But back to the teaching: this pastor was giving was about King David. And I love many of the examples given us in his life and by them, we can see a king who failed many times, but always chose to repent quickly. In my hearing, this pastor as he started giving of what is found in 2 Samuel 24, this specific teaching is of David taking the census of Israel and Judah. This pastor told of the plague and how people were dying, but he did not say that David saw what was happening nor why they should not have been counting the people!
He was using the "plague" as a direct thing in the basis of his teaching in regard to what encountered in the last few months here in the U.S.!
2 Samuel 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, "Go number Israel and Judah. 2 so the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him. Now go throughout all the tribes of the Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people that I may know the number of the people."
2 Samuel 24:3 And Joab said to the king, "Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?" 4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army.
2 Samuel 24: 4 Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel. 5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; 7 and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as 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 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
2 Samuel 24: 10 And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly." 11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 "Go tell David, 'Thus says the LORD, "I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.'" 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, "shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me."
2 Samuel 24: 14 And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man." 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "It is enough; now restrain 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, "Surely I have sinned and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray be against me and against my father's house."
It is from 2 Samuel 24:1 we see David is enticed to count the people, yet in this act, it appears that David was putting his trust in his men and not by faith in God the LORD. And it is Joab who shows concern of counting the men seen in verse 3.
But he tried to hide that within the blessings he spoke to David. And verse 4 reveals a king determined to get the number of the men in Israel and Judah!
Yes, it was God Who desired to see if David would count the men or trust HIM!
It is Gad the prophet or seer who came to tell David what the LORD spoke to him. David had erred greatly. His strength was not in the men but in God who kept watch over Israel and the king, David! In the three things the LORD spoke, He asked if David wanted famine and yet famine was on the land when he became king after the death of Saul. It is mentioned in 2 Samuel 21: 1 "It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites."
The other things given by the LORD for king David were these: shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land?
David would rather fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. So rather than having a military defeat, David chose the plague. But this plague was not disease nor virus and the teaching I heard was giving heed to that of a "virus". No this plague was caused by disobedience and that observed, yes seen, was people dying....and David saw, the angel with the stretched out hand to destroy. Disobedience has a high cost and it will include people who are with you as in family, business or other! Certainly we have seen in this which has passed by!
In 2 Samuel 24:15 the appointed time has the meaning it was the third day and one more act of destruction was to be seen.
So David built an ark where God the LORD showed mercy! And He, God did not destroy Jerusalem. David built that which would bring praise and glory to God!
2 Samuel 24:18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." 19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people." 22 Now Araunah said to David. "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look here are oxen for burnt sacrifice and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king." And Araunah said to the king, " May the LORD your God accept you." 24 Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land and the plague was withdrawn from the land.
How can we expect God's strength if we do not embrace His standards? Counting his men would not change anything. Great or few, God works through those willing to be used for His glory and not man's glory! From verse 25, the LORD heeded the prayers for the land and the plague was withdrawn from the land. God hears prayers when we truly humble ourselves before Him!
In the passage given in Chapter 24, the word "plague" here has the meaning of that which brings "defeat". When a people are disobedient, things like this plague appear. They can be brought on by others who choose to bring destruction to others. May we not be like that. May we be forthright and honorable to give truth and not by trying to manipulate others to sell some book or article we might have. May we not be those who try to give a false narrative that brings a destruction to the freedom of a nation!
Real repentance brings one to build an altar of worship where not a 12-member band is heard but your single voice. It is where the heart humbles before a mighty God to show reverence for who He is! It is God who is to be glorified and as we do, that which is before us will become level as a flat plain.
Commitments are important. Our first is to almighty God, where His mercy is received, and His faithfulness is always seen. It is where His standards are viewed and confessed daily putting them into the treasure of our heart.
Let's respond to giving truth of God's word to another that delivers them to be free in Him and not in the freedom of that book you might be trying to sell. Truly God knows the hearts of men and He will see.
Certainly David's eyes were open to seeing in the spiritual and his eyes viewed the "destroying" angel. I pray our eyes are open to see and our hears to hear so that we will not be taken down that path which leads to destruction! May our standards be high in Him who set them in place as boundaries for our safety. May we have them stored in our hearts so that when an invasion might appear, we are ready with the word that allows His strength to rule in the situation and not our dependence on other men!
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