Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of I Chronicles Chapter 23
Metaphysically Interpreting I Chronicles 23:1-32
23:1Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
23:2And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 23:3And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. 23:4Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; 23:5and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. 23:6And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
23:7Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. 23:8The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 23:9The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan. 23:10And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 23:11And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they became a fathers' house in one reckoning.
23:12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, for ever, to burn incense before Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, for ever.23:14But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 23:15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 23:16The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. 23:17And the sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 23:18The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 23:19The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 23:20The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.
23:21The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 23:22And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them to wife. 23:23The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
23:24These were the sons of Levi after their fathers' houses, even the heads of the fathers' houses of those of them that were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from twenty years old and upward. 23:25For David said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath given rest unto his people; and he dwelleth in Jerusalem for ever: 23:26and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all the vessels of it for the service thereof. 23:27For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward. 23:28For their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God; 23:29for the showbread also, and for the fine flour for a meal-offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size; 23:30and to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even; 23:31and to offer all burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before Jehovah; 23:32and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.
November 29, 1903: I Chronicles 23:1-10
David had gathered immense sums of gold and silver, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, besides iron and brass beyond counting, and cedar from Mt. Lebanon, and marble building stones, according to I Chronicles, 22d chapter, for the purpose of building a great temple. But God said, “Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.”
It is found by students of mental forces that Love is the great magnet of the mind, that it draws to the individual the thought-elements that are built into the consciousness and form the basis of character and body. Those who have not studied and experimented with the thought-energies, working in and through the various brain and nerve centres in the body, can have no concept of the power which they exert. Their office is to build a perfect body, the temple of the living God. The work is done under law, and when that law is complied with, man produces the glorious body of Jesus Christ.
Love is the magnet of the soul through which we attract the thought-things necessary to this perfect temple. Thus David provided the material for the Temple which it was hoped would become the permanent abiding place of the Lord. Tents and tabernacles had been provided in the past, but now the time had arrived, when a more permanent structure could be erected. These perishable bodies of ours are the “tents” referred to. The spirit and life of Deity inhabits them for a time, but because we do not apply ourselves to the building of a temple fit for the Lord, these soon pass out of our consciousness and the body disintegrates. But every attempt at right body building is a help to the final construction. Because we fail in any single incarnation, or in ten thousand for that matter, is no sign that we should not succeed in the end. We are all the time either gathering forces and substances that enter into character and body, or dissipating them. Thus the necessity of cultivating the soul-life. “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
Love, the magnet, attracts the elements of Being to us, but it cannot build them into body and soul without observing the law of harmony and order that enters into all structures. Violence and destruction are not constructive. David could gather the materials, but because he was a man of war he could not put up the structure. The David of violence had to be succeeded by another kind of thought in order to be constructive. The name of that thought, or son, was Solomon. This name means “The Peaceful,” and is still common in the East in the form of Suleiman.
David announces to the whole consciousness, verse 1, this new ruler, Peace. In order to build according to Divine law, we must pervade the whole man with affirmations of peace and order. “The king stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me.” Here is represented the force of a mental statement founded upon right understanding. When we know the Truth, we make our statements with an authority born of conviction. When you are in doubt about a proposition, you sit and sway your body back and forth in indecision, but when you are sure, stand upon your feet, erect in mind and body, and boldly say your true words.
Solomon, the Thought of Peace, must be diligent in serving the Lord, or higher law. He must have the “perfect heart” and “willing mind” in order to continue in the favor of the Lord. After we have decided to forsake all our violence and anger in thought and act we have only begun the process. If we fall short in our service of the Peaceful Law, it will by its very nature desert us. Peace is the Divine Builder, and it can work only where peaceful thought-forces are dominant. We must also know that God has given us the strength and power to build this temple, fit for His permanent abode. “Be strong and do it.”
– UNITY magazine.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 12-13-2013
