Long lists of names may not hold our interest well, but a passage like this does give us a glimpse into the heart of King David. To him, no detail in the arrangement of the temple worship can be considered unimportant. In this new season of his life, one project has become top priority: preparing his people for their new house of worship. Like a mother planning the wedding of an only child, David gives every element his full time and attention. In the previous chapter, he traced the Levites’ lineage through the three sons of Levi. Among those descended from Kohath, Aaron was given the nod, since the line of priests stemmed from him. As God’s law had made clear, “he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to Him and pronounce blessings in His name” (23:12-13). While Moses had the same father as Aaron, his greatness as a prophet and leader did not entitle him to any priestly functions. So anyone who supposed he could offer sacrifices simply because his lineage could be traced through Moses would be disappointed (23:14-20). For all Levites not descended from Aaron, “their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD,” handling an assortment of related work (23:28). Now in 1 Chronicles 24, we learn more about the actual priests, those Levites who were descended from Aaron. During David’s reign there were two main priests, Zadok and Ahimelech, representing the lines of Aaron’s two younger sons, Eleazar and Ithamar. Aaron’s older sons, Nadab and Abihu, had died when making an inappropriate offering in the worship tent (v 1-2). Since there were more family clans of Eleazar than Ithamar, David and his two priests decided to establish 24 cohorts, 16 from the Eleazar group and 8 from the Ithamar branch. Each group of priests was to carry out their service in one-week shifts (2 Chron 23:8). The assignments to the specific cohorts were made by lot, with confidence that God was guiding the process (v 3-5). And a scribe called Shemaiah kept a certified record of all the assignments so that we can know each by name (v 6). When we get to heaven, we’ll have to thank him! Before leaping over the list of names and leaders in these 24 divisions (v 7-31), we might pause to notice that at least some of David’s cohorts maintained their identity for a millennium and more. In the New Testament, we’ll learn that John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a priest of the division of Abijah, which was the 8th cohort in these detailed plans (v 10). For further meditation: