0:00 Well, let's turn our Bibles to second Samuel chapter 24. Second Samuel 24 as we come to a close in our study of this book. Our sister prayed thanking God for the past few months in this book, but if you calculate our time since we started first Samuel, it's been close to, I think, three years when you combine first and second Samuel in our study with the natural breaks throughout those years. So maybe, let's say, safely two years in our study of the story of David, and what a story it is. Right?
0:37 What a man. God preserving so much concerning his testimonies, his trials, triumphs, tests, mountaintops, and low valleys. There isn't another character apart from the person of Jesus Christ that takes up so much space in our Bibles, so he is an important figure. He is crucial in our understanding not just of what and who he points to, but the practical lessons that we must absorb as things around his life are meant to correlate with our Christian journey. When it comes to his battles, when it comes to his temptations, when it comes to his devotion, clearly, the Holy Spirit wants to set this man up not to be worshiped or venerated, but to learn from as a model and as an example.
1:25 And that is no less true in the final chapter of second Samuel as we explore the concluding the concluding verses of this man's life. This isn't where David ends. That's in first Kings chapter one where we see his actual departure from the earth, the record of that. Nonetheless, in this specific record, we have a certain scenario that the Holy Spirit wants us to end our thoughts on as we bring this study to a close. Our sister prayed, but I I I would like to pray again.
1:56 Lord, we thank you for second Samuel for the months and the weeks devoted to this consistently. Others might feel a little bit weary and tired of hearing of the same man over and over again, and yet we are in a room filled with people who want to wring out every single drop of insight that your word would provide concerning this man. So we thank you for the joy and the endurance in this book. Now, lord, as we come to the final chapter, we pray that your voice would be loud and clear and that there would be the fruit of your will transferred over into our lives as a result of what this study is about. We thank you in advance for what you will do.
2:41 Thank you for what you have done, and we give you all the glory and honor as a church family. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Second Samuel 24 verse one. Again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them saying, go number Israel and Judah.
3:05 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army who is 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.' But Joab said to the king, 'May the Lord your God add to the people a 100 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? 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. They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer and from the city that is in the middle of the valley toward Gad and on to Yasser.
3:48 Then they came to Gilead and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites, and they came to Dan. And from Dan, they went around to Sidon and came to the Fortress Of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. And they went out to the Negeb Of Judah at Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days, 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.
4:23 We have to ask two very important questions from verse one that will help us frame the rest of this chapter. Those questions are this. Number one, what was it that Israel did for the anger of the Lord to be kindled against it? And number two, what does it mean for he, being God, to incite David against them? So let's deal with the first question.
4:53 We're told here the premise is that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Many people don't even consider that fact when they come to this chapter. They immediately wanna go to David's sin in in asking for a census when the whole foundation of the thing is that, no. God is actually responding to a previous sin, the sin of the nation. The sin of the nation here is the reason for why God is about to do what he's going to do, why David is gonna do what he is about to do.
5:22 And we wonder what is it that Israel has done. And here's the thing. We have entered into the realm of speculation because the scriptures are not clear about what the nation has done in order to cause God to move in divine discipline. But there might be a hint in a simple word, the word that opens up this chapter. It's the very simple word again.
5:43 Again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Now you and I are not unfamiliar with the cycles of sin that this nation got themselves into throughout centuries. We've read and studied the book of Judges. And even early on in first Samuel, we've seen this pattern from this nation, and that pattern can be summarized in this, idolatry and apostasy, the worship of different gods and ultimately turning their backs on God. And if the word again is meant to link us to the repetitive cycle of Israel's history, then we can say that perhaps what is causing God to be so angry is that the people somehow have now come to a low point in false worship and unfaithfulness to their God.
6:30 Now, that's not certain. Some would even say, no. No. No. This is God's anger against Israel for their guilt involving within Absalom's what?
6:41 His revolt and their partial partnership in the rebellion of Sheba. That also is not entirely clear. So we're left to just say we don't know what it is, but we can say it was enough for God to say, I'm gonna do something to discipline you. I'm going to chastise you. And he's gonna chastise him by doing this, and this brings us to our second question, inciting David against them.
7:08 What does it mean for God to incite David against them? Again, you might come up with different answers unless you read the rest of the chapter. When you read the rest of the chapter as we did, what god essentially is saying, what the spirit is saying is that David, as a response to the sin of the nation, was stirred to sin, was stirred to sin in order to cause the people to sin further. Now that sounds odd because we read here that he incited David. Did did God incite David to sin?
7:44 We know that James tells us that God tempts no man. And so how do we reconcile this? Because what we see here is that David is going to commit a very grievous evil. Yes? Very good.
7:57 In first Chronicles 21 verse one, we'll get there in a moment. We're not we're gonna read that it's actually Satan who incites David to create a census. And even if you didn't have first Chronicles twenty one one, which is very important in having, the understanding of what's taking place here, what David is doing, what God is this is an important word, allowing, is not a foreign idea in their Bibles. Essentially, what's taking place here is as a response to the nation's sin, God is going to allow David and the nation to sin further. Why?
8:34 Because in sinning further, they will incur more judgment upon themselves while also embracing the consequences of their willful disobedience. In other words, one way that God judges a people, one of the rods that he uses is you to sin further in your sin, that when you persist in your rebellion, God will allow you to continue in your rebellion. Because to remain in such a condition is judgment in itself. And it's important to see here that when he incited David, he's not the direct agent for David to commit sin. Our brother just read it in first Chronicles twenty one one.
9:15 We read that it was actually say Satan. Some would see this as a contradiction. No. It's complimentary. God is sovereign.
9:23 He superintends all things, including Satan. And when we read here in first Chronicles 21 that Satan stood against Israel and incited David, what this is essentially showing us is how God incited David. The how here is in this verse, and it was by permitting Satan, removing his protection, removing his grace from David and the nation as a whole, and giving Satan more access to his heart and to his mind to persuade him further into darkness. There are so many examples of that throughout the old and the new, and this is just one of them. So what you have here is a very important theological concept.
10:04 When a person or a people refuse to continue to follow God, they will inevitably have Satan as a substitute. Push God out. You don't have neutrality. Push God out. You invite the evil one.
10:19 When you do that in your life, when you do that in your family, when you do that in your marriage, when you do it as a nation, you don't wanna follow God anymore, you don't wanna honor God anymore, then Satan will gladly lead you because you're a slave to something in this life. You're always a slave. You're either a slave to sin, a slave to Satan, or a slave to God and a slave to righteousness. You're not a free man. You're a slave.
10:43 But the beauty about being a slave unto God is that that's where true freedom lies. And so we see here that Satan, in essence, takes the place as God pulls away his presence and his activity intensifies, and that's what we read here. David receives a thought not from the Lord but from the evil one. Satan, unlike what many people believe, Satan can't read your mind. He can't.
11:09 Some people believe that. What a tormenting way to live. He can't read your mind. God is all knowing. The Bible tells us that he alone knows the hearts of all men.
11:18 Satan doesn't share that prerogative or that power, but Satan can sow into your mind, and he can plant thoughts into your mind. And that's exactly what happens to David here. And it shows something about David, does it not? Because the temptation comes and he bites. Now we read about the poor anemic condition of Israel, but we also realize that David himself was in a weak place, spiritually speaking.
11:46 David allows Satan to influence him. David allows this thought of clear disobedience to actually overtake him. And could it be that Israel's weak condition is a direct result of Israel's leadership being a poor example and not being steadfast in their own walk with the Lord. God only knows. But allow me to say it again.
12:06 One of the ways in which God judges a person or a people is by allowing them to sin further so they can store it for themselves more judgment while also enduring the consequences of the sin itself. Just in case you doubt that, this is one of my go to verses to show that and to prove that. It's in Proverbs 22 verse 14. Proverbs twenty two fourteen says that the mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit. The mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit, meaning a woman who is promiscuous, adulteress, sensual is a deep pit.
12:41 You get involved with a woman like that, it's gonna be very hard to escape. That's what it means to me deep pit. It you won't be able to really escape the consequences as easily. You won't be able to escape the the the the pain, the guilt, the shame as easily. It's a deep pit.
12:55 It's a severe thing to fall into such a way of life. But that's not the part I'm focused on. It says in the second part of that verse, he with whom the lord is angry will fall into it. I remember first reading that just in my reading of Proverbs, and it shocked me to the core. You would think it says the mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit.
13:18 The one who does this, the lord will be angry with. It doesn't say that. It says he with whom the lord is angry will fall into it. In other words, in some cases, when a person does fall into this pit, it's not because God is angry with that particular sin. It's the fruit of a previous sin.
13:41 God, in essence, allows a person to continue in their sin, which in many cases leads to adultery, sensuality, or morality as a consequence of something prior. And it made me think about so many different scenarios. And one of the scenarios that we're familiar with, unfortunately, is the fall of many leaders who who get themselves involved in in fidelity, in sensuality. I wonder if that is not necessarily the the the sin that disqualified them. I wonder if they were disqualified a long time ago.
14:15 And that was the that was a sin that ultimately disqualified them publicly from ministry, but makes you wonder if there was pride in that heart. Makes you wonder if there was self exaltation or different vices that corrupted that person because what we see here is one of the ways in which god does chastise or judge is when he says, go ahead. I remove my protective guardrails around you. I remove my conviction. I remove my warnings, and I let you just be.
14:45 And that's what we see here with David. Satan has greater access to his mind. And what does Satan incite him to do? Verse two. So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, 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.
15:03 Are you serious? Out of all the things that tate Satan can tempt a man to do, out of all the crimes, out of all the evils, the one thing that Satan resolves to convince David of is to send out a nationwide report to get an update on the population number. I mean, that sounds like that sounds pretty innocent as it sounds so severe because there's nothing inherently wrong with the senses. That's true throughout the bible, but what we have to consider here are two things to see how Satan is moving behind the scenes, the motive behind the senses and the method of the senses, the motive and the method. What is the motive, do you think, according to verse two?
15:54 What do you see in verse two? That I may know. It's all about David. It's all for David. It's all to satisfy this curiosity and a curiosity in order to build up self confidence.
16:16 I just want to know how many people I have under my leadership and my reign. I wanna know how much we've grown. I wanna know our strength. I wanna know our military might, which is confirmed later on that David is not necessarily interested in the wider number. He wants to know specifically about his army.
16:35 And Joab here I mean, out of all the guys to protest this, Joab is the guy who protests this. That's how you know there's something fishy about this. He reads David like a book. Like, it's all over him for why he wants to do this, and that's why he he stands up and he says, listen. May the Lord add to the number 100 times in your lifetime, but why do you delight in this thing?
16:58 Why are you trying to do this? What are what's your real motive here? And he's challenging David because he can discern that this is rooted in pride. This is rooted in arrogance. There is something here about David wanting to confirm and celebrate himself, and Joab is the one who notices it.
17:18 Joab. And I thought to myself reading about Joab, I said, where was this man's courage? Where was this man's conviction? We'll get to that in a moment, but this is what we're seeing here. Pride is what is consuming David.
17:32 That was the door that Satan had access through. Is David at the beginning of his life, the middle of his life, or the end of his life? The end of his life. Pride is always lurking at every point of where you're at, of every season. When you're young and you're zealous, you can boast in that.
17:54 And even in your spirituality, even in your plans and your dreams and the strength of the flesh and your beauty, you can be proud. And at the end of your life, upon the reflection of all your successes and all your endeavors and all the things that you've done, even in the name of God, pride is right there trying to destroy you. Even if you have a day left to live, pride still wants to try to bring you down. So be on guard always, always at all seasons, at all times, in all places. Be alert.
18:21 Here we see that this man in his old age is still being threatened by pride, and, unfortunately, he's infected by it. In first Chronicles twenty one five, that's a parallel account. If you wanna flip back and forth, it'll make this study much easier. We're told exactly what David wanted a number for. It says here, and Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David and all Israel.
18:42 There were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword. And in Judah, 470,000 who drew the sword. David wanted to know specifically about his fighting men. And there's no sign in the text that David is trying to get an idea of who's at his disposal because there are neighboring nations ready to go to war. The fact that this took several months to do shows that David is doing this at a time of peace.
19:13 Some people excuse David that he's trying to do this to prepare himself for a potential conflict. There is no sign of conflict. Nine months go by, and there is nothing indicating potential danger. This is purely from a place of success and wanting to relish in your success. So there are only two strong possibilities to why David is doing this.
19:34 What do you think it is? One of two, or maybe you can get both. I kinda gave a hint just now. To gloat, to one to simply just boast and to and to realize how successful he was and to to proclaim nationally how successful he was. This was a way to trumpet his own brilliance and leadership.
19:58 But what's the second reason, do you think? I think that's very true. Here's David now putting his trust in a number of his men rather than the strength of his God. And and the Lord himself knew the danger. God's not against numbers.
20:26 He has a old book called Numbers. K? God's not against numbers. In the book of Acts, we see him counting the number of people who are saved periodically. He's not.
20:36 Now what we do with those numbers and what those numbers do to us determines what God feels about us numbering. But yet, God still realizes the danger of numbers. And so even when it came to Gideon, as our brother brought up as an example, he reduced the number less the people boast in themselves after the victory. And God even concerning kings in Deuteronomy 17 gave strict protocol of what they should do in terms of their army, in terms of their own material gain and strength, and there should be few horses. Right?
21:06 And all these specific rules so that constantly, they would depend on their God throughout the ages. And we hear we see here that David potentially now loses sight of the Lord and begins to try to draw hope and draw strength from that which god says you don't put your trust in. Either one of these reasons is enough for him to be headed for trouble. These are the potential motives. Now let's talk about the method.
21:35 This is where people tend to miss the deeper meaning of the story. They tend to just stop their data as operating here under pride, self sufficiency, self reliance. True. True. True.
21:44 True. But the crime is much more severe than that. Did god give his people instructions of how they should conduct the census? You would know this if you were with us five, six years ago because we went through a book that tells us plainly that there are set detailed rules of how the nation should go about sending out a report to be numbered. Anybody know which book I'm speaking about?
22:11 Exodus. So I need you to turn to Exodus chapter 30, and let's read a few verses to understand this more deeply. This is why, you've heard me say this. I love saying it. You need to read the whole Bible, my friend, because you'll come to a story like this and you'll miss the deeper meaning.
22:27 So when you skip over Exodus, because from 25 to 40, it's all about the tabernacle. You're like, I'm not interested. This doesn't relate to my life. Then you come to the exciting book of second Samuel and you come to 24, you say, oh, this is awesome. But because you missed out on Exodus, you missed out on second Samuel 24.
22:43 Exodus 30 verse 11, another reminder for us to be a people who indulge in the whole thing. Verse 11 reads, the Lord said to Moses pay attention now, verse 12, when you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel is 20 geras. Half a shekel as an offering to the lord.
23:16 Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20 years old and upward shall give the lord's offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting that I may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord so as to make atonement for your lives. Fascinating. I love the Bible.
23:49 I love the Old Testament. I got giddy when I was reminded of these verses. Well, tell me tell me some things that stand out from the specific rules concerning the senses. What stands out to you? There's a tax associated with the census.
24:06 You could not separate the tax from the numbering. Crucial. Anything else? The tax has a specific purpose. There's actually a twofold purpose, but it's referred to powerfully as the atonement money.
24:31 Oh, you see where we're going here? Atonement money. What else stands out to you from these verses? The money is actually an offering to the Lord. It's an offering.
24:45 So that's one of its purposes. And we're gonna get to the purposes in a moment, but I wanna see if anybody else sees any other details. What else stands out? Whether you're rich or poor, no matter what your status was in society, every single person paid the same price. Yes.
25:08 Oh, very, very important. Did you see what we were reading at first? Refusal to pay the tax would invoke a plague. If you've read second Samuel 24 in its entirety, things are beginning to connect now, and I'll show you if you haven't read it before. What else?
25:28 You had your hand up. Well, it's a remembrance. There's a remembrance in this act. Well, I think we've gathered enough unless Joshua back there in the sound booth. What are you doing in the sound booth, Joshua?
25:40 Are you in charge of the live? Yes. So there is an atoning factor to this half shekel being devoted and dedicated from each individual while we have enough now to work with something. This is the two purposes that we have concerning this tax when the census will go out. Number one, this tax would be a means to provide the necessary funds to continue the service in the tabernacle.
26:09 We read that. Right? We read here that the service of the tent of meeting, it shall be given for the service. And then the second part there of verse 16 is that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord. So not only would it help fund the ministry of the central worship center of the nation, it would have an individual and immediate act upon the hearts of the people, and this was it.
26:34 The senses would cause the people to be humbled because of that tax. There would be something given up by the people so that not that nationalism would be boosted, not not so that the ego of the leadership would be stroked, but that the people would be actually brought low. And that when they were numbered, when their existence and their participation was made known to them and to the nation, they would, in a sense, by giving up the shekel saying, as much as I have been led here by the grace of God, as much as I am in a place of great prosperity and blessing, I also recognize that I am in need of atonement. I also recognize that God owns me and that I need rescue, and that I need to be delivered, and that I need covering for my sin. That's what was being declared in that offering.
27:37 And so, yes, they would be acknowledged by the senses, but they would also be humbled by the senses, and that humility would be stimulated by a willingness to give up something small, but something symbolic that would cause them to say and recall their condition and feel their need to be delivered. And what makes us observe this even more special is what the Lord says in verse 15. We we heard it already. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when you give the lord's offering to make atonement. That's a gospel truth.
28:12 What this means is no matter who you are among your family, in society, your occupation, every single person by giving the same amount would essentially be confessing that they are all in equal need of the same atonement. We all need deliverance. We all need the same salvation. We all need the same rescue. And so this census with this tax actually brought everybody on a level ground.
28:41 It brought everybody to to realize and acknowledge no matter who I am as a number in this place, still, you and I, my brother, my sister, we all need the same thing. We all need atonement. We all need atonement. And and if you can make a bible study just on the senses. So let me just give you something else to add to this to make it even more exciting.
29:05 When this original census was given out, when this original set of instructions was implemented, does anybody know where the tax money went in Exodus? Anybody have an idea? Where did this tax money go? Well, one, the shekel was silver. Maybe that's a hint.
29:38 Any ideas? If you're listening to this at a later time, any ideas? You're in that general area. The tabernacle. Give me more specifics.
29:53 Yes. Here's Josh. I'm pointing at you. The priest, more specifically, you're in the realm that I'm referring to. Not the treasury necessarily.
30:05 Not the trumpets, but very good guess. Okay. I'm impatient. Exodus 38. You'll see it.
30:16 Exodus thirty eight twenty five. We see the direct reference of this initial census being given out and where the silver of this first generation went to. Exodus thirty eight twenty five. Are you there? The silver from those of the congregation who are recorded was a 100 talents and 1,775 shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, a bekha head that is half a shekel by the shekel of the sanctuary for everyone who is listed in the records from 20 years old and upward for 603 550,000 men.
30:54 Now here it is, verse 27. The 100 talents of silver were forecasting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil, a 100 bases for the 100 talents, a talent, a base. Where did that silver go to? The bases that held up the boards that would make up the edifice of the tabernacle. Every inch of the construction of the tabernacle has been recorded and preserved for us in the word of God.
31:26 It's absolutely astounding to me to see how much of the Bible contains reference, whether in detail or by name, to the tabernacle. I always use this as an example to contrast a thought provoking, idea. You have two chapters or chapter and a half dedicated to the creation of the universe, the creation of the universe. And some believe that in comparison to that, you have close to 50 chapters in the Bible that's dedicated to the tabernacle. Two for the universe, around 50 for a building that has no immediate relevance to us in the new covenant.
32:02 Clearly, there's something important about the tabernacle. And every corner, every material, every way in which it should be built has been kept for us because there's something greater in it than for us to see what Israel used as a means to meet with God. And here we read that the silver that was brought from the census was utilized in order to create the basis in which the main structure with its boards would be able to be established and founded upon. You don't have the basis. You don't have support.
32:38 You don't have support. You don't have an existing meeting place between God and man. It's it's the base. It's the foundation. So remove the basis.
32:49 What do you have? A very wobbly tent. Remove the bases, and what do you have? A very shaky and unpredictable arena. So this is this is not optional.
33:01 This is crucial, like anything else, when you're building any size project, to have the base in place. And the base, by the spirit's insight, we're told, is used by the material of the silver. What did the silver represent? Atonement. It was a confession that apart from atonement, I cannot be who God called me to be.
33:28 I cannot have a future. I cannot be truly a child of God. I need my sins covered. And the Holy Spirit takes that truth and applies it to the base of the tabernacle. You know why?
33:40 Because in the same way, you could not have a tabernacle without the silver bases. You can't have a relationship with God apart from the reality of atonement. That's the truth. God could tabernacle with man in the old covenant on the basis of the revelation of atonement. Christ can only tabernacle in your heart upon the same reality, not with silver or gold, as Peter said, but upon the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
34:11 That's the truth. Do you see how the Old Testament is exciting? Do you see how you can't skip it? Do you see how when you get deep, there's meat waiting for you? So even the basis of the silver, you think, why am I being told this?
34:23 Well, what does the silver represent? Oh, you can't have a tabernacle. You can't know God. You can't meet with God. You can't have the glory of God apart from me confessing I need to be atoned for.
34:35 It's pointing to something. Now this is making more sense when you come to second Samuel 24. Hold on. We're still in the category, not of the motive, but of the method of the senses. What was the danger?
34:51 What was the punishment if the people under a census did not give up the atoning silver, a plague. Come back to second Samuel 24. Look at verse 15. So the Lord sent what? A pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.
35:17 Plague. It's very likely that when Satan tempted David, he not only tempted him to feed his pride, but he tempted him to create a senses while ignoring the atonement offering. And that makes sense because the guilt didn't just come upon David. Who did it come upon? The nation as a whole.
35:45 The nation as a whole. And so it could be that the anger from verse one of of of God concerning the people is that they themselves had their own pride going on. And inciting David to create this census without the need of the atonement only exposed the pride that was in their hearts. Because what you have here is a great possibility that the people neglected their participation, their responsibility in giving up half a shekel when they were counted. What was Satan trying to do?
36:25 He was trying to, in essence, cause the people to deny their need for redemption. It was an affront to God. It was an offense to God. It was them saying, yeah. We're numbered, but they divorced themselves of their need for saving, their need for redemption.
36:42 How only their sins being covered is any hope for their future, and David wanted to blur that message. And so he encouraged David to create a sense which is not inherently wrong, but when you did it your way without this key component, oh, you are sending a clear message to god almighty and to your neighbors. We don't need atonement. Is Satan still doing the same today? Absolutely.
37:08 Satan doesn't mind you acknowledging your existence. He doesn't mind you living it up here as long as you do not see your desperate condition. He'll let you live in self righteousness. He'll let you live in a works based philosophy as long as you don't come to the self realization that I need covering. I need redemption.
37:32 I need something outside of myself to rescue me. He's doing the very same thing. And we see here that this is the essence of the crime of second Samuel chapter 24. A census without atonement, a census without an offering, a census without the proclamation of the desperation of the people's spiritual condition. And we're gonna close to show just how severe this crime was.
37:59 We're just in verse two. How are we gonna finish this? I don't know, but let's keep going. Verse three, but Joab said to the king, may the lord your god add to the people a 100 times as many as they are, while the eyes of the lord still see it. My king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?
38:15 Again, I said earlier, where was this man's courage and conviction when it came to Abner, when it came to Uriah, when it came to the people that he murdered in cold blood? I I thought to myself, where was this man with Amasa when he kissed him and stabbed him and let his entrail spill out? Because the what he's saying here is righteous. It is right. It is correct.
38:40 But, see, Job's problem was this, that he was willing to stand up against evil as long as that evil did not did not cause any of his personal interest to be endangered. If evil promoted his position, protected his authority, he was for it. But when it was outside of himself, he was willing to speak out against it. This is what we call selective sanctification. That you are bold and courageous on your social media and in your conversations and in your debates with others with cultural issues.
39:13 But when it comes to sins that you enjoy and justify, you have a different tone, don't you? You you have a different attitude, don't you? That's that's a Joab like spirituality. And so as much as this is to be commended, this is also concerning with Joab, willing to speak out against evils that don't pertain or affect his life. But when it came to his life, he was more than willing to commit evil.
39:38 And it's more than just Joab. Look at verse four. But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So now you have other guys in high prominent positions that are siding with Joab and are trying to convince the king. King, don't do this.
39:53 Please don't do this. This is gonna be really bad for you and really bad for all of us. We're begging you not to do this. This. But, unfortunately, it says here the king's word prevailed against Joab.
40:05 What do you take out of verse four? What do you take out of verse four with Joab and the commanders of the army standing up against the king? Look at it from a divine standpoint. Look at it from God's perspective more than from a human standpoint. Do you know what I see from this?
40:19 An act of God's mercy. I see that as much as David has been given over to himself in this season, God still gives him a way out. It's almost as though god is giving him yet another chance, another chance to escape a furtherance into disobedience and the the consequences and the outcomes thereof. Do you remember what happened with David on the rooftop in second Samuel 11 when he inquired of Bathsheba? The servants came back, and what did they say?
40:47 They they told him that this is a married woman, and she's actually married to one of your mighty men. Remember that? And we concluded that that was an act of intervention to shock David and to sober David to him to realize, okay. This is a married woman, and this is not just any married woman. This is that should be enough, but this is one of my best friend's wives.
41:12 And so the promise there in the New Testament that whenever we are tempted, the Lord will always provide a way of escape. That's always promised in every situation, every scenario, and it's no less true here. In second Samuel 11, David had a chance to say, what am I thinking? Thank you, servants. Go ahead.
41:28 And he could have smacked his head a couple times on on one of the walls, and he would have been justified in doing so. What am I thinking? And here we have him again in this chapter where he has, of all people, Joab, being the voice of reason and having the moral high ground. Hey. Don't do this.
41:43 Like, if you have if you have Joab telling you not to do something, you would think, okay. Maybe I'm not maybe I'm doing something wrong here. And he still doesn't catch it. He still doesn't catch it. Many people in their sin, especially in their premeditated sin, do the same thing David does.
42:02 They fail to hear the voice of God. Now I'm not talking about the audible voice of God. I'm talking about the the natural means of providential interruptions providential interruptions. So, like, when the sermon you hear on that Sunday that speaks directly to your situation, And you're just like, okay. God is saying something to me, and yet you still choose to persist in your disobedience.
42:23 Right? The rebuke of a friend or when a friend texts you or calls you and says, brother, I don't know what's going on with you, man. You seem different. The lord put you on my heart, and I just wanna is everything okay? And you're like, yeah.
42:31 Everything's fine, brother. God is good. Go all the time. God is good. And and you're not catching it.
42:36 The Lord is even impressing it on people who care for you to get your attention. Right? Or the very difficult hurdles that have been brought about on the path as you're trying to plan your sin, and you're not catching on that God is trying to stop you from doing this. Though you will not infringe upon your free will. I know that word irks people, but and so what do we make of this?
43:00 It's a very clear example and illustration of how stubborn we are in our sin. And God tries to get our attention in many ways, and we still choose to, in our blindness, move forward. But I see something else here. I see something else that's deeper than that truth, and it's this, that when the child of God is outside of fellowship with the Lord, clearly David was not in a good place to begin with for him to be incited in this way, for him to be so hardened. When the child of God is outside of fellowship with the Lord, they are capable of making foolish decisions that even men like Joab would never entertain.
43:41 When we forfeit communion with God, you and I, even as Christians, are capable of becoming something that even the world would not tolerate. You don't believe me? Remember what Paul said about that man in first Corinthians five who needed to be excommunicated from the church because his sin was very public and it was atrocious and it was being tolerated by the by the church? He said in verse one of first Corinthians five, it is actually reported that there is sexual morality among you and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans. I this is how this is why you need to stay close to Jesus, like, very close.
44:24 Because to remove yourself from that close protection in the presence of God can create something in you that even the world would say, that's pretty insane. That behavior is out of place. That kind of attitude, those kind of decisions, even the world can say, we wouldn't even go that far. Now I know that's becoming increasingly difficult to believe in our age, but it's true nonetheless. Here we have a great contrast.
44:51 You have a man like Joab who was not a noble man, who was not a man of great character and integrity. But even Joab can look at David who has been brought so low because of his distance from God, and he goes, I wouldn't even do that myself. If that doesn't mode I mean, there are many things to motivate you to cling to Jesus Christ. Let this be one of them. You don't want to know what you can become when you move away from God.
45:17 I don't wanna know what I can become. People say, brother, how do you stay devoted in your disciplines every single day? It's not a matter of my feelings. It's a matter of survival. Like, I need this.
45:28 It's not a matter of I want this. I need it. I don't know what I don't know. I just know myself. I know myself.
45:35 I know who Daniel can be when he doesn't spend enough ample time with the Lord. I know. I know what happens to my thinking. I know what happens to my flesh. I know what happens to my patience.
45:42 I know what happens to my attitude. I know what I know myself. So I need to stay very close to him. And it's not just survival. It's satisfaction, may I add.
45:52 I enjoy him, and I hope you do too. So what happens? Verse five. This elaborate, drawn out, detailed journey meant to emphasize the absolute length and breadth that Joab and the commanders went to in order to satisfy their leaders' lust. And verse eight tells us the exact numbering of the whole campaign.
46:17 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. Yeah. What took them almost ten months would take us a few days even here in America. Right? So this is more than just us to get an idea of how much we'd advance in technology.
46:35 There's a lesson here. What do you take out of that? Almost ten months for this to be completed. Do you know what I see? Do you see the same?
46:45 What? You just try to take a long time. Yeah. Well, your sin can take you and keep you longer than you hope for. Sure.
46:59 Yes. That's primarily it. This nine months and twenty days was a window for David's repentance. David had a chance to call out to god during this time. David had a chance to come to his senses and say, shut this whole thing down.
47:15 What was I thinking two months ago? And so you see here that David persisted in his disobedience for almost a year, and you also see God's patience to not immediately judge him and to wait for him to come to his senses in that same period of time. God is so patient, gloriously patient, merciful beyond understanding. And so David had this time, and it's just yet another revelation of God's mercy. It wasn't just through Joab and the commanders.
47:45 It was even in the period in which this thing was being conducted, and it still didn't click. You say, oh, oh, David, it took you that long to realize? Okay. How about you and me? How many sermons do we have to hear?
47:57 How many years being in church? How many years being in the ministry before we actually got it? How many? How many? This is just just this is to humble us.
48:05 It's taken longer for other people to come to their senses and their sin and their spiritual maturity. So let's not get excited here and say, oh, I'm glad I'm not like David. I don't know. We might be worse than David in many cases. At the end of nine months and twenty days, Joab finally comes with the report back.
48:23 And let's skip over here to verse 10. But David's heart struck him, very important word, after he had numbered the people. And David said to the lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, oh lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant for I have done very foolishly, very foolishly. So when Joab and the commander spoke up to David, his heart was not stricken. When the nine months and twenty days went by, nothing happened to him.
48:53 It wasn't only until after. What we had hoped for would happen before only happened after. And, And, again, we might say, shame on you, David. No. No.
49:04 No. Shame on us because how true is it that most people are only ready to repent when they see what they thought would bring them delight ends up disappointing them in the end. This is a picture of the tendency of man, even people who profess Christ, that we only tend to feel the guilt and the conviction that we should have felt earlier when the mirage has been proven to be a mirage. Because it it sounded really good when it was here and when we fantasized about it and when we thought about it and when we had all our little schemes of how to escape it and to evade the consequences of it. It sounded and it looked really good here, but only until you sipped from it and you felt what it did to your soul, you realize this is stupid.
49:58 This didn't satisfy. This was dumb. The shame is not worth it. The guilt is not worth it. It's only usually until after we do the thing do we feel our hearts springing with conviction.
50:11 It doesn't have to be that way. But look at his language. What stands out to you from his confession? And David said, I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, oh lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant for I have done very foolishly. Anything stand out to you?
50:29 It helps when you have the rearview mirrors up. Yes. Okay. That's good. That's one of the points.
50:36 Does David say remove the consequences of my iniquity? He doesn't say that. What does he say? Remove what? The iniquity.
50:47 That's true confession. True confession is not just you acknowledging you're wrong. It's you actually professing in your desire to be changed. K. Not only is this wrong, I need you to eradicate the presence and the power of the sin in my life.
51:04 A lot of confession is provoked when the sin is met with consequences. And here's the thing, Worldly sorrow looks at the consequences and sees the consequences as the reason for you wanting God to intervene. A true blood bought regenerate soul is not concerned as much as the consequences are are concerning you more than the consecration of your own life. The true believer when he sin says, Lord, let the consequence let the chips fall where they fall, but I need to be changed. I don't wanna be this person again.
51:40 I don't wanna repeat this vileness again. I don't wanna be this. You need to do something in me, not just for me, which is a lot of confession. I wanna get out of this trouble. I don't wanna go to jail.
51:51 I don't wanna lose my friends. I wanna save my money. That's not true repentance. Repentance says, okay. As much as the consequence is there, I see it and I will deal with it.
52:00 God, you'll preserve me through it. But, Lord, this stinking heart of mine, purify it. Remove this sin, not just the problems that my sin brought into my existence. Difference. Big difference.
52:13 And David here is truly repenting. See, we look at David and we said, man, these past few weeks have been kind of troublesome. All we've been seeing is David messing up and David experiencing the consequences of sin, and yet still the bible has the audacity to crown him as a man after god's heart. You know why? Partly because this, he really repented when he sinned.
52:31 Not that he didn't sin, but when he did sin, he really, really repented. Remove this iniquity. Take it away from your servant. But look at the first part. I have sinned, what, greatly.
52:46 Go to second Samuel 12. And this is when Nathan the prophet confronts David for his adultery with Bathsheba. I've mentioned this before, so this might be a reminder for many of you. In second Samuel chapter 12, look at verse three. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.
53:03 What's the difference? Chapter 24, he says what? Yeah. So he's talking directly to the Lord instead of a prophet. The prophet's gonna show up in a few verses here.
53:16 But what what do we see here about his confession pertaining to his sin? He says in verse 10 of 24, I have sinned what? Greatly. When he sinned with Bathsheba, what did he say? I have sinned.
53:30 He didn't say sinned greatly. When it came to David's pride, he said, I have sinned greatly. When it came to his adultery, he says, I have sinned. How many of us in here would consider David's adultery a greater offense than his pride? I think most of us.
53:52 But for some reason, David at this time sees his pride as a very serious offense against God. I don't know if we would see our pride the same way. I don't know if we would calculate spiritual sin the same way we would tangible sin. But David here provides with an awakened conscious, accurate assessment of this particular sin, namely the sin of pride. He realizes how vile and despicable it really is.
54:22 You remember the seven things that are abomination to God. Right? In Proverbs six. What's the first thing on the list? Anybody remember?
54:30 Haughty eyes. You're right. Other transitions would say a proud look. The number one thing on the list of things that God hates is pride. It's the mother of all sins.
54:38 It's the womb that brings forth the offspring of many offenses. And so David here who fell into pride, not just in the fact that he wanted to know the number, but in assuming that he had the prerogative to change God's order for the senses, feels the weightiness of this disgusting sin, and he says, I have sinned greatly. I have sinned greatly. If you ask god to see sin the way he sees sin, you will know a new maturity in your walk with the lord. Because many people calculate the severity of sin based on the effect it might have in the physical.
55:19 But Paul defines that there are actually sins of the spirit that might not be perceivable necessarily by the eye, but that occupy the inner man, and those sins are just as much sinful as things that you do with your hands or with your mouth or with your feet or with any part of your body. Ask God. I challenge you. Ask God. Lord, let me see sin the way you see sin, and you would find yourself confessing the way David confessed.
55:44 When it comes to things like pride, you will say, oh, wow. Lord, cleanse me. Right? Not that other sins are more to be tolerated, but we begin to see other sins that we might have not considered serious. And so what do we see here in verse 11?
56:03 And David arose when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad. Where have you been, Gad? David's seer is saying, go and say to David, thus says the Lord, three things I offer you. Choose one of them that I may do it to you. Pause.
56:20 When's the last time you've seen Gad? Any idea? God. Where you been, God? Give you a hint.
56:32 It's not in the neighborhood of 2nd Samuel. Any idea where Gad was last mentioned before this? I'll give you another hint. It was at a very low point in David's life. I'll give you another hint.
56:50 He wasn't a king yet. Any light bulbs? I'll give you another hint. It was in a dark hole somewhere. Okay.
57:03 First Samuel chapter 22. When David was in the Cave Of Adullam, the prophet Gad enters into that cave and gives David direction of where to go moving forward. In other words, you don't have to turn there, but if you like to, you can. We'll read the first five verses. The last time Gad showed up in David's life, at least in record, was when David needed encouragement and direction from a very dark place in his life.
57:26 David wasn't necessarily in sin. He was a fugitive running away from Saul who was venomously coming after him. And the next time you see Gad appear in David's life is not necessarily to bring encouragement, but to bring correction and to bring a very hard truth, a hard warning, a word of judgment. True friends know how to do both. True messengers and vessels of God know how to do both.
57:50 You know how to encourage when a saint is brought low, and you know how to redirect even sometimes with difficult truths when they have lost their way when they have lost their way. And it could be because I wondered I mean, why didn't God send Nathan? Nathan confronted him with Bathsheba, and it could be because of the nature of David's sin, which was pride. He brings forth Gad as a messenger because the the last time he's seen Gad was when David was a very humble man. And it could be that Gad's very presence would remind David of his humble beginnings.
58:24 David, do you know where you came from? I mean, maybe maybe his very presence would elude that. Not just the message, but the person who delivered the message might have brought extra conviction to David. And he gives them a very difficult decision to make. Here it is in verse 13.
58:43 So God 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? Now consider and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me. How do you pick?
59:05 To pick your poison. What do you want? You want famine to come for three years? You want to flee for three months? I mean, David was used to that from your enemies, or three days pestilence.
59:20 David's answer is brilliant and rich in wisdom. Look at verse 14. Then David said to God, I am in great distress. Of course you are. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great, but let not let me not fall into the hand of man.
59:42 You know what his answer is communicating? God, whichever one of these punishments promise God as direct agent of it, I want that one. I don't want the chastisement where God uses human agency to interfere because I know man enough that he is capable of exaggerating and inflating what god originally attends in his goodness even in difficult trials. So wherever god's hand is directly involved, give me that option because his mercy is great. Amen.
1:00:20 His mercy is great. When I read that, I thought to myself, when it comes to the attributes of God, there is little debate of the fact that his justice and his holiness is unlike man's. But for some reason, it's very difficult for people to believe the same about his mercy. His holiness, his purity, his judgments, he super intends and he supersedes all that man is concerning justice. But when it comes to his idea of his grace and his mercy, we kind of struggle with that.
1:00:57 And David here had a revelation that many people don't have. God is merciful even in his judgments. He knows all he knows the exact measure. He knows the exact extent to which I should be under his heavy hand. You know, I was reading a a book.
1:01:11 I'm in the New Testament now, but a few days ago, I was reading the book of Zechariah, and there was this one verse that stood out to me and helped me remember many of the things in the Old Testament specific in the prophets. It's in Zechariah one fifteen. In Zechariah one fifteen, the Lord says something quite insightful. He says, and I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease. For while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.
1:01:42 When God judged Israel in his final phases of discipline, he has a tendency of using gentile nations as the instrument of his judgment. And when God judges nations as a whole, not just the people of God in the old covenant, when he judges nations, I believe even today, he uses foreign nations to discipline that nation. So America better be careful. She thinks she's strong, but what we're seeing now is a weakening from the inside making us vulnerable from enemies on the outside. One of the ways in which God brings a finality to his chastisement to a people group is when a foreign nation rises up and takes over with power.
1:02:19 And yet, though this happened with Israel, God has a word of condemnation for those nations. God intended to use Babylon and Assyria to discipline his people, but look what he says about them. For while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. They took it further than what I intended. They went beyond, and that's why he ends up turning around and disciplining those nations.
1:02:47 It's no wonder God says, vengeance is mine, says the lord. Don't take vengeance upon yourself. You know why that is the case? One of the reasons is this, because we have an impairment when it comes to what we believe somebody should receive in return for the wrong that they've done to us. Meaning, we don't tend to give people an even retribution.
1:03:05 We wanna give more than what they gave us. And that's because our hearts are warped, and we're poisoned, and we're embittered. And, again, our understanding of justice becomes very much foggy because of our fallenness. And so God says, let then just be mine because I know exactly what to give to somebody else. You don't.
1:03:29 In In fact, in Isaiah 11, there's an incredible description of king Jesus when he rules and reigns on the earth. It says that he will not judge with his eyes or with his ears. He will not need to see any evidence. He will not he need to hear from any lawyer. He doesn't need a jury when he will be the king of the nations.
1:03:43 All he will need is what he is, omniscience. Because there's perfect knowledge of all things. Nobody needs to make a case. He knows how to execute perfect judgment. Perfect judgment.
1:03:53 And so we see here that David had that revelation. The lord knows exactly what to prescribe to me. I don't want this to be given over to the authority of man, so I fall upon the mercy of god. And god receives that and brings it back to the lord. And so what comes?
1:04:08 What he intended in his word, pestilence. Pestilence comes. And how many people died? Who remembers the number in verse 15? Seventy thousand people.
1:04:16 Here's my question in closing of our bible study. Is this the first time pestilence has been released upon the nation of Israel? I'm not talking about Egypt. I'm not talking about the 10 plagues. I'm talking about the nature of Israel.
1:04:27 Give me the other instances where pestilences or plagues have been unleashed upon God's own people. Good. Very good. Where? Very good.
1:04:38 One of them is in numbers chapter 25. In Numbers twenty five nine, we read, nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty four thousand. What was the nature of sin that caused God to bring about this plague? Do you remember? They were mingling with the Moabite woman, and part of that was, false idol worship.
1:05:00 So it was idolatry and sexual immorality slash adultery. God released a plague, and how many died? Twenty four thousand. There's another plague. I believe there's a total of three including the one in second Samuel 24.
1:05:14 With the quail. Okay? Was that a plague necessarily? You have to find the verse and you have to show us because I have another I have another incidence in mind, very close to that one. Well, what happened?
1:05:30 Was that a plague or were those serpents that came? It It wasn't the same as a pestilence. I'm speak speaking specifically with pestilence. You got the first one. Right?
1:05:39 Yes. Okay. Challenging Moses is right, but not with Miriam because Miriam received leprosy. Yes. But you're you're in the lane.
1:05:58 Not that. No. Not that. I'm thinking of something else. Again, if you believe there is something, you have to show and prove it, but I'm thinking of another incident.
1:06:06 You're there. I'm not gonna give you any hints. I gave you too many hints last time. I'm not gonna share anything. Numbers 25 when they sinned with the woman of Moab, and there's another place.
1:06:15 Yeah. You can scale through your Bibles. Just don't Google it. Yes. Ah, he got it.
1:06:24 Did you hear it? The rebellion of Korah when Korah rose up to challenge the authority of Moses and Aaron. And later on in number 16, because the people even after the earth opened up and swallowed up Korah and the those who associated with him, the people still tried to convict Moses and condemn him for what had happened. And it says here in number sixteen forty five, now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred besides those who died in the affair of Korah. Unless there's something else I'm missing, these are the only clear explicit records of of pestilences or plagues being released upon the nation of Israel when Korah rebelled, when the men slept with the woman of Moab, and when David created his senses.
1:07:13 Now out of all three, which one had the most casualties? David's senses. And if it is true that in this case, that numbers signify a message of the severity and the seriousness of a problem, then could it be that the reason for this overshadowing scale of death is because the greatest crime one can commit against God is when one denies their need for atonement. When you don't believe you need to be redeemed. Yes.
1:07:54 Adultery is a problem. Yes. Idolatry is heinous. Yes. Rebelling against god's established authority is something that you don't want to provoke god in.
1:08:05 But when it comes to you not confessing that you need atonement, That's the greatest offense that you can bring to god. When you read second Thessalonians chapter one, you read how the lord will return in vengeance on those, and it says specifically, who do not obey the gospel who do not obey the gospel. Because that is the summation of the reason for God's judgment when he does return. He will look for those who have ultimately denied their need for the blood of Jesus Christ to cover them. And perhaps when you compare the scale of god's judgment, when it came to the senses, the fact that there were 70,000, much more in comparison to the previous two, is to indicate that's how much god's anger is kindled to those who refuse to humble themselves in the realization of their need of salvation.
1:09:02 May god open our eyes and keep us in that place of acknowledging our need for him. And if you have not received Jesus Christ as lord, Yes. Your sin is an offense to god, but the greatest offense that you can bring to him is after hearing the gospel saying, no. Thank you. Acknowledging your existence apart from the reality that you need to be saved and delivered is the ultimate defense before a holy god.
1:09:27 Lord, we thank you for this chapter, how rich it is. So much more can be said, but we trust that what the spirit has spoken to us suffices for this night. We've received our bread. We pray that these truths would cause us to worship you with greater delight and joy. We pray that you would prepare us to finalize these verses in this chapter with even more excitement to see what you have to say.
1:09:51 But for the time being, Lord, we pause to reflect and to worship you because you are rich in love, rich in mercy, rich in wisdom, and we've experienced it today. We've tasted it today. Oh, Lord, receive glory and honor on this Friday night from this family of faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
1:10:09 Amen. Isn't the Bible amazing? Filled with power. Filled with power. Filled with glory.
1:10:22 Well, you and I can rejoice tonight for many things. And one of the things we can rejoice in is the fact that our atonement atonement is the basis for us to meet with God. Apart from the blood, we have no fellowship. Apart from the blood, we have no presence. Apart from the blood, we have no contact with the living God.
1:10:39 But because the silver has been set and more precious than silver is his blood, we can actually meet with God tonight. Why don't we stand and do that as we worship?
