Day 3

The Genealogy of the Levites



1 Chronicles 5:1-26, 1 Chronicles 6:1-81, Deuteronomy 10:8-9

BY Tameshia Williams

Today’s reading prompted me to dig through several boxes to find what’s referred to by my family as the “family reunion book.” The letter-sized booklet—gifted to family reunion attendees a few years ago—is a collection of mini essays, family announcements, photos, and ancestry lists. Undoubtedly, this content doesn’t mean much to an outsider. But to our family, it means everything. 

At first glance, the family records in 1 Chronicles can seem like mere lists to our twenty-first-century eyes. But I can only imagine what they meant to the Chronicler’s audience, people who had been displaced from their home, tradition, and way of life as a result of their disobedience. These lists of tribes, clans, and families, along with their geographical allotments, gave them a sense of place and promise. The genealogies included in today’s reading give special attention to Levi’s descendants. 

Their relatives, the Levites, were assigned to all the service of the tabernacle, God’s temple. 
—1 Chronicles 6:48

The pre-exilic role of the Levites was to act as attendants to the temple (and to the tabernacle that came before it). Certain Levites acted as mediators of the nation in God’s presence, making “atonement for Israel” (1Chronicles 6:49). Only those appointed by God—the Levites—could lead the nation in any services associated with public worship.

Built by King Solomon, the temple was the sacred space God designated for Israel to encounter His presence through worship. Here, the Levites mediated between God and the people through sacrifices and offerings specified in the law. However, the people lived in disobedience until God withdrew His presence from the temple and it was destroyed.

The Israelite people were coming back into their land and reestablishing their rhythms of worship. The temple was being rebuilt, the sacrificial system and altar were reinstated. This section of the genealogy was a message to the returning exiles that although they were broken and flawed, although they had been sent into exile for their lack of faithfulness, God was still making a way for them to be renewed and restored in worship post-exile. 

Today’s reading falls on Ash Wednesday, the official start of Lent, a season of prayer and reflection. It reminds us that we too are people broken and flawed, in need of atonement and restoration. 

As I continue to read these genealogies, they become more special to me. They prompt me to confess and lament the ways that I have become displaced by sin. They remind me of God’s abundant grace and mercy in the face of my disobedience. And they point me forward to the never-ending promise and hope of the cross.

Post Comments (64)

64 thoughts on "The Genealogy of the Levites"

  1. Meg Johnson says:

    ♥️

  2. Terri Baldwin says:

    New Living Translation
    At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, and to stand before the LORD as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this

  3. Elise Ricks says:

    amen!

  4. Lori Lackey says:

    Two thoughts came to mind with todays reading…. Chronicals is like ancestors.com. There are lists, but every so often a story pops up. It also reminded me that we are all flawed. So often we spend time in exile, alone and wondering, but God is always faithful!

  5. Whitney A says:

    It’s helpful for me to listen to the genealogies on Dwell or another audio Bible.

  6. Melissa Mcronney says:

    Amen

  7. michele marbet says:

    Excellent start to the new season

  8. Harrison Easler says:

    I am going to be honest and say it was really hard for me to read todays reading. I really kept getting lost and overwhelmed. I pray that I am still able to get an amazing message from the devotion and be able to apply it to my life during Lenten. I could also really use some prayers as I’m in the process of applying to Nursing School. Taking care of others is truly my passion and I believe that God will fulfill!

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