From a Threshingfloor to a Temple

Intro

1 Chronicles 21:1–7 KJV 1900

1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. 2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. 3 And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? 4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. 6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. 7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

1. David’s Sin

This certainly isn’t the only sin that David committed…

He’s certainly known for committing adultery with Bathsheba…

And murdering Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband…

But God gave some elements behind David’s sin:

a. Satan provoked David to do this (1)

b. There was rejected wise counsel (2-4)

c. God was displeased with this (7)

2. David’s Punishment

1 Chronicles 21:8–14 KJV 1900

8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 9 And the Lord spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee 12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. 14 So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

David got 3 choices:

3 years famine

3 months to be destroyed before thy foes

3 days the sword of the LORD, giving pestilence in the land

He chose option # 3 and 70,000 men died as a result…

God says - if you want to trust in numbers, I’ll show you how to trust in numbers…

3. David’s Threshingfloor

1 Chronicles 21:15–27 KJV 1900

15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. 18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord. 20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. 21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. 23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. 24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. 25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 26 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

a. Ornan was using the ground in which God told David to set up an altar on

Ornan was threshing some physical wheat, but David needed to thresh some spiritual wheat…

What happens on a threshingfloor?

The threshingfloor was a flat piece of ground, commonly on a higher piece of ground…

The farmers would place the grain stocks and spread them out on the threshingfloor…

They would then use animals or sometimes a threshing instrument to break apart the grain from the husks…

The grain was then winnowed - tossed into the air so the wind would blow away the lighter chaff, while the heavier grain would fall to the ground…

The threshingfloor was a place to separate the chaff from the grain…

The grain was the valuable, sustenance that the farmers needed in the harvest…

The chaff was the useless dried portion that held no value…

1828 Merriam Webster: Refuse; worthless matter; especially that which is light, and apt to be driven by the wind.

In scripture, the chaff is:

That which is useless

The impurities

The chaff was something that was intended to be removed

It provided no nutritional value

It was to be broken apart from the fruit (grain) and blown away in the wind

a. Ungodliness

Psalm 1:4 KJV 1900

4 The ungodly are not so: But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

The ungodly are compared to “…the righteous who are planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season….”

b. Wickedness

Job 21:18 KJV 1900

18 They are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

c. Enemies of David

Psalm 35:5 KJV 1900

5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: And let the angel of the Lord chase them.

d. That which will burn up in judgement

Isaiah 5:24 KJV 1900

24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, And the flame consumeth the chaff, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust: Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Matthew 3:12 KJV 1900

12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

The threshingfloor was a place of:

God’s refining process in me

Surrender and sacrifice (David’s offering)

Redemption and blessing (Ruth and Boaz’s story)

It was all done at an altar God told David to set up…

The Refiner’s Fire:

[Verse 1] There burns a fire with sacred heat White hot with holy flame And all who dare pass through its blaze Will not emerge the same Some as bronze, and some as silver Some as gold, then with great skill All are hammered by their sufferings On the anvil of His will [Chorus] The Refiner's fire Has now become my sole desire Purged and cleansed and purified That the Lord be glorified He is consuming my soul Refining me, making me whole No matter what I may lose I choose the Refiner's fire [Verse 2] I'm learning now to trust His touch To crave the fire's embrace For though my past with sin was etched His mercies did erase Each time His purging cleanses deeper I'm not sure that I'll survive Yet the strength in growing weaker Keeps my hungry soul alive

4. Solomon’s Temple

2 Chronicles 3:1 KJV 1900

1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

In the very same place where David would go to work in threshing the spiritual chaff from his own life in repentance at an altar before God…

Would be the very same place that God would use that same man’s son to erect a tremendous temple for His glory…

The temple represented:

God’s Presence

1 Kings 8:10–11 KJV 1900

10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

God’s Power

2 Chronicles 7:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.

It was a place of sacrifice, ministry, prayer and dedication to God…

David went from the place of provocation by satan to sin against God…

To threshing the spiritual wheat at an altar of refining, surrender, sacrifice, redemption and blessing…

Because of the:

Cost (600 shekels of gold) - about $400,000 in today’s dollars

Inconvenience (having to go to Ornan’s ground, negotiate a deal, spend the money and arrange the offerings)

Heart of repentance

Legitimate sacrificial offering in sincerity to the Lord

David goes from the threshingfloor to God building a temple through his son on the same ground...

Do you remember the joy in David as the temple was being built?

1 Chronicles 29:9 KJV 1900

9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

1 Chronicles 29:10–13 KJV 1900

10 Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

What a blessing it is to spend time on the threshingfloor in our own lives to watch God’s blessings flow to our children and grandchildren because of our sincerity on the threshingfloor before God…