Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your
Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters
Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.
Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in First Chronicles, chapter
Speaker 1: twenty one, and we'll be reading from the message. Now.
Speaker 1: Satan entered the scene and seduced David into taking a
Speaker 1: census of Israel. David gave orders to Joeab and the
Speaker 1: army officers under him, canvass all the tribes of Israel
Speaker 1: from Dan to Beersheba and get account of the population.
Speaker 1: I want to know the number. Joeab resisted. May God
Speaker 1: multiply his people by hundreds. Don't they all belong to
Speaker 1: my master, the King? But why on earth would you
Speaker 1: do a thing like this? Why risk getting Israel into
Speaker 1: trouble with God? But David wouldn't take no for an answer,
Speaker 1: So Joeab went off and did it. Canvassed the country
Speaker 1: and then came back to Jerusalem and reported the results
Speaker 1: of the census. There were one million, one hundred thousand
Speaker 1: fighting men. Of that total, Judah accounted for four hundred
Speaker 1: seventy thousand. Joe Ab, disgusted by the command. It in
Speaker 1: fact turned his stomach, protested by leaving Levi and Benjamin
Speaker 1: out of the senses, taking, and God, offended by the
Speaker 1: whole thing, punished Israel. Then David prayed, I have sinned
Speaker 1: badly in what I have just done, substituting statistics for trust.
Speaker 1: Forgive my sin. I've been really stupid. God answered by
Speaker 1: speaking to God David's pastor, go and give David this message.
Speaker 1: God's word. You have your choice of three punishments. Choose
Speaker 1: one and I'll do the rest. God delivered the message
Speaker 1: to David. Do you want three years of famine, three
Speaker 1: months of running from your enemies while they chase you down,
Speaker 1: or three days of the sword of God an epidemic
Speaker 1: unleashed on the country by an angel of God. Think
Speaker 1: it over and make up your mind. What shall I
Speaker 1: tell the one who sent me? David told God, they're
Speaker 1: all terrible, but I'd rather be punished by God, whose
Speaker 1: mercy is great, than fall into human hands. So God
Speaker 1: unleashed an epidemic in Israel. Seventy thousand Israelites died. God
Speaker 1: then sent the angel to Jerusalem, but when he saw
Speaker 1: the destruction about to begin, he compassionately changed his mind
Speaker 1: and ordered the death Angel. Enough's enough, pull back. The
Speaker 1: Angel of God had just reached the threshing floor of
Speaker 1: Aruna the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel
Speaker 1: hovering between earth and sky. Soared drawn and about to
Speaker 1: strike Jerusalem. David and the elders bowed in prayer and
Speaker 1: covered themselves with rough burlap. David prayed, Please, I'm the
Speaker 1: one who sinned. I'm the one at fault. But these sheep,
Speaker 1: what did they do wrong? Punish me, not them, Me
Speaker 1: and my family. Don't take it out on them. The
Speaker 1: Angel of God ordered Gad to tell David to go
Speaker 1: and build and alter to God on the threshing floor
Speaker 1: of Aruna the Jebusite. David did what God told him
Speaker 1: in obedience to God's command. Meanwhile, Aruna had quit threshing
Speaker 1: the wheat and was watching the angel. His four sons
Speaker 1: took cover and hid. David came up to Aruna. When
Speaker 1: Aruna saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed
Speaker 1: deeply before David. Honoring the king, David said to Aruna,
Speaker 1: give me the sight of the threshing floor so I
Speaker 1: can build an alter to God. Charge me the market
Speaker 1: price We're going to put an end to this disaster.
Speaker 1: Oh Master, my King said Aruna, just take it, do
Speaker 1: whatever you want with it. Look, here's an ox for
Speaker 1: the burnt offering, and threshing paddles for the fuel, and
Speaker 1: wheat for the meal offering. It's all yours. David replied
Speaker 1: to Aruna. No, I'm buying it from you, and at
Speaker 1: the full market price. I'm not going to offer God's
Speaker 1: sacrifices that are no sacrifice. So David bought the place
Speaker 1: from Aruna for six hundred shekels of gold. He built
Speaker 1: an altar to God there and sacrificed whole burnt offerings
Speaker 1: and peace offerings. He called out to God, and God
Speaker 1: answered by striking the altar of hole burnt offering with lightning.
Speaker 1: Then God told the angel to pull his sword back
Speaker 1: into its scabbard. And that's the story of what happened
Speaker 1: when David saw that God answered him on the threshing
Speaker 1: floor of Aaruna, the Jebu site at the time he
Speaker 1: offered the sacrifice. At this time, the tabernacle that Moses
Speaker 1: had constructed in the desert and with it the altar
Speaker 1: of burnt offering were set up at the worship center
Speaker 1: at Gibeon, but David, terrified by the angel's sword, wouldn't
Speaker 1: go there. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word,
Speaker 1: and we thank you for the privilege of being able
Speaker 1: to look at it together today. And Lord, as we
Speaker 1: look at this portion of scripture, we see this difference
Speaker 1: between walking by faith and walking by sight. And Lord,
Speaker 1: you tell us elsewhere in your words, specifically in the
Speaker 1: Book of Hebrews, that the only way to please you
Speaker 1: is by faith. And here David, instead of walking in
Speaker 1: the trust that you had inspired his heart to walk in,
Speaker 1: he chose to walk by sight. He wanted to number
Speaker 1: the people and count on the strength of human hands,
Speaker 1: instead of relying on you to per vibe for and
Speaker 1: protect and defend the people of Israel. Lord, we thank
Speaker 1: you that you inspired within his heart repentance, and we
Speaker 1: likewise thank you that David was able to recognize that
Speaker 1: your character is one of perfect justice but also perfect mercy,
Speaker 1: and so he sought your mercy in the midst of
Speaker 1: his foolishness. Lord, we know that it can be very
Speaker 1: easy for us in our specific context as well, to
Speaker 1: try and walk by sight, to try and count things
Speaker 1: that we shouldn't be counting to try and rely on
Speaker 1: the things that this world looks to for sustenance and
Speaker 1: strength instead of trusting in You to be our sufficient
Speaker 1: Lord and savior. But Lord, you remind us time and
Speaker 1: time again in your word that if we have Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: your son is our Savior, we have all that we
Speaker 1: truly need in this world. So Lord, we're grateful for
Speaker 1: that reality. We're grateful for your presence with us, and
Speaker 1: we pray that all throughout the course of this day
Speaker 1: and every day, that we would trust that you are
Speaker 1: sufficient for all that we need. We thank you Lord
Speaker 1: for all these things. We thank you for your mercy
Speaker 1: and for your presence with us, and we pray this
Speaker 1: all in Jesus' name. Amen.