2 Samual 24 Part 2

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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December 31, 2023

Job 23 (con't)

00:00: Bethany, would you open us up with a word of prayer? I will. Dear Lord, we thank you for this day.
00:05: We thank you for loving us and bringing us here as your people. We thank you for the gift of laughter, and we thank you that you've given us this time of year to celebrate the birth of our
00:17: Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we just pray that you would be with us as we open your word. Even Brother Mike, as he leads us through it, and we pray,
00:25: Lord, that we would leave this place with a better understanding of who you are and who we are in you.
00:30: For it's in Christ that we pray, amen. Amen. 2 Samuel 24, we read that last week.
00:38: So if you want to keep your finger there, and I want you to turn over to 1
00:45: Chronicles 21. Did anybody read that this week by chance? Anybody, anybody?
00:50: See, there is some differences there. And that's why this will take this week and next week to finish it, because I do want, there is some discrepancies.
01:01: I think they need to be dealt with. 1
01:08: Chronicles chapter 21, so keep your finger at 2 Samuel 24, and then go to 1
01:16: Chronicles 21. And I'm going to read the chapter, and then we'll start putting some differences on the board.
01:23: And I'll need somebody to stay. Maybe one of you guys would stay in 21 so we can go back and forth and compare.
01:33: All right. Verse 1 of chapter 21 of Chronicles. We ready?
01:39: We good? We good? Then Satan stood up against Israel, and he moved
01:46: David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, go number
01:53: Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring word that I may know their number.
01:59: Joab said, may the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are.
02:05: But my lord the king, are there not all the Lord's servants? Why does my lord seek this thing, and why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?
02:17: Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all
02:23: Israel, and he came to Jerusalem. Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David, and all of Israel were 1 .1
02:32: million men who drew the sword, and Judah was 470 ,000 men who drew the sword.
02:40: But he did not number Levi or Benjamin among them, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.
02:46: 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 foolishly.
02:59: The Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, Go, speak to David, saying,
03:06: Thus says the Lord, I offer you three things, choose for yourself one of them, which
03:11: I will do to you. So Gad came to David, and he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Take yourselves either three years of famine, 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
03:31: Lord, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.
03:38: Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.
03:43: David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the
03:49: Lord, for His mercies are very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man. So the
03:55: Lord sent a pestilence over Israel. Seventy thousand men fell in Israel, and God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as He was about to destroy it, the
04:05: Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel,
04:11: It is enough. Relax your hand. And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the
04:17: Jebusite. Then David lifted up his eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and His drawn sword and His hand stretched out over Jerusalem.
04:28: Then David and the elders covered with sackcloth and fell to their faces, and David said to Gad, Is it not
04:34: I who have commanded the count of the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly.
04:41: 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.
04:50: They should be plagued. Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad, and said to David, And David should go up, and you should build an altar to the
04:59: Lord at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the
05:07: Lord. Now Ornan turned back, and he saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, and Ornan was threshing wheat.
05:16: As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked, and he saw David, and he went out from the threshing floor and prostrated himself before David with his face to the ground.
05:26: Then David said to Ornan, Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the
05:33: Lord for the full price. You shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people.
05:39: And Ornan said to David, Just take it to yourself, and let my Lord the King do what is good in His sight.
05:45: See, I will give the oxen and the bird offerings, and the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering.
05:53: I will give it all. But King David said to Ornan, No, but I will surely buy it for full price, for I will not take what is yours for the
06:03: Lord, or offer a burnt offering which cost me nothing. So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by the weight for the site.
06:11: And David built an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called on the
06:17: Lord, and he answered him, and the fire from heaven of the altar, and burnt the offering. And the
06:24: Lord commanded the angel to put his sword back into his sheep. And at that time,
06:30: David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where he had offered sacrifice there.
06:38: For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offerings, were at the high place at Gibeon at that time.
06:45: But David could not go before it to inquire of the Lord, for he was terrified by the sword of the
06:52: Lord of the angel. Good morning. So, last week, you may remember some differences.
07:01: Just from the last week, one, we can say, if you have your
07:06: Bible, we're in 2 Samuel 24, and then we're going back to 1
07:12: Chronicles 21, because it's a parallel passage. So, if you remember last week, we talked briefly, the passage in 2
07:24: Samuel says, who incited him? God did. And the
07:30: Chronicles passage, Satan. Now, I did bring the set
07:36: Britons, and we use a different, correct? We use a different translation. It is.
07:42: The Briton Septuagint translation translates it this way, and this is left up here, because remember, there was no noun connected to this verb in there.
07:54: There's none. There's no subject. So, the translators have put, if you remember,
08:00: Mike, the King James says he? Yes. You got NIV? Yes.
08:06: What does yours say? In 2
08:11: Samuel? 24 verse 1. Verse 1. You know what?
08:17: I may have it right here. I may have it right here.
08:25: Oh, here it is. Okay. And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited
08:31: David. So, basically, it says the same thing that yours said. So, the translators, but in the
08:37: NIV, it doesn't capitalize he. Is yours capitalized,
08:43: Mike? No. It says God. No, it says he. It says he?
08:48: And he moved David against them. It is lowercase h.
08:55: Now, normally, when it's speaking of God, it capitalizes that.
09:00: So, you can see where some of the confusion is. One, if we see it as God inciting
09:06: David to sin, we know that's not consistent with the revelation of Scripture. Does God cause anyone to sin?
09:12: Does God tempt anyone? No. So, we have to understand, by taking the two together, what is it saying?
09:20: Now, this is the Septuagint's translation, and I do think this is the most accurate based on not having a noun and not having a subject to go with the verb.
09:32: Okay? In the original language. It says, and the Lord caused his anger to burn forth against Israel, and Satan stirred up David against them.
09:44: Okay. We don't know why. I think we got briefly into this last week. Do we know why God's anger was burned against, or wrath was angered against Israel?
09:53: Do we know exactly? We don't. We can draw some conclusions. Our great theologian,
09:59: Miss Deborah, said disobedience, and that is true. That is exactly.
10:05: Look, everything, all sin is rooted in disobedience and idolatry. So, we can say that is certainly the case, but we don't know the specific sin.
10:15: My making the conclusion that the specific sin, based on the chronology of the book and how it's structured, that if you remember right before we get to David's Song of Deliverance, his last words, what were the two things that happened right before that?
10:31: The nation of Israel had turned against David and rebelled. So, is that disobedience?
10:37: Sure. Is not being committed to God's anointed king idolatry?
10:43: Yes, it is. So, that is where I would say that's what's in view.
10:48: Is there rebellion against God's anointed king, David? Anybody that went against David, being
10:53: God's anointed king, what happened? God's wrath was against them, whether they lost their life, they were disciplined, however you want to coin that.
11:03: Now, so, Satan, as Mr. Evers said last week, God can use
11:09: Satan to do His bidding, per se. And people don't like that.
11:15: But what Satan did was already wickedness in the heart of David.
11:22: Would we agree? We would. Okay? Now, now we have to get to the reason why
11:30: David took the census was what was the sin in view? David says, what
11:36: I have done was sinful, correct? Did anybody read Exodus 30, by chance?
11:45: You read it, Mike? That was the instructions on whenever you take a census, you have to take a...
11:52: Atonement tax. Atonement tax. And it was specifically, what would happen if they didn't?
11:58: There would be a plague. And that's where I made the connection. Now, I do want to...
12:05: We can get rid of this. I can't move in these clothes. And it's hot.
12:23: Some say it was his problem. The census itself.
12:37: Okay? And what I mean by that is
12:43: David had no reason to take a census. And that this itself, in and of itself, was the sin.
12:50: And then I'm going to say it was a procedural problem.
13:00: Okay? Why would anybody think... How many of y 'all have heard it was David's pride? Anybody else?
13:08: Pride, have you heard that too? Why would someone say it was David's pride? I wouldn't be able to say,
13:14: I've got this many people... Yeah, and we can draw that. I know how they come to that conclusion, although I disagree with that conclusion.
13:21: Okay, just to let you know, the third one's always the one I tip my hand to. I disagree with that, okay?
13:28: Although I understand how they come to their conclusion. Because even Joab's response in both chapters goes,
13:34: Well, wait a minute. Why do you want to do this? May the Lord add more and more and more. And then I think it's in the 2
13:41: Samuel patches, it says, Why would you delight in this? So I understand how they come to the conclusion, okay?
13:47: Okay, although I don't think this is it. If you hold that position,
13:55: I'm fine. Y 'all do. Why would the census of itself be wrong?
14:02: Anybody? Because it was done wrong. No, just taking a census period was wrong.
14:12: God didn't command him to, okay? I understand how they come to this conclusion too. In Exodus, when he was told to give the census, who was commanded to do that?
14:22: God commanded him to do it. Matter of fact, two in numbers. One at the beginning and one at the end. Did God command
14:28: David to take a census here? No. So they say, Hey, he had no business doing it. He wanted to do it on his own.
14:35: Therefore, that's the sin in view. And I would disagree with that too, because Saul took a census. David took a census when they separated in 2
14:44: Samuel. Remember, the war went on. He wanted to see how many people were with him. He took a census of how many people he had.
14:52: And King Saul did it when they were trying to find out how many men they had left in 1 Samuel.
14:58: He did the same thing, and there was no plague. And the question is, well, they didn't take an atonement tax.
15:08: Well, we don't know that they didn't. But we know this, the plague didn't take place. Therefore, they did it procedurally correct.
15:17: That's how I would understand it, okay? Now, the procedure in Exodus 30 was when you go and you number the people, you take a half a shekel as an atonement for the people's lives to be paid for the
15:36: Lord because the Lord redeemed them out of Egypt. That is in Exodus 30.
15:41: If y 'all want to read all of that and how to do it, we don't see anywhere where Joab has taken the atonement money to bring it into the, quote, house of the
15:55: Lord or temple complex, this future temple complex or whatever. We don't see that. But there is a connection with it.
16:01: If you don't do it this way, there's going to be a plague. And what is the word that's used in both 2 Samuel and 1
16:07: Chronicles that happens, God sends a plague? That is why this is my position.
16:13: All these could be true. I just want you to know that, okay? They could be because we really don't know exactly what the reason was other than as soon as David realized what he had done, he was pricked in his heart and he realized that he had sinned.
16:30: So back in 2
16:36: Samuel 24, Joab begins to go out, and we're not going to walk through all of this because we've got to be able to get to some of the discrepancies.
16:48: They basically started in Jerusalem. They crossed here and they started in Gilead.
16:55: So basically what they did is they did a counterclockwise.
17:02: Actually, let me fix this because I don't know if you all noticed, it says he went up into Tyre and Sidon.
17:09: That would strike you all as being odd. Now, maybe he had men posted up here, but they went into the pagan land.
17:17: It says he went into the land of the Canaanites to do that. So did David have men there as well?
17:23: And it basically went down like this and they came back. Anybody remember how long that took?
17:30: Nine months, 20 days. Now, we can say when he was asked to do that, when he told
17:38: Joab to do it, Joab says, hey man, we shouldn't do this. Joab, could have been the reason for him not wanting to do it, he goes, man, look at all the issues that are going to arise with me doing this.
17:50: But we don't know that. Could he actually have said, hey, you're going to sin against the Lord by what you're doing?
17:56: Could be. That's out of Joab's character because we don't see anywhere where Joab really cares about what
18:02: God thinks. He cares about what the kingdom thinks and what it's going to make Joab look like. But Joab goes and he does that counterclockwise kind of thing.
18:12: And then it goes in verse 8. So they had gone about through all of the land of Israel and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days and Joab gave the number of the registration there were in Israel.
18:27: How many? 800 ,000 men. Okay. Hang on just a second. Hey, if I'm not explaining this good enough, let me know.
18:38: Okay. It's basically with those three. Because I'm pretty sure most nobody ever heard the procedural problem.
18:44: Probably. No. Okay. I've always heard it was pride. Okay. All right.
18:50: How many was it? 800 ,000. In 2 Samuel? 800 ,000. Okay. And then 500 ,000 in Judah.
19:03: Who's got the 2 Chronicles? 1 Chronicles passage. Was it 1 .1 million? And the other one was 470?
19:15: 470 ,000 Judah in Chronicles? I think it was.
19:24: It is? Yeah. And then 470 ,000 Judahites.
19:31: Okay. Those are not the same. Correct? All right.
19:39: One says, so how are we going to explain this? I'm just going to let you know. People that attack the
19:45: Bible use the passages like this to say, look, here is an absolute contradiction and error.
19:52: Okay? Now, we look at the, it says that 800 ,000 valiant men who drew the sword.
20:12: And then you go to the passage. It says, all the men who drew the sword.
20:35: And I'm going to put here, and some of you men that have studied the Bible Army can correct me if I'm wrong or say this may be 20 years old and up.
20:48: Okay. So the difference being. Go ahead.
20:53: You're fixing to say something? Go ahead. Valiant men. You've got the Seals and you've got the National Guard. Yeah. Yeah.
21:01: Yeah. You've got these guys who have intestinal fortitude, okay?
21:07: And then you have these other guys who are just regular men of war. That can go. Now, it also says that Joab didn't do what?
21:17: Do you remember what he said he didn't do? He didn't report. Levi. And they weren't supposed to number
21:22: Levi because they. Raised. Yeah. He didn't. But I did find something.
21:28: If you turn over to 1 Chronicles 27. This is talking about when
21:43: David sent him out. And remember Chronicles isn't in chronological order, okay? It's kind of.
21:48: That is one thing about Hebrew revelation, man. It's just sometimes it's all over the map.
21:54: It's bits and pieces here. Here and here. How it's revealed. But here. Look at verse 23 of chapter 27.
22:01: But David did. Let me back up. Yeah. 23. But David did not count those 20 years of age and under.
22:11: Because the Lord had said. He would multiply Israel as a star. And Joab the son of Zariah had began to count them.
22:18: But he did not finish. And here. Because of this. The wrath came upon Israel.
22:25: And the number was not included in the account. In the Chronicles of King David. There's your.
22:32: Hey. Joab could have brought this number back. He could have brought this number back.
22:40: It says here. He didn't even complete what he was supposed to do. Because Joab knew what
22:46: David was doing was wrong. Okay. So. If this ever comes up.
22:51: And you're talking about. Well this says this. And this says that. Well here's the reason being. One. Is valiant men.
22:57: The other. Has to do with just men of war. Anybody 20 years of age. And then you can go to chapter 27.
23:04: It says. Well ultimately. He brought him back two different numbers. Because Joab didn't want to make the census complete.
23:10: Because he thought what David was doing was wrong. And what. And obviously. Whatever. Whether it's procedural.
23:16: Whether it was pride. Or whether just taking the census or whatever. Joab knew what David did was abhorrent to God.
23:23: How do we know that? It says it right there. Okay. So. We good so far?
23:30: Okay. Making sense? Or not making sense? Confusing people? No? Okay.
23:36: So. We handled that issue. Now we get to chapter 24 of 2
23:43: Samuel verse 10. Now David's heart troubled him.
23:49: So remember. After this comes back. Soon as it comes back. The numbers come back. It says that David's heart troubled him.
23:57: And he numbered the people. So David said to the Lord. I have sinned greatly in what
24:02: I have done. What's the difference between David and Saul?
24:08: When they had sinned. What. I mean. This is. Every time David is confronted.
24:13: Or his heart is broken. What happens? He does. Hey. I have sinned against God. I have sinned. I have sinned.
24:20: And interesting in this case. He doesn't even try to cover this up. He makes no excuses. He says.
24:25: I have sinned. But now. Oh Lord. Please take away the iniquity of your servant.
24:31: For I have acted very foolishly. And when David arose in the morning.
24:37: The word of the Lord came from the prophet Gad. Which was David's seer. Saying. Go and speak to David.
24:43: Thus says the Lord. I am offering you three things. Think about that. Where else in Scripture does
24:52: God offer you. Hey. I'm going to give you. Some terms and conditions of. Hey. I'm going to punish you.
24:57: And I'm going to give you an option. Nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere. And he says.
25:05: You shall have. Now here it is. Another. The Samuel passage says.
25:10: Somebody tell me. What does it say? Seven. Seven years. Okay. Anybody remember what the other said?
25:17: The Chronicles passage. The Chronicles passage was three, three, and three. So. Seven.
25:24: Three. And three. Chronicles passage says. Three. Three.
25:31: And three. So. And it says.
25:40: Chapter 13. Verse 13. Shall seven years of famine. Okay. Seven years of famine.
25:47: Or. Three months in flight from your foes. Okay. And foes.
25:54: Three months. From your foes. And what was the other?
26:00: Right after that? Three days. Three days. Past the month. Right? Yeah. And when you get to the
26:08: Chronicles. These are the same. Just this is different. It says three. Now.
26:15: I'm going to be honest. The explanation that's given for some critical scholars on this.
26:21: I am not. I don't. I don't. I don't like their explanation. But they say here.
26:27: Based on the structure of the book. Okay. You might. Tell me if you've heard something different.
26:32: Okay. Structure of the book. If you remember. What day. What did David. Just a few chapters ago.
26:39: Have to deal with the famine. You remember how many years? Three. Three.
26:45: For what Saul did. You remember? So what they have done here. Is taken the three years that had already happened.
26:54: The year that they're in. Plus the three. Of the punishment. That's how they come to that.
27:02: So. Correct. Because of the sinfulness of a king. That's how they come to that conclusion.
27:09: I'm just going to let you know. That doesn't suffice me. But that's the explanation.
27:15: You're asking. Do I have an explanation? No. I don't. I don't have the explanation.
27:21: But that is where they get. The three years of Saul. The year that they're going to be in now. And then.
27:27: The three years. That gives you a total of seven. But you'd have to be reading a lot into that.
27:33: It is. I don't agree. I don't agree. I don't agree with that. So I don't have that explanation. Now. Some say.
27:41: That the Chronicles passage. Is the actual. More accurate to the
27:47: Masoretic text. And I'm going. Wait a minute. Both of those things come out of the Masoretic text. Both of them. So.
27:53: Do I have the answer for why one says seven. And the other says three. No. Is this an explanation for it?
27:59: Yes. Is it sufficient for me? No. I'm just going to let you know. It's not. So I don't have an answer.
28:06: I don't have an answer. That probably. Would suffice anybody. Bert. Any. I'm. No.
28:12: I've never. Okay. Hey. Most people. I'm just going to be honest with you. I bet most people don't even know.
28:18: Until you take the parallel passages. And you put them together. You're going. Well. I would have never have noticed that.
28:24: So. Most people didn't realize the discrepancy. In the numbers. But when I'm doing my studies. I get parallel passages.
28:29: And I want to. So. Sometimes it fills in some bits and pieces. Well. Then sometimes. It makes it a little more complicated.
28:35: Okay. Some believe. There could have been. A scribal discrepancy here. Could be.
28:41: I mean. It happens. We know this. In it's original writings. It was without error.
28:46: Okay. So. He says. The three. Pestilence.
28:52: Now consider. And see. And this is in the end of 13. Now consider. And see. What shall
28:57: I return. To him. Who sent me. He's thinking of. Dad's going to return.
29:03: To God. And you tell him. What you want him to do. And David said to Gad. I am in great distress.
29:10: Let us now. Fall into the hands of the Lord. For his mercies are great. And do not let me fall.
29:17: Into the hands of men. Now. That is a. Profound statement.
29:23: From David. Concerning God's judgment. On him. Is it not? He's saying.
29:29: Wait a minute. God's going to do all. God's wrath. Is not merciful.
29:36: But he's saying. Look. You've got to do. What you want to. To me. Because I know.
29:42: That you are merciful. That you are kind. And your. And your loving kindness. Endures. So he throws.
29:48: Basically. What does he do. Throws himself. In the court. Just whatever you want to do.
29:53: With me. I have sinned. I have no. I have no. Way of explaining. My sin away.
29:58: Whatever you want to do. And. It says here. In verse 16. So the Lord sent the pestilence.
30:05: Upon Israel. From morning. Until the appointed time. And hey. Look how many died. 70 ,000
30:14: Israelites. Let's just go back for a minute. From David's sin.
30:20: He had Uriah. Right. We know he died. But what about.
30:25: We don't know how many other. That died. Because of his foolish sin. With Bathsheba. Remember when he sent him to the wall.
30:31: He said. Send him up to the wall. And when they get. When it gets hot. Back up. Well how many other died.
30:36: Before him. We don't know. We know for sure here. But we know others. As far as count. We don't. So from David's sin.
30:43: We know Uriah. And some others. When we get to here. David's sin. 70 ,000
30:51: Israelites. It says men. I think it's.
30:57: I think. Children. I think it's men. All right. Yes. Yes. Yes ma 'am. I think it's men.
31:03: And do you think it would include the tribes. That were not counted. That I have no idea. It doesn't say.
31:09: No. It doesn't say. But I do believe it's men. I do believe it was men. And I. I don't have.
31:15: This is making an inference. I'm basing that. Based on. Men. Being. The. Federal head.
31:22: Of. Just like. All right. Why. Why are these men dying. Because David.
31:28: As their representative. Did what. Send. Go back. To Saul. When Saul.
31:34: Killed the Gibeonites. He tried to slaughter them. God sent a famine. For three years.
31:40: Into the land. Well who was. Bearing the punishment. Really. The wrath of God. Because of Saul's sin.
31:47: The people. Why. Because this king. Was the. Was the federal representative. So now.
31:53: Because of David's sin. Who should have died. David. That should.
31:59: In our mind we go. Man. That just. I know people say. That's not fair. Hey man.
32:05: But God. God. God. They were sinners. When you consider that they. Were not.
32:13: Yes. And if you understand how I made the point of hey they have sinned against God by rejecting their anointed king his anger is turned against Israel but he uses
32:23: David's sinful action to now punish. Right.
32:28: Israel. They're not all that. No. I mean what you have going on in the theological argument is called concurrence and compatibilistic determinism.
32:36: Those are big words. We don't have time to get into that today, okay? But that's what is happening, okay?
32:43: David's sin is being used as a judgment against the people that rejected God's anointed king.
32:49: That's my conclusion, okay? Because it says that God's anger was mired against Israel.
32:55: Now... Do you believe he chose that because that would be the least deaths? Well, if we do the three...
33:03: Let's use the Chronicles passage for less confusion. It's three years, right?
33:10: Three months. Three days. I believe this, because it's stretched out, is less intense.
33:21: But the shorter span, the more intense it gets.
33:28: So David says, you know what, I'd rather endure whatever the Lord gives me, which could be the most intense.
33:34: And I do believe that that was the most intense. This would have been long, drug out.
33:42: Sure, in this case, he says, whatever the Lord wants to do. And that, obviously, was probably the worst.
33:50: Because the smaller you get, the more intense. Is that what you were asking? Yeah, more or less. I think he was trying to say, hey, look, this would at least be the least path of resistance.
34:00: Yeah. And they would at least be able to rise up armed against their foes. Think about that. Hey, they could be out there tilling the ground, trying to get the famine to go away.
34:10: They could try to get water coming in from the nasty Jordan River to try to get food.
34:16: They could do that. But once they throw themselves to the hands of the Lord for a plague, there's nothing that they can even try to push against it.
34:23: Why? Because who's going to raise their hand against the sword of the Lord? Nobody. Nobody. Does verse 14 kind of answer that question, too, at the end there?
34:33: In the second Samuel passage? Or are you in the Chronicles? Samuel. Okay. It says, then
34:39: David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the
34:44: Lord, for his mercy is great. But let me not fall into the hand of man. So it's like he'd rather fall into the hands of the
34:51: Lord than the hands of man. Sure, because are men, by nature, merciful? No, they're merciless.
34:57: Think about it. If someone committed a crime against you or your family, and you had the opportunity to dispense retribution, are you going to be merciful?
35:08: I ain't. I'm not. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not. I'm going to inflict as much pain and suffering on that person as I can because of the pain and suffering that they have inflicted on me.
35:21: And one, I can't do it justly. In God's case, He will do it justly, and He will do it perfectly.
35:26: His righteous indignation is tailor -made for each individual on that day of judgment.
35:32: Just to let you know. Hey, is Hitler going to be punished? I know this is going to open up another conversation for another time.
35:39: Is Hitler going to be punished the same way a 12 -year -old boy rejects the gospel?
35:44: Are they going to be punished the same? No. Do they both end up in the wrath of God? Yes, but he who did much gets much stripes.
35:53: Jesus Himself said that. He said that. He who did much will suffer much.
35:59: Now, I'm not saying that those two people in hell are going, Oh, I'm not as bad as that guy. Okay?
36:05: I'm not saying that. So, yeah, you're right. He's throwing himself into the court like we said a minute ago.
36:12: At the mercies of God. He knows that God would be merciful and men wouldn't. And we know that God's merciful.
36:18: How do we know that? How do we know that? Because David does not do any atonement and God says,
36:25: That's enough. Before David makes a sacrifice at the threshing floor of Ornan or Arona, in this passage, before he ever makes that,
36:35: God says what to the angel or the Lord? Stop. Stop what you're doing. So, now we're in the middle of 16.
36:48: And the Lord relented for the calamity. Well, let's go. And when the angel of the
36:53: Lord stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem to destroy it. So, remember, he's gone out all these places from Dan to Beersheba.
37:00: But, now he's going to reach out his hand to strike the inhabitants of Jerusalem and God says,
37:07: Stop. Says the Lord relented. And I think in the
37:13: Chronicles passage it says the Lord was sorry. He repented.
37:29: Is that what it says? In King James 15. Yeah. It says, and he was sorry over the calamity.
37:41: That's what it says in the New American Standard. Now, in 1 Samuel we talked about God being the impassibility of God.
37:50: Does God have emotions? Yes. But he does not have emotions in the sense that God repented of wrongdoing.
38:02: Repented meaning that God said, Okay, this is what I was doing. I'm going to stop doing that. God in no way was saying,
38:07: Hey, what I was doing was wrong and I need to quit. He's like, we talked about a minute ago,
38:13: God showing mercy. God says, You know what? Alright, that's enough. He's going to destroy the city.
38:20: God says, That's enough. That's enough. And God was merciful.
38:27: When it says that God relented, it just means that God turns back. If it says where God, I think you said
38:32: King James says repented, it's not repenting of wrongdoing, it's just turning back from what he's doing. Okay? So, he turned back from what he was doing.
38:41: He said it is enough. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Arunah the
38:46: Jebusite. The Ornan and Arunah is the same person, just one is said differently in the
38:53: Samuel passage versus the Chronicles. And verse 17, Then David spoke to the
38:59: Lord, when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and says, Behold, it is
39:05: I who have sinned, 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.
39:14: We'll have to stop there, we've only got a couple of minutes. Once again, we see
39:20: David being compassionate for his people. David being the type of good shepherd, sees the suffering of his people and what does he do?
39:30: Hey man, this is me. This has nothing to do with them, let it be on me. And he asked that God would stop it.
39:38: And interesting that he says, he asked that God would stop, and what had already happened?
39:44: It had already stopped. So he's asking God to do what God had already done.
39:50: He's asking God to continue to be merciful. Now, we can talk about this, I know it's somewhat speculative, was
40:00: God giving David the opportunity to make an atonement? No doubt. Would the plague continue on had
40:07: David not made the atoning sacrifice that God required? Well, of course!
40:13: Okay? But was there any option at this point for David to not do what God told him to do?
40:19: And David's mine. No, David's going to do what God told him to do. Look, I've sinned, whatever I need to do to make this correct.
40:27: So he says, please let your hand be against me and my father's house. Interesting, he wants it to be against his father's house, that means basically, don't let it be against the children of Israel anymore.
40:35: Whatever it is, let it be on me and my descendants for as long as it may be. And we need to stop.
40:41: We'll pick up here, verse 18 in 2 Samuel, and we'll flip back and forth.
40:47: There are some differences again on what was paid for. Big difference.
40:54: Gold, silver. Yeah, and how we understand the site versus just the altar.
41:00: And that is the difference. So you also feel, again, it seems like this is where David's life was.
41:08: He kind of had some solitude now. He got through Absalom, he got through all this. It seems like every time he gets solitude, he gets in trouble.
41:15: He does. And I do believe that has to do with his sin with Bathsheba. When he says the sword will not depart from your house.
41:23: And we understand this to be, you know, some believe it to be at the end of his life.
41:29: I do. Even if you go back, and we talked about the famine.
41:36: I believe that famine, although I don't know for sure. I think the famine was towards the end of David's life.
41:43: I don't think it happened right after he came to the United Kingdom and there was this big famine.
41:48: We see the sword was against David from the time of Bathsheba on. So I believe that certainly this is at the end of his life.
41:57: And next week we'll see to it. And why put this at the end of 2
42:03: Samuel? It kind of, like, wow. It just ends on, yep, David made an atonement.
42:12: It's over, you know. That's it. That's kind of all we know. If the book stopped there, we would think, oh, that's pretty anticlimactic.
42:22: Burt, will you pray for us? Thank you for this time.
42:37: Thank you for Mike and the study he put in. Thank you that we can study the Word of God. Thank you very much.