#466 Threshing Floor Tares

Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,[a] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “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 it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer,[b] and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;[c] and they came to Dan, and from Dan[d] they went around to Sidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin

10 But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And 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 done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer[e] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three[f] 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 decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”

David Builds an Altar

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, “May 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[g] 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. 2 Samuel 24

God is angry at Israel for their sin, and we see in the sister passage of 1 Chronicles 21:1 some enlightenment to this first part. Yes, God is angry, and He allows Satan to move David to number the people. David is not rendered guiltless in this for it appears to be the object of his own vanity at the time, "that I may know the number of the people." Here is a great reason for study and introspection, and I have past over this lightly before, but I do not think the Bible records in vane. Joab sees the flicker of light in David's eye, and calls him to point, I hope that God lets you see a hundred times as many people as there are now, and yet still in your life time, but why do you take so much delight in this? It is like a journey of many steps, stopping and making someone else walk all the way back to the beginning and then back to you again to count the steps so far, yet you are not there yet. God's people are a people that cannot be numbered, they stretch from alpha and omega, circumcision to not circumcision, and only those that are born again. They are not numbered by men but by the Lord. Their names are written in the Book of Life. Here is a danger I can see, when a preacher takes the pulpit, and he looks upon the pews before him, and finds that a vast number are empty. He thinks, shouldn't these all be full? What would it take, what does a man have to sell to fill the pews? I have done what the Lord asked of me, I have preached what He has told me to, and I have stayed the course of sound doctrine, but the pews remain empty. Forgive me Lord and blessed be the name of the Lord. Thank you for the few, those that walk the narrow way. A pastor down the street stands up in his pulpit, one can barely hear themselves think for the rustling of the crowd, the hundreds of conversations, the thousands of breaths simultaneously filling the room. He looks across the crowd and there are no more seats, those that come late have standing room only. Surely the Lord is in this place, he thinks, and he tells the crowd the same. Praise God, someone says, amen, yes brother, another and another, the music starts and it is pretty good. Some say they feel the presence strong in this place, and that it is the best part of the service. It is the pastor's turn again, and he has learned from the people and the pews what to say next. This weeks sermon is inspired by an episode of Doctor Phil, mixed with a little something that he noticed the people at Joel Osteen's church reacted to well. He has learned how to ad some scripture here and there and yet how not to offend most people in this crowd. The key is keep it inspirational, count the people, keep an eye on the pews, and never go over 15 minutes for his part. Give an invitation, tell people that Jesus needs them, and make it a simple prayer that doesn't sound to committal. He is the more likable of the two preachers, just look at the numbers. Numbers don't lie, he must be doing something right. Look, there are way more young people, so many that they have their own pastor, who knows more about the things they need to know, what's important to them. 

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not toleratesound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather aroundthemselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.… 2 Timothy 4: 2-4

Is this David's sin? I am not certain the full direction, but his motives were definitely wrong. Had he thought so much of where he was now at that he forgot how he had arrived there? Did he see the numbers of the people, his house, his army, and in his heart did he think, well thanks God, but I have so much now that I no longer need You? If I count all the men, in this way, then I have more than enough to oppose any army near me. Look what I have built, I am truly great. The people are happy, though there is a little touch of this sin here and a bit of that over there, but my popularity is through the roof. Let's judge how we are doing and where the king is at by this measure. I don't know what went through his mind, but I am a sinner and I know what sort of delusions I have had. Pride is the worse thing in men, some think they are humble by not telling the truth, which makes them quite likable. Some think they are great for how many "friends" they have. Others have no issue telling the truth and think themselves great for showing no mercy in it. Some like to be feared and others like to be liked, but so few want to know the integrity of telling the truth in love. We would rather be measured by our own tape, our own standard. David knows what he has done as soon as he has finished doing it, and God is already intent upon the sin of the people. He confesses his sin to God and ask that he be removed from it. It is too much to let pass, he will be forgiven but there will be a cost, and there is the sin among Israel which must still be addressed. He trusted in the numbers and now they will be the price. God gives David a choice 1. of three years famine, which they had recently suffered for Saul's sin against those that were promised asylum among them. Three years is a long time when you are still recovering. 2. Three months of being chased like a dog, like his days before being king, and his days against Absalom, or 3. just 3 days of pestilence. He chooses not to fall into the hands of men, for the Lord's mercy is great. In Hebrews 10:31 it says, it is a fearful thing to fall int the hands of the living God. In Matthew 10: 27 & 28 Christ says, What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead,fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? 

It took David's men the better part of a year to number the people, the people who did not belong to David, but rather to God. The angel of God goes throughout the land, and separates 70,0000 to destruction in a very short time. He continues in his direction till he reaches Jerusalem, and David is allowed to see him at the threshing floor. He pleads to the Lord on behalf of the people, what have they done? Father hold not this sin against them, and David, like a true shepherd would rather stand in the blame, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Let this be on me and my house, but let them go free. David is instructed to give an offering to the Lord, let it be understood that sacrifice is not free. Araunah is a wonderful man, and a Jebusite, living in the land of Israel, but David must buy the land and the oxen from him, he may not abuse his position nor the costliness of his case. 70,000 dead yet still they are not clean, still we point to another sacrifice, punishment is what was owed, the sacrifices of the old Testament point to what we could not earn. God has told kings how to conduct themselves, He has told us how to pray, He has given us His word to measure all things. He has never said pray this little prayer, never sanctioned a Sunday school certificate or said set up programs on the treatment of symptoms. He never said how many sheep there were, He said "Feed my sheep." He said, "You must be born again. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ," for what, for the forgiveness of your sins. Yes, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How do you know this? It's in the Bible. How can I receive this? It comes by faith. Is that something I can muster up, something I do? No, it is the gift of  God which allows us to receive His grace. You have not because you ask not and when you do ask, you ask for meaningless things, for dust, things that are fading. Ask God for faith to believe so that you can repent and be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. God, let us not walk in pride, let us not see anything, even "our lives" as belonging to us, but solely Lord to Your glory, Your honor and Your praise. Let Your people tell the truth, give us the faith to believe and be anxious for nothing, always trusting in You. 

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? Luke 14: 28-34

To conform to the image of Christ, to preach and teach the whole counsel of God, to subscribe more to the Author's intent than the number of butts in the seats, may be more than you are willing to pay. If it is, then you have not loved any of the people in the pews, because greater love hath no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He said, you are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. We would sell eternity for what it fading by so quickly. God, please change my heart, thank you for the faith to believe, for helping me with my unbelief. I am sorry for my pride, please let me feed your sheep. 

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people? Isaiah 53: 6-8