The Bible Recap - Day 143 (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22, Psalm 30) - Year 6

Episode Date: May 22, 2024

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. We finished our eleventh book of the Bible today and we're 40% of the way through our reading plan. Can you believe it? It feels like just yesterday we were in the wilderness and here we are today buying a threshing floor in the promised land. This is one of my favorite days in all of scripture. I know I say that a lot, but I really love this one

and I can't wait to tell you why. In the two accounts of David's census today, you probably noticed an interesting discrepancy. Second Samuel says God incited David to take the census and first Chronicles says Satan incited David to take the census. And this isicles says Satan incited David to take the census. And this is why it's important to read both accounts, so we can compare and contrast. So which is it?

Don't resist this tension. It's there for a reason. This may actually be the perfect scriptural example of how evil works within God's plan. Just like with Job's story, here we have an enemy of God and His people who wants to perpetrate evil against them, and God allows it. By God allowing it, it still falls under His sovereignty and is still used for our good and His purposes. In general, taking a census isn't bad.

God commanded it several times as we've read about at length, but this time David is doing it of his own volition, not at God's command. Joab knows it's a bad idea, which is why he tries to dissuade David. But even though David has taken Joab's counsel before, he doesn't listen this time. He does what he wants. And immediately, he feels conviction. He probably knew all along this wasn't God's plan, and especially when he met resistance from Joab. But he pressed conviction. He probably knew all along this wasn't God's plan, and especially when he met resistance from Joab, but he pressed through. A lot of commentators think the problem with taking

a census is that focusing on the numbers means the focus is off of God. A census was a routine part of planning for war, because nations put confidence in the size of their military. And Israel had just been under attack by their long-standing enemies, the Philistines. So maybe David wants to be confident in their numbers, but God wants Israel's confidence to be in him. After David confesses and repents, God sends a prophet to him to offer him a choice of consequences. Famine, sword, or pestilence. David gets to pick his preferred disaster. Which would you choose? David chooses three days of pestilence and I'm with David because I want the torture to be over as quickly as possible. 70,000 people die from the

pestilence. If David insists on finding confidence in the size of his army, God gives him a reason to diminish that confidence in them by eliminating a large portion of them. The angel of the Lord, who is almost certainly God the Son, comes with his flaming sword to carry out justice, but makes a turn for mercy when the Father commands it. He preserves Jerusalem. David offers himself up instead of the people, but God tells him to make an offering instead. Just like he did when he provided another sacrifice for Abraham's

offering of Isaac, God provides David with an alternative as well. The problem is, they're only supposed to offer burnt offerings at the site of the tabernacle, which is currently in Gibeon. So, good news, bad news for David. The good news? God instructs him to offer the sacrifice at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Bad news, that's where the angel of the Lord is positioned, so that's kind of terrifying. Even Ornan's kids ran and hid when they saw the angel. David makes the sacrifice, and when God sends down fire to consume it

on the threshing floor, that's actually a really big deal. It signals God's approval of this site as the new location of his home. This is now the acceptable place where sacrifices will be made, right here where the threshing floor is. But Ornan the Jebusite owns the threshing floor. And you may recall that the Jebusites were the ones who lived in Jerusalem before David conquered it. He drove most of them out, but a few still live there under Israel's rule, including Ornan.

So when the king over you wants your threshing for you, give it to them. But David says he won't take it for free. He insists on paying for it, because he won't offer something to God that cost him nothing. David buys the land at Ornan's price, and this is the site where the first temple is built. The house David wanted to build for God, that God said Solomon would build instead. Now, not only has God promised David that the temple will exist, but David actually knows where it will go.

So he starts making preparations for Solomon to build it. Solomon is still young at this point, so David is trying to set him up for success. Then David calls Solomon in and gives him the charge. He tells Solomon the story from a long time ago, when he told God he wanted to build him a house and God said no, but then God comforted him with the promise that someday he'd have a son named Solomon, and Solomon would be the one to build the temple.

And not only that, but the royal line of kings would descend through Solomon as well. All of this had to be incredibly encouraging and exciting, but maybe also overwhelming for Solomon. David ends with a reminder that God is with him. He's not alone in this, and God has proven himself trustworthy. My God shot is this entire story, all of it. First of all, David's sin of ordering the census, that sin had to happen in order for David

to have a reason to offer the sacrifice that would establish the location of the first temple. So even though an evil spirit incited David, God was using that evil spirit's evil motives to bring about his good plan for his people. And second of all, and this is my favorite, do you remember when it was in our timeline that God told David he'd have a son named Solomon who would build a house for him? It was before David ever sinned against Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Before he ever sinned against her and murdered her husband, before he ever committed the heinous sins in his history, God had already told him how he had planned to work through those sins for the good of all people, how he would redeem it all on the other side.

What does that tell you about God's heart? He's so generous and forgiving. And not only that, but He's so victorious. Sin doesn't ever get to win against God and His people. It always ultimately serves God's purposes somehow. That doesn't give us an excuse to sin just because God will redeem it. And it doesn't mean our sins and the sins of others don't bring horrific amounts of pain in the meantime. But it does mean that we can sing the words of David from Psalm 30 today.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. Oh Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. Sign me up. He's where the joy is. Are you struggling in the reading plan? This might be a good time to hit the reset button by going back and listening to our six prep episodes,

either again or for the first time. They're super helpful, even if you've been with us for months. You can listen to them all in about an hour. Swipe up for a link to prep episode one in today's show notes or search for it in your app. Hopefully that will be just the refresher you need to keep showing up every day. I believe God has some incredible things for you in those episodes. Are you feeling a bit lost in your faith journey? The world's biggest small group is ready to help you find your footing.

Learn more about your right next step through their spiritual assessment quiz. Don't let uncertainty hold you back. Click the link in the show notes to find out more.