The Bible: 1 Chronicles Chapter 24

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 24, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.In 1 Chronicles 24 lots are cast to work out the twenty-four group roster of priests who were to serve and in what order. Of Aaron’s four sons, two died and their descendants are not a part of this, and of the other two, two thirds are from Eleazar. But the jobs given out, and the order of them is by lot, so is fairly distributed as God decided. The casting of lots was a way of deciding, kind of like rolling a dice. Because God was able to determine the outcome, it was a way of giving him the choice.This was done in Acts 1 when they decided which of the two were to be the apostle to replace Judas. Today we might decide a matter by a coin toss, such as to start a football game, but this is merely practical, but these decisions were thoughtful, and the outcome considered genuinely God given.According to Matthew Henry - this verse explains they put the 16 names of the families for Eleazar in one jar, and the eight for Ithamar in the other. They then cast lots for one jar or the other, and then pulled out a name to create the order of 24. These are the twenty-four courses of priests who were rostered on, a practice which continued in various forms through to the time of Christ and beyond until the ending of the temple.In Luke 1 as an example, John the Baptist's father, of the eighth course here, the group of Abijah, was rostered on. Each course was rostered on for one week only… 8 days, with the Sabbath’s overlapping. In the NT, we are all priests, and these passages show us that we are all to give of our time and contribution towards the work of the Lord. Between us all, the work is done.