2 Samuel - Lesson 24

**2 Samuel series originally taught by Stephen Armstrong. Chapter 20 onwards taught by Wesley Livingston**

• Tonight, we come to our last Chapter in the book of 2 Samuel.

  • We have been able to observe the life of David in all of its complexities, from his rise to the throne to his misdeeds and failures as king.

    • What becomes quite profound about David’s life is that the writer does not seek to hide the shortcomings of David’s life.

    • There is no omissions of David’s life or need to maintain a false façade of David as King of Israel during his 40 year reign.

  • It is God, in His Sovereign providence, that allows us to see how David could be both a man after His own heart, yet still struggle in sin from time to time.

    • And hopefully, this study has been encouraging for you in your own life as well in that our lives experience this up and down reality.

    • And tonight’s study will be no different as the writer, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, uses this chapter as the conclusion to David’s life story and reign.

  • If I were to outline our time together, we will see the following things:

    • 1. David’s Sin (vv.1-9)

    • 2. Judgement Demanded (vv.10-14)

    • 3. Pestilence Sent (vv.15-17)

    • 4. Fellowship Restored (vv.18-25)

  • If I were to put a tag on our text tonight it would simply be: David’s Sin: Sin, Judgement and Restoration

    • With that being said, I invite you to meet me in 2 Samuel 24:1-25. We will begin our reading in verse 1.

2 Samuel 24:1 Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

• The text begins rather interestingly in the sense that we are thrust into the final chapter with the wording, “Now, again” regarding the anger of the Lord against Israel.

  • The question that one might ask the text is “What happened?”

    • “What has caused the anger of the Lord to burn against Israel again?”

  • As I’ve mentioned in previous teachings in 2 Samuel, whenever we see “the Lord angered with Israel”, it is most often always due to Israel’s sin and in this case it is no different. (Nation or Leadership)

    • And we will see later on tonight what the sin was.

    • Another question becomes, “When was the anger of the Lord kindled against Israel before, contextually speaking?”

  • Well, we need not go further than 2 Samuel 21, where a famine swept through the land during David’s reign due to Saul’s sin of breaking an oath.

    • And because of Saul’s failure of upholding the oath made by Joshua in Joshua 9, both Israel and Saul’s descendants suffered greatly.

  • It seems as if the tables have now turned within David’s reign as King and the Nation of Israel is in a ‘bit of a pickle’.

    • Again, the text mentions that “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel”.

    • That word for anger in the Hebrew means “nose”, so the translation in the original is “God’s nose is burning” which is a Hebrew idiom.

    • And knowing that God does not have human emotions, it’s simply describing that injustice has occurred and Justice must be served.

    • We should thank God that the Lord is not petty nor responds impulsively as we human beings do!

  • Now again, the text provides us no information regarding how Israel sinned or how they have offended Yahweh.

    • We simply are shown that injustice has happened, and His judgement must now be exhibited to remain consistent with His Holiness. (Divine Nature)

  • So, at this point, another question arises which is: “What would be the method by which the Lord would use to get Israel to recognize the reality of them being in sin?”

    • Well, we find the answer to that question in part b of verse 1.

  • It is because of Israel’s sin that the text says that the Lord “incited” David against them to do a census. (“Go, number Israel and Judah”)

    • The word “incited” in Hebrew means to mislead or to allure away in a positive or negative sense.

  • Now at the onset, the use of this word to describe God moving David to take a census seems out of character with God’s nature of being Holy and Righteous.

    • As a matter of fact, James 1:13 speaks to the fact that God does not tempt or cause one to sin.

    • Rather, He tests us to prove His word and work through us. Check out the text.

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 

• • The question becomes, if God is consistent in His nature and character then how is God the “inciter” to cause David’s sin?

  • Well, when we read through the parallel passage of 2 Samuel 24 found in 1 Chronicles 21:1, we see two things:

    • 1. We find out who is the instrument used to cause David to sin

    • 2. What is the sin that is committed by David, but a result of the sin of the nation.

    • Turn with me quickly to 1 Chronicles 21:1.

1 Chronicles 21:1 Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:2 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.” 

• So, here we see that the cause of David to number the people is not God, but rather Satan who is inciting David.

  • Now, some can look at these two accounts and say how are these two accounts able to be reconciled if one says God was the cause and the other says Satan.

    • What we see here is that it is the Lord, in His Sovereignty, that is allowing Satan to influence David’s motivation to take a census of the people.

    • In other words, God uses the enemy to bring about divine judgement on the object of his anger (David).

  • And what we find here is a familiar concept of how the Lord allows evil influences in this life to accomplish His purposes and plans for His glory.

    • Often, it is through the frailties of the human condition and our giving into our own sin nature that the Lord reveals our sinful conditions in that we might turn to Him in repentance.

    • Plainly put, these divine detours are meant for us to see the arrogance of our own ways so that we may turn to the Lord.

  • It’s what we find in areas of scripture such as Job and 1 Kings 22 where the Lord uses what seems to be misdirection as a divine device or instrument to reveal truth.

    • And in both instances God allows or permits this means of “inciting” (testing/tempting) to hold the individual responsible for their behavior.

    • And we find in verses 2-4 what the sin of Israel truly was in quite an ironic way. Check out verses 2-4.

2 Samuel 24:2 The king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and register the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
2 Samuel 24:3 But Joab said to the king, “Now 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; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
2 Samuel 24:4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to register the people of Israel.

• It’s in verses 2-4 that we see David’s command to Joab to initiate a census of the people of Israel.

  • However, if you closely examine the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21:3-5, we find that the census did not include “all of Israel”.

    • Instead, the census consisted of only the “men of Israel” excluding women and children.

    • What this shows us is that it was not a sin to take a census of the people!

    • As a matter of fact, this practice was given to Moses by the Lord in Exodus 30:11-16 as well as Numbers 1 and 26.

  • So, this means that something preceded this moment which causes this heart check test for David to examine the temperament of his heart!

    • 1 Chronicles 21:3-5 reveals to us what the root of the sin of this census was about. Check out the text:

1 Chronicles 21:3 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? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” 
1 Chronicles 21:4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 
1 Chronicles 21:5 Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword.

• So, we find that the root behind God’s anger against Israel was David’s arrogance and pride and as a result the Nation became a casualty.

  • The Nation, at this point in their history was experiencing immense blessing and posterity.

  • And when you find yourself in a place of great blessing and growth, it is human nature to see the blessing and forget who provided it for you!

  • It is often the case that our “mountain top experiences” allow us to see the goodness of God and our valley moments grant us the mercy of God!

    • If you recall with the life of David, he was able to speak mightily of the wonders and provision of God because he had endured much with God.

    • So, what caused this pride to swell within the heart of David was seeing the Nation’s prosperity and blessing within the land.

  • Notice, in 1 Chronicles 21:5, David’s census includes “men who draw the sword”. In other words, this is a military census to show the might of the Nation.

    • The reality was, David looked at the numbers of his army instead of depending upon the God behind the army!

  • And the reality is we oftentimes do the same thing. We get beside ourselves and think our degrees carried us to where we are or our skills, and so on.

    • However, when we boil everything down, it is the Lord who has provided for us and He most certainly did for David!

    • This is what Proverbs 18:10-12 says regarding matters of pride in the human heart.

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own imagination.
Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
But humility goes before honor.

• So rather than David resting and depending upon the faithful provision of the Lord, he saw what they had “seemingly achieved” and credited it to himself.

  • Interestingly enough, it was Joab who notices something is off with David in his request. (1 Chronicles 21:3)

  • Joab points to the fact that the Lord can provide the need, therefore there was no need to place Israel under this guilt.

  • In other words, our strength lies in the Lord and if you ask Him, He will provide the numbers.

    • How ironic is it that Joab, a hot-headed, violent, and quick-witted man responds with such wisdom.

    • Yet this wisdom from an unwise man wasn’t heard because the King’s word prevailed. This is God’s Sovereignty at work!

    • Check out verses 5-9.

2 Samuel 24:5 They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad and toward Jazer.
2 Samuel 24:6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon,
2 Samuel 24:7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba.
2 Samuel 24:8 So when they had gone about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
2 Samuel 24:9 And Joab gave the number of the registration of the people to the king; and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

• Upon the King’s request, Joab and his men traveled in a counterclockwise fashion throughout the land covering all their bases.

  • Here is a map of their travels which totalled close to 285 days and ended around springtime.

  • And being that there are approximately 355 days in a Jewish year, means that only 70 days were left in the year. So, this process was no small feat.

  • Furthermore, regardless of the varying count of the census between 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, this is not the point.

    • What becomes the focus moving forward is how David responds to the results of the census. Check out verses 10-14.

2 Samuel 24:10  Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So 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 acted very foolishly.” 
2 Samuel 24:11   When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 
2 Samuel 24:12  “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” 
2 Samuel 24:13   So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven 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 see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” 
2 Samuel 24:14   Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

• It is after having received the numbers from this military census that David becomes troubled in his heart.

  • And he confesses to the Lord that he has sinned “greatly”. David’s use of the word “greatly” (me’od) had never been used by David regarding his sin.

    • In other words, David saw that he had done grievously wrong against the Lord because of his pride and arrogance.

    • It’s one thing to sin but it’s another thing to sin and not realize what you have done against a Holy God.

    • It seems as if David is quite aware of his sin nature, yet he doesn’t allow his sin to keep him out of fellowship with the one he knows keeps Him.

  • From there David immediately turns to the Lord for forgiveness of sins.

    • And what a beautiful thing it is to know that the Lord is waiting to forgive those who turn to Him.

    • This is a perfect demonstration of seeing the heart of David before a Holy God.

    • The point is not for us to try and be like David, but to see how even in David’s life he runs to the Lord for all he needs and so should we!

    • That in the Lord there is forgiveness of sins. This is why we see in 1 John 1:9 the following:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

• • Believer, God’s forgiveness is fully available in Christ who is ready and faithful to forgive and to cleanse us.

    • But understand that there must be a willingness to be open and transparent before a Holy God. Take off the fig leaves and stand before Him!

• So, upon David’s recognition of his sin and confession of his sin, we see that the Lord immediately and graciously responds through David’s prophet Gad.

  • It began by saying the Lord was angered against Israel, yet now the text recognizes this was David’s sin that caused Israel to be greatly judged.

    • As a quick note we must not miss that as goes the King, so does the nation. This was Joab’s point!

    • In other words, the leadership over the people will either lead them into blessing or demise.

    • And in this case, David’s pride caused the entire nation to now face judgement.

  • So in God’s response, He provides David with three choices regarding the punishment of the Nation for his sin.

    • And the fact that the Lord provides choices to David is a mercy in and of itself, yet it is not without its consequence.

    • Meaning, God’s justice must always be satisfied according to His righteousness.

  • As a quick side note, although David is given choices here, this is not prescriptive for you and I today.

  • This example is simply descriptive as to how God dealt with David.

    • So, when you and I sin, we don’t get the opportunity to pick our consequences.

    • Rather, we must face the consequences of our choices accordingly.

  • So, the very next morning, David receives a response from the Lord through the prophet Gad and Gad presents David with three choices. The choices were:

    • 1. There would be a 7-year famine in the land (depending on which translation it may read 3 years – copyist error)

    • 2. David would flee three months from his enemies as they pursue him.

    • 3. Three days of pestilence in the land.

  • Regardless of all choices was the reality and impending doom of destruction, death, and great disruption.

    • So, there was no getting out of the consequence of sin against Holy God.

    • The only difference in the choices that were provided was the duration in which these consequential results would last.

    • The first option would last 3 years, the second option, 3 months, and the third option, 3 days.

  • And in David’s consideration he relies upon the mercy of God amidst his great distress.

    • For if there was one thing that David knew about God, despite David’s misdeeds, it was that God was a God of mercy.

    • And I find this quite informative because it shows us David’s shift in disposition.

    • There is this immediate turn around for David in that where he was beside himself in pride, he comes to the reality of Who his true provider is!

  • Furthermore, regarding David’s choice of consequence, later rabbis argued his reasoning to choose the 3 day plague. This is what they deduced.

“If I choose famine the people will say that I chose something which will affect them and not me, for I shall be well supplied with food; if I choose war, they will say that the king is well protected; let me choose pestilence, before which all are equal.”

• • In other words, David knew that no one would be excluded from this judgement, including himself, the one who brought it about.

    • Yet at the same time David knew, the Lord would not cause those who are His to suffer forever, because His grace is sufficient.

    • Micah 7:18 states it best this way:

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love.

• It’s like a parent who disciplines their child when they have done wrong. Although the punishment is necessary, and at times painful, it is but for a time.

  • Growing up, I never understood my parents telling me “this whooping hurts me more than it hurts you!”

  • However, as a parent now, I get it! The punishment is great because of my love for you, and it’s because I love you that the duration is only for a moment.

  • David and Israel will now experience the judgement in which he brought upon them and himself. Check out verses 15-17.

2 Samuel 23:15 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 
2 Samuel 23:16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 
2 Samuel 23:17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

• The judgement of the Lord is now fully realized by David as the text mentions that 70,000 men from Dan to Beersheba died.

  • That where David’s desire to see the numbers of his kingdom increase, due to pride, it resulted in the death of thousands.

    • What a sobering reality this must have been?!

  • Herein lies a peak into the effects of sin, that what we think is of private enjoyment ends up being the demise of yourself and impacts those around us.

    • I tell my children all the time, your sin nature doesn’t just impact you, but it impacts those around you.

    • Sin at its very core is the exchange of the worship of God for yourself.

• Verse 16 mentions that it was the angel of the Lord who stretched out his hand causing the calamity that was being released throughout the land and headed towards Jerusalem.

  • However, the text makes an interesting pivot because as the hand of the ‘angel of the Lord’ moves towards Jerusalem, Yahweh tells him, “It is enough”.

    • Clearly, the angel of the Lord had all intentions of “destroying” Jerusalem.

    • The word ‘destroy’ in Hebrew can mean to ruin, to lay waste, or to annihilate.

  • And the cause of this destruction was due to the Lord “relenting” from the calamity headed towards Jerusalem.

    • The word ‘relent’ is an interesting word. It shows up nearly 108 times in 100 verses in the Old Testament.

    • The origin of the root, ne’ham, carries the idea of someone “breathing deeply” as if displaying compassion towards one who has done wrong.

  • Imagine, your child or relative having done something that warrants dire consequence before the judge in a court of law.

    • Yet before the full weight of the consequence is rendered by the judge, he shakes his head and breathes deeply only to consider “changing his mind”.

  • The Septuagint renders the word ne’ham both as metanoeo and metamelomai which is where we get the word repent from.

    • Only repent, in this context, is not how human beings repent, but how God changes his mind.

  • Understand, God does not repent as it relates to how human beings repent.

    • Humans repent due to our sin. God does not sin.

    • So, when this term is used of God it is Anthropopathic.

    • Anthropopathic simply means escribing feelings of human beings to one who is not human.

  • So, God is not changing His word or Sovereign Decree, rather He changes how He carries out His judgement according to man’s change in conduct.

    • As one Jewish Theologian notates, “A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in God’s judgement.”( The Prophets, p. 194)

  • How do we see this played out scripturally? We see this displayed in God’s mercies exhibited towards those who respond positively to His word and promises!

    • Here are a few places to consider: 1 Chronicles 21:15; Jeremiah 18:8; 26:3; Amos 7:3,6; Jonah 3:10.

  • So, this relenting of the calamity that would have rightfully taken out Jerusalem is ceased because David repented.

    • And what becomes so beautiful towards the end of verse 17 is not only David’s personal confession of his sin, but him taking on the responsibility instead of Israel.

  • David desires to take on the punishment himself and calls Israel “sheep” in the sense that he is responsible for their safety and protection.

    • There is a sense here of his personal ownership of the calamity and desire to take upon himself the due penalty.

    • And what a picture shows of how Christ who didn’t sin yet graciously took upon Himself our guilt and sin as if it were His own.

    • Lastly, there are two things worth noting in verses 16 and 17 and that is, the Angel of the Lord and where He stops His destruction.

  • The text mentions that the “angel of the Lord” was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite when He ceased the destruction.

    • And David is allowed to see this Angel striking down the people.

    • It is quite possible that the ‘Angel of the Lord’ mentioned here was in fact the pre-incarnate Christ.

    • Now, let’s note “where” the destruction is withdrawn.

  • The text mentions that the mercy of the Lord is exhibited at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

    • Now, a threshing floor was a level outdoor area typically on top of a rock or hilltop where threshing occurred.

  • The location of the threshing floor was located north of the northern walls of David’s Jerusalem which means it was not owned by David.

    • Furthermore, it is the location of the Temple Mount which would become the future site of Solomon’s Temple.

    • And if that weren’t coincidental enough, this was also the very location where Abraham was sent to sacrifice his son Isaac – known as Mount Moriah.

  • So, where David repents before Yahweh becomes the place where future sacrifices to the Lord would take place.

    • Check out how this reality unfolds in verses 18-25.

2 Samuel 24:18  So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 
2 Samuel 24:19 David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. 
2 Samuel 24:20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 
2 Samuel 24:21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be held back from the people.” 
2 Samuel 24:22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 
2 Samuel 24:23 Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 
2 Samuel 24:24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 
2 Samuel 24:25 David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

• It’s on this last day of the plague that David receives word from the prophet Gad to build an altar to the Lord where the plague stopped.

  • And without hesitation, in immediate obedience, David went up (meaning ascended to the land – elevation wise) where the threshing floor was located.

    • And it is there that David met Araunah to purchase his property.

    • Araunah was the owner of this land and was a Jebusite which was a non-Israelite native from Jerusalem.

  • Araunah seeing the King and his servants coming toward him, he bends the knee which would signify his honor and respect for the King.

    • And in that moment Araunah asks the King “what brings him his way.”

    • David responds and tells Araunah that he is looking to buy the land from him to build an alter to the Lord to withhold the plague.

  • Immediately, Araunah seeks to provide the King with whatever he needed in order to appease God and to be in right fellowship with God.

    • He provides David with the land, the animals necessary, and even the equipment needed to prepare the altar for sacrifices.

    • So, it’s in verse 23 that we see that Araunah offers everything of value that he possesses to the King without charge.

  • Now, Araunah must have known that David was out of fellowship with the Lord because in verse 23 the writer uses the word rsh (rad-sa) for “accept”.

    • The word “accept” here means to take pleasure in or accept favorably.

    • The idea here is that of propitiation. That to be right with God requires one to approach Him in an acceptable manner.

  • Clearly, Araunah understood the significance of sacrifices and therefore provided the oxen for the king.

    • The purpose of the burnt offering was to make atonement for sin and was demonstrated as an act of worship and surrender to God.

  • So, the devastation that Israel was facing was due to their King being out of fellowship with the Lord.

    • Here’s the good news for believers: Our sin does not remove us positionally out of the Lord’s hands. (i.e no loss of eternal security)

    • Rather, it causes us to be out of fellowship with the Lord.

    • And the way to restore broken fellowship is through confessing of our sins.

    • Therefore, it is in Christ that the full satisfaction of the Father’s wrath has been accomplished through the crushing of His Son, Jesus Christ.

  • Well, after hearing Araunah’s proposition to the King, David mentions that he will not accept this great sacrifice from Araunah for free.

    • Rather, David tells him that he will buy it for a price.

    • And then David provides such a beautiful response to something of such great cost.

  • He says, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing.”

    • In other words, it’s not a sacrifice to the Lord if there has been no cost counted!

    • When has a fast to the Lord been considered a great cost if it wasn’t something that you held tightly?

    • When has anything of great value been worth attaining to if it wasn’t worth working for?

    • And in the same way, how can pursuing Christ in all things not cost you something of great value, whether time, treasure, or the like. (Mark 8:34-38)

    • Matthew 6:21 tells us this regarding the measure of our affections.

Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• So, David, in turn pays Araunah 50 shekels of silver which is about $1,067 in US Dollars.

  • And from this great sacrifice, David built the altar to the Lord.

  • He offered up his burnt offerings in order to atone for his sins against Yahweh.

    • And made peace offerings to renew fellowship with God.

• David’s recognition of his sin and submitting himself to the Lord positioned both himself and Israel to be in right fellowship with the Lord.

  • And through David’s repentant response to the Lord Yahweh responds accordingly.

    • When you consider this encounter, it shows us God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to His word and those who trust in Him.

• How kind it was for the Lord to bring Abraham to this place and for Abraham to take God at His word to point to a future sacrifice that would be made there.

  • And from Abraham, God using David to purchase this land in preparation for Israel to grow in their understanding of sacrifice to the Lord.

    • So, although David did not build the Temple, he was used to purchase the land where Solomon would build the Temple.

  • And the temple would be a constant reminder for Israel that it is through the shedding of blood that there is forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22).

    • Both Issac and Jerusalem were able to bypass death because it would be through Christ that true Divine Justice would be unleashed for all.

• Friends, it is through the life of David that we are able to witness what the favor of God looks like upon those in whom trust in Him (justified) and obey His word (sanctified).

  • And it is through the Lord’s keeping power that He maintains their standing before His presence.

    • Whether through obedience to His word or Divine discipline, the Lord uses all things to work out His plan through those in whom He loves.

  • For it is God who is the source of blessing, and it is through being made right with Him that those blessings are upheld.

    • However, the moment that we step outside of His covering and care, we leave way for judgment and consequence to commence.

    • But even in His judgement and consequences, He is merciful enough that when we repent, He relents with great mercy and care.

  • May David’s life be a constant reminder to us all who are in Christ.

    • That positionally we are justified in Christ, relationally, we are sanctified in Christ, and experientially, we are matured and glorified in Christ.

  • David’s life becomes an encouraging picture to all of us that our lives are not perfect, yet we serve a God who is able to keep us and maintain us before Himself.

    • Let’s Pray.

Citation:

• Map used in presentation for Joab’s journey to census the people of Israel comes from Yohanan Aharoni, Ph.D at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Aharoni, Yohanan, Michael Avi-Yonah, Anson F. Rainey, R. Steven Notley, and Ze’ev Safrai, eds. The Carta Bible Atlas. Fifth Edition. Jerusalem, Israel: Carta Jerusalem, 2011.

• The reckoning assumes that each “month” was actually 29.5 days in length, the equivalent of one cycle of the moon. Bergen, Robert D. 1, 2 Samuel. Vol. 7. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996.

• Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), 2 Sa 24:10. Goldman, p. 345

• Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.

• David witnessing the ‘angel of the Lord’ destroying the “sheep of Israel” had to be a sobering reality knowing that David, himself, was the cause of this calamity. This reality becomes a picture of the foreshadowing of how the Lord Jesus, only in His innocence, would look upon the guilt of the people and take upon Himself the rightful judgement and wrath of God.

• Barry, John D., David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder, eds. “Threshing Floor.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.

• Watson, Richard. “Moriah, Mount.” A Biblical and Theological Dictionary. New York: Lane & Scott, 1851.

• Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. “Burnt Offering.” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.

• Weights & Measures Converter. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014.