Wed, 28 September, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the LORD commanded. 20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “The LORD your God accept you.” 24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
Today we come to the end of Second Samuel. In this closing chapter we have the strange and disturbing story of how David took a census of Israel and in response God brings a plague.
There are some things that are hard to understand in this. In the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21, we are told that Satan incited David to number Israel, and here we are told that God did. So which was it? The answer to that lies in how we look at it. Since God controls everything that happens, it was ultimately done according to His will and can be attributed to Him. We know that God is not the author of evil, but even in this He is sovereign.
As 1 Chronicles makes clear, the instrumental cause was Satan, and so it can be attributed to Him. Satan could not have done so apart from God’s allowing and sanctioning the action, and so it is in accordance with God’s will. But Satan acted in his own right and according to his own motives, and he bears his responsibility for the action.
Another difficulty is understanding what was wrong with David numbering the people. There have been numerous times when God had the leaders number the people. What was wrong with counting them this time? We are not told other than that this angered God. Perhaps David was growing secure in the size of his nation and was trusting in the people and his army. In numbering the people, he was showing a lack of trust in God. But this is speculation.
At the conclusion of the plague, while the angel of the Lord is still standing over Jerusalem, David purchases the thrashing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, where the angel is poised. There David offers sacrifices, and God is appeased. The plague is over, and the chapter and book end.
It is important to note that this thrashing floor is where the temple will be built.
What do we learn from this?
This is a difficult passage, but it shows us that God is in control, even in the distressing times we see in this chapter. God is not the cause of evil, but even in the midst of sin and wrongdoing, God is still in control and nothing outside of His control happens. When David numbers the people, he is acting just as God has ordained. He bears his own guilt, and must suffer the consequences, but God achieves His purposes even in the midst of our sin and disobedience.
We also see that when the leaders of a people sin, the people will suffer for the sins of the leaders. In this unusual case, God allows David to choose between three different punishments for the people: Three years of famine, three months of defeat in war or three days of plague. David chooses the plague with the intent of throwing himself on God and pleading for mercy upon the people. It is incumbent upon the leaders of a group to realize the punishment for their sins can be meted out upon the people they lead.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The plague that was destroying the people was stopped at the spot where the temple would be built. David then offered sacrifices there, and God was appeased. The plague was finally over when the sacrifices were accepted.
For generations to come, sacrifices would be offered in that place so that people could be right with God. It was not that the animals had any power to bear the sins of the people, but they pointed to the coming Substitute who would bear the sins of all who come to Him in faith.
These sacrifices pointed to Jesus Christ. He is the one who has freed us from the plague of sin. Because of His perfect life and substitutionary death, we are granted eternal life and will not face the punishment due for our sins.
