2 Samuel 24:10-17
I believe the American Christian has many wrong concepts of our heavenly Father, and one is; God loves me too much to pass judgment on my sins. We do not arrive at that conclusion by being a student of Scripture but as a student of wrong teaching. Sin, our sin, causes pain and suffering when our loving Father disciplines us, and so as we look at David a man after God’s own heart, we grasp how God’s judgment brings pain to us and others.
Shall we begin with David’s adultery with another man’s wife? Uriah was out fighting for Israel and David takes his wife and has sex with her, and she becomes pregnant with his child. David orders the death of Uriah to cover his sin and takes Bathsheba for his wife. What a great example of sin taking us deeper into darkness than we would have ever imagined. What did it cost, the death of the child and great pain and sorrow to David and Bathsheba?
How do our sins bring pain to others, even a nation? Today we shall let Second Samuel 24:10-17 answer that question. First, we see somewhat of a pattern God sends Nathan the prophet to rebuke David over his action of adultery and murder, and this time God sends the prophet Gad with three choices. But we need to go back and look at David’s confession; “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.”
Now that brings us to a question only the person reading this can answer, when you sin does your heart condemn you? If you answer no, 2 Corinthians 13:5 is an essential step, no, it is more than that it is the answer to where you will spend eternity.
So our loving Father who is always faithful to His character sent the prophet Gad with these options: “So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three 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?” Let us pretend you are David, and you have the history of famine, you also have the lessons of being hunted by both King Saul and your son Absalom. Three years of anything terrible does not sound right, and three months of being chased by men who want to kill you and your people do not seem all that great, but three days of pestilence has to be the best option.
Now both you and this writer fully understand that the choice of David did not come as a surprise to our all-knowing Father, but often we let our flesh direct our decisions, and that is what David did.
Shall we continue the account in 2 Samuel 24:15-17, “So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men died. 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. 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.”
Yes, our sins often cause pain to others who were not involved, 70,000 men died and you do not have to ponder on that very long to understand how that brought sorrow to a nation.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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