And the Levites Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things.
David is at the end of his life, arranging a temple he will never see built, and this verse puts Ahijah over its two treasuries. Why record the men who guarded the money and gifts, and what were these "dedicated gifts" stored up for?
This verse does not stand alone. It belongs to a long block of chapters with a single subject.
From this chapter to 1 Chronicles 26:28-29 everything refers to the house which is to be built. We see the provision that David made of everything needed to build it. We see the order of the Levites' service: those appointed to sing, those among them who were doorkeepers, and the priests in their divisions. David ordered and arranged all of it.
The Levites named here come from one branch of the tribe. Their history runs from carrying curtains in the desert to guarding gold.
Eldest son of Levi, born before the children of Israel entered Egypt, and his descendants... Their charge was the framework of the tabernacle and the tent, with the hangings and curtains... In the kingdom, under Asaph and his sons, they "prophesied according to the order of the king." Others had charge of the "treasures of the house of God, and were over the treasures of the holy things," and of the precious stones.
The two treasuries are not the same. The second holds gifts that people set apart, and those gifts came out of Israel's wars.
Among the Levites (vv. 20-28) we find those appointed over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the holy things. This period came before the reign of peace. A descendant of Moses (v. 24) was the overseer of the treasures. Another, Shelomith with his brothers, had charge "over all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts, which David the king and the heads of the fathers' houses and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated. From spoil taken in battle they had dedicated gifts for the maintenance of the house of the LORD"... until the moment when Solomon would use all these treasures.
(The commentator quotes an older English version; the wording above follows the ESV.)
These same two treasuries reappear when David hands the plans to his son. The arrangement was not David's idea.
We see how completely David is the source of everything here. It was not any question of his own will. "And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of Jehovah, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things"... "All this, said David, Jehovah made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." It was really God arranging all by His servant.
(This commentator also quotes an older English version of the Bible.)
Stored wealth taken in conflict has a lesson for believers now. What one generation fought for, the next inherits.
Here again we may be enriched by "the revenues of the ages," for in the house that serves as a picture we read of treasures, both the dedicated things and what was taken as the spoils of war. (See 1 Chr. 26:20-28.) We may take the spoils of victory found there as a picture of the way the whole circle of truth is available for us today. Men of God won much of it through many a conflict.
The other treasury pictures something else: not spoils won in war, but the fruit of God's own work.
But there were also the dedicated things. These we may take as a picture of the spiritual realities recorded in Ephesians 2. Here all is the fruit of God's workmanship. Both Jew and Gentile are made one in a new order of grace and glory, with the dividing wall broken down. The distance is gone. Now there is the intimacy of nearness in Christ Jesus, and all of it rests righteously on His shed blood... And there is still more: we see the saints as the household of God, as a growing temple, and last of all as a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Here we are surrounded by the accumulated treasures of God's house.
- Treasure gathered. These chapters all look forward to a house not yet built, and David arranged every part of it.
- Treasure named. The verse names two stores: the treasures of the house of God, and the treasures of the dedicated gifts.
- Treasure won. The dedicated gifts came out of battle, set apart to keep the house of the Lord supplied.
- Treasure guarded. Levites who once carried the tent curtains now hold the treasures of God's house, the holy things and the precious stones.
- Treasure inherited. The wealth waited in trust until Solomon used it. Today the truth won through past conflict, and the work God Himself has done, fill the chambers of His house.
The sons of Laadan, the sons of the Gershonites of Laadan, chief fathers of Laadan the Gershonite Jehieli;
David is near the end of his life, setting the house of God in order for the son who will build it. Here the list reaches Ladan's branch of the Gershonites — Laadan in some translations — the family that kept the treasure of God's house, and it raises a question: why does God record such names at all?
This list is not an appendix. It belongs with David's preparations for the temple.
From this chapter to 1 Chronicles 26:28-29 everything refers to the house that is to be built. We see how David provided everything needed to build it. We see the order of the Levites' service: those appointed for song, those among them who were gatekeepers, and the priests in their divisions. David ordered and arranged it all. Everything depended on the king, and this shows it: with no break at all, his other royal appointments follow — his house, his administration, his officers and guard — and finally the chief men among the people.
So Ladan's sons do not simply get a job. David gives them a place in an order that points to the temple.
Ladan descends from Gershon, the eldest son of Levi. They had carried holy things before, and their work changed as Israel's worship changed.
At the counting of the Israelites in the wilderness there were 7,500 Gershonites, a branch of the Levites. Their charge was the framework of the tabernacle and the tent, with the hangings and curtains… In the kingdom, under Asaph and his sons, they "prophesied according to the order of the king." Others had charge of the "treasures of the house of God, and were over the treasures of the holy things," and of the precious stones.
The last word of the verse looks like a person but functions like a surname.
Gershonite family who had charge of the treasures. 1 Chr. 26:21-22. Apparently a family name formed from the name Jehiel.
Later, when David called Israel to give for the house of God, the people's gifts passed through Jehiel's hands.
"Those who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite." The record lists all this with the greatest care. "Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly; with a whole heart they offered willingly to Jehovah, and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."
These treasurers guarded wealth they would never spend. Many hands had given it, and it waited for a reign that had not yet come.
Among the Levites (vv. 20-28) we find men appointed over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the holy things. In this time before the reign of peace, a descendant of Moses (v. 24) was the overseer of the treasures. Another, Shelomith with his brothers, had charge "over all the treasures of the dedicated things." King David, the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army had dedicated them out of the spoils of war, to maintain the house of Jehovah. This charge lasted until the moment when Solomon would use all these treasures.
Such trustees are an example to copy. The same writer turns that into a rule for us, and shows what goes wrong when people forget it.
May we copy them in the responsibilities, great or small, which the Lord entrusts to us. May we never count anything He puts into our hand as our own. It is His, to be handed back to Him after we have managed it faithfully for Him. Most of the time the frauds, great or small, which Christians become guilty of… have no other cause than this. They count as their own something the Lord has given them to manage.
A reader may wonder why Scripture spends a verse on a storeroom family. Commentators answer that God's habit is to name His servants rather than summarise them.
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 care that untold millions will read the record… He will go into detail that might strike us as tedious… rather than leave out a single name of any of His servants, or a single item of their work.
- Placed — Ladan's family stands in a section where every appointment points to the house David's son would build.
- Prepared — In the wilderness the Gershonites carried the tabernacle's curtains. In the kingdom they kept the treasures and the precious stones.
- Named — "Jehieli" marks a family, not one man. Jehiel the Gershonite received the people's precious stones.
- Trusted — These treasurers held gifts dedicated from war and from many givers, and kept them untouched until Solomon's reign.
- Remembered — Nothing we hold for God is ever our own. He records even the smallest service, so millions read it.
the sons of Jehieli Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasures of the house of Jehovah.
Two names sit in the middle of a long list of temple appointments: Zetham and Joel, sons of Jehieli. They kept the storerooms that held the wealth of the LORD's house. The chapter is only a list, yet it raises real questions. Who chose these men? What lay in those rooms? And why does God record the names of men who minded money?
These storerooms were not an afterthought. David handed Solomon a plan that included them, and one writer traces that plan back to God.
We see how completely David is the source of everything here. It was not any question of his own will. He had the pattern of it all by the Spirit: "the courts of the house of the LORD, and all the chambers round about, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries of the dedicated things." … It was really God arranging all by His servant.
The list around this verse names two kinds of store. One held the treasures of God's house. The other held the holy things set apart for Him. Neither was for spending yet.
Among the Levites (vv. 20-28) we find men appointed over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the holy things. In this time before the reign of peace, a descendant of Moses (v. 24) was the overseer of the treasures. Another, Shelomith with his brothers, had charge over all the treasures of the dedicated things — what King David, the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army had dedicated out of the spoils of war, to maintain the house of the LORD. His charge lasted until the moment when Solomon would use all these treasures.
Jehieli's name marks him as a descendant of Gershon. A Bible dictionary traces that family's work.
Gershon was the eldest son of Levi, born before the children of Israel entered Egypt, and his descendants. … Others had charge of the "treasures of the house of God, and were over the treasures of the holy things," and of the precious stones. 1 Chr. 26:20-22; 1 Chr. 29:8.
This was a working trust. When Israel's leaders gave for the temple, their gifts passed through the hands of one of these men.
The heads of the families, the princes of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work all gave willingly for the service of the house of God. Those who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Scripture lists it all with the greatest care.
Why do storekeepers deserve a verse at all? The same chapter also names the gatekeepers who watched the doors.
In 1 Chronicles 26 we have the gatekeepers, for it is part of majesty to think of what is least. The Spirit of God stoops to arrange for the gatekeepers through David. He did it just as truly as He did for the high priest, or for the different groups of priests. All has its place. Whatever has to do with the service of God is great in God's eyes. Indeed, it is only we who make so much of the difference between great and small. To God, the smallest thing has a value.
One writer reads the temple's storerooms as a picture. He puts the men over the treasure and the treasure itself side by side.
The beauty and fitness of this picture-language helps us greatly here, for the Palace is not for man but for the LORD God. Notice the men who had charge of the treasure, and notice what the treasures are. Together they express the whole array of glories that shine in the Person of Christ.
Another writer turns that trust toward the reader.
All these precious treasures of Christ are committed to us. How great the responsibility! how rich the privilege!
A treasurer holds goods that belong to someone else. One writer turns that into a prayer.
May we copy them in the responsibilities, great or small, which the Lord entrusts to us. May we never count anything He puts into our hand as our own. It is something to give back to Him, after we have managed it faithfully for Him.
- Pattern — David did not invent the storerooms. He had the plan by the Spirit, and God arranged it all through His servant.
- Treasure — Two stores stand side by side: the wealth of God's house, and the dedicated things won in war to maintain that house.
- Trust — Jehieli's family, from Levi's eldest son Gershon, held this charge. Gifts of precious stones passed through their hands.
- Timing — Nobody spent a thing. The treasure waited for Solomon, the king of peace, to use it all.
- Value — God records storekeepers and gatekeepers by name, because anything touching His service is great in His eyes. So hold what He gives you for Him, never as your own.