1 Chronicles 25: 1 - 31
Entertainment verses worship
25 Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was: 2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king. 3 Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the LORD. 4 Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to exalt his horn. For God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6 All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king. 7 So the number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the LORD, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight. 8 And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the student. 9 Now the first lot for Asaph came out for Joseph; the second for Gedaliah, him with his brethren and sons, twelve; 10 the third for Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 11 the fourth for Jizri, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 12 the fifth for Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 13 the sixth for Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 14 the seventh for Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 15 the eighth for Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 16 the ninth for Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 17 the tenth for Shimei, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 18 the eleventh for Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 19 the twelfth for Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 20 the thirteenth for Shubael, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 21 the fourteenth for Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 22 the fifteenth for Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 23 the sixteenth for Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 24 the seventeenth for Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 25 the eighteenth for Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 26 the nineteenth for Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 27 the twentieth for Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 28 the twenty-first for Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 29 the twenty-second for Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 30 the twenty-third for Mahazioth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 31 the twenty-fourth for Romamti-Ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.
What is the right balance between worship our Great and Holy God and the time spent in studying His Awesome Word. It seems there is always tension between time dedicated to music and time dedicated to preaching. In our world today, preaching is being shoved into a smaller and smaller time constraint while it seems the services are filled with what amounts to little more than an emotional rock concert. The truth is, preaching and Christ-honoring music are not adversaries; they are brothers in worship. Today we are going to review 1 Chronicles chapter 25, and learn just how great an emphasis our Holy God placed on the ministry of music in the service of the tabernacle and the temple.
1 Chronicles 25:1–6 tells us David selected three men; Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to organize and lead the music in public services. In that same passage, we are told that these men had between them twenty-four sons, who they then led in the ministry of music. Each of them had specific responsibilities in both instrumentation and voice, and they led an army of musicians.
Four thousand people were dedicated to the ministry of music for the worship of Israel. So, it is quite evident that our Holy Lord was very serious about music in worship.
What is often overlooked which our scripture today will teach that in music our Holy Master and King incorporates prophecy into the lyrics. How about that important fact? Let’s jumped right into this wonderful scripture.
25 Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was:
The sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph used their instruments and voices to prophesy. Now they did not preach, but their music had a message that gave thanks and brought praise to the Lord. How wonderful it is when music in our services is not done as a performance to highlight the talent of the musician but as a message about the glory of our God. We need to be so careful that music, the lyrics, and the musician have as their goal to praise God. In so doing, those that hear the music are made ready to receive the Word that will be preached. Music and preaching are not in competition in worship; they are complementary to each other and allow for Christ-honoring worship.
2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king.
Asaph had four ‘sons’, Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah (Jesharelah), each of whom had authority over singer/musicians.
3 Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the LORD.
The sons of Jeduthun were specialists on the lyre. Please note how their worship gave prophecy. We should learn from this important fact that we should not only know the words we are singing but to stop and think what they mean.
4 Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to exalt his horn. For God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
The ‘sons’ of Heman are fourteen as listed. Their expertise was hey as specialists on the horn. This verse highlights Heman as ‘the king’s seer’.
A seer is a person who “sees.” In the Bible, a seer is another name for a prophet. But, more specifically, a seer was a prophet who saw visions—pictures or scenes seen in the mind’s eye, in dreams, or even with one’s natural eye. God spoke to His people through prophets in different ways, and one way was through visions. Accompanying the ability to see visions, a seer was given insight into what God was saying by these visions.
6 All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king.
We notice how the formation of a worship band was formed. It is emphasized that cymbals, harps and lyres were incorporated for the service of ‘the house of God’.
7 So the number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the LORD, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.
As with the priests and Levites the singers and musicians were divided into twenty-four courses, in this case made up of twelve musicians in each course, thus making up two hundred and eighty-eight in all.
8 And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the student.
It may be that the singers were allocated to their course one by one by lot, without regard as to whether they were important or unimportant, or teachers or pupils, with it being left to YHWH to decide by lot who should be in which group. It may have been only the positioning of the group leaders which was discovered by lot so that one was at the head of each course, with the singers under them being specifically and individually selected by lot.
If you are involved in worship teams at your church, you can take a moment and realize that certain singers seem to go well with certain worship leaders and teams. Here our Great and All-Knowing Lord arranged which singers would go well with the different musicians.
9 Now the first lot for Asaph came out for Joseph; the second for Gedaliah, him with his brethren and sons, twelve; 10 the third for Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 11 the fourth for Jizri, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 12 the fifth for Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 13 the sixth for Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 14 the seventh for Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 15 the eighth for Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 16 the ninth for Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 17 the tenth for Shimei, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 18 the eleventh for Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 19 the twelfth for Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 20 the thirteenth for Shubael, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 21 the fourteenth for Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 22 the fifteenth for Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 23 the sixteenth for Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 24 the seventeenth for Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 25 the eighteenth for Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 26 the nineteenth for Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 27 the twentieth for Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 28 the twenty-first for Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 29 the twenty-second for Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 30 the twenty-third for Mahazioth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; 31 the twenty-fourth for Romamti-Ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.
We do not know how the courses were used whilst there were two sanctuaries, the Tabernacle in Gibeon and the Tent in Jerusalem. It is quite probable that every seven days, perhaps from Sabbath to Sabbath, one course of priests, Levites and singers would be replaced by another in both sanctuaries.
But what has this to say to us today? One thing it stresses is the importance that God lays on the right ordering of our worship, and on the spiritual care needed to ensure that all our musicians and singers are chosen by God. We need to beware of opening such things to anyone. A second thing it stresses is that we should not be nervous of ‘making a joyful noise’ to the Lord.
