Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Reflections on 1 Chronicles 15

 1 Chronicles 15(Contemporary English Version)
  1. David had several buildings built in Jerusalem, and he had a tent set up where the sacred chest would be kept.
  2. He said, "Only Levites will be allowed to carry the chest, because the LORD has chosen them to do that work and to serve him forever."
  3. Next, David invited everyone to come to Jerusalem and watch the sacred chest being carried to the place he had set up for it.
  4. He also sent for Aaron's descendants and for the Levites. The Levites that came were:
  5. Uriel, the leader of the Kohath clan, and one hundred twenty of his relatives;
  6. Asaiah, the leader of the Merari clan, and two hundred twenty of his relatives;
  7. Joel, the leader of the Gershon clan, and one hundred thirty of his relatives;
  8. Shemaiah, the leader of the Elizaphan clan, and two hundred of his relatives;
  9. Eliel, the leader of the Hebron clan, and eighty of his relatives; and
  10. Amminadab, the leader of the Uzziel clan, with one hundred twelve of his relatives.
  11. David called together these six Levites and the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar.
  12. He said to them, "You are the leaders of the clans in the Levi tribe. You and your relatives must first go through the ceremony to make yourselves clean and acceptable to the LORD. Then you may carry the sacred chest that belongs to the LORD God of Israel and bring it to the place I have prepared for it.
  13. The first time we tried to bring the chest to Jerusalem, we didn't ask the LORD what he wanted us to do. He was angry at us, because you Levites weren't there to carry the chest."
  14. The priests and the Levites made themselves clean. They were now ready to carry the sacred chest
  15. on poles that rested on their shoulders, just as the LORD had told Moses to do.
  16. David then told the leaders to choose some Levites to sing and play music on small harps, other stringed instruments, and cymbals.
  17. The men chosen to play the cymbals were Heman the son of Joel, his relative Asaph the son of Berechiah, and Ethan the son of Kushaiah from the Merari clan. Some of their assistants played the smaller harps: they were Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah. Others played the larger harps: they were Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Azaziah, and two of the temple guards, Obed-Edom and Jeiel.
  18. (SEE 15:17)
  19. (SEE 15:17)
  20. (SEE 15:17)
  21. (SEE 15:17)
  22. Chenaniah was chosen to be the music director, because he was a skilled musician.
  23. Four Levites were then appointed to guard the sacred chest. They were Berechiah, Elkanah, Obed-Edom, and Jehiah. Finally, David chose priests to walk in front of the sacred chest and blow trumpets. They were Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer.
  24. (SEE 15:23)
  25. David, the leaders of Israel, and the army commanders were very happy as they went to Obed-Edom's house to get the sacred chest.
  26. God gave the Levites the strength they needed to carry the chest, and so they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
  27. David, the Levites, Chenaniah the music director, and all the musicians were wearing linen robes, and David was also wearing a linen cloth.
  28. While the sacred chest was being carried into Jerusalem, everyone was celebrating by shouting and playing music on horns, trumpets, cymbals, harps, and other stringed instruments.
  29. Saul's daughter Michal looked out her window and watched the chest being brought into David's City. But when she saw David jumping and dancing in honor of the LORD, she was disgusted.

Three months after his failed attempt to move the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, David again made preparation to move the ark. Admitting that it had not been done properly the first time, David was careful this time to inquire of the Lord about the proper procedures. (15:13) Proper procedure called for the Levites to carry the ark "on their shoulders with the poles." (15:15)

In preparation for this big event, David gathered over 800 descendants of Aaron and the Levites to plan for moving the ark and the celebration that would accompany it. This was not merely a utilitarian event of moving the ark, but a worship event in which they praised and worshiped the Lord who the ark represented. In addition to the Levites and their assistants who had responsibility for physically moving the ark, David had them appoint from among their number musicians who would sing and play musical instruments. There were also gatekeepers assigned to the procession. It is not clear what their role was, but some suggest they went before and after the ark to prevent the crowd from getting too close to the ark. Others think maybe they guarded the openings to the tent in which the ark was placed once it arrived in Jerusalem.

It was a great event for Israel. This account of the event in 1 Chronicles, however, concludes on a negative note in its mention of Michal, David's wife and daughter of Saul, who observed the procession into Jerusalem from a palace window. Seeing David dancing in his linen robe, "she despised him in her heart." It is curious that this sight prompted such a reaction from her, causing one to wonder at its motivation. It would seem evident that she did not share David's enthusiasm for the Lord, otherwise why was she not in the crowd celebrating the event or at least celebrating in her heart from her position at the window as she watched the procession with the ark into the city?

One wonders also if she did not already have some resentment in her heart toward David for some reason. Might the account in the previous chapter of David taking more wives be a clue to her reaction to David as she watched him dancing? Whatever the reason for Michal's reaction, it seems that the Lord considered it to be unwarranted, for 2 Samuel 6:23 suggests that because of her reaction to David's dancing before the Lord she never had children.

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