The Sons of Levi

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're going to be in, sorry, 1 Chronicles chapter 6, talking about the sons of Levi. Now we're going to take three days to get through this because there's lots on the children of Levi here. But today we're going to start talking about one of those tribes, the Kohathites. So what's God's word got to say about these Kohathites, these family part of Levi. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, we'll get into God's word.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. You are a wonderful and good God.

We pray that you would give us your Holy Spirit, that we might understand your word and that it would instruct us.

Lord, we pray that we would both know what it says, but also, God, we plead with you that you would have us know how to live it.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Here we go, we are at 1 Chronicles chapter 6.

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Ishar, Hebron, Uzziel.

The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.

And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eliezer, and Ithamar.

Eliezer begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abiashu.

Abiashu begot Buki, and Buki begot Uzzi.

Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Marioth.

Marioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitab.

Ahitab begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Ahimez.

Ahimez begot Azariah, and Azariah begot Johanan.

Johanan begot Azariah.

It was he who ministered as a priest in the temple of Solomon that Solomon built in Jerusalem.

Azariah begot Amariah, Amariah begot Ahitab, Ahitab begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Shalom.

Shalom begot Hilkiah, and Hilgaiah begot Azariah.

Azariah begot Saraiah, and Saraiah begot Jehozadak.

Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord carried Judah and Jerusalem into captivity by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

These are the names of the sons of Gershon.

Libni, Shimei.

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uziel.

The sons of Merari were Mali and Mushi.

Now these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.

The sons of Gershon were Libni, his son, Jehath, his son, Zimha, his son, Johah, his son, Edo, his son, Zerah, his son, and Jetherai, his son.

The sons of Kohath were Amminadab, his son, Korah, his son, and Asir, his son.

Elkanah, his son, Uriel, his son, Uzziah, his son, and Shul, his son.

The sons of Elkanah were Amasi, and Ahimoth.

As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai, his son, Nahath, his son, Eliab, his son, Jehoram, his son, and Elkanah, his son.

The sons of Samuel were Joel, the firstborn, and Abijah, the second.

The sons of Merari were Mali, Libni, his son, Shemai, his son, Uzzah, his son, Shimeah, his son, Hagiah, his son, and Asiah, his son.

We'll go ahead and stop there.

We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about?

B, what's the best verse to summarize this?

And C, what are we called to do?

So, A, what is this about?

Well, we're talking about the sons of Levi, right away.

And Levi has three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

And so these three sons, it goes through what their names are.

And as it goes through their names, oh, we had a visitor come.

Hello, Eli.

You want some of my life?

Okay, good morning.

And so we have, oh, you're here.

Look at that.

Okay.

And so these are going to be the three tribes of Levi, three families of Levi, clans of Levi.

And we'll find out that they are the ones in charge of the temple service.

Some of their names aren't unfamiliar to us.

We talked about the Kohathites and the Merarites.

And we talked about the Gershonites and their different jobs with the tabernacle.

We also talked about Aaron and his sons and about Nadab and Abihu and the end of theirs.

But also, there's some historical points here, too.

This isn't just a genealogy without substance.

There is a priest who's named, listed, when the captivity happens.

Remember, this is one of the reasons why I think this is, if the Jewish tradition is right,

that this was written by Ezra, because it's post-exile.

It's after the exile.

So, what is this about?

This is about the family of Levi.

No.

We're going to stop here.

There's other parts of this as well.

But that's what I would write in my Bible.

I'm actually going to pull up my Bible.

Oh, no.

My cover is breaking.

I'm going to have to tape that.

But we have the sons of Gershon.

The sons of Levi, sons of Gershon, is one thing that I have written.

And the sons of Levi, sons of Kohath, is also what I have written.

Now, what's the best verse to summarize this in my Bible?

Well, I would underline verse 1.

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

But specifically, verse 2, the sons of Kohath.

And then, verse 16, the sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Verse 17, these are the names of the sons of Gershon.

So, that's, I think, what this is about.

And so, that helps us to figure out how do we go ahead and say,

well, it's best verse to underline what it's about.

Let's see, calling.

What are we called to do?

Wait, where are we?

Right here.

Yeah.

What are we called to do with something like this?

Well, I mean, we're talking about the children of Levi, right?

How does that apply to our lives today?

How does it point us to anything about Jesus Christ?

Well, I would say, how are we called to live today?

One of the things that God promised to do is he would make his people a nation of priests.

All of his people would be priests eventually.

And I think that's one of the things that happens now.

Are you a priest?

Wait, no.

Oh, yes, you are.

If you're in Jesus Christ, you are.

I don't know what a priest is.

A priest is somebody who offers service to God.

Yeah, I am a priest.

Yeah, so am I.

So are you if you're in Christ.

And we bring the sacrifice of priests.

We serve the Lord.

We worship Him.

We offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

No, there is coffee there, you know.

And so I think that this is, that's what we're called to do, right?

Now, you might think that that's a stretch.

That's fine.

This is a, I'm not a Levite.

You're not a Levite.

We have a better high priest, and we'll talk about that in a couple other episodes of Coffee and Devotion.

So let's go ahead and pray.

You ready?

God, thank you so much for this day.

Thank you for waking us up.

Thank you for giving us coffee.

Thank you for giving us even something better than coffee or bread.

You've given us your Bible.

Father, we pray that even today we might offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to you.

We thank you that you have always cared for your church.

You have cared for your people.

You have always given us a way to know that you are gracious and merciful and yet also holy.

In Jesus' name, amen.

May God bless you.

May you walk in the joy that comes from knowing that God loves you.

I'll see you next time.

I'll say bye.

bye