1st Chronicles 23 ORDERLY TRANSITION it is a wise man who is willing to face his limitations and who knows when to step back from leadership gradually. In this way a smooth transition can take place to the next generation as duties are shared and explained. The older brother knows his physical capacities are waning. Physical disability may come gradually and that gives opportunity to explain how and why certain things are done, how best to do it and then watch it being done by the younger man.
Mental acuity slows, and the decision-making process that should be sharp, gives way to a common attitude to those who are older when they say, "That's the way we always did it." That way may not be possible or acceptable for the present need. Emotional pressures come when one has endured a sickness of some kind, and they become emotional or sentimental over something that is trivial. Memory loss happens when people get older and even names of new believers and new situations cannot be processed in a reasonable way.
"David was old" was a nice way of telling the returned Jews how they should transition from slavery to responsible people. The chronicler did not want them to get sidetracked from the goal of rebuilding that was before them. By reviewing the beginning of the temple and the practice of scriptural worship, the point was being made to the as to how they should address the work before them. The fact that David was a sickly old man who hardly knew what was going on around him would have served no purpose for the present need. Not everything has to be exposed when a matter needs to be clarified. Some things are best not mentioned because that would have a negative, rather than a positive effect.
A very good point is emphasized here that is helpful in the transition of leadership in an assembly. Keep people in the loop. A gathering of those involved was especially useful when David called the "princes (leaders), priests and Levites" together. Not everyone in the nation was included in this gathering. Just those who were qualified to fill the roles they would be given. It is true that David made Solomon king but he did not do this arbitrarily. He took this action under God's direction. There was a lot of bitterness from Solomon's older brothers who were not qualified either personally or spiritually for the role of king.
Certain principles of leadership have to be considered when seeking out those who are qualified to lead the people of God. Spiritual things take precedence over physical things. In order of importance, people are far more important than things. More than that, leaders need to know that eternal things are of greater value that temporal. They are even measured differently. Money changes in value as do all temporal things. Truth, righteousness, holiness, mercy, grace and justice along with all the other attributes of eternal things are not measured by human measurements.
To those returning Jews who would likely have wanted to get on with their own lives, on their own land, in their own houses, with their own families - they had to be made aware that spiritual things had priority over secular things. In their case it was the building of the temple, or "religious things" we might say, that was of first importance to both unify the people and restore public worship. God's people were to be unified as one people, not now under a king but under divine authority. So the temple had to be built. Ezra's temple wasn't the same in glory as the one Solomon built, but it was the dwelling place of God with His people.
There didn't seem to be the same age limitations for service at the time of this writing as in the time of Moses. The lower age was now twenty years old instead of thirty, and the age of fifty did not seem to be the cut-off age. There were reasons for this. Instead of carrying the tabernacle from place to place, and raising and lowering it, the temple was a permanent structure. When it was built it needed a different type of maintenance and was much larger in size. The Levites were to take shifts in assisting the priests if they were Kohathites. The Gershonites and Merarites were to keep the temple and courts around it clean and in good condition. Thousands of people would be coming and going as well as bringing animals for sacrifice. They were also to bake the bread, be doorkeepers against any entering places they should not, and provide the music that was appropriate. They would bring the animals to designated places and in a general sense keep everything running smoothly and looking right.
When all of God's people are each doing their part in assembly life, there is a wonderful atmosphere that is conducive to worship and service. Each of us has a role to fill and when it is well coordinated with those of our brothers and sisters, assembly life is effective and meaningful to all who are a part of that holy fellowship. Separation from the world's ways is obvious. The world's religions are run like a business with tiers of man-designed authority. A scriptural assembly of believers is like a well functioning body in which all parts are needed for the purpose of the body - to glorify God. Some body parts are hidden doing their work unnoticed. Other parts are out in the open and obvious. They use the hidden strengths of the unseen parts that make them work and produce an outward testimony to a watching world of men and angels.
The mature priests of the family of the Kohathites were to sanctify the holy things. They had to have spiritual discernment so were responsible to know, practice and pass on the words of the law to those younger priests who would follow them. The practiced eye could look at an animal, and in a moment could tell if something was wrong with it. If it had a runny nose, he could see it. With experienced hands he could feel if a bone had been broken. He would pass on to the twenty-year old apprentice priest, techniques for discerning what is clean or unclean. Also, what was suitable for a holy sacrifice and what was counterfeit or substandard.
Priests were also to burn incense at the hour of prayer, so would have to help the younger ones learn how to smell the right mixture of ingredients. He would be able to tell if someone is being careless in their preparation for approaching God. Priests ministered before the Lord, or to the Lord. This is no casual act of duty, but an awesome responsibility and privilege given to those who are a "holy priesthood," as a "peculiar people." When we worship the Lord, this is no light-weight matter, nor is it something we do unprepared. To minister in the confines of an assembly gathering is certainly an important part of the practice of the priesthood of all believers. But it does not stop there.
Like the priests were to do in the past, so we too are to "bless His name forever." That is when we go public in our testimony and demonstrate our faith in God and His word to be seen and heard by all. A priest represented the people to God, and he also represented God to the people. It is a very important part of our Christian testimony to "Bless His name forever." There are eternal matters at stake when we are involved in the work of the kingdom of God.
In a way similar to those returned Jews who were to begin the worship and service of God in "the place of His name," so we today who have the maturity of years behind us, need to pass on to new believers an orderly, reasonable clear definition of what the "house of God" is. In this way continuity of testimony to the Lord's name will continue and be a blessing to God's people - and, most important, bring glory to God.