Scripture Daily

Context No. 1692 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 24:7-19: in context

7Now the first lot came out to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, 11the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, 16the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18the twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19This was their ordering in their service, to come into the LORD’s house according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

This passage records how the priests were organized for service in the temple. The descendants of Aaron were divided into twenty-four groups, and lots were cast to assign each its order, from the first, Jehoiarib, through the twenty-fourth, Maaziah. Each division would take its appointed turn to serve in the house of the LORD, according to the arrangement given long before. The list simply records the ordered courses, each with its place and its season of service.

Behind this dry roster of names lies a picture of order in the service of God. The priests were not a disorganized crowd, each doing as he pleased or all crowding in at once; they were arranged into courses, each with its assigned turn, so that the work of the temple went on in an orderly way, generation after generation. Every division had its time to serve and its time to step back and let another take its place; no one course did everything, and none was left out. There is a quiet wisdom in this for how we serve God together. The work of God is not meant to rest on one person doing everything, nor to be a chaos of everyone acting at once; it goes best when there is order, when each takes his appointed turn and does his part, and then makes room for others to do theirs. Much of faithful service is simply taking our turn well, doing the part assigned to us in its season, whether it is prominent or hidden, without needing to do everything ourselves or to be always at the center. The priest of the fifteenth course served faithfully when his turn came, and then gave way to the sixteenth; each part mattered, and the whole depended on each doing his own. It is a humbler vision of service than always being the one in front, but a truer one: to take our turn, do our part in its season, and trust the ordered whole to God, who arranged the courses.

Am I content to take my appointed turn in the service of God, doing my own part faithfully in its season, whether prominent or hidden, and then making room for others to do theirs, or do I want to do everything myself and be always at the center, rather than trusting the ordered whole to God?

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