God’s Word for You

2 Chronicles 7:4-6 Bach, Beethoven, Brahms

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, October 14, 2024

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests stood at their positions. The Levites played the LORD’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His mercy endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets. And Israel was standing there.

A lot of animals were sacrificed. More than 1,500 cattle were offered every day for two weeks. More than 8,500 sheep and goats were offered every day for the same two weeks (1 Kings 8:65 says that the sacrifices took “seven days, and then seven days more, fourteen days in all”). It is possible that these animals were brought, not only at Solomon’s order and expense, but also as a freewill offerings from the tribes. This would mean that, for example, Solomon himself may have offered sixty thousand sheep in all (more than four thousand each day), and each tribe brought another five thousand sheep, or some variation on this.

This was a fellowship offering, not a burnt offering for sin, and therefore only a portion of each animal was burned. The rest of the meat was available to the people present, king, priest, Levite, worshiper, and each of their families, to eat. In essence, the king provided a massive picnic of worship and food, music and prayer, for everyone.

For the sake of those who did not read my devotions on 1 Kings a few years ago (October, 2011), I will repeat a thought I had then about this scene: “Imagine well-organized lines of the tribes moving through the grass and stony lanes of the field once belonging to Arauna the Jebusite, up the great half-circle stairs and into the Temple courts. From each family’s sacrifice, a handy pouch would be carried, containing the small portion to be burned, and a dish containing some of the animal’s blood. The father and his older sons would move up through the line of worshipers, and when their turn came, a Levite would take the pouch of fat and entrails and throw it up onto the huge altar with its roaring fire (the smell of the roasting meat and the sizzle and pop of the fat would stay in the boys’ minds and hearts for the rest of their lives). A priest would dip a branch of hyssop into the dish of blood and walk around the altar, flicking the blood on each side as he went. Perhaps there would be a blessing spoken as the ‘walk’ was taken, and then father and sons would turn away, their eyes now taking in the magnificence of the inner sanctuary as they passed through, and then they hurried back to tell their mother and sisters what it was like.” Perhaps I’m wrong about some things; perhaps the women would have accompanied the men—I was trying to imagine how millions of people could participate in just fourteen days. But this is the general idea.

Once again there is a reference to the number three, since the priests had their part, the Levite musicians had their part, and the people did their part, too. God’s people reflect what they know about God in their worship. The Trinity of God is hinted at throughout the Old Testament, not least of all in Aaron’s three-part blessing (The Lord bless you…, the Lord make his face shine upon you… The Lord look on you with favor…, Numbers 6:24-26). The clearer pronouncements of the Trinity are in the New Testament (at the Baptism of Jesus and the institution of baptism, as well as Paul’s Apostolic blessing, 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Finally, we hear about David as an instrument-maker. The wording here does not say that David “caused them to be made,” but that “David made.” Perhaps David ordered their manufacture, but this would be an odd way of saying such a thing. It’s more likely that David actually experimented with making musical instruments, especially harps and similar things that he used (1 Samuel 16:23, 19:9). It would make sense that the king’s own design would be continued later on for many musicians, especially those who wanted to continue to play music for the temple the way David had written it (notice his musical reference in Psalm 6:1, 8:1, 12:1, and so on).

The Bible talks about both harps and lyres as stringed instruments. What is the difference? Strictly speaking, a harp is a stringed instrument, usually held in the hand, with the strings strung at an angle from an upright arm down to the base. A lyre has two uprights, a base, and a crosspiece between the upright arms with strings stretched down to the base. Older images from carvings and pottery show four to seven strings in both harps and lyres, but David seems to have been either fond of or innovative in using the “ten-stringed harp” (נֵבֶל עָשׂוֹר, Psalms 33:2, 92:3, 144:9). Other instruments included the ram’s horn (Exodus 19:13), the (straight) metal trumpet (Psalm 98:6), the flute or pipe (Psalm 5:1), tambourines (1 Samuel 10:5), cymbals (Psalm 150:5), drums (Exodus 15:20; NIV calls this a “tambourine”), and the dizzying orchestra mentioned in Daniel 3:10,15.

God is pleased when we use our gifts to worship him. But remember that your gift may not be musical. Your gift may be an obligation you have, or a God-given duty, such as mother, or grandfather, or accountant, or a paraprofessional at a local school, or a nurse. When you use that gift (duty) to the best of your ability and to his glory, it is also an act of worship that pleases God every bit as much as the great Lutheran composers who blasted out their contemporary (at the time) compositions on massive pipe organs for worship on Sundays, Lutherans like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and more recent ones like my friend Susan Ann Lueneburg. Whatever your gift, use it to God’s glory—even if you think of it more like a responsibility or duty than a gift. It was given by God, and we use such things to serve him. After all, as Paul says, “If it is serving, let him serve” (Romans 12:7).

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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