priestly families by naming two men already dead under God's judgment. A list meant to organise worship starts by recording where worship went wrong, and that order is deliberate.
One writer reads the whole chapter through these opening names.
In this chapter we find the divisions of the priests. First comes the one thing Chronicles is never without: God has fully judged the flesh and set it aside in the person of Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Because Eli and his sons were unfaithful, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and later under Christ's thousand-year reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar takes first place through Zadok, who came from him, because of Phinehas' zeal… Solomon drove Abiathar, who came from Ithamar, out of the priesthood (1 Kings 2:26), but Chronicles does not mention this. Here we find the priesthood, like the kingship, established according to God's counsels.
The two brothers who remain are not simply spare heirs. The same writer sees a pattern running through the family register.
After Nadab and Abihu come Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar is the priest chosen by grace. Ithamar is the responsible priest, set aside to make room for Eleazar.
The verse says only that Nadab and Abihu died before their father. The reason lies back in Leviticus, and one summary draws out both the offence and its lasting warning.
Abihu and Nadab, sons of Aaron, with seventy of the elders of Israel, were invited to go up with Moses. There they saw God, and ate and drank (Exodus 24:1, 9-11). They were set apart to serve the Lord as priests. Yet the first time they acted as priests for Israel, they offered strange fire, which the Lord had not commanded. Fire from God struck them dead (Leviticus 10:1-2)… The case of Nadab and Abihu should teach us that not every kind of worship is acceptable to God: "those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Outward worship alone will not do. It must be according to what God has revealed.
Nearness to God was no shield. Another writer weighs their guilt against what they had been given.
The two who died under judgment, almost as soon as they were consecrated as priests, had no excuse for their sin. They fell despite this great privilege. Eleazar and Ithamar, who carried on as priests, do not seem to have had this unique experience. Failure is often most marked in those who are most highly privileged.
David then sorts the priests into groups. One writer notes who really decided the order.
There were sixteen heads of fathers' houses in Eleazar's family and eight in Ithamar's… It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in their courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, without man's will (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9)… so that the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four groups of priests according to God's thought.
The courses were still running in the days of the Gospels. One account shows how each priest's turn came round.
David set up the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24, and the course of Abia (or Abijah) was the eighth. In the time of the Gospels each course served as priests in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time… On any given day, four lots were cast for both the morning and the evening sacrifices. These lots chose the individual priests to prepare the altar, to kill the sacrifice, to offer the incense, and finally to burn the sacrifice on the altar. The third lot, to offer the incense, was the one priests wanted most, and it could fall to a priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot which fell to Zacharias, on the great day when the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to him about the birth of John the Baptist.
Several writers connect the count of courses to the scene John sees around the throne. The link rests on how the heads of families functioned.
When David divided the priests into courses, he found twenty-four heads of the priestly families, so there were twenty-four courses. Those twenty-four heads therefore stood for the whole priesthood. In the same way, the twenty-four elders are taken to stand for the saints of this period. Scripture already works on this principle. They stand as well for all who are Christ's, the saints who share in the first resurrection.
- Failure first. The register opens with two priests under judgment. God judges what belongs to human nature and sets it aside before anything is built.
- Grace next. Eleazar is the priest chosen by grace. Ithamar is the responsible priest who makes room for him, yet his line keeps the priesthood.
- God chooses. The lot settled the courses, not David's judgment. The whole arrangement is God's thought, not man's.
- Worship on God's terms. Nadab and Abihu offered fire God had not commanded. Privilege did not protect them. Worship still has to be in spirit and truth.
- Order that lasts. The courses were still running when the angel met Zacharias. Their twenty-four heads stood for the whole priesthood, and that number returns in the twenty-four elders.
And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood.
Two of Aaron's four sons died while their father was still alive, and they left no children behind them. So why does a chapter about priestly work open with a death, and what does it tell us about who God keeps in service?
The deaths behind this verse happened at the very start of the priesthood, not late in its decline.
Sadly, here we have what is always true of man. On its very first day the priesthood already falls short of the glory of God. Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire. They act as natural men in their dealings with God. They do not build their service on the altar of sacrifice, and so they die.
Nearness to God did not make them safe.
What a swift and awful judgment on those in the place of greatest privilege, who dare to approach God in their own way! How terrible to see the eldest son, the one in line for the wonderful office of High Priest, cut off in a moment! But the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
The order of the four names carries a lesson that runs right through Chronicles.
Aaron's sons are Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. God judged Nadab and Abihu for their sin. So in the priestly family we see the same thing again. The history of the natural man comes first, and then it is set aside completely. After Nadab and Abihu come Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar is the priest according to the election of grace. Ithamar is the responsible priest, set aside to make room for Eleazar.
The meanings of the names carry the lesson further.
Here indeed we find terrible failure and the judgment of God. The first two sons are cut off. The third son, Eleazar, means "help of God." His name speaks of that resurrection-power by which God acts when all human power has come to an end. Ithamar means "where the palm-tree is." His name follows Eleazar's, and it seems to point to the uprightness and fruitfulness that Scripture always ties to the palm-tree. The righteous flourish like that tree.
"Became the priests" was not an empty title. Ithamar's share of the work was tied to the tabernacle, the tent where God met with Israel.
Ithamar's work appears to be more connected with the building itself. In Exodus 38:21, we see that he had charge of all the material gathered for building the tabernacle. In this chapter too, verses 28 and 33 place the materials that made up the building under his charge. That was a responsible work for him.
Later history pushed the two lines apart. Chronicles records the new order without cancelling Ithamar's place.
First comes what Chronicles never leaves out. God has fully set aside and judged the flesh in Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Because Eli and his sons were unfaithful, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's millennial reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar holds the first place through Zadok, who descended from him, because of Phinehas' zeal. Eleazar becomes the founder of the faithful priesthood that will walk for ever before the true Solomon in His kingdom. Abiathar, who descended from Ithamar, was driven from the priesthood by Solomon (1 Kings 2:26). Chronicles does not mention this. There we find both the priesthood and the kingship set up according to the counsels of God.
Aaron's family line held on through these two sons — and then gave way to something better.
The honour of the priesthood continued through these two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar. It lasted as long as the priesthood "after the order of Aaron" lasted. Now another Great High Priest has arisen, after the order of Melchizedek and not after the order of Aaron. In Him there is no failure.
- Failure first. The priesthood broke down on the day it began — Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire, approaching God in their own way, and they died for it.
- Privilege costs. They stood in the nearest place to God. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
- Flesh removed. Two names drop out and two remain. The natural man comes first, then God sets him aside.
- Grace continues. Eleazar is the priest according to the election of grace, and his name points to God's help when human power has run out. Ithamar lost his first place, but not his priesthood.
- Christ remains. Aaron's line ran on through these two brothers until that order ended. Now a Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek has arisen, and in Him there is no failure.
And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their office in their service.
David is near the end of his reign. He works with two priests, Zadok and Ahimelech, to sort the whole family of Aaron into fixed divisions. The temple they will serve in does not exist yet. So two questions come up at once. Why is a king organising priests? And why are two priestly lines named side by side?
Under David, the orders for God's worship come from the throne, not from the sanctuary. One writer traces this pattern through David's life:
It was the King, not the High Priest, who appointed Asaph and his brothers to minister before the ark continually... It was the king again who numbered the Levites and appointed their services (1 Chron. 23:24-27), and he was also the one who distributed the priests according to their work (1 Chron. 24:3).
There was a reason for the change:
Kingship and priesthood were the two pillars of Israel's relationship with God. You could not separate them without making the whole system collapse. If either one failed, the result would be complete ruin... But once the kingship proper was set up, the priesthood came under it, because the priesthood had fallen short of its calling. From then on the faithful priest must always walk before the Lord's Anointed (1 Sam. 2:35).
Aaron had four sons. Two of them died under judgment. The other two, Eleazar and Ithamar, head the lines named in this verse. Their standing is not equal:
First comes what Chronicles can never leave out. The flesh has been completely set aside and judged in the person of Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Eli and his sons were unfaithful. So Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's thousand-year reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3).
The Ahimelech of this verse is hard to place. Elsewhere in this family, the names run the other way round:
There is a difficulty in 2 Sam. 8:17 and 1 Chr. 18:16. There "Ahimelech (or Abimelech) the son of Abiathar" is named as priest with Zadok in the time of David. Some think the names should be swapped, and that Abiathar is meant. But this Ahimelech may have been a son of the Abiathar named above. It was not at all unusual to name a son after his grandfather.
Chronicles also leaves out what happened later in this family:
Solomon drove Abiathar, a descendant of Ithamar, out of the priesthood (1 Kings 2:26), as we know. But Chronicles does not mention this. In Chronicles we find both the priesthood and the kingship set up according to the counsels of God.
Zadok's place at the head of the list rests on two reasons:
Here we have the divisions of the sons of Aaron, and they are now divided into twenty-four courses. Zadok takes his place as the high priest, and we know this will be the line when the Lord Jesus comes to reign in the future... They were faithful. But there is another reason too, one that does not appear in the prophecy. They were the right descendants, the direct line from Phinehas. And God had sworn in the wilderness — that is how far back it goes, long before David — that there would be an everlasting covenant with the priesthood and the family of Phinehas.
David divides them, but he does not decide the running order. The method rules out favouritism:
"They divided them by lot" (v. 5). It was God's will, not man's will, that set them in their courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, apart from the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9).
What was settled that day outlived David's kingdom by a thousand years:
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites when the people returned from captivity, Ezra 6:18, and we find them still in use in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia. This no doubt refers to Abijah, the eighth name mentioned in 1 Chr. 24:10.
The house was not yet built. Yet David had already settled who would serve and when:
What is interesting here is that David orders and arranges everything, even the doors of the house that was not yet built. So in Christ, all is appointed before it is shown in glory.
- Appointed by the king. David distributes the priests, not the high priest. The priesthood had come short, so the faithful priest now walks before the Lord's Anointed.
- Appointed after judgment. Nadab and Abihu show the flesh judged and set aside. Only then do the two remaining lines begin their work.
- Appointed unequally, yet kept. Eli's unfaithfulness costs Ithamar first place. Yet Ithamar keeps the priesthood.
- Appointed by covenant. Zadok heads the list. His line was faithful, and it came straight down from Phinehas. It will serve when Christ reigns.
- Appointed before it appears. David fixed the courses for a house not yet built, and they still stood in Zacharias' day. So in Christ, all is settled before it is displayed in glory.
And there were more head-men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and [thus] were they divided of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads of fathers' houses, and eight of the sons of Ithamar according to their fathers' houses.
Aaron had four sons. Two of them, Nadab and Abihu, died under God's judgment. Chronicles tells us that before it tells us anything else about the priesthood. One writer sees a contrast between the two sons who remain:
Aaron's sons are Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu were judged for their sin. And so in the priestly family we again see the same pattern. The history of the natural man comes first, and then it is entirely set aside. After Nadab and Abihu come Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar is the priest according to the election of grace. Ithamar is the responsible priest, set aside to give place to Eleazar.
Another writer weighs what the two names mean, and the order in which Scripture sets the brothers:
Here we find terrible failure and the judgment of God. The first two sons were cut off. The third, Eleazar ("help of God"), speaks in this way of that resurrection-power by which God acts when all human power is completely at an end. Ithamar ("where the palm-tree is") follows Eleazar, and his name seems to imply the uprightness and fruitfulness that Scripture always links with the palm-tree... This at least is the true order here. It is no less the true order because history shows that when Ithamar's descendants are lifted above Eleazar's, as in Eli, the result is mournful failure and collapse.
The figures in this verse are the raw material for the whole chapter. They produce the rota that runs through the rest of Israel's history:
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. A list of them, under the name of each head, is given in 1 Chr. 24:6-19.
Ithamar's line was not cut off. Its loss was of a different kind, and one writer traces the cause back to an earlier failure in the family:
Eli and his sons were unfaithful. Because of this, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's millennial reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar holds the first place through Zadok, his descendant, because of Phinehas' zeal. He becomes the founder of the faithful priesthood which will walk forever before the true Solomon in His kingdom.
Zadok's line held first place for two reasons, and one of them is not about faithfulness at all:
They were faithful. But there is another reason, too, that does not appear in the prophecy. They were the proper descendants. They were the direct descendants of Phinehas. God had sworn in the wilderness — long before David, that is how far back it goes — that there would be an everlasting covenant with the priesthood and the family of Phinehas. If God remembers His promises, He does not forget His covenant with man either.
Counting the heads was only half the work. Verse 5 tells how the turns of service were assigned:
There were sixteen heads of fathers' houses in Eleazar's family, eight in Ithamar's... God's will, not man's will, set them in courses. This is because before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God's direct action, apart from the will of man... One father's house was drawn for Eleazar and one for Ithamar, so the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order repeated in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
These courses were still in use long after David. They explain how one priest in the New Testament came to be on duty:
The "heads of fathers' houses" (1 Chron. 24:4) served in these priestly courses by turn. They were elders who represented the priesthood, because there were too many priests for all of them to serve in the temple. The work of Zacharias was to burn incense in the temple where only priests could enter.
Another writer notes whom those twenty-four stood for:
The twenty-four chief priests were representative of the whole priestly family.
- Judgment first. Nadab and Abihu are named first. The priesthood that survives rests on God's choice, not on human power.
- Grace decides. Eleazar's line carries the larger share, as the priest of God's choosing. Ithamar's line keeps its priesthood, but loses first place after Eli's failure.
- Promise holds. Zadok's line rose because it was faithful, and because God had sworn a covenant to Phinehas long before David. God keeps His word.
- The lot rules. The lot settled the rota. The order of service showed God's will, not David's preference or family influence.
- The number lasts. The twenty-four courses were still running when Zacharias burned incense. The same twenty-four stands for the whole priestly family.
And they were divided by lot, one with another; for the princes of the sanctuary and the princes of God were of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of Ithamar.
David is settling the order of priestly service: sixteen family heads from Eleazar's line, eight from Ithamar's. The verse raises two questions — why use a lot at all, and what "sacred officers and officers of God" means.
So who really decided the order of service?
It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, apart from the will of man.
A lot was simple to cast, and its outcome was never random.
God overruled among His people how the lot should fall. Proverbs 16:33 says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." … The names, dates, and other choices were marked on pieces of wood, broken pottery, and the like. These 'lots' were then shaken together in a vessel or in the fold of a garment, until one came out.
Eleazar's line supplied twice as many heads. That difference has a history behind it.
Eli and his sons were unfaithful. Because of this, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's thousand-year reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar takes the first place through his descendant Zadok, because of Phinehas' zeal. He becomes the founder of the faithful priesthood which will walk forever before the true Solomon in His kingdom. … David divides the priests into classes under their chiefs: Zadok from Eleazar's line, and Ahimelech from Ithamar's.
So the larger share was not David's favour. It followed the history of the two houses. Yet the lots fell for both houses "all alike," and Ithamar still supplied officers.
Aaron's four sons, taken in order, show a pattern.
Nadab and Abihu were judged for their sin. And so in the priestly family we again see that the history of the natural man comes first and then is entirely set aside. After Nadab and Abihu come Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar is the priest according to the election of grace. Ithamar is the responsible priest, set aside to make room for Eleazar.
Sixteen heads and eight heads make twenty-four courses in all. That number comes back in a scene in heaven.
reason: quote lacked its referent; very hard sentence; passive The saints of this day have the character of "a royal priesthood" to show forth the praises of God (1 Peter 2:9).
David's arrangement did not die with him.
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites on the return from captivity (Ezra 6:18), and we find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia. This doubtless refers to Abijah, the eighth name in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he returned to his house (Luke 1:5, 23). The length of service was a week, beginning from the Sabbath.
So a lot drawn in David's day still fixed the week Zacharias served.
- Chosen by God. The lot took the choice from David and from the families: "its every decision is from the LORD."
- Chosen in grace. Eleazar pictures the priest of God's election, Ithamar the responsible priest set aside. Man's history comes first, then grace takes the first place.
- Chosen, yet not shut out. Ithamar lost first place but not the priesthood. His house still drew lots and still supplied officers.
- Chosen to represent. The heads of the courses stood as "governors of the sanctuary," royal and priestly, representing the whole priesthood.
- Chosen for the long run. Ezra restored the courses after the exile, and they still fixed the week Zacharias served — God's arrangements outlast the men who set them up.
And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, [one] of the Levites, inscribed them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the chief fathers of the priests and Levites one father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar.
Chapter 24 sets Aaron's family in fixed courses. In verse 6 a scribe writes the result down in front of the king, the princes, two priests and the heads of the priests' and Levites' families. Why did lots decide a matter of this weight, and not a royal decree?
The verse names Zadok and Ahimelech. Each stood for one of the two surviving priestly lines. One commentator traces how they came to be there:
Because Eli and his sons were unfaithful, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's millennial reign. But the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Because of Phinehas' zeal, Eleazar takes the first place through Zadok, who descended from him. He becomes the founder of the faithful priesthood which will walk forever before the true Solomon in His kingdom (1 Sam. 2:25; Ezek. 48:11). Here David divides the priests into classes under their chiefs. Zadok descended from Eleazar, and Ahimelech from Ithamar.
Eleazar and Ithamar were sons of Aaron. Eli came from Ithamar's line, and Phinehas from Eleazar's.
The verse's last clause has the choice alternating between the two houses. The commentator quotes an older translation, which reads "drawn" where the ESV reads "chosen":
"And were they divided by lot" (v. 5). The will of God, and not the will of man, set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, without the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9)… "One father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar" (v. 6), so that the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order reproduced in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
Sixteen heads of families came from Eleazar and only eight from Ithamar, so the alternation fell in Eleazar's favour.
The verse says each house was "chosen" — but by what act, and under whose hand?
God overruled among His people how the lot should fall, as stated in Proverbs 16:33… They marked the various names, dates and so on for selection on pieces of wood, broken pottery and similar things. They then shook these "lots" together, either in a vessel or in the fold of a garment, until one came out.
Another writer names two gains from the lot:
For this purpose He uses the lot. It leaves nothing to mere chance, nothing to the whim of any part of the people, and still less to that modern fallacy, the will of the majority… It also puts an end to arguments.
These courses were not a copy of an older law. One commentator marks how far David went beyond Moses:
David, acting as a type of the Messiah, orders everything anew. The old state of things according to Moses did not abide in its arrangements. The grand principles, of course, last for ever. But there was a most important difference in the form. That difference of form came from the greater glory of the one who was there, even as a type… David divided the priests into courses, and one course was always to be on the spot in Jerusalem. That state of things is not in the least referred to in the Pentateuch.
The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible, given through Moses.
What the scribe wrote that day outlived the exile. It still shaped temple duty when the New Testament opens:
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites on the return from captivity (Ezra 6:18). We find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was of the course of Abia. This no doubt refers to Abijah, the eighth name in 1 Chr. 24:10 (Luke 1:5). The length of service was a week, beginning from the Sabbath.
Verse 6 records the heads of the fathers' houses as present. Why did a small group stand in for such a large one?
Because there were thousands of priests, they could not all come to the temple at one time. So these "chief of the fathers of the priests," or elders, represented them.
- Appointed, not applied for. The lot divided the courses, so the will of God and not the will of man set each priest in his place.
- Appointed by grace. The alternating draws gave Eleazar's line a double portion. Ithamar kept the priesthood but lost first place, and Zadok's house came to the front.
- Appointed in writing. A named scribe wrote the result down in front of the king, the princes, both priests and the family heads. They all saw it, so no one could dispute it.
- Appointed past David's lifetime. Ezra restored the same courses after the exile. They were still running when Zacharias served his week in the eighth course.
- Appointed as a pattern. Twenty-four heads stood in for thousands of priests. That same order reappears in the twenty-four elders of Revelation.
And the first lot came forth for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim,
Verse 8 names two of the twenty-four. Harim drew the third lot and Seorim the fourth as David organised Aaron's family for their turns of service. Two questions sit under a line like this: who decided the order, and why does Scripture bother to keep the names?
The courses were new. One writer sees David here acting as a type — a picture — of the Messiah, and follows the change through to daily life in Jerusalem:
David, acting as a type of the Messiah, orders everything anew. The old state of things according to Moses did not stay as it was arranged. The grand principles, of course, are everlasting. But there was a most important difference in the form. That difference came from the greater glory of the one who was there even as a type... The priests were divided into courses, and one course was always to be on the spot in Jerusalem. The five books of Moses never refer to that arrangement. David arranged not only a house of God, but houses for the priests... These priests could not have lived a day unless Israel brought their offerings and sacrifices, as God had commanded. If the people had neglected this, the priests would have had to go back to their own homes, leaving the altar, the incense and the whole order of the temple completely neglected.
Harim came third and Seorim fourth because the lot fell that way. Commentators read the lot as God's own hand settling the matter:
"They divided them by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God stepping in directly, without the will of man... So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought.
The next chapter puts the singers under the same rule:
Like the priests and the Levites, the singers were divided by lot, designated by God's free choice. Nothing was left to the will of man: that is of all importance. The Lord's Anointed orders and the Lord decides.
A list of names looks like the least useful page in the Bible. One writer meets that reaction head on:
So we can see that these genealogies have a far higher character than they seem to at first. I have no doubt that most of us have read them, thinking it was high time to skip over them... But I am quite sure that relatively few people have a clear, distinct judgment on why God has attached so much importance to these genealogies.
His answer turns on the exile in Babylon. Keeping the lists then was an act of faith:
The man who believed God knew that seventy years would see them return from captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies jealously. Then, when they did return, they could enter on what God had allotted them. This was what made every homestead in Israel so precious — God gave it. It was not something a man earned by his own labour or skill. It was God's gift to them.
That hope proved sound. Harim, third in this verse, turns up again among the priests who returned from Babylon:
In 1 Chronicles 24 there are twenty-four courses. Jedaiah, Immer and Harim are found in that record. In all, 4,289 priests went back. And they made up only four courses.
Commentators link these twenty-four family heads with the twenty-four elders in Revelation:
The number matches the divisions of Israel's priesthood in 1 Chronicles 24 and 25. The twenty-four chief priests were representative of the whole priestly family. The elders of Revelation are clearly priests; their robes (Rev. 4:4) and censers (Rev. 5:8) show this. They also have a royal character, for they are both crowned and enthroned.
- Ordered. David divided the priests into courses. One company was always on duty in Jerusalem, an arrangement the law of Moses never gave.
- Chosen. The lot gave Harim third place and Seorim fourth. God fixed each man's turn, not David and not the families.
- Named. Each man's place was God's gift, not something he earned. The lists were the title-deeds that let returning families claim it.
- Preserved. Harim comes back from Babylon with the returning priests. Faith kept the register through the years when it looked useless.
- Completed. The twenty-four heads stood for the whole priestly family. Commentators see the same number again in the crowned elders of Revelation.
the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin,
This verse sits inside a list of names drawn by lot. Each lot gave one head of a priestly family his fixed week in the temple's round of service. So why does Scripture keep a roster of twenty-four names, and what did fifth or sixth place mean for a priest's life?
Near the end of David's reign the king set everything in order for a temple he would never see built. One writer traces the sequence of chapters that surround this list:
Then in 1 Chronicles 23 David divides the Levites for their services. In 1 Chronicles 24 he divides the sons of Aaron into their twenty-four courses, and in 1 Chronicles 25 the singers and musicians into the same number. In 1 Chronicles 26 we see the doorkeepers and other officials arranged.
Malchijah and Mijamin are two names inside a much larger design. David left no part of the house of God unassigned.
The names come from two families, not one: the lines of Eleazar and Ithamar. One writer traces the reason back through earlier generations, starting with two names that judgement had already set aside:
The flesh has been completely put aside and judged in Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Because of the unfaithfulness of Eli and his sons, Ithamar loses his place of honour under the reign of David and Solomon, and later under Christ's thousand-year reign. The priesthood, though, is not taken away from him. Eleazar takes the first place through Zadok, who is descended from him, because of Phinehas' zeal. He becomes the founder of the faithful priesthood that will walk forever before the true Solomon in His kingdom.
Faithfulness in a past generation still shaped who stood where in this one.
Malchijah did not lobby for fifth place. Lots settled the whole roster, and the same writer counts each family before explaining what the lot meant:
There were sixteen heads of fathers' houses in Eleazar's family, and eight in Ithamar's. It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God stepping in directly, apart from the will of man.
No priest could take credit for his place, and no priest could complain of it.
A place on the list meant real weeks of real work, and the arrangement outlived David by centuries:
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites when the people came back from captivity, and we find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia. This no doubt refers to Abijah, the eighth name in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he returned to his house. The length of service was a week, starting from the Sabbath.
Abijah is the eighth name, two places after Mijamin in the same list. Centuries later the roster still ran. One of its weeks became the setting for the announcement of John the Baptist's birth.
Within each week, lots were cast again, day by day:
In the Gospel times each course served as priests in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time. One or more families of the course took each day's services. On any given day, for both the morning and evening sacrifices, they cast four lots. These lots chose the individual priests to prepare the altar, to kill the sacrifice, to offer the incense, and last of all to burn the sacrifice on the altar. The third lot, to offer the incense, was the most desired, and it could fall to any priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot which fell to Zacharias.
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One writer reads the number of courses as a picture:
There were twenty-four courses for the priests. This sets out the whole range of worship, since the priests are a picture of the believer in worship.
Another writer follows the same number into the book of Revelation:
So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order repeated in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
The names of Malchijah and Mijamin are not filler. They fill out a picture of complete, ordered worship.
- Order. David gave priests, Levites, singers and doorkeepers each their place. Malchijah and Mijamin are two names in a house where every task had its man.
- Inheritance. Eleazar's line gives sixteen heads, Ithamar's eight. Eli's unfaithfulness and Phinehas' zeal still shaped the priesthood generations later.
- Lot. No one claimed fifth or sixth place. The lot drew it, and the lot marked God's direct choice before the Spirit came.
- Endurance. Ezra restored the same roster after the exile. It still ran in the days of Zacharias, whose once-in-a-lifetime lot to burn incense opened the Gospel story.
- Completion. Twenty-four courses set out the whole range of worship. The same order appears again in the twenty-four elders of Revelation — kings and priests.
the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for Abijah,
1 Chronicles 24:10 sits inside a long list of names. David is dividing Aaron's descendants into twenty-four groups and giving each group its turn of duty at the temple. The seventh lot falls to Hakkoz and the eighth to Abijah. One of these names opens the New Testament. The other runs into trouble after the exile.
The order of these names was not settled by seniority, influence, or family lobbying. Commentators point out that the lot was how God Himself made the choice visible.
"And they were divided by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, and not that of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God's direct intervention, apart from the will of man... So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order repeated in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
A "course" was a rota. Each family group came up to serve for a fixed spell and then went home again — an arrangement that outlived David, survived the exile, and was still running centuries later.
The courses of the priests and Levites were restored by Ezra on the return from captivity, Ezra 6:18, and we find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias the father of John the Baptist was of the course of Abia, which doubtless refers to Abijah, the eighth name mentioned in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he returned to his house. Luke 1:5, 23. The length of service was a week, beginning from the Sabbath.
Luke's first chapter opens with a priest from this eighth course. Commentators note what his course was called, and what kind of days he served in.
Zacharias is a priest, of the course of Abiah, in the days of Herod the king... All is outwardly in order, though the days are evil days in Israel, as the name of Herod stamps them clearly enough. Yet the priests serve in their courses in the temple, just as David had arranged it. Zacharias is of the course of Abiah, "my Father is Jah" — the eighth course, and that is no small detail.
The casting of lots did not stop with these twenty-four divisions.
On any day, for both the morning and evening sacrifices, four lots were cast. These lots chose the individual priests: one to prepare the altar, one to kill the sacrifice, one to offer the incense, and one to burn the sacrifice on the altar. The third lot, to offer the incense, was the most coveted and could fall to any priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot which fell to Zacharias on that great day when the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to him about the birth of John Baptist.
Hakkoz, named just before Abijah, has a sadder trail. His line is traced into the records of the return from exile.
The chief of the seventh course of priests. 1 Chronicles 24:10. Some priests are referred to as the descendants of Koz (the prefix being taken as the article) in Ezra 2:61; Nehemiah 3:4, 21; Nehemiah 7:63.
The ruling made about those priests carried a time limit. One writer reads that limit as pointing far past Ezra's own day.
They should not eat of the most holy things — that is, they should not have the full enjoyment of priestly privilege — "till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." That is, until the Lord Jesus comes by and by. He will, no doubt, be the King, and will also act in the full power of priesthood... and will then untangle all the confusion, and supply all that is lacking.
The number itself is picked up again in the book of Revelation, where twenty-four elders sit around God's throne.
The number of these is twenty-four, matching the twenty-four courses of priesthood in Israel. When the forerunner of the Lord was to be born, his father Zacharias was a priest of the course or order of Abia. In 1 Chronicles 24 we must look to see these divisions, and we find the eighth was the one in question. The priesthood was divided into these courses so that each in turn might take up the work of the priesthood, every course having its own chief priest.
- Chosen, not chosen by. The lot put Hakkoz seventh and Abijah eighth. The courses stood "according to God's thought," not by human will.
- Chosen for a turn. A course served for one week, starting from the Sabbath, then went home. Inside that week, fresh lots decided each day's duties.
- Chosen and remembered. Abijah's course still served under Herod. Its priest Zacharias drew the once-in-a-lifetime incense lot, and an angel met him.
- Chosen and unable to prove it. Hakkoz's line reappears after the exile among priests shut out from the most holy things.
- Chosen and awaited. That exclusion lasts only until a priest with Urim and Thummim stands up. And the twenty-four courses reappear as the twenty-four elders of Revelation.
the ninth for Jeshuah, the tenth for Shecaniah,
This line falls in the middle of a roll call. Twenty-four priestly families each take a turn of duty here, and the ninth and tenth places fall to Jeshua and Shecaniah — two names that raise the question of why Scripture keeps such a list at all.
David set these courses in place, along with the rest of the temple service.
Then in 1 Chronicles 23 David divides the Levites for their services. In 1 Chronicles 24 he divides the sons of Aaron into their twenty-four courses. In 1 Chronicles 25 he divides the singers and musicians into the same number.
The twenty-four courses were not split evenly between the two priestly houses.
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. A list of them, under the name of each head, is given in 1 Chronicles 24:6-19.
Jeshua stands ninth and Shecaniah tenth because the lot put them there. Neither seniority nor influence fixed the sequence.
It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God's direct action apart from the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9)... One father's house was drawn for Eleazar and one for Ithamar (v. 6). This meant the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought.
A dictionary of Bible names gives their meaning. Jeshua carries salvation in it:
Jeshua — He will save: Jehovah is salvation.
Shecaniah speaks of God's dwelling:
Shecaniah — The dwelling of Jehovah.
This was not just a plan on paper. The same order was still running centuries later.
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites on the return from captivity (Ezra 6:18). We find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia. This doubtless refers to Abijah, the eighth name mentioned in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he returned to his house. Luke 1:5, 23. The length of service was a week, starting from the Sabbath.
Few of these families came back from exile. The leaders of the return rebuilt the order anyway.
These men were the heads of the twenty-four courses into which the priesthood was divided (1 Chronicles 24:1-20). Only four heads of these courses had returned from the captivity: Jedaiah, Immer, Pashur and Harim. Zerubbabel and Jeshua divided these into the original twenty-four.
Each name in this list stood for far more people than itself.
There were thousands of priests, so they could not all come to the temple at one time. These "chief of the fathers of the priests," or elders, represented them.
The number turns up again in Revelation. One writer ties its twenty-four elders back to these courses.
Their number was twenty-four, matching the twenty-four courses into which David divided the priests (see 1 Chronicles 24), so they stand for a complete body... The white clothing shows their priestly character... while the gold crowns speak of their royal dignity.
A list of names can look like dead record-keeping. One writer reads it the other way.
Here we have little to say except that the Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants... He honours those who honour Him and records their names in His word now, as He will glorify their persons in the great day that is coming quickly.
- Chosen. The lot gave Jeshua ninth place and Shecaniah tenth. The lot stood for God's choice, not man's.
- Named. Their names carry meaning. Jeshua: "He will save; Jehovah is salvation." Shecaniah: "The dwelling of Jehovah."
- Numbered. Sixteen courses came from Eleazar's house and eight from Ithamar's. Verses 6-19 list all twenty-four. Only four families returned from exile, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuilt the full number from them.
- Timed. Each course served one week, from Sabbath to Sabbath. Zacharias was still taking his turn in Luke 1.
- Remembered. One head stood for thousands of priests. One writer links the twenty-four to the crowned elders of Revelation. The names survive because God delights to record those who serve Him.
the eleventh for Eliashib, the twelfth for Jakim,
This verse gives two names and two numbers inside a long list of priestly families. The lot decided these places at the end of David's reign, and a reader may well ask why God kept such a list at all.
This chapter belongs to a wider reorganisation. David sorted and assigned every group that served the house of God.
In 1 Chronicles 23 David divides the Levites for their services. In 1 Chronicles 24 he divides the sons of Aaron into their twenty-four courses. In 1 Chronicles 25 he divides the singers and musicians into the same number. In 1 Chronicles 26 we see the doorkeepers and other officials arranged too.
Eliashib is eleventh and Jakim twelfth because the lot fell that way. That method mattered: it kept human preference out of the arrangement entirely.
"And were they divided by lot" (v. 5). It was God's will, not man's, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, apart from the will of man... "One father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar" (v. 6), so that the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order reproduced in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
The same method reached beyond the priests.
Like the priests and the Levites, the singers were divided by lot, designated by God's free choice. Nothing was left to the will of man: that is of all importance. The Lord's Anointed orders and the Lord decides.
Eliashib and Jakim are otherwise unknown men. Yet Scripture spends a verse on them. One writer, commenting on another long list of names and gifts, shows why.
Each name shines out in its own distinctness. God describes each offering in detail and gives it its full value... Man may pass over gifts and offerings in a hurry or without care; but God never can, never does, and never will. He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does more than remember it Himself: He takes special pains that untold millions shall read the record.
The same care reaches the smallest jobs done for the Lord today.
It is the same today. It may be a matter of serving tables, of passing the bread and the cup, or of taking care of the "upper room". The Lord forgets none of it. He records the names of those who have kept the charge of this service just as deservedly as the others. And we shall see, in more than one case, that the child of God who took the last place, forgetting himself to serve others, will hold a place of honor.
David's arrangement did not end with him.
David set up the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24. The course of Abia (or Abijah) was the eighth of them. In the Gospel times each course carried out the priest's work in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time. One or more families of the course took each day's services.
One name on the list stood for far more men than itself.
The arrangement was still in force when the birth of John the Baptist was announced to his father, Zechariah, who was of the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5). There were thousands of priests, so they could not come together at one time in the temple. Instead these "chief of the fathers of the priests," or elders, represented them.
The reason for all this dividing and assigning lies in God's own character.
God is a God of order, and He cares that order is kept in His house... Disorder goes against our God's nature, and we must be on guard against it. Wherever we see it rising up among God's people, we are responsible to step in... This order requires that every class of servants has its own place and function, recognised by all.
- Placed — no one won or bargained for the eleventh and twelfth lots. The lot marked God's own choice.
- Named — God records servants no one else would remember, and makes sure millions read the record.
- Ordered — every class of servant has its own place and work, because disorder is against God's nature.
- Represented — twenty-four heads stood in for thousands of priests, and twenty-four elders appear again in Revelation 5.
- Lasting — David's courses were still taking their week in the temple when John the Baptist's birth was announced.
the thirteenth for Huppah, the fourteenth for Jeshebeab,
This chapter lists twenty-four lots drawn for the priests of Israel. This verse records numbers thirteen and fourteen: Huppah and Jeshebeab. Two names, and no story attached. So why does God's book keep them, and what was the whole arrangement for?
Each name in the list heads a family group that served the sanctuary in rotation. The arrangement behind it was set up by David:
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. A list of them, under the name of each head, appears in 1 Chr. 24:6-19. David divided the Levites in a similar way.
The chapter says the lot decided the order. One writer explains why that matters:
"They divided them by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God stepping in directly, without the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9)... The lot drew one father's house for Eleazar and one for Ithamar (v. 6), so the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. In this way there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought.
So thirteenth place is not a demotion and first place is not a prize. The same holds for God's servants now:
The order of the service of the Levites... was according to the sovereignty of God, who put each one in his place... In the church too, each one has his own place given to him.
We are told nothing about Huppah or Jeshebeab except their names and their turn. Even so, the Lord wanted those names written down:
Here we have little to remark except that the Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants... He honours those that honour Him and records their names in His word now, as He will glorify them in person on the great day that is coming quickly.
One writer looks at another long list of names, in Numbers 7, and sees a page from a far bigger book:
May we not say that this seventh chapter of Numbers is one of those sample pages from the book of eternity? On it the finger of God has engraved the names of His servants, and the record of their work... Each one has his own special place on the roll, and each one his place in the Master's heart; and all will come out by and by.
Huppah did not serve alone. He headed one course out of twenty-four, and the set of courses carried a meaning beyond the temple roster:
There were twenty-four courses for the priests (see 1 Chron. 24:7-19). This sets out the whole range of worship, and the priests are a picture of the believer in worship.
One writer links that number to the twenty-four elders in Revelation:
The number corresponds with the divisions of Israel's priesthood in 1 Chronicles 24 and 25. The twenty-four chief priests were representative of the whole priestly family. The elders in Revelation are clearly priests. Their robes (Rev. 4:4) and their golden bowls of incense (Rev. 5:8) show it.
The list did not stop with David. When a later king, Hezekiah, set the temple worship right again, one writer notes what he restored:
The order of the courses of the priests, as David arranged them, had been abandoned during the earlier turning away from God. Now it was settled once more.
The same rotation was still running when the New Testament opens:
This was still in force when the birth of John the Baptist was announced to his father, Zechariah, who was "of the division of Abijah" (Luke 1:5). There were thousands of priests, so they could not all come to the temple at one time. These "chief of the fathers of the priests," or elders, stood for them all.
- Lot. The lot, not any man's choice, set each family in its course. The will of God decided the order.
- Place. Thirteenth or fourteenth is a place given, not earned. Each servant has his own place on the roll, and nobody else can fill it.
- Name. God keeps names that history forgot, and He will honour in that day the people He records in His word now.
- Reach. Twenty-four heads stood for thousands of priests. They covered the whole range of worship, and the same number returns with the twenty-four elders in Revelation.
- Endurance. The arrangement outlasted David. Hezekiah brought it back, and it was still running when the priest Zechariah took his turn in Luke 1.
the fifteenth for Bilgah, the sixteenth for Immer,
Bilgah and Immer come fifteenth and sixteenth in a list of twenty-four priestly families, and the lot set that order in David's day. So why does Scripture keep bare names and numbers, and what does the order itself teach?
The order of these names did not come from seniority or from human preference. It came from the lot, and in Israel the lot carried a particular meaning.
There were sixteen heads of fathers' houses in the family of Eleazar, and eight in the family of Ithamar. "They divided them by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, and not that of man, that set them in courses, for before the gift of the Holy Spirit the lot was the sign of God's direct intervention without the will of man... One father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one for Ithamar (v. 6), so that the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this same order again in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
Each name in this chapter belongs to one of two branches of Aaron's family. One branch kept first place and one lost it, and conduct decided which.
First comes what Chronicles never leaves out: the flesh has been completely put aside and judged in Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Because Eli and his sons were unfaithful, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's millennial reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar takes the first place, through Zadok who descended from him, because of Phinehas' zeal.
Coming fifteenth or sixteenth was no demotion. The same lot later divided the Levites, and it took no account of rank.
Note that the least among the Levites had the same portion as the chief fathers. The division was by lot, according to the Lord's free choice (v. 31).
Immer's name turns up again in later records. What those records say is mixed.
A family of priests bore this name. One of them had charge of the sixteenth course of priestly service. Some returned from exile, and two of them had married foreign wives. But no genealogy records their descent from Aaron.
One man from Immer's family appears again in the days of Jeremiah the prophet.
Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, was extremely angry, and he used violence against the prophet.
David's rota outlived David. By the time of the Gospels the same twenty-four courses were still turning, and one of them gave us the opening scene of the New Testament story.
David set up the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24, and the course of Abia (or Abijah) was the eighth. In the Gospel times each course served as priests in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time, and one or more families of the course took each day's services. On any particular day, for both the morning and evening sacrifices, four lots were cast... The third lot, to offer the incense, was the most coveted and could fall to any priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot which fell to Zacharias on that great day when the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to him about the birth of John the Baptist.
Lists of unfamiliar names can look like filler. The Lord who wrote them down thinks otherwise.
There is little to say here except that the Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants... He honours those who honour Him and records their names in His word now, just as He will glorify their persons in the great day that is coming quickly.
- Lot — God's direct choice set the order of the courses, not human will. The lot gave Bilgah and Immer their places.
- Level — The lot ignored rank. The least among the Levites received the same portion as the chief fathers.
- Lasting — The same arrangement still stood in the Gospels. The incense lot fell to Zacharias, and an angel told him of John the Baptist's birth.
- Liable — A place on the list is no guarantee of faithfulness. Immer's line later produced Pashur, who used violence against Jeremiah.
- Listed — The Lord takes pleasure in recording His servants' names. He will glorify their persons in the day that is coming.
the seventeenth for Hezir, the eighteenth for Happizez,
This verse sits inside a long roll call. The chapter draws out twenty-four names one by one, each with a number, as David organised the priests for a temple that was still only a plan. Why does Scripture keep names like Hezir and Happizzez? And what did it mean for a priest to be seventeenth or eighteenth?
Hezir and Happizzez are two entries in a fixed list. A Bible dictionary sets out the structure behind the numbering:
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. A list of them, under the name of each head, is given in 1 Chr. 24:6-19. David divided the Levites in the same way.
No priest chose the seventeenth slot or the eighteenth. The lot decided it, and one writer explains why God used the lot and what the twenty-four courses point to:
"And were they divided by lot" (v. 5). God's will, and not man's, set them in their courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, without the will of man… "One father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar" (v. 6), so the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this same order again in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
David never saw the temple these men would serve in. Yet he settled the whole list in advance, down to the last name and number:
What is interesting here is that David ordered and arranged everything, even for the doors of the house that was not yet built. So, in Christ, everything is appointed before it is shown in glory.
The list was still in use when the New Testament opens. One writer follows it into the temple service of the Gospels:
David set up the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24, and the course of Abia (or Abijah) was the eighth. In the Gospel times each course served as priests in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time… On any given day, at both the morning and the evening sacrifice, four lots were cast… The third lot, to offer the incense, was the one most wanted. It could fall to any priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot that fell to Zacharias on that great day when the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to him about the birth of John the Baptist.
So a man in the seventeenth or eighteenth course knew which week of the year was his. Everything after that fell to the lot.
The chapter is a page of names and numbers. One writer finds the Lord's own pleasure in that:
There is little to say here, except that the Lord takes pleasure in recording even the names of His servants… He has been a dwelling place for His own in all generations. But more than that, He honours those who honour Him. He records their names in His word now, and He will glorify their persons in the great day that is coming fast.
Reading through such a register has its own effect on the heart:
There is something deeply solemn for the soul in being allowed to go over such a record of names. Man forgot these names long ago, but God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their path through this world. Some day our own names will be lost to mankind too. But God will not forget us or our ways.
The same principle runs on into Christian service today:
God sets the members in the body as it has pleased Him. So no one can choose their place, though each may have to learn what it is. Remembering this, we should guard against all envy of another's place and all copying of another's service. Each has his own place and his own service. Carried out as it should be, that service helps the whole body grow in health.
- Appointed. Hezir and Happizzez hold places seventeen and eighteen among twenty-four priestly courses. Sixteen came from the line of Eleazar, eight from Ithamar.
- Not chosen. The order came by lot. The lot was the sign of God's own decision, with man's will left out.
- Prepared. David arranged every course for a temple he would never see. In the same way, God appoints everything in Christ before it appears in glory.
- Kept. The list was still running in the Gospels. Zacharias served in the eighth course when the angel announced the birth of John the Baptist.
- Remembered. God wrote down the names the world forgot. He honours those who honour Him, and He sets each servant in the place He pleases.
the nineteenth for Pethahiah, the twentieth for Ezekiel,
This verse adds two names to a list of twenty-four heads of priestly families, each drawn by lot for his turn of service in God's house. Neither man is heard of again, which raises a question: why record a name at all?
The numbering follows a set arrangement:
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. 1 Chronicles 24:6-19 lists them under the name of each head. The Levites were divided in a similar way.
Eleazar and Ithamar were Aaron's sons. Every course traced back to one of these two branches of the same family.
Nobody in the list picked his own number. The lot did, and one writer explains what the lot meant:
It was the will of God, and not of man, that set them in courses. This was because before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God acting directly, apart from the will of man. … So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought.
The closing verses of this chapter show the same rule among the Levites:
Note that the least among the Levites had the same portion as the chief fathers. The division was by lot, according to the Lord's free choice (v. 31).
A reference work can only repeat what the verse itself says:
Head of the nineteenth priestly course. 1 Chr. 24:16.
That is the whole entry: no deeds, no story, only a name and a place in the service. One writer finds God's own character in this care to record names, drawing on another long list of names and gifts:
God's thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways. Nothing could satisfy Him but the fullest and most detailed account. He wanted each man's name, the tribe he represented, and the offering he made to the sanctuary of God. … Each name shines out in its own distinctness. … He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does not only remember it Himself: He takes special pains that untold millions will read the record.
The courses became more than a list. They were a working timetable still in use in the days of the Gospels:
David set up the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24. The course of Abia (or Abijah) was the eighth. In the Gospel times each course served as priests in the temple of the Lord for one week at a time. One or more families of the course took each day's services. On any given day, for both the morning and evening sacrifices, four lots chose the individual priests: one to prepare the altar, one to kill the sacrifice, one to offer the incense, and one to burn the sacrifice on the altar. The third lot, to offer the incense, was the most coveted and could fall to any priest only once in his lifetime. This was the lot that fell to Zacharias on that great day. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and spoke about the birth of John the Baptist.
Zacharias was the father of John the Baptist. When the angel came to him, he was serving in the turn this chapter had assigned.
The number twenty-four appears again in the book of Revelation. One writer links the two lists:
When David and Solomon arranged the priestly family of Aaron, they set them in twenty-four courses. So there need not be a doubt that the twenty-four elders are a symbol pointing to these classes of priesthood. Why in twenty-four classes? Why not in one, or in twenty? The twenty-four appear, I understand, because the glorified saints above are seen as heads of the priesthood.
So this chapter's roll of heads gives the pattern for a priesthood seen in heaven.
- Lot — Lots set the order of the courses, so the will of God, not human choice, gave each head his number.
- Place — The courses came from two branches of Aaron's house, sixteen from Eleazar and eight from Ithamar. The least Levite family received as much as the greatest.
- Record — This verse is all we know of Pethahiah and Jehezekel. That is the point: God records names and small services that men would forget.
- Turn — The list worked as a rota into the days of the Gospels: one week in the temple for each course, with daily lots inside it. It put Zacharias at the altar when the angel came.
- Throne — The same twenty-four appears again in heaven, as the twenty-four elders: the priesthood seen in its heads.
the twenty-first for Jachin, the twenty-second for Gamul,
Jachin and Gamul are two names in a long list of priests. David is sorting Aaron's descendants by lot into twenty-four groups for temple service, so why does Scripture keep the names, and why twenty-four groups?
This name sits inside a list that runs from verse 6 to verse 19. One reference work gives the numbers, and names the two families the groups came from.
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. 1 Chronicles 24:6-19 lists them under the name of each head. The Levites were divided in the same way.
The chapter says the lot decided these groups. One writer explains why that mattered, and what the lot stood for at this point in Israel's history.
There were sixteen heads of fathers' houses in Eleazar's family, and eight in Ithamar's. "They divided them by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, not the will of man, that set them in their groups. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign that God stepped in directly, apart from the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9). … So there were twenty-four classes of priests, in line with God's thought.
Aaron had four sons. Two of them, Nadab and Abihu, died under God's judgment. The same writer follows what happened to the other two lines.
First comes something Chronicles never leaves out: the flesh has been fully set aside and judged in Nadab and Abihu. Then come Eleazar and Ithamar. Because Eli and his sons were unfaithful, Ithamar loses his first place under the reign of David and Solomon, and then under Christ's thousand-year reign. Yet the priesthood is not taken away from him (v. 3). Eleazar holds the first place through Zadok, his descendant, because of Phinehas' zeal.
Another writer looks ahead. He gives two reasons why Zadok's family leads.
Zadok takes his place as the high priest, and we know this will be the line when the Lord Jesus comes to reign later on. The family of Zadok will actually be running the priesthood in that future day of blessing on the earth. We know this from the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:15). … We can see the reason for this. They were faithful. But there is another reason too, and it does not appear in the prophecy. They were the right descendants. They came in a direct line from Phinehas. God had sworn in the wilderness — long before David — that there would be an everlasting covenant with the priesthood and the family of Phinehas.
These groups did not end with David. They came back after the exile, and they were still running in New Testament times.
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites when the people came back from captivity (Ezra 6:18). We still find them working in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia. This surely refers to Abijah, the eighth name in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he went home (Luke 1:5, 23). Each course served for a week, starting from the Sabbath (2 Chronicles 23:8).
One writer links the number of courses with the twenty-four elders seen in heaven in Revelation. He asks why that number, and not another.
And further, these elders are shown as twenty-four. What does the symbol mean? To me it is clear: they are the heads of the royal priesthood. When David and Solomon organised the priestly family of Aaron, they set it in twenty-four courses. So there need be no doubt that the twenty-four elders are a symbol pointing to these classes of priesthood. Why twenty-four classes? Why not one, or twenty? I take it the twenty-four appear because the glorified saints above are seen as heads of the priesthood.
- Appointed by God. The lot settled the courses. One writer calls the lot the mark of God stepping in directly, so the order came from God's will, not the king's choice.
- Appointed by household. Each name stands for a father's house: sixteen from Eleazar's line, eight from Ithamar's. Together they make twenty-four groups covering the whole family of priests.
- Appointed, none discarded. Eli's unfaithfulness cost Ithamar's line its leading place, but not its priesthood. Eleazar's line moves to the front through Zadok.
- Appointed for the long term. Ezra brought the same list back after the exile. It still ordered temple service when Zacharias served his week, centuries after David drew the lots.
- Appointed toward glory. One writer reads the twenty-four courses as the pattern behind the twenty-four crowned elders of Revelation, the heads of a royal priesthood.
the twenty-third for Delaiah, the twenty-fourth for Maaziah.
1 Chronicles 24 ends with a roll call of names drawn by lot, and this verse closes the list. Delaiah and Maaziah are never named again, yet they close an order of worship that lasted for centuries — so why record them at all?
The verse is the final line of a division David made among the descendants of Aaron. One branch of the family received twice as many courses as the other:
David divided the priests into 24 courses: 16 of them were of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of Ithamar. A list of them, under the name of each head, is given in 1 Chr. 24:6-19. David divided the Levites in a similar way (1 Chr. 23).
Their place came out of the lot, and the lot carried a particular meaning:
"And were they divided by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, and not the will of man, that set them in courses. Before the gift of the Holy Spirit, the lot was the sign of God's direct action, apart from the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9)… "One father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar" (v. 6), so that the sons of Eleazar had a double portion. So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this same order repeated in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
Coming twenty-third or twenty-fourth in a list is not a demotion. The same rule covered the Levites and the singers:
Like the priests and the Levites, the singers were divided by lot, designated by God's free choice. Nothing was left to the will of man: that is of all importance. The Lord's Anointed orders and the Lord decides. As for the Levites, here lots are cast for their charges, "the small as well as the great, the teacher with the scholar" (v. 8).
Delaiah and Maaziah are little more than names on a page. Commentators see pages like this as a deliberate divine record of servants and their work:
And may we not say that this seventh chapter of Numbers is one of those sample pages from the book of eternity? On it the finger of God has engraved the names of His servants, and the record of their work… Each one has his own special place on the roll, and each one his place in the Master's heart; and it will all come to light in due time.
(The writer is commenting on Numbers 7, and points also to 2 Samuel 23 and Romans 16 as similar pages.)
The courses formed a working rota, and that rota was still turning in New Testament times:
When the forerunner of the Lord was to be born, his father Zacharias was a priest of the course or order of Abia. In 1 Chron. 24 we must look to see these divisions, and we find the eighth was the one in question. The priesthood was divided into these courses so that each course in turn could take up the work of the priesthood. Every course had its own chief priest.
The elders' number points straight back to these courses:
A third fact is that they are 24 in number. This was the number of the courses into which Israel's priesthood was divided, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24:1-19. In the 24 elders we have the priestly company complete in heaven.
- Ordered. Delaiah and Maaziah close twenty-four priestly courses — sixteen from Eleazar's house, eight from Ithamar's. David divided the Levites and the singers the same way.
- Appointed. No one chose his own number. The lot marked God's direct choice, so every place on the list came from His will, not human preference.
- Equal. The lot decided, so the small ranked with the great and the teacher with the pupil. Being drawn last took nothing away from a man's portion.
- Recorded. These names mean nothing to us, but God engraved them on His own record. Each servant has his own place on the roll, and nothing of the work is lost.
- Enduring. David's rota was still turning when Zacharias served in the course of Abia. The same number returns in the twenty-four elders — the priestly company complete in heaven.
This is their ordering in their service to come into the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance, through Aaron their father, as Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded him.
Verse 19 closes the list of twenty-four priestly families by saying why the list matters: each group had a fixed turn to serve in the house of the Lord. That turn went back past David to what God had commanded Aaron, which raises a practical question — who decides who serves, and when?
The casting of lots answers the first question. Commentators point to it as the mark of God's own hand in the choice, before God gave the Spirit.
"And were they divided by lot" (v. 5). It was the will of God, and not that of man, that set them in courses, for before the gift of the Holy Spirit the lot was the sign of God's direct intervention without the will of man (Acts 1:26; Luke 1:9). … So there were twenty-four classes of priests according to God's thought. We see this order reproduced in the twenty-four elders — kings and priests — of Revelation 5.
The list of courses is not found in the law of Moses. Yet the verse still says the Lord had commanded it. Writers explain this by David's place as a picture of the coming King.
David, acting as a type of the Messiah, orders everything anew. The old order set up under Moses did not keep its arrangements. The great principles, of course, last for ever. But there was a very important difference in the form… The priests were divided into courses, and one course was always to be on hand in Jerusalem. The first five books of Moses never mention that arrangement.
The new order did not copy Moses, and it did not come from David's own skill.
This system does not resemble the order Moses established, although it does not contradict it in any way. Everything is new. Everything depends on the king, who assigns them by lot — that is, under the Lord's direct control. … Nothing depended on his gift for organizing or on his natural intelligence. Everything came directly from God.
The words "by Aaron their father" tie every course back to the head of the priestly house. Writers draw a lesson from that for service today.
The Levites were given as a gift to Aaron, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. They were to serve under Aaron, the head of the priestly house. This teaches us a fine lesson… if service is to be intelligent and acceptable, we must carry it out in subjection to priestly authority and guidance. … We must carry out all Christian service in fellowship with our great High Priest, and in holy subjection to His authority. It is of no value otherwise.
A fixed turn could feel confining. One writer answers that the settled nature of the appointment is itself a kindness:
God settled it all, and this was a great mercy to everyone whose heart was in a right condition. … But where the will was subdued and the heart was right, each one would say, "My path is perfectly plain; I have only to obey."
This "appointed duty" was not a passing detail of David's reign. It outlived the exile and was still running when the New Testament opens.
Ezra restored the courses of the priests and Levites when the people returned from captivity (Ezra 6:18). We find them still in operation in the New Testament. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course of Abia, which doubtless refers to Abijah, the eighth name mentioned in 1 Chronicles 24:10. At the end of his service he returned to his house (Luke 1:5, 23). The length of service was a week, beginning from the Sabbath.
The chapter also looks ahead. The high-priestly line named here reaches into the coming kingdom.
In 1 Chronicles 24 we have the divisions of the sons of Aaron, and they are now divided into twenty-four courses. Zadok takes his place as the high priest, and we know this will be the line when the Lord Jesus comes to reign in the future. … the family of Zadok will actually administer the priesthood in that future day of blessedness on the earth. We know this from the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:15). … They were faithful.
- Commanded — The list's authority is not David's. It rests on what the Lord commanded Aaron, so a new form still carries the old command.
- Cast — The lot ruled out human choice. God Himself placed each family in its course.
- Covered — Twenty-four courses meant one was always on duty in Jerusalem. The house of the Lord was never left without a priest.
- Committed — Each course served under the head of the priestly house. In the same way, we serve today under our great High Priest, or the work counts for nothing.
- Continuing — Ezra restored the same order after the exile, and it was still running in Zacharias' day. God keeps the faithful line of Zadok for the coming kingdom.