[0:00] 1 Chronicles chapter 18, we'll be going through 18 all the way to chapter 21. When we get to 21, we will pause and we will read the entire chapter.
[0:13] Now we do this because much of this we have already read. Much of this, well not all of this, historically, we have already read.
[0:24] However, the account that is recorded for us in the 21st chapter, we have already read. But we have not read it in that context or there's some variances as there has been in some other writings.
[0:38] In the 21st chapter here of 1 Chronicles and the last chapter of 2 Samuel where we have that event recorded for us at the end of David's life. You need to know that within these pages and these chapters, there are some events that are not included by the chronicler.
[0:56] As a matter of fact, we know that there are a number of what we would say negative events in David's life that are not included by the chronicler. Because David and Judah and the lineage of the kings of Judah and even the people of Israel is seen in a better light, if you will, than in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.
[1:17] Not because we are passing over the things that they did which was wrong. Those have already been recorded for us. The judgment has already transpired as a result of those choices.
[1:30] They have already went into Babylonian captivity, so the debt has been paid. Now we are in a time of redemption and renewal and we are understanding who the people of the Lord are.
[1:41] But yet, the one exception in the life of David that we would say is a negative event that is recorded is the event that is recorded for us in the 21st chapter. But I think that it is set within the context of the chapters which precede it.
[1:56] And that's why we need to see it in this light. Because there is the temptation, if we're just honest. And by the way, I love, I've told you this before, I love Wednesday nights, I love Sunday nights, I love preaching.
[2:12] But if I had to really choose, my passion is more teaching. So that's, I love the teaching aspect of pastoring more than the preaching. I don't know, it seems kind of weird because you say, I thought they were the same.
[2:24] No, it is, but there are moments where you can slow down and breathe and you can say, let's look at it. But anyway, the temptation is to look at a passage in isolation, even in the way in which we preach expositionally, that we focus so much on a passage trying to pull out of that passage that we fail to see that passage within its context.
[2:45] And we fail to see how the Spirit of God was moving the man of God as he wrote the Word of God. And that is, these things are put together in the order that they are, because that is the divine ordering of the Word of God.
[3:02] When we open up Scripture, we are not always necessarily reading something that is chronologically in order. But we are reading things that are set divinely and theologically in order for a purpose.
[3:19] And if we don't read them in big chunks at times, I think we miss that. So that's why I'm giving you so many chapters this evening. I don't feel like I have to defend that.
[3:29] But if we want an exposition of the things contained in chapters 18, 19, and 20, and then Brother Stephen has done a fantastic job building our website.
[3:40] The men upstairs have done a fantastic job of maintaining the sermons and making sure they're on those. So those same chapters that are found in 2 Samuel, you can go read the expositions on the battle with the Arameans, the exposition on the battles with the people of Ammon, the exposition on the battle with the people of Philistines.
[3:56] So you can read all of that. But we will not see it in the context that we have if we were to take our time to do it. So hopefully you understand why. But I want you to see, because now the Ark of the Covenant is back.
[4:10] The people of the Lord have come back and they're worshiping. It is in Jerusalem. It's in a tent. David knows that he can't build the house of the Lord. He's been told that in a chapter which comes immediately before this.
[4:23] The Davidic Covenant has already been proclaimed to him. That is, Nathan has already told him that he will not build a house for the Lord, but the Lord will build the house of David. And it is a covenant looking unto a coming king in the distant future who will be the son of God and will call God his father and will reign eternally from the throne which is in the house of God.
[4:44] We have seen David's response of humility to that. And so David is painted as being one who is worshiping and adoring and setting in proper context.
[4:55] He is the right man at the right time as we have defined him. But now I want you to see the battles before the people of God. The battles before the people of God.
[5:07] And to really understand the major battle we want to focus on, we need to see the highlights of some of the battles which come before the 21st chapter. So in 1 Chronicles 18, starting in verse 1, it says, Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.
[5:27] He defeated Moab and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute. David also defeated Hadazar, the king of Zobah, as far as Hamath. And he went to establish his rule to the Euphrates River.
[5:39] So immediately we're introduced to all these battles which he faces. The 14th verse of the 18th chapter says, So David reigned over all Israel. And he administered justice and righteousness for all his people.
[5:53] And he gives us the officers that are reigning with him. Joab, the son of Zariah, was over the army. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder. And Zadok, the son of Ahitub. And Abimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests.
[6:06] And Shavasha was secretary. And Benaniah, the son of Jehodiah, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And the sons of David were the chiefs of the king's side. In the 19th chapter, we are introduced to an account which we have already heard.
[6:18] Now it came about after this that Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon, died. And his son became king in this place. We won't take the time to read it. But if you remember, David sent two men to console the son and to send his remorse.
[6:32] Those in the court of that son said, David is not sending genuine remorse. He is conspiring against you. So that man called in help. So we pick that up a little bit later when we come down to verse 10.
[6:46] Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel. And they arrayed themselves against the Arameans. But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai, his brother.
[6:58] And he arrayed himself against the sons of Ammon. So now we're fighting the Arameans and the sons of Ammon. And we go down a little bit further in verse 16. When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the river to Shopak, the commander of the army of Hadadezar, leading them.
[7:16] And when it was told, David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came up on them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle array against the Arameans, they fought against him. The Arameans fled before Israel.
[7:27] So when David killed of the Arameans, 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and he put to death Shopak, the commander of the army. So now we have the defeat of the Arameans and the defeat of the sons of Ammon.
[7:39] In chapter 20, we are introduced, Then it happened in the spring, at the time when the kings go out to battle. Now you know the account that follows that. But it's not recorded for us in the Chronicles, because it was during the spring, in a time when the kings go out to battle, that David stayed home.
[7:55] But we don't focus on that here. Now it happened in the spring, at the time when the kings go out to battle, that Joab let out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammon and came and besieged Rabba.
[8:06] But David stayed at Jerusalem, and Joab struck Rabba and overthrew it. And David took the crown of their king from his head, and he found it to weigh a talent of gold. And there was a precious stone in it, and it was placed on David's head.
[8:18] And he brought out the spool of the city, a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it, and he cut them with saws, with sharp instruments, and with axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
[8:31] We can read, starting in verse 4, the accounts that are summarized for us in verse 8. Verse 8 says, These were the descendants from the giants of Gath.
[8:43] You remember Goliath, right? And you remember that when David went to fight Goliath, he picked up five smooth stones. And some people think that David picked up five smooth stones in case he missed, but he didn't do that.
[8:55] He picked up five smooth stones because Goliath had four brothers. What is recorded, starting in verse 4, are the fate of his four brothers. Verse 8 tells us, These were the descendants of the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
[9:13] So now all five giants have fallen. So just to recap, the Philistines, the Arameans, Ammon, the people of Shabbat, now the giants of Gath, have all fallen before King David and his men.
[9:30] We pick up in chapter 21, and we will read that chapter. Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.
[9:48] Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. But my Lord the king, are they not all my Lord's servants? Why does my Lord seek this thing?
[9:59] Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel? Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David, and all Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah was four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
[10:19] But he did not number Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab. God was displeased with this thing, so he struck Israel. David said to God, I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing, but now please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.
[10:37] The Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and speak to David, saying, Thus says the Lord, I offer you three things. Choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.
[10:48] So Gad came to David and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Take for yourself either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.
[11:08] Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me. David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.
[11:22] So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel. Seventy thousand men of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough.
[11:38] Now relax your hand. And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan. In 2 Samuel, his name is Arunah as well. Ornan, the Jebusite. Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven with his drawn sword and his hand stretched out over Jerusalem.
[11:57] Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. David said to God, Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly.
[12:10] But these sheep, what have they done? O Lord, my God, please let your hand be against me and my father's household, but not against your people, that they should be plagued.
[12:21] Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, That David should go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord.
[12:36] Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and prostrated himself before David with his face to the ground.
[12:50] Then David said to Ornan, Give me the site of this threshing floor that I may build on it and altar to the Lord for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people.
[13:01] Ornan said to David, Take it for yourself and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering.
[13:14] I will give it all. But King David said to Ornan, No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.
[13:26] So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the site. Then David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offering and peace offerings.
[13:37] And he called to the Lord and he answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offerings. And the Lord commanded the angel and he put his sword back in its sheath.
[13:49] At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifice there for the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.
[14:03] But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the Lord. First Chronicles 18 through 21. I'd encourage you to go back at your time and read those chapters in detail.
[14:17] But for the sake of time, we won't do it tonight. But I want you to see the battles before the people of God. The battles before the people of God. The first thing we notice from this large chunk of scripture, and hopefully you will see why we have to read it in this context.
[14:35] Number one, we see the success that emboldens us. We see the successes that embolden us.
[14:45] Chapters 18, 19, and 20 record for us success after success after success of David and his military and his officers.
[14:56] We find no enemy on this earth that has the physical capabilities to resist the forces of God as they are led by King David. They are often, the nation of Israel that is, often outnumbered, outmanned, and it seems outstrength.
[15:13] But yet they arise victorious, even facing two battles at one time, as when they had to separate themselves because the sons of Ammon called in the Arameans, and the battle was set against them on two sides.
[15:29] Over and over and over again, what we find is that the nation of Israel arises victorious under the leadership of David and under the leadership of the people that he put in place.
[15:40] It tells us in the 18th chapter that David was reigning over all Israel, and he administered justice and righteousness for all his people. The nation of Israel now, for the first time in their history, under the reign of David, is on the offensive, not on the defensive.
[15:58] Under the reign of Saul, Saul was trying to preserve and protect that which they had acquired after they came into the promised land. When David comes onto the scene, no longer are they trying to preserve and protect.
[16:11] They are extending their borders. This is something that God had declared all the way back in his covenant with Abraham. The land that God promised Abraham has yet, historically, to be inhabited by the nation of Israel.
[16:26] They have not reached the extents of every border that God set in the Abrahamic covenant. Because much like mankind, because they are men, when they came in during the period of Joshua and the judges, which came before him, came after him, they came into the land, and they took just enough, and they stopped.
[16:44] And they didn't push out the enemy. As a matter of fact, they befriended the enemy. They did not fulfill everything that God had commanded them to do. But now, during the reign of David, they are pushing in.
[16:55] They are subduing the nations. These nations that are listed were the nations that they were called to dispel and displace in the very beginning. And just in case we think that it is unfair, let us be reminded of the promise that God gives to the nation of Abraham, or to Abraham himself, that his people would sojourn in a land for 400 years, for the iniquity of the Ammonites and the Canaanites had not yet come to its fullness.
[17:22] God is using the nation of Israel, as we've said before, to be the judgment of his hand upon them for their sin and rebellion. And their lack of being that judging hand is really accepting their sin and rebellion, which is exactly what the nation of Israel did.
[17:40] But over and over, what we find in chapters 18, 19, and 20, is that there is no enemy that can resist the armies of the Lord. We see victory after victory after victory.
[17:53] Every battle which David enters, he leaves victorious. The giants of this world are all slain at the feet of David and his men. There is none that can stand before him.
[18:08] But there's problems there. Because quite often, it is the success that we have in the battle that too often emboldens us too much for the attack that is approaching.
[18:25] The danger is not when we're in the valley and we know the war is waging against us. The danger is when we're on the mountaintop and we forget that we're still engaged. So chapters 18 and 19 and 20 repeat the refrain, David won, David won, David won.
[18:44] There's not an earthly army that can resist. There's not a force strong enough to push them back. It's success after success.
[18:55] But then when we turn to the 21st chapter, the very first line in chapter 21 says, Then Satan stood up against Israel.
[19:06] Which leads us to the second thing. The subtle temptation that entangles us. It is quite often the subtle temptation that entangles us.
[19:20] When every military drew up in battle array, David and his men had no problem marching forward and fighting victoriously. Now we do know that in the listing of those victories, there are also some failures, more failures.
[19:37] David's sin with Bathsheba is there. The sin and people falling in battle, they are there. There are some internal strife that is in the midst of all that historically. But for the chronicler, he wants us to see that victory after victory after victory after victory after victory is followed immediately by this one statement.
[19:58] Then Satan stood up against Israel. When we read this account in 2 Samuel, the very last chapter of 2 Samuel, it tells us that God was upset or opposed to the nation of Israel for David and their sin and their rebellion because he records for us there in 2 Samuel everything that they had done morally wrong and all of their rebellion.
[20:19] And it says that God moved him, but then we're told over here that Satan moved him. And so the question we asked back then is the same question we ask now. Is this God or is this Satan? Well, is Satan moving the heart of a man, but it's God permitting him to do so?
[20:33] Read the book of Job if you need to understand that. But what we find, friend, make no mistake about it, the ambition and the work of Satan from the very beginning has been just to live up to his name.
[20:49] His name means an adversary. He has been the adversary to the people of God from the very early pages of the book of Genesis. Not really because he has anything against people. It's because he is in open rebellion against the Lord God Almighty.
[21:02] And so therefore it is his ambition to thwart the purposes and plans of God. And if by this time historically God's purposes and plans are moving through the nation, then he seeks to destroy the nation.
[21:14] And now we read that he is opposing the nation of Israel and he moves the heart of David to do something. But every enemy that has been faced prior to this, if we understand scripture accurately, and I think we should, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of the air and spiritual forces of darkness, then make no mistake about it, every battle with the Philistines, every battle with the Amorites and the Ammonites, every battle with the Canaanites, every battle with the Jebusites, every battle that has preceded this was also a battle that was stirred by Satan himself.
[21:46] Because it is the work of Satan to resist the people of God. And over and over and over again, David and his men won those battles. And they feel emboldened because they are winning the battles even against the giants of this world.
[22:04] But Satan's not through because the greatest battle fought is not necessarily always with an external enemy, but with an internal man. He says, Then Satan stood against Israel and moved David to number Israel.
[22:21] So now Satan's battle is not going to draw another nation or another group to the battle lines, but he's moving in the heart of the man David.
[22:33] And this is where we get in trouble. Because, and I've said this before, we have no problem resisting a red-horned, fork-tailed, pitchfork-carrying serpent.
[22:51] But it's when it's the angel of light and he's disguised in beauty and splendor as scripture describes him. And it's this subtle temptation.
[23:03] That's where we fail. It is that subtle, internal, inward drawing and moving of the heart that we are not always prepared for.
[23:16] Because if you come barreling at me and running towards me wanting to fight, then I can prepare myself. But when it's something that no one sees and no one knows, then all of a sudden we're not standing guard.
[23:32] And if I've won battles in the past and I let my guard down just a little bit, and in that moment of emboldened strength, we would call it pride, Satan says, I have yet one more and it's the battleground in your hearts.
[23:51] I think if we're going to be honest, every battle we lose is one that is lost on a personal front when no one else knows what's going on but ourselves.
[24:07] Think about David. David's a man after God's own heart. Think of the battles that David lost. Think when he feigned insanity and he decided that he couldn't trust God to keep him, so he fled.
[24:21] Remember that? And he fled to go to the land of the Philistines and to hide from Saul even though God had already preserved him time and time again. What did David say to himself? He said to his own heart, Now Saul will kill me.
[24:33] David convinced his heart that Saul was greater than the God preserving him. And he feigned insanity and ran to the courts of the Philistines. What about his sin with Bathsheba? Was he engaged in a battle of an outward opponent?
[24:46] No, it was an internal struggle. What about now? It says, And Satan stood against Israel and moved David to number Israel. It is the subtle temptation that entraps us.
[25:00] Every recorded failure of David is a failure of an internal battle because he was a warrior and he knew how to oppose those who ran at him.
[25:11] But even the strongest at times let down their guard when it's within them. The success that emboldens us too often leads to the subtle temptation that entraps us which brings us to the third reality.
[25:32] Look at the sorrow of sin's effect on others. The sorrow of sin's effect on others.
[25:44] Now, don't lose sight of this. Satan opposed Israel and moved David.
[26:02] Satan wasn't just opposing David. He was opposing Israel and moved David. David wanted to number the people so David said, Go number the people of Joab.
[26:16] Now, we know that we can't pin a lot of righteousness on Joab, right? We understand when you read Scripture Joab is not one we'd say, Hey, there's a hero of the faith. Follow the example of Joab because he kills a lot of people he shouldn't kill.
[26:27] He does a lot of things he shouldn't do. We're not pinning a lot of righteousness on him but at least here he was right. Joab says, Don't do it. May the Lord add to you a hundred times as many as there are but why would you do this and bring this?
[26:38] So even Joab is a voice of reason. David says, No, I want to count him. I want to count him. And he's the king so he prevails and Joab counts him. So there is this little bit of resistance. No, don't do it. Don't do it.
[26:48] This could be bad. But David moves forward. But notice what happens. Verse 7. God was displeased with this thing.
[27:00] Now what's this thing? David choosing to count the nation of Israel. That's the thing. David's choice. But look at this. God was displeased with this thing so he struck Israel.
[27:15] Friend, the moment we choose to sin, we forfeit the right to decide the outcome.
[27:30] I tried to explain that to our kids. You don't get to determine the outcome or the consequences from your choices. You only get to determine the choice.
[27:40] The moment we choose to sin, that the heart is moved internally, that we lose the battle on the outside and we do something that we know that we shouldn't do, even at times that God has put somebody in our path to help us not to do it.
[27:57] The moment we choose to sin, we forfeit the right to determine the outcome. God opposed Israel. David did it. But God opposed Israel.
[28:09] And this is what Satan's doing. Satan stirred the battle against the nation so he moved a man. God saw this, was displeased by it, and opposed and struck Israel.
[28:24] David said to God, I have sinned greatly. He acknowledges. He admits it. Later on he'll say, it's me in my house. I made the choice. But none of these sheep, these sheep, they didn't decide to do it.
[28:36] They shouldn't suffer for this. But friend, listen, 70,000 people died. 70,000. Because of a subtle temptation that entrapped one man.
[28:55] You say, oh, but he's king. What about Achan? He wasn't king. He was just one man. He saw it. He took it. He hid it.
[29:06] People died in battle. The very next battle. Then his wife and his children died. When we make the choice to sin, we forfeit the right to determine the consequences of it.
[29:21] It is sorrowful, the extent of sin's effect. Sin will always, sin will always, always go further and affect more than you ever think.
[29:40] Always. There is a wage to be paid by the one who sins for the wages of sin is death. We know that. But the lasting effect of sin extends far beyond the reach that we could ever imagine.
[29:58] That moment of subtle temptation internally within our hearts and within our minds that is leading us to make a decision, we need to understand, rightfully so, that it is not us alone that Satan is opposing, but rather those attached to us, our wives, our children, our homes, our community, our families, our church.
[30:17] God is preserving us as we are connected to one another. Satan is opposing the corporate body, not just the individual. because I have news for you. He doesn't really care much about the individual.
[30:32] In the economy of Satan, you're just a number. Book of Revelation says that, right? Those who follow the beast are given a number, but those who have surrendered to the lamb are given a name written in the lamb's book of life.
[30:45] And those who follow after the beast are given the same number. It's not even a unique number. You're given the same number, but you have a new name, a specific name, a unique name to you recorded in the lamb's book of life.
[30:57] Satan's not just opposing you. He's opposing everyone that's connected to you. And therefore, we see the sorrow of sin's effect on all those around us. What sorrow resonates?
[31:12] All because we had a little success. We failed at the subtle temptation. And now there is sorrow. David, rightfully so, I believe, surrendered himself.
[31:23] He was given a choice. God, in his grace and his mercy, gave him a choice which of the three he could choose. Say what you will, but David did it right.
[31:34] He said, I'm going to cast myself into the hands of the Lord God. But the judgment and the punishment was there. And the pestilence of the Lord came upon all of Israel and 70,000 people fell.
[31:46] So much so that if God had not told the angel to stop when he came, came to Jerusalem and the plague was stopped with the sword drawn, we see the sorrow.
[32:00] Fourth and finally, notice the sacrifice of personal expense. There are questions I ask in every passage that I get to.
[32:12] I think when we study scripture, we need to come to them with a certain number of questions. There are five questions I like to ask every passage of scripture I read.
[32:24] Number one, what do I see of God? Number two, what do I see of man or self? Number three, what thing should I avoid?
[32:37] Number four, what thing or command should I obey or what do I do? And number five, what now? What application is there that flows from that text?
[32:49] We look at this, chapters 18 through 21, we see of man, one who could face the battle externally pretty good but has a problem internally when he's left alone.
[33:05] We can see what we should avoid, what we should do, we see all that, but the greatest picture we really see is what we see of God. Because Satan is moving throughout all of this, but at the same time, we're also seeing the Lord God move.
[33:19] We're seeing grace and mercy on display in ways that we couldn't even imagine. The sin is real, the consequences are devastating, the sorrow is overwhelming as multitudes of people die.
[33:31] But if it had not been for the merciful hand of God that stayed the sword of the angel, then it would have continued. But it says, then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
[33:49] I don't think we catch the weight of that for just a moment. Let me break it down to you this way a little bit. Satan opposed Israel so he moved the heart of David to do something that David knew was wrong.
[34:03] David chose to sin. And in his choice to sin, God brought judgment, deserved judgment for that sin.
[34:17] But the same God who declared judgment, now I know David had the option to choose one of three, but God determined which three he could choose from, right?
[34:27] So the same God who determined the judgment for that sin is also the same God who declares the offering to atone for that sin.
[34:39] for the angel of the Lord is standing there with a sword drawn and no one knew what to do until the angel of the Lord said, tell him to go make an offering.
[34:56] The God who declared judgment is also the God who declares the way for forgiveness. that's amazing to me that the one who says your choice to sin renders judgment and I get to determine what the judgment is also the one who says but this is the way to be renewed and to be restored.
[35:24] That he declares that there is a way of atonement. In the middle of this there is a second Samuel refers to him as Arunah here his name is Ornan same guy but notice who he is.
[35:39] We've said it so many times we forget about it he's Ornan the Jebusite Ornan the Jebusite Ornan the Jebusite what was Jerusalem called before it was called Jerusalem? Jebus J-E-B-U-S so Ornan is not even of Hebrew descent he is one of the original inhabitants of the city of Jebus before David and his men came in because the Jebusites were one of the strongholds within the land that were not pushed out he is one that is allowed to live kind of on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem if you want to know where it is it's Temple Mount it's there today still that's Ornan's land right that's where Ornan was at right where the dome of the world when Temple Mount sits that's the same place so he was there and he's one of those so if God is opposed to Israel then listen Ornan has nothing to do in this battle God's not opposed to him right he's not under judgment because he's a Jebusite he's not an Israeli yet he sees him and his sons but he's still out threshing wheat so David goes at the command of the Lord don't miss that
[36:49] God says tell him to go here to this land to that place and offer this sacrifice so David responds in obedience to the word of God and he goes and Ornan sees him and he falls down on his feet and worships him not because he's his king but he's the king of the land that he's living in so he recognizes him as king right and he prostrates himself and David says wait a minute I want to buy your threshing floor and I want to make a sacrifice I'm going to build an altar here and Ornan says I'm just going to give it to you I want to give it to you some of us will say that's awesome good deal I'm going to take it let's go here I'll give you the oxen I'll give you threshing sledges I'll give you everything you need here's the wheat I just threshed it we have everything you need for a sacrifice but what does David say no I will pay for it the full price for I will not offer to the Lord God that which is yours or that which costs me nothing because atonement cost atonement is never free we say we can offer the free offer of salvation but it's only free to us it's not free it was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ atonement costs greatly 600 shekels by the way is a lot of money and he pays this money to buy this piece of property and he builds that altar and he places the sacrifice on the altar and it says and then he calls out to the
[38:27] Lord God and it says and God answered by fire so now the same God who declared judgment is the same God who declared the means for redemption is the same God who was waiting to respond David could have said how do I know he will answer me but he didn't he said this is what he told me to do I'm going to build it I want to put it on there and I'm going to call out to him much like when Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness there's that text in scripture where it says that those who were bitten by the snake because of their sin were suffering the consequences for their sin and everyone bitten by the snake was dying everyone bitten by the snake was dying there's one little phrase there because the Lord tells Moses not to remove the serpents not to forget about the sin but to make an atonement for the sin right to take that bronze serpent and put it on a bronze staff and lift it up high and those who looked upon it would live there would be forgiveness right and it's the image of Christ on the cross he declares it in John chapter 3 but there's that one statement that it says because people were still getting bit by serpents people were still being bit because the sin was still there the consequence!
[39:34] still remained God didn't remove the consequence he just provided a means of redemption and forgiveness because of the consequence but the statement says as many as looked at it lived there were still people being bitten who were looking for a remedy when all they had to do was look up but they wouldn't and they were dying David says God says this is the way of redemption this is the way of forgiveness so he builds the altar he lays it there and he calls out trusting God will be approved and it says and God answered by fire God accepted because he did what he told him to do he paid the high price of sacrifice and we're told in verse 28 that David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornn and the Jebusite he offered a sacrifice there and it tells us that the tabernacle and the burnt offering why didn't he go to the tabernacle it's a good question it's at Gibeon it's at the high place in
[40:34] Gibeon there was already an altar right that was there why didn't he just go there but it tells us but he could not go there because he was afraid of the sword of the Lord that was over Jerusalem fear gripped him look David couldn't go to God so God met him where he was at and he brought the means for atonement and redemption to where David was we could spend hours on this you read the book of Leviticus and you're coming to those weird passages in the book of Leviticus where there's that red heifer that they have to take outside the city gate and they kill the heifer they bring it outside the city and they burn its ashes and they leave its ashes outside the city gate you're like why did they do that do you remember why they did that it's because if you were outside the city and you were unclean right you did something that made you unclean you could not come back into the presence of God because you were unclean so you couldn't enter the city because you were unclean but the way to be clean was to wash yourself with running water over and with the ashes of the red heifer where were the ashes of the red heifer outside the city where you were at so you had a way of cleansing so that you could come back into the presence that's why it tells us in the book of Hebrews that Jesus suffered outside the city gates because he met us where we were at we can't come into his presence because the wages of our sin our internal battles that we submitted to and surrendered to the things that we did is so great and so grand that the sword is there we can't come to him but he meets us at the threshing floor of
[42:14] Ornan the Jebusite and he responds to us there great Bible study by the way if you trace that lineage that same hill there was another man who went up that same hill before that his name was Abram Abraham took Isaac was offered him on that same hill Abraham laid Isaac on an altar on that hill almost slew his son Isaac didn't do it for in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided fast forward a few more years everybody forgets about the hill until Ornan is threshing wheat up there and David shows up and he buys the hill and all of a sudden he buys the hill and the atonement is provided there go for a little bit more and then they build Solomon's temple on that hill we get to that starting in the next chapter by the way because he says this is the house of God and then we go forward a little bit further we go over the centuries we keep going through the years all of a sudden in the mount of the Lord that place Ornan and the Jebusites threshing floor that place it says it will be provided and Jesus stands up and says I am the light of the world the consistency of scripture is amazing and the redemptive work of God is even more astounding for what
[43:27] Satan intended for evil he opposed Israel so he moved the heart of David David redeemed I mean God redeemed through David for good he bought the hill that Abraham had climbed and declared in the mount of the Lord it will be provided so that our savior could stand there and say it has been provided but the battles before the people of God friend listen we may have success with our external enemies but we need to constantly be on guard against the subtle temptations and we see that recorded for us in first chronicles 18 through 21 thank you my brothers I know I went a little long tonight Okay.