A Terrible Decision
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
What is the biggest mess you have ever gotten yourself or others into?
David made a big mess of things from time to time. Our passage tonight is no exception.
1 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
3 But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.
5 They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer.
6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they went around to Sidon,
7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’ ”
13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”
15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded.
20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.
21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.”
22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
Pray
This passage doesn’t tell us exactly when these events happened, but they seem to have been at the end of David’s reign.
David’s sin once again impacts those around him. We can never say that enough!
1. Don’t Let the Enemy Use You (vv. 1)
1. Don’t Let the Enemy Use You (vv. 1)
1 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”
The Bible says in 1 Chron. 21:1
1 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
How can both be true?
God is not the author of evil
God uses both the good and the evil to accomplish His plans
Being Used
David allowed Satan to incite him to number the people for either 1 or 2 reasons.
David either did it out of pride to boast in the size of his military, or
David was afraid and wanted to number the people
Both Joab and the Commanders of the Army opposed David’s plan, but the King’s word ultimately prevailed
There should be pointed out discrepancies in the numbers between both accounts, but we are told that the census was not completed and that Joab held back some of the numbers because he didn’t approve of what David did
2. Beware of How Your Sin Affects Those Around You (vv. 2-15)
2. Beware of How Your Sin Affects Those Around You (vv. 2-15)
David’s census was unnecessary
Most sin is
We don’t count the potential cost
David did not collect the temple tax that was levied as a ransom when the census was done
12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.
David knew it was sin and his heart convicted him
7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
God gives him the choice of three options
Textual issue - not 7 years, 3 months, or 3 days (should have been 3, 3, and 3)
David chooses to fall into the hands of the Lord
David’s sin led to 70,000 people dying
Were these people evil - yes in some way
Were they responsible or victims - God held the people responsible for the King’s decisions. Also God is not unjust. He may have slayed only the ones guilty of whatever sin it was that led Him to allow David to be incited (see v.1)
3. Run to God’s Mercy Without Delay (v.13, 27)
3. Run to God’s Mercy Without Delay (v.13, 27)
13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
Having three options between His enemies pursuing him or his people starving, David chose to let himself fall into the benevolent hands of God
David knew there would be no mercy from his enemies, but God has mercy as one of his character traits
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
God is also slow to anger
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded.
When Gad came to David and informed him of what to do, David did not waste time and delay.
When David came to Araunah, also called Ornan the Jebusite, neither wasted any time making the altar and sacrifice
Some people delay trusting in the Lord thinking that they have time.
You don’t get snake bitten and wait to go to the hospital.
4. Worship God for the Lamb that Has Been Provided (vv.25)
4. Worship God for the Lamb that Has Been Provided (vv.25)
25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
I want you to see what is happening here.
We don’t know if all of the people could see the destroying angel or not, but both David and Araunah could
Look at this parallel account
16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
Get the scene in your head really well
There is David and Araunah, or Ornan, and they have been having this discussion to buy the threshing place and make the sacrifice to stop the death and destruction right outside the city walls of Jerusalem
They look up and see there the angel with a sword drawn and ready to strike
A sword is a type of long knife
David intercedes and begs God that the punishment would fall on him and his house, but David can’t stop this. Only God can
Pause for just a minute and think about that scene again. If I were to tell you that the name of the spot on this mountain is not just the threshing floor of Araunah, but I were to call it by another name, would it help?
If I were to call it by the name Mount Moriah, would that help?
Let me read to you another passage to help:
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Both Abraham and David pleaded with God for a substitute (the Scripture is silent on Abraham, but you can surely bet he did)
Both Abraham and David lifted their eyes to see an angel
Both accounts have a knife drawn with a sacrifice about to be slain and they are stopped
Both events took place on Mt. Moriah
This is because neither sacrifice would really suffice.
God did not immediately answer David’s prayer that the curse would fall on Him and his household.
God had already made an irrevocable covenant with David regarding his children.
However, God did answer His request by letting His Son, the Son of David, Jesus the Lamb of God be provided on the Mountain of the Lord.
He was sacrificed and the knife was not stayed. He was crucified and a spear, which is another form of a knife was plunged into His side.
Martin Luther wrote the Hymn “From Depths of Woe”
Sing Hymnal 575
