Tuesday - 1st Chronicles 6 - The Priestly Line

Just like the chapter about the royal line of King David should lead us up to Jesus (I Chronicle 3), this chapter should direct our mind to Him again as our final high priest. Jesus fully fills 3 official roles from the Old Testament scheme: Prophet, Priest and King. Of course, we shouldn't forget that His priesthood isn't patterned after Aaron's, but after Melchisedec's (Hebrews 7:11).

Jacob's 3rd son, Levi, had 3 sons whose families remained distinct for many generations. In this chapter, some of the main characters from each family are listed for us among many others who (to us) are rather obscure.  Of Levi's many descendants, Aaron, Moses, Miriam, Eleazar, lthamar & Phinehas were all large figures in Israel's religious history. Perhaps you didn't realize that Samuel and Uzza were also part of this same tribe (I Chronicles 6:28 & 29).

There are a couple of men who stand out in this list because of explanations about their significance which are added in. "Azariah, (who executed the priest's office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem) and Jehozadak went into captivity,  when the LORD carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar "(1^st Chronicles 6:10 & 15). These details do a couple of things for us. First, they help us to get our chronological and historical bearings as we wade through these names. But also, in the case of Azariah, we can see which Azariah is being listed. This is helpful because there are a couple dozen different men by that name who are mentioned in the Bible. Like with John or Mary, one has to check to be sure which one is being discussed.