WWUTT 609 David's Sin Leads to Redemption?

In 1 Chronicles 21, we read about a sin that David had committed against God.

But the Lord even used this to bring about good for his people Israel, and even our salvation when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the book of 1

Chronicles. Today we're in Chapter 21. And between this week and next week, we should actually get to the end of our study of 1

Chronicles. We're going to hit a series of chapters here in which there will be long lists of names. And if you'll remember back to when we started this study,

I tend to skip over those names. It's not that they're not important. The Holy Spirit of God inspired the

Chronicler to write them down in the pages of Scripture. So those names are important, but I skip them for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I know that many of my listeners are probably driving when they listen to this program, and I don't need to bore you with long lists of names.

But secondly, and maybe a greater reason than the first, you don't need to hear me try to stumble through my pronunciation of those names.

So, because those names are important, when you get the chance, open up the pages of Scripture when you can review what it is that you had listened to, taught to you that day, and then read those names silently in your mind without trying to have to pronounce them out loud or enunciate them out loud.

You know, anytime that we do these lessons on a podcast or any other teacher that you listen to,

I hope that you do take the time to come back to your Bible and open it up and review what was taught to you earlier that day.

It is certainly great to hear somebody else read the Scripture to you and explain it to you.

I listen to many teachers myself. But that quiet time between you and God is very important, that you would open up the

Bible and let Him talk to you through what you read in the Scriptures, and then you talk to God through meditation and prayer.

So we come to 1 Chronicles 21 today, and what's going on from here to the end of the book, at least the first saga of Chronicles, which is what we call 1

Chronicles, the stage is being set for the construction of the temple. David wanted to build the temple to the

Lord, but God said it wasn't going to be by David's hands that this house was going to be built. That was a responsibility that would be passed to his son

Solomon. But he did make a covenant with David in chapter 17 that on his throne he would establish his kingdom forever.

Now David was a very righteous man, described in the Scriptures as a man after God's own heart.

But here in chapter 21, we see David's sin against God. And God will even providentially use this sin to bring about the construction of this house where God will dwell with His people.

So 1 Chronicles 21, then Satan stood against Israel and incited

David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the commanders of the army, go number

Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report that I may know their number. Now we read about this census that David did and actually was a sin against God for him to do this census, which we'll talk about here in just a moment.

We read about this census in 2 Samuel, but there's something that's included in this account in 1

Chronicles that wasn't said in 2 Samuel. And it's right there at the start of the chapter.

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number

Israel. Satan's name isn't mentioned in 2 Samuel, but it is mentioned here in 1

Chronicles. So this is a fallen angel of God that is influencing

David to do something contrary to what God wants this man, a man after God's own heart to do, a man with whom

God has just said, the promise of this Messiah that's going to come is going to be through your line and he is going to reign over all kings and everyone on earth in heaven and under the earth.

And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's not in 1

Chronicles 17, but we know in the context of the story of the Bible that that's exactly who

God is talking about when he says, on your throne, I will establish my kingdom forever. So then after reading about that promise, we have

Satan attempting to lead this man that God has a covenant with astray.

And so he incites David to number Israel, but Joab said, verse 3, may the

Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. Are they not my

Lord, the King, all of them my Lord's servants? Why then should my

Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?

In other words, Joab recognizes that this census is not going to be according to the law of Moses.

In Exodus chapter 30, God commanded Moses to take a census of the people.

And when this census is taken, when the people are counted, there is a ransom that is supposed to be paid for each life that is counted.

And if the ransom is not paid, then there is going to be a plague that is sent upon the people.

This ransom is to represent the fact that every person, every life is owned by God.

The Lord possesses this people because he redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt.

And here David is doing his own census and he's doing it for no other purpose than to count the number of people that are in his service.

He just wants to know how many people are under him. So this is a very self -serving sentence, or sorry, census.

It isn't because God has told him to, it's just because David is a little bit puffed up with pride here.

He just wants to see how many people, indeed, it is that he rules over. That's why Joab says, may the

Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. And are they all not the

Lord's servants? Then why should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel who are not going to pay the ransom for this census count?

And therefore you're going to end up bringing a plague upon Israel. Joab is even aware of this, but the

King's word prevailed against Joab, verse four. So Joab departed and went throughout all

Israel and came back to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people of David, or people to David, the people of David to David.

In all Israel, there were 1 ,100 ,000 men who drew the sword.

And in Judah, 470 ,000 who drew the sword, but he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering for the

King's command was abhorrent to Joab. Joab just did not want to take this census. He knew that David wanted to count the number of men that he had.

In case he decides to go to war with somebody, he knows exactly how many men are capable of drawing the sword against his enemies.

But he didn't need to do this. It wasn't for the Lord to require

David to do this. But God was displeased with this thing, verse seven, and he struck

Israel, exactly as is mentioned in Exodus 30, that they needed to pay the census tax according to the command of God, and if they did not do that, the

Lord would send a plague. And 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 acted very foolishly.

And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say to David, Thus says the

Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them that I may do it to you. So Gad came to David and said to him,

Thus says the Lord, Choose what you will, either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days of the sword of the

Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.

Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me. Then David said to Gad, I am in great distress.

Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.

Gad is the successor to Nathan. Nathan we read about in chapter 17, who was the one that came to David and told him this covenant that God was making with him.

So likely Nathan is dead, and Gad is his successor.

When we went through our study of 1st and 2nd Samuel, I believe it was there, I said that those two books were co -written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

Nathan and Gad would have been the successors to Samuel. So at this particular time,

Gad is the prophet, whom David inquired of, who came to David to tell him what it was that the

Lord had said. So David, instead of choosing to be struck by his enemies, decides he is going to be struck by God, because he knows

God is merciful. David was a very wise man. So verse 14, the

Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70 ,000 men of Israel fell. And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it.

But as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity.

And he said to the angel, who was working destruction, Now stay your hand.

And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Orn in the Jebusite. And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the

Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem.

Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, Was it not

I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and have done great evil.

But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house.

But do not let the plague be on your people. Now the angel of the

Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Orn in the

Jebusite. So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord.

Now Orn was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel and his four sons, who were with him, hid themselves.

As David came to Orn, Orn looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground.

And David said to Orn, Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the

Lord. Give it to me at its full price that the plague may be averted from the people.

Then Orn said to David, Take it and let my Lord the King do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering.

I give it all. But David said to Orn, No, but I will buy them for the full price.

I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.

So David paid Orn six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the site. And David built there an altar to the

Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord. And the

Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. Then the

Lord commanded the angel and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when

David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Orn in the Jebusite, he sacrificed there for the tabernacle of the

Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were at that time at the high place at Gibeon.

But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the

Lord. Now, if you're familiar with the debate regarding the identity of the angel of the

Lord, then you'll know that there are some scholars who would argue that this is a pre -incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the name that has been given to the God -man. When God was born in the flesh, he was given the name

Jesus. But the Son of God makes appearances even in the Old Testament, and it's likely that those appearances are in the angel of the

Lord. So there's a difference between the references to the angel of the

Lord and an angel of the Lord. So, you know, it just kind of depends on where you fall on that particular discussion, whether you think that this is an angel of God, a significant angel of God, or it could very well be

Jesus Christ himself. So when we read in verse 15, God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the

Lord saw and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, it is enough, now stay your hand.

This is God the Father communicating with God the Son, and the Son being submissive to the will of the

Father. When you go back to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19, it says in verse 24 that the

Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the

Lord out of heaven. So there's two different references to Yahweh there.

It's Yahweh reigned down from Yahweh, fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.

So here we kind of have that interaction as well. If you would interpret the angel of the Lord as being the pre -incarnate

Son of God, you have the Father sending the Son to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the

Lord saw and he relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction, it is enough, now stay your hand.

Others may interpret this though as being the Archangel Michael who is described in the scriptures as one who is a protector over Israel.

So it just kind of depends. That's one of those discussions that really might be up for interpretation.

1 Chronicles 22 now. Then David said, Here shall be the house of the

Lord God and here the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. And this is in reference to that threshing floor of Ornan.

That is going to be the place of the construction of the temple. So recognize here, as a result of this sin that David had committed against God, God commanded him to go to the threshing floor and offer a sacrifice.

And David purchased the threshing floor so that this sacrifice would come from him and no one else.

This was to pay the price for his sin and thus atone for his sin and also the sins of the people with this sacrifice so that the plague, the disease, would be averted.

The pestilence that had come upon Israel as a result of this sin. And it is

Mount Moriah, which is going to be the place that the temple is going to be constructed. It's not far from there where Jesus Christ himself is going to be crucified a thousand years from now.

And when he is crucified, when that offering and that sacrifice is made, it will pay for the sin of everyone who believes on his name.

All of his people will be cleansed, atoned for. The pestilence, the sickness of sin that was upon each and every one of their lives will be washed clean by that sacrifice, by the purchase of his blood.

So you see kind of elements of foreshadowing here, even within this saga in this story, pointing toward what

Christ is going to do with his shed blood on the cross. And so as I said,

David had sinned against God and even though he had sinned, God used this sin to bring about a work of righteousness.

The construction of the temple, eventually Jesus Christ, who's going to be crucified at a nearby location to this place, all of this interconnected with the sovereign decree of the

Lord. And so here we go, continuing on in chapter 22. David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel and he set stone cutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.

David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing and cedar timbers without number for the

Sidonians and the Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.

For David said, Solomon my son is young and inexperienced and the house that is to be built for the

Lord must be exceedingly magnificent of fame and glory throughout all lands.

I will therefore make preparation for it. So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

I mean you think about during this time there's no hardware store. So David is not only constructing the material or gathering the materials for the construction of the temple.

He's even building the hardware store where the nails have to be fashioned and things like that for all this construction that Solomon is eventually going to do.

Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord the God of Israel.

David said to Solomon, My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the

Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars.

You shall not build a house to my name because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.

Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies for his name shall be

Solomon and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name.

He shall be my son and I will be his father and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.

So God has said that it's from the line of David that he's going to establish his throne forever and now narrowing it down more specifically than that it's going to be from the line of Solomon continuing through that line that I will establish my throne.

Verse 11, David said, Now my son, the Lord be with you so that you may succeed in building the house of the

Lord your God as he has spoken concerning you. Only may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the

Lord your God. Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the

Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not.

Do not be dismayed. With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord 100 ,000 talents of gold a million talents of silver and bronze and iron beyond weighing for there is so much of it timber and stone too

I have provided to these you must add. You have an abundance of workmen, stone cutters masons, carpenters and all kinds of craftsmen without number skilled in working gold, silver, bronze and iron.

Arise and work. The Lord be with you. David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help

Solomon his son saying is not the Lord your God with you and has he not given you peace on every side for he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand and the land is subdued before the

Lord and his people. Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the

Lord God so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the

Lord. And so what is recognized here is not only the assemblage of the materials that are going to be used to construct this house but David also mentions that all of his enemies have been subdued into his hand.

David saying to Solomon this is a time of peace this is a time that God has ordained for the construction of his house and so do the work that has been commanded of you to do.

Unfortunately we read some of these things here in chapter 22 with sadness and sorrow as well because we know that Solomon eventually does not keep the commands of the

Lord. His heart goes after the foreign gods of his pagan wives and so therefore

God curses the line of Solomon which will eventually lead to the split kingdoms of Israel northern kingdom of Israel southern kingdom of Judah and then ultimately as Israel falls into worshiping false gods and Judah eventually with them they will be exiled into the hands of their enemies.

So remember this is all being written at a time when Israel has returned to the promised land after their exile.

So they are remembering they're remembering where they went wrong that they may not repeat the same mistakes.

Don't forget that the Lord your God has redeemed you out of slavery. You were once enslaved to sin just as Israel was once enslaved to Egypt but it is

Christ who purchased you by his blood and so you belong to him.

Therefore do not return to your former way. Do not return to slavery.

Do not raise up things in the place of God that you would desire more than Christ himself but that you worship the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He is holy and he is worthy of our worship.

So live your whole life for Christ. Amen. This is When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours.

But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family. Find a good gospel teaching

Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study