Cuando Dios Disciplina / When God Disciplines
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Introduction
Introduction
There are many people that are comfortable with certain statements about God, such as:
God is a God of love
God is a God of love
God is a God that provides
God is a God that helps those who are afflicted
God is a God that takes care of those that are suffering
These statements are all true.
The Bible supports these statements.
The Bible reveals a God that cares, loves, and aids those who are afflicted.
However, there are many other attributes and characteristics about God; that although they are not as pleasant to our minds/understanding - they are still true! You rarely hear people proclaiming that:
God is a God of judgement.
God will come at the end of the age to judge all mankind.
God is a God that will punish sin for all eternity.
God will carry out vengeance for all the wrongs that people have experienced in this life.
It is unfortunate that many people reject the idea that God can be both loving and just, that God can be a help to the afflicted and the judge of all the earth.
In our Bible reading plan we come to the end of where we will consider another aspect/characteristic about God that people prefer to ignore - God is a God that disciplines; or better yet God’s people are not exempt from being disciplined by the Lord. Today we will consider:
David’s order
David’s sin
David’s divine discipline
I. David’s order / La Orden que dio David
I. David’s order / La Orden que dio David
David is coming to the end of his reign. He had experienced many things during his long reign.
David is coming to the end of his reign. He had experienced many things during his long reign.
He has fought many battles with the Lord’s help.
He has had times of triumph and times of great difficulty.
As David continued to reign over God’s people he seemed to have started trusting in his own strength.
Our narrator introduces us to this chapter in David’s life by telling us that David had called for a census of the people of God.
Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”
Volvió a encenderse la ira de Jehová contra Israel, e incitó a David contra ellos a que dijese: Ve, haz un censo de Israel y de Judá.Y dijo el rey a Joab, general del ejército que estaba con él: Recorre ahora todas las tribus de Israel, desde Dan hasta Beerseba, y haz un censo del pueblo, para que yo sepa el número de la gente.
Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”
But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ ”
So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”
On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.
Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”
Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
The Bible tells us that the Lord incited David to take a census of all the people in the kingdom.
There is parallel passage in where it says that Satan had incited David.
Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
Pero Satanás se levantó contra Israel, e incitó a David a que hiciese censo de Israel.
So who incited David to take a census of the people of Israel? Was it God or Satan?
We know the Bible tells us that God does not lead anyone to sin. That would be contrary to God’s nature.
On the other hand we know Satan, the father of lies, leads people to sin against the Lord.
How do we reconcile these two passages? We can safely conclude that God permitted Satan to incite David. God allowed Satan to plant that seed in David’s heart; a seed which David let sprout in his heart and carried out the deed.
Job, David’s commander, is reluctant to carry out the king’s orders:
But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.
Joab respondió al rey: Añada Jehová tu Dios al pueblo cien veces tanto como son, y que lo vea mi señor el rey; mas ¿por qué se complace en esto mi señor el rey?
He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.
.3
Why would Joab be reluctant in carrying out the king’s orders?
Joab knew that the Lord was not pleased with building up an army.
In the book of Deuteronomy God places a prohibition against acquiring many horses.
The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
Pero él no aumentará para sí caballos, ni hará volver al pueblo a Egipto con el fin de aumentar caballos; porque Jehová os ha dicho: No volváis nunca por este camino.
On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
This does not refer to a king acquiring many horses for racing or for show. Rather, this refers to building up a great army that would normally travel on horseback.
If the king were to acquire great numbers of horses he would be intending to build up a great army. By building up a great army he was demonstrating that his hope was not on the Lord but rather in his military strength and strategy.
Joab may have been familiar with parts of the Bible that spoke about trusting in the Lord, such as:
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
Mejor es confiar en Jehová
Que confiar en príncipes.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
David was firm in his orders and Job was required to carry out the census.
ps 146.
After more than 9 months the census results are finally completed.
After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.
Después que hubieron recorrido toda la tierra, volvieron a Jerusalén al cabo de nueve meses y veinte días.Y Joab dio el censo del pueblo al rey; y fueron los de Israel ochocientos mil hombres fuertes que sacaban espada, y los de Judá quinientos mil hombres.
The numbers are in.
David has at least 1.3M men at his disposal.
David has an incredible army available to go to war at his command.
II. David’s sin / El pecado de David
II. David’s sin / El pecado de David
David must have been wonderfully surprised to learn of the large numbers of men that he could enlist in his army.
II. El pecado de David
II. El pecado de David
Surely he could defeat his enemies.
Surely with an army of this size, David and the Lord’s people were invincible.
However, something happened between verses 9 and 10.
The Bible does not tell us what David’s sin was. All we are told in verse 10 is that David felt the weight of guilt weight heavily upon his heart.
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
Después que David hubo censado al pueblo, le pesó en su corazón; y dijo David a Jehová: Yo he pecado gravemente por haber hecho esto; mas ahora, oh Jehová, te ruego que quites el pecado de tu siervo, porque yo he hecho muy neciamente.
4.
His conscience accuses him.
He knows he has sinned against the Lord.
I think it is very possible to think that when he received the news that he had 1.3M men at his disposal; there was a moment when David grew prideful, he started to trust in how own strength and not in the Lord.
Maybe he even started to feel as if he deserved a hearty congratulations; after all, he was the king chosen by God to lead his people - and now look at the large army that had at his disposal.
Maybe he started to take credit for Israel’s prosperity.
Were the people prospering? Yes.
Were the people growing in great numbers? Yes.
Did David have a large army that could go out to battle with him? Yes.
Was God’s blessing upon David and his people? Yes.
Then…what was the problem?
The problem was that David very likely started trusting in himself.
The problem is that David started to grow prideful instead of relying entirely on God.
David probably felt that he could handle things from now on; after all, they were no longer a small nation being persecuted by their enemies.
David confesses his sin before the Lord.
David had a tender conscience.
David had a tender heart that was sensitive to his own sin and failures before a holy God.
Oh that God would grant us a tender conscience and tender heart.
Oh that God would allow us to recognize when we have sinned against him.
Oh that God would allow us to quickly point out our own failures and seek God’s forgiveness.
That we would be able to see our sins more easily and more quickly that we see the sins of others.
III. David’s divine discipline / La disciplina divina que recibe David
III. David’s divine discipline / La disciplina divina que recibe David
David’s pride was an offense before a holy God. David would have to face the consequences of his sin. The Lord’s hand would come upon him.
III. La disciplina divina que recibe David
III. La disciplina divina que recibe David
God sent his prophet to speak to David:
So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
4.13
Vino, pues, Gad a David, y se lo hizo saber, y le dijo: ¿Quieres que te vengan siete años de hambre en tu tierra? ¿o que huyas tres meses delante de tus enemigos y que ellos te persigan? ¿o que tres días haya peste en tu tierra? Piensa ahora, y mira qué responderé al que me ha enviado.
Notice how God is dealing with his servant David.
God is confronting David with the seriousness of his sin.
David has the option to choose from one of three judgements.
The first judgement involves being persecuted by his enemies, whereas the second and third judgements somehow involve God acting to carry out the judgement over David and the people of God.
David knew the severity of his sin. Earlier, when he had commmitted adultery with a married woman and had her husband killed, the Lord had dealt severely with him.
David’s firstborn son, product of his adultery with Bathsheba, had died as a consequence for sinning against the Lord.
Once more, he has sinned against God and no matter which judgement he chooses - the consequences will be severe.
They are a just punishment for offending a holy God.
Although David knows that the consequences of his sin will be difficult - he knows he can trust in God’s mercy.
2 Sam 24.
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
Entonces David dijo a Gad: En grande angustia estoy; caigamos ahora en mano de Jehová, porque sus misericordias son muchas, mas no caiga yo en manos de hombres.
David knows that although the Lord will carry out his judgement over him, he knows the Lord is great and merciful.
David knows that if he falls into the hands of the Lord, the Lord will ultimately spare him.
He knows that if he were to fall into the hands of his fellow men, then surely he will be completely destroyed. He knows this, because he knows his own heart. He is just as sinful as those he fears. He knows what men are capable of. He knows what he has been capable of.
The Lord executes his judgement based on David’s response and takes the lives of at least 70,000 men.
So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.
.15
Y Jehová envió la peste sobre Israel desde la mañana hasta el tiempo señalado; y murieron del pueblo, desde Dan hasta Beerseba, setenta mil hombres.
The Lord is teaching David that he dare not trust in great numbers of soldiers.
The Lord is teaching David that in a twinkling of an eye he can loose his great army.
It is not a great army that will give David and the Lord’s people victory. It is the Lord that will fight their battles.
That day must have been a difficult and sad day in Israel. The Lord’s servant, the king of Israel, had brought death upon the Lord’s people because of his prideful arrogance in trusting in himself.
Although David and the people were now facing the consequence of their sin it was part of God disciplining David and his people.
Notice what verse 1 says “Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel”. In other words, the people of God, including the 70,000 that died, were not innocent bystanders. The entire community had sinned against the Lord.
The Lord was disciplining his people to ultimately cleanse their hearts and bring them closer to him once more.
In the end, the Lord relents and spares his people. The Lord had mercy upon his people.
David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Y edificó allí David un altar a Jehová, y sacrificó holocaustos y ofrendas de paz; y Jehová oyó las súplicas de la tierra, y cesó la plaga en Israel.
Why did God relent?
Why did God not wipe out his people?
In the end, the purpose of God’s discipline is not the destruction of his people but rather to bring them closer to him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If God disciplined David does this mean that he can discipline us?
Yes! The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
God does not change.
God’s discipline is part of New Testament revelation.
The story we read is part of the Old Testament. However, the Bible is God’s single revelation to his people. The Old Testament reveals God’s discipline:
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
Porque Jehová al que ama castiga,
Como el padre al hijo a quien quiere.
God’s discipline is also revealed in the pages of the New Testament!
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
Heb
Porque el Señor al que ama, disciplina,
Y azota a todo el que recibe por hijo.
Si soportáis la disciplina, Dios os trata como a hijos; porque ¿qué hijo es aquel a quien el padre no disciplina?
Notice both verses say the same thing. In fact, the author of Hebrews quotes demonstrating that nothing had changed in the New Testament. God does in fact intend to discipline his people.
Why would God discipline his children when they fail? He disciplines us because we are his children.
God disciplines us so that we may come to him in repentance because sin pushes us away from God.
God wants to bring us back to him, close to him, and he will at many times accomplish this through the discipline of his children. He may do this through:
Ilness
Accidents
Problems
Trials/Tribulations
But at the end of the day…we know that it is not for our destruction but rather to wake us up and bring us close to him!