The Descendants of Levi

INTRO

We’ve studied the genealogy of the tribes of Israel in 1 Chronicles. Chapter 6 focuses on the tribe of Levi—the tribe that points to Christ, to the living God. Everything about the Levite’s ministry points to the living God.

TEACHING

1 Chronicles 6:1: Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. This tribe had a wide range of characters, like Moses and Samuel. There were also the not-so-great characters, like the sons of Aaron, the sons of Eli, and the sons of Samuel. Levi’s three sons became the head of three clans. Aaron was from the tribe of Kohath, and he became the first high priest. All three of the tribes had general temple duties. From those three tribes came the musicians. Because of the function of the tabernacle and the roles assigned to the Levites, understanding this tribe is important.

1 Chronicles 6:2-15: In this passage, the descendants of Kohath provided the lineage of the line of priests. From Kohath came Amram, whose son Aaron was designated as the high priest when the tabernacle was first erected. Zadok was the priest when the first temple was erected. And we have the priest who saw the temple destroyed—Jehozadak. Amram’s children were Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Only Aaron’s descendants were allowed to serve as priests. Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. When Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to the Lord, they died without any descendants. Eleazar’s descendants became the high priests, but that duty passed to descendants of Ithamar at some point in time. Notably, the high priest Eli, who raised and trained Samuel, is not mentioned in this genealogy at all. After his service, the line of high priests passed to the sons of Ithamar so that when we get to the time of King David, Abiathar and Zadok served as co-high priests. Abiathar sided with Adonijah in his bid for kingship while Zadok remained loyal to David and Solomon. In response, Solomon deposed Abiathar as high priest, leaving Zadok as the sole high priest and reestablishing the priesthood in the lineage of Eleazar.¹The priesthood never left the family of Aaron.

In verse 10, the chronicler emphasized that Azariah was the high priest of Solomon’s temple. In 2 Chronicles 26:16-21, Azariah was the priest who defied King Uzziah when the king attempted to assume the office of priest and burn incense in the temple. King Uzziah was struck with leprosy and never again entered the temple. The chronicler celebrated Azariah for protecting the purity of the priesthood and the temple.

Another priest that stands out is Hilkiah in verse 13. He is the high priest who found the book of the law and brought it to King Josiah. While King Josiah is the one who acted on it, Hilkiah was the priest who found it. Verse 14 names Seraiah, who was the high priest during the reign of King Zedekiah, the last of the kings. He was sent as a prisoner to Babylon and killed by King Nebuchadnezzar. His son, Jehozadak, was taken captive when Babylon conquered Judah and Jerusalem. This was a momentary end of the line of the high priests. Israel’s actions had consequences, so even the chronicler emphasized that the Lord had carried them off into exile.

This element of genealogy has importance even today. Scientists have found DNA that can be traced back to Aaron so they can identify people today who are from the priestly line.²Genealogy has importance because it points to the holiness of God, the consistency of God, and the promises of God.

1 Chronicles 6:17-28: These verses listed many obscure names, but the name Elkanah appeared several times. In verse 27, this Elkanah was the father of Samuel, the prophet. Although Samuel wasn’t named as a son, verse 28 listed Samuel’s sons Joel and Abijah. According to 1 Samuel 8, Samuel’s sons were unfaithful to the Lord. They were corrupt and accepted bribes. They became the excuse the people of Israel used to demand the earthly king they wanted. Although these men were unfaithful, Joel’s son would later play an important role.

1 Chronicles 6:31–43: This passage lists the men David put in charge of the music in the Lord’s temple. This is one of the unique elements recorded in Chronicles. David included the musicians as an important part of pointing toward the holiness of God. Heman the singer, one of the chief musicians (v. 33), was the son of Joel and grandson of Samuel. Psalm 88 was attributed to him. Verse 39 named Heman’s relative (some translations say brother) Asaph, as “his right hand.” Asaph wrote Psalm 50 and 73—83. Asaph was also chief of the ceremony when David led Israel to bring the ark of the covenant to the tabernacle in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 16:1-6).

1 Chronicles 6:44–47: These verses list the descendants of Merari, who served as musicians alongside the sons of Kohath. Ethan (v. 44) was also known as Jeduthun. While he didn’t write any of the Psalms, three Psalms (39; 62; 77) were written to the choir director, Jeduthun. Two were written by David and one by Asaph. This arrangement of chief singers, one from each of the three clans from Levi, remained unbroken until Josiah’s reign (2 Chronicles 35:15).

1 Chronicles 6:48-53: Aaron’s relatives, the Levites, were assigned to all the service of the tabernacle. Their work supported the work of the priests and their efforts pointed to the holiness of God and the Son of David, Jesus.

1 Chronicles 6:54-81: To fulfill their duties, the Levites were spread throughout the land to minister to the people and to point toward the holiness of God. This goes back to Genesis 34, which said that the tribes of Simeon and Levi were cursed because they had led the massacre of the men at Shechem. Because of their lack of faithfulness, the tribe of Simeon was effectively dissolved and absorbed into the tribe of Judah. The Levites, because of their faithfulness during the rebellion of the golden calf, were scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel. Simeon was scattered as a curse; Levi was scattered as a blessing.

The Levites were assigned to different regions. The Kohathites received the cities in the south, covering the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. The Gershomites were in the north, covering the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (v. 62). The Merarites were on the east side of the Jordan River, covering the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and Zebulun (v. 63). Though they weren’t in Jerusalem at the tabernacle, their ministry and commissioning remained the same—to make sure God’s law was still present and obeyed in those areas. Second Chronicles 17 explains that some of the Levites had a distinct teaching ministry—they actually taught the common people.

CLOSING

This was the tribe of Levi, and there are so many names and locations where they were placed in cities throughout the land. Notice that here among the chosen people was a consecrated tribe. Aaron’s family formed the priesthood. The whole tribe pointed to the Messiah. A provision was made, from beginning unto the end, for worship and sacrifice. They modeled for us devotion to God. Some did it well, others did not. But as we look at this entire family, the heartbeat of Ezra was to reestablish them where they needed to be, because the worship of God, pointing to all that God is, was so incredibly important. Notice they had priests, those doing temple duty, musicians, and those teaching throughout the land. There was uniqueness to their calling, which they modeled for us. The Levites came alongside the king pointing to the glory of God. If we miss that, then we’ve missed something for us. We are the hands, feet, and mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not be Levites, but we’re called to the same call that they received—to give glory to the Most High King—to give praise to Jesus, the Son of David.