GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CHRONICLES 15:25-28
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25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand were going to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom, rejoicing as they went, 26 because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. They sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
Elders and “generals” (commanders of a thousand) were present to accompany the ark. It was an occasion of the highest honors. With such people present and mentioned by title if not by name, we know that they were not simply bystanders. They would have marched behind the ark as part of the long procession. They were all saying with their presence and by their attendance: “Yes! Hallelujah! We, too, are delighted that the ark is being brought to its resting place in the city! Praise the Lord!”
Obed-Edom is mentioned again, because the ark had been at his house. Now he was brought into the procession, and he was even named in verse 24 as one of the doorkeepers of the ark. Whether or not this was merely an honorary title is of no matter. David remembered him and the service he had performed, just as God remembers you and me and the service we perform for him, whatever that might be.
In the account of this procession in 2 Samuel 6, David sacrificed one bull and one fattened calf after the men carrying the ark had taken six steps (2 Samuel 6:13). This distance is not mentioned here in Chronicles, but more offerings are listed. In all, apart from David’s offerings, at least six other (perhaps seven total) bulls were slaughtered, and seven rams, too. Perhaps each of the men physically carrying the ark made such an offering as David did, thanking God for not striking them down dead for what they were doing, Surely they were aware of the danger and of the tremendous importance of what was happening.
Three other times in Scripture, a sacrifice to the Lord of seven bulls and seven rams is mentioned (this does not count the offering made by Balaam the false prophet in Numbers 23:2,29). In Ezekiel 45:23, an offering of seven bulls and seven rams is made during each of the seven days of the Passover celebration in the prophet’s vision of the heavenly temple. This of course is a vision of holiness, not a law changing the number of prescribed offerings.
King Hezekiah made such an offering, adding seven lambs, as a sin offering for Judah after becoming king (2 Chronicles 29:20-22). His father Ahaz had sinned by desecrating the temple and offering sacrifices to the gods of Damascus.
Finally, Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are commanded by God in person to make an offering of seven bulls and seven rams along with prayers from Job for their forgiveness, to atone for their false accusations of Job during the week of their consolation with him (Job 42:8). “And the Lord,” we are told, “accepted Job’s prayer” (Job 42:9). (Curiously, Job 42:8 has a representative of every active verb conjugation and all of the major verb forms: qal, nifal, piel, hifil, and hithpael, as well as perfect, imperfect, imperative, infinitive, and participle and waw-consecutive forms).
This offering was therefore a superlative request for forgiveness, beyond the usual sacrifices. It showed beyond any doubt the guilt of the men (and nation, in Hezekiah’s case) who had sinned. Perhaps David, like his descendant Hezekiah, had the whole nation in mind when he made this public offering.
27 David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the singers, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.
Fine linen was not just for priests, but was a form of “Sunday best.” Pharaoh gave Joseph a robe of fine linen when he promoted the Patriarch to be the Number Two man in all of Egypt (Genesis 41:42). Mordecai was given a similar “fine linen” robe of purple by King Xerxes (Esther 8:15), and the heroic wife of Proverbs 31 is “clothed in fine linen and purple” because her husband loves her and respects her labor and love (Proverbs 31:22).
However, David also wore the mysterious “ephod” as well, a garment normally associated with priests (Exodus 25:7). There was the strange case of Gideon’s idolatrous “golden ephod” that became a snare for his family (Judges 8:27). But the boy Samuel wore a linen ephod (a sort of over-the shoulders apron, 1 Samuel 2:18). And Saul’s shepherd Doeg killed “eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod” (1 Samuel 22:18), another indication that it was at least a priestly, not necessarily high-priestly, garment. Why David wore one is perhaps a mystery we will not fully unravel. A king (as Saul had found out) should not assume the role of a priest, although he might be given the role of prophet. David may simply have gone a little too far in this case, adopting a human symbol for a divinely appointed role that was not his. But the Lord did not look down on David for this. The Levite musicians were wearing similar clothing, and it’s possible that since David was also participating in the music (at least the dancing, in this case) he felt that it was wise to match their clothing. He may have considered it to be an act of humility, rather than wearing his royal robes. As we shall see, his wife Michal was not happy with his choice. So this verse becomes an illustration for repentance for us. David and the priests had sinned. They had looked into the law of the Lord to learn his will, and they found their sins there. After this, they turned away from that sin by lining up their actions with his expressed holy will. They did not cover up their action or hide it away. They confessed their guilt (this was the point of the blood sacrifice of bulls and rams), and they proceeded to do what God’s word said was the right action. This is also what we should do, except that with regard to the sacrifice, our one sacrifice, Christ Jesus our Lord, is the only one required. Our change of heart and our faith in Jesus is what the Lord truly wants from us.
The ark had begun to move. God was not displeased. And in that case, since the Lord did not show his displeasure, he was showing his pleasure. What they were doing was acceptable, it was allowed, it was all right, and best of all, it was good.
“Restore us again, O God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
Surely salvation is near those who fear him–
That his glory may dwell in our land.
Righteousness goes before him
And prepares the way for his steps” (Psalm 85:4,9,13)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Chronicles 15:25-28 The ark begins to move