Today on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Happy Monday and thanks for joining us again today for Summit Life with Pastor J.D.
Greer. As always, I'm your host Molly Vidovitch. You've joined us today at the very end of our new teaching series on the life of David.
And don't worry, you can catch up on anything you've missed anytime at our website jdgreer.com. 2 Samuel 22 and 23 felt like an ideal place to end David's story with a testament to God's redeeming power. But today Pastor J.D. explains why the book actually ends with 70,000 Israelites dying because of the sin of their king. Not exactly the send-off we expected, but the good news is that ultimately the story of David's life, warts and all, points us to the real king we've all been looking for. So what should our response be to this great news? Let's find out as we rejoin Pastor J.D. now in 2 Samuel chapter 24. There are three questions I have.
I would assume many of you have them too when I read this passage. Question number one is, why was what David did a sin? And why was it wrong?
I mean, getting a count sounds like good organization to me. Why was this such a sin? Which leads to the second question. How was what God did in response to that sin? How was that fair?
I mean, God struck down 70,000 people with the plague. They're not even the ones who did it. David's the one who did it. How is that fair? All David did was count the people.
Which, again, looks to most of us like responsible leadership. How is it fair for God to respond that way? Lastly, third question, why does the author end the story of David this way? Okay, here we go.
Here's number one. Why was this, taking a census, why was it a sin? It's wrong because God told him not to do it.
Full stop. So it's a sin because God told him not to do it. But are there discernible reasons why God regarded this census to be a sin? The problem appears to be with David's motivations.
If you're taking notes, I want you to write down three things that make this thing wrong. The census was wrong because it was about, A, pride. David is looking for a validation of his value and that comes from the size of your army. Second, a king's army in those days was his security. It guaranteed that you would be safe against an attack. Lastly, a big army for a king in those days meant aggressiveness. You don't assess your army unless you're thinking about using it.
You want to know what you can you want to know what you can afford to go and conquer. Now, before we move on to our second question about the fairness of how God responds, I think it does present a question that you and I ought to consider. And that is, what is it that you and I are delighting in? If this is so much of a sin to God, we ought to ask it about ourselves. What's my standing army?
What is your identity, security, and happiness? Here's the second question. How was this fair? God moves David. God moves David to do something and then he blames him for it.
Y'all see the problem with that? If God's the one who moved David to do it, then why would he punish him for it? It's one of those mysteries of sovereignty. The Bible teaches that God sometimes allows us to fall prey to our own evil desires or even to the temptations of Satan. God is not the one doing the tempting. He's not the one that's causing us to do it. It's our own sinful desires that are doing it, but God is sovereign over that in that he allowed the temptation to happen because he intends to use our disobedience as a part of his plan. God is sovereign, but we're still responsible. So that's what's happening in that first phrase.
The harder aspects of the question, is it fair? Is that, like I pointed out, it seems like others are being punished for David's sin and B, the punishment seems to far exceed the crime. So a few things to remember here. First, this text indicates that Israel was not in fact innocent. Did you see how verse one opened? Again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Who was God angry at?
Israel. What was going on in David's heart was also going on in all of their hearts. You with me?
What was going on with it? It was also going on all of their hearts. David's sin might be the occasion of the punishment, but they were all participants in some way.
Hang with me. Sometimes when we see something bad happen to what looks like an innocent person, we say that God is being unjust. That is true. Sometimes the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime. But in another sense, hear me, the Bible makes clear that the whole human race is under the condemnation of death because of rebellion against God that we all enthusiastically participated in. All of us, every member of the human race have chosen to walk away from God and to go our own way. So that means there's nobody who can truly point the finger at God and say this is unfair. That's just not an Old Testament thing, by the way. Even Jesus taught that. There was a situation in Luke 13 where a tower falls on a group of 18 Israelites and kills them. Big tragedy.
It was on the news headlines everywhere in Israel. And so Jesus uses that opportunity to ask a question to a crowd. He's like, hey, do you all feel like that these Israelites were probably just more wicked than everybody else? And that's why they died as in God saw them all standing in one place at the same time. And he thought, oh no, I got them.
Knocked the tower over on them. No, Jesus says, that's not what was happening. He says, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish in the exact same way. In other words, you're guilty of the same kinds of sin that those 18 people were guilty of. And unless you turn from your sin, we're all going to eventually suffer the same fate as they did. Jesus said, the question is not why did this tower fall on those 18? The question is why did it all fall on only those 18? The more accurate question according to Jesus is not why do bad things happen to good people? The more accurate question is why does God hold off bringing justice to all the people?
Why do good things keep happening to bad people? So in one sense, the 70,000 Israelites who died were not innocent. You say, yeah, but I mean, surely not every single one of the 70,000, one was equally guilty of the pride and idolatry and the militarism that David was delighted in. I mean, there are probably kids in that 70,000.
Well, a couple of things here first. You just need to recognize that our sins have consequences for those around us. And we're in such an individualistic society, we often forget that. The people in our circles of influence may not be guilty of our sins, but they're affected by them.
The dad abuses alcohol. The child is not guilty of that sin, but the child suffers for it. The Bible teaches over and over again that the sins of the leader affect the people. You say, but these 70,000 people didn't just experience some negative effects, they died. That is so ultimate and so final. And listen, y'all, I know this is hard to understand, but in the Bible's perspective, physical death is not ultimate in terms of judgment, not even close.
I mean, think about it. Every person in these stories that we're looking at, every single one, including Samuel and David, they're all dead now. Everybody dies. From an eternal perspective, physical death is not the ultimate judgment.
What happens after that is ultimate. Physical life and physical death are not ultimate. Eternal life and eternal death are ultimate. And what those innocent among those 70,000 people experienced their first five minutes into eternity more than made up for any pain or inconvenience they experienced on earth. So you gotta have an eternal perspective about this stuff. God collected these 70,000 people early to teach Israel an important lesson about pride and idolatry. It's like Tim Keller says, he collects a few people early for the sake of many people's eternities. And that is hardly immoral.
And that's the last point of our answer here. God used all this for good. Like he promises to do ultimately with all things for those that he loves. Like I said, the children of Israel were becoming violent and aggressive, oppressive. They were ceasing to be the nation that God had wanted them to be. And so God collected a few of them early, 70,000 of them to make a point to keep Israel from becoming even more wicked. God collects a few early for the sake of many's eternities.
And that is hardly immoral from his perspective. That brings us to the last question. Why is the author in the book with this story? It felt like we ended David's story last time in chapter 22 and 23, right? We read David's last words. That seemed like an ideal place to end David's story. So why add this little coda right at the end?
Here's why. This story drives home the central point that the author of 1 and 2 Samuel has been trying to make to us for 55 chapters. It shows us first that A, David is not the king you're looking for. I know he started out so awesome.
He was the best of the best. But his story ends with 70,000 Israelites dying because of the sin of that amazing king. And the author is asking us, is that really the king that Israel is looking for? Old Testament scholar John Selhammer points out that 1 and 2 Samuel go in one gigantic circle. I pointed this out last time, but 1 Samuel opens.
Remember the book ends? 1 Samuel opens with Hannah in the temple crying out for justice. I'm about to show you in a second that 2 Samuel ends with David in a new temple crying out for salvation.
Both Hannah and David expressed that cry with songs that talked about God as their rock. 1 Samuel opened with Israel wanting a king who would replace God as their identity, security, and happiness. 2 Samuel ends with that very king now looking to his army instead of God for that same identity, security, and happiness. David's been a great king.
There is no question about that, but he is not the king that they're looking for. He started out so well, didn't he? If anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him. Little righteous, courageous shepherd boy coming from nowhere. He was humble. He was loving.
He was patient. He was courageous. Even David failed you, the writer is saying. Which leads to B, the second thing, a son of David is going to be the king that you're looking for. Son of David is going to be the king you're looking for. Let's go back to that text one more time. Look at verse 16.
This is awesome. When the angel who was administering the plague stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, in other words, he comes right up to Jerusalem, David's capital city. When that happened, the Lord relented from the calamity, from the plague, relented from killing everybody in Jerusalem. He said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, it is enough. It's enough.
Now stay your hand. The angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Aranah the Jebusite. That's a random detail, right? Who is this Aranah cat and why does he matter?
We've never heard about him before. Verse 17, then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people. The parallel count in Chronicles says that David actually saw the angel with a literal sword stretched back to smite Jerusalem with this plague. David said, behold, I've sinned and I've done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house. David says, don't punish these people for this sin, either their sin or mine.
They're just sheep. Smite me to shepherd and God accepts the bargain. Except he doesn't kill David like David had asked. Instead, verse 18, God asked David to build an altar at the point where the angel had stayed his hand. At that very point, he says, I want you to build an altar right here and I want you to make a sacrifice. So David does that. He buys this threshing floor where he'd seen the angel stay his hand from bringing the plague into Jerusalem. And there on that spot, he offers a sacrifice.
And this is where the story gets really good. Higher sermon library, daily email devotionals, a weekly newsletter, Pastor JD's blog, the Ask the Pastor podcast, and so much more. All of these resources are available because of our generous supporters and especially our gospel partners who give financially to this ministry each and every month.
Nothing we do would be possible without them, including today's broadcast. Are you thankful for Summit Life and all of the other resources we provide? Then we'd love to have you join the gospel partner team with an ongoing monthly gift.
Just call us at 866-335-5220 or head to jdgrier.com to get involved today. We are grateful for your support that allows us to share the good news of the gospel each and every day. Now let's head to the finish line of our teaching on the life of David.
Once again, here's Pastor JD. In 2 Chronicles 3, the parallel account, it says that this threshing floor was on top of Mount Moriah, which is the very place where Abraham had attempted to sacrifice Isaac when God sent an angel to stop him from doing so. Abraham stood there above his son, poised with a knife, ready to offer his son as a sacrifice when God, through an angel, tells him to stop. And then the angel points over to a thicket where a ram is caught by the horns and he says, offer that ram, that lamb, offer that as a sacrifice instead. And now here we are a thousand years later on the very spot where God had stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son and now God stops his angel from killing God's national son, David, and the royal family in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 3 says that the knife of judgment by that angel was raised just like it had been with Abraham over Isaac.
When God tells the angel, stop, stay your hand, I'm going to provide a sacrifice. That threshing floor that David bought is also going to be the very place where Solomon is going to build the temple, which is where Israel is going to offer sacrifices for sin, sacrifices that are going to point forward to another lamb who is coming, who would die once for all for the sins of the people. And so approximately a thousand years after this moment in 2 Samuel 24, a thousand years between Abraham and David, another thousand years between David and Jesus, Jesus, the lamb of God is going to be lifted up on a cross on top of a mountain.
Yet nobody's going to show up there at that moment to tell God to stay his hand. The knife of the judgment is going to slash into him because he's going to bear in his own body the punishment for our sins and David and Israel's and Abraham's and the whole human race. Jesus was the lamb that God had pointed Abraham to in the bushes who would replace Isaac. He was the sacrifice pictured in all those temple sacrifices that allow God to stay his hand against Israel in this plague. He is the lamb who was wounded for our sins and whose blood covers us if we receive it so that God can stay his hand of judgment against us. It's like Peter said, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live under righteousness for by his wounds we have been healed.
Because on that cross God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, we can become the righteousness of God in him. So no, David is not the king that we are looking for. Jesus is. David's reign ends with 70,000 Israelites dying for his sin. Jesus is going to begin his reign by dying for ours. In David, the innocent are punished.
In Jesus, the guilty go free. Jesus is the king that we're looking for. Jesus succeeds for you where every other David and every other human leader and every father has failed you. Some of you have been so disappointed by people in your past.
Your dad, a teacher, an older brother, you trusted them and they took advantage of you and abused you. This whole book tells you Jesus is the rock. He's the big brother, the everlasting father, the mighty God, the strong arm, the strong tower, the refuge, the king, the king that you've always been searching for. And it may have taken you a lot of bitter disappointments to figure it out, but that has always been the point of what God is doing in your life to show you that Jesus is the one you've always been searching for, even if you didn't know that, and that what you're looking for is in him. The arms that you sought in romance were found in his arms. The identity you sought in your father's approval is actually found in him.
The security you look for in family is found in being called his son or his daughter. And see, that leads lastly to where this author ends this, which is that our response to all this ought to be worship. Y'all ready for the final words of 2 Samuel?
You ready? David goes to the guy who owns the field that he wants to buy with a place where he saw the angel pull back the sword. And when Aranah, this guy, here is what David wants to do with his property.
He said, no, no, no, no, King David, no, no, no. You don't need to buy this from me. You can have it. What an honor.
It's my gift to you. Verse 24, but the king said to Aranah, no, no, but I will buy it from you for a price for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver and David there built an altar of the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Y'all, David could have said, well, Aranah, thank you for your donation. That makes it easy for me. God gets us altered.
It doesn't cost me anything. But instead, David said, I got to do something that expresses my gratitude toward God. You see, when you've really experienced God's grace, I mean, down in your soul, you have to do something to express it, not just with your lips and song, but with your life and service.
And that expression may be financial, like David's is here, like the woman with the incredibly expensive alabaster flask of ointment who breaks it over Jesus' feet. You want to give Jesus something. Even if it's a waste, you say, I got to do something by which I say, Jesus, you are worthy of my very best because without you I'd be lost.
I'd be nothing. And I got to do something that pours out my love and my gratitude to say thank you. It might be something you do with your life. We have people who we're celebrating this weekend who have left great jobs, many of them, or great job prospects, many of them to live overseas, to bring the gospel to those who have never heard. And they're not doing that because they can't get good jobs here. They're doing it because that's who Jesus cares about. And they just want their lives to say thank you. Maybe you'll give your life to serving some community around here, the prisoners, the orphan, the unwed mother, the high school dropout.
Maybe for Jesus' sake, you'll just forgive a friend or give your spouse another chance. Not because they're worthy of it because they're not, but because Jesus is worthy of it. And this is just your way of saying it costs me a lot, but I'm doing it because of you. Whatever it is, when you grasp the grace of God in your soul, the rest of your life is going to be spent saying, Lamb of God, you are worthy, worthy of my best, worthy of my all, and we're the whole realm of nature, mine. That'd be a present far too small.
My love's so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. I remember in seminary, I was inspired by the story of these two Moravian missionaries early in American history, John Leonard Dober and David Nietzscheman, who became burdened to reach the inhabitants of a nearby island, which we now call St. Thomas in the Caribbean. They wanted to go there with the gospel. Most of the inhabitants there were slaves on a plantation system, but the plantation owners feared, rightfully so, that if the gospel was believed by these slaves, then it was going to lead to all kinds of, in their view, false views about their dignity, and so it wouldn't even allow the missionaries to talk with the slaves. They would only allow other slaves to talk with slaves, and so the story goes, the missionaries, John and this other guy, David, sold themselves into slavery in order to take the gospel to these islanders, these slaves, and so working in bondage in the harsh conditions of that tropical climate, after selling themselves into slavery, they reached many of them with the good news. The story goes on that after these men sold themselves into slavery, made that decision, they got put into shackles and loaded onto the boat like cargo, and people from all up and down the eastern seaboard came to watch these two now infamous men that were leaving as slaves, John Leonard Dober and David Neechman. The story goes that as the boat is pulling away from the shore and they're standing there with the other slaves in chains, that John Dober reaches up his hand and he points toward heaven and he says, may the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering.
That's an inspiring story, right? It's not actually true. It's one of those legends that grows out, gets exaggerated as it gets repeated. It is true that those two young men by those names were burdened for those slaves, and it is true that they resolved to sell themselves into slavery if necessary, but at the end of the day, they didn't need to. They boarded a ship as free men on October 8th, 1732, and spent two years among the people of St. Thomas.
Few others joined them. Other religious denominations were very opposed to the work saying it was too dangerous, it was a waste of resources. Historian named J.E. Hutton, book in my library called The History of the Moravian Church.
It's fascinating. J.E. Hutton says, for 50 years, these two men labored in the West Indies without any aid from any other religious denomination. They established churches in St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John's, in Jamaica, in Antigua, in Barbados, and in St. Kitts.
They had 13,000 baptized converse before a single missionary from any other church arrived on the sea. Honestly, y'all, I think the true version might be more inspiring to me than the exaggerated one. You see, it's one thing to stand in a place like this in one dramatic gesture to sell yourself into slavery, but to get up every day and face the difficulties of ministry and that kind of context with no support, seeing no fruit, nobody there patting you on the back, nobody saying, great job.
Well, see, that takes a resolve and a dedication that goes beyond just inspiration. That takes an iron in your bones that comes from a deep-seated conviction about the grace of God towards you. These men had not one moment, but a lifetime in which they said, may the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering.
If you've understood the grace of God towards you, that's what you're going to want to do. Well, friends, we just heard the final moments of our Life of David teaching series. I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful to have gained a greater perspective of King David's many strengths and his many flaws, and most importantly, how his life points us back to the message of the gospel. Remember, you can always re-listen to any part of this series or any other Summit Life sermon free of charge on our website at jdgrier.com. In this teaching series, we worked our way through many of the key parts of 1 and 2 Samuel. But to go along with all we've learned, we also have a fantastic featured resource right now that we're sending to all of our gospel partners and financial supporters. It's co-written by Pastor J.D., and it's a commentary called Exalting Jesus in 1 and 2 Samuel. It's a book that's rich with both theology and practical applications, helping you see how these books, and frankly the entire Bible, point us back to Jesus. It's great for personal study, but it would also be a perfect resource for a small group or even to help someone you're discipling dig into scripture.
Take the opportunity now to continue in knowledge and understanding and grow closer to Jesus along the way. We'd love to send it to you today with your gift of $35 or more to support this ministry. To give, call us now at 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220.
Or visit us online at jdgrier.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch. Today we finished our study of King David's life. So what's next? Well, if you haven't noticed, it's election season here in America. So for the rest of the week, we're going to share a short but important teaching series teaching us how to look at politics through a gospel-centered lens. Don't miss it Tuesday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.
