So I'm going to read God's word for us, 2 Samuel chapter 24.
I'm going to read the whole chapter to us.
We are right at the end of our series in 2 Samuel.
Let's listen to God's word.
Again, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,
and he incited David against them, saying,
go and take a census of Israel and Judah.
So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him,
go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba
and enroll the fighting men so that I may know how many there are.
But Joab replied to the king,
may the Lord your God multiply the troops 100 times over
and may the eyes of my Lord the king see it.
But why does my Lord the king want to do such a thing?
The king's word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders,
so they left the presence of the king
to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aror,
south of the town in the gorge,
and then went through Gad and on to Jazir.
They went to Gilead and to the region of Tahim Hodshi
and to Danjan and round towards the Sidon.
When they went towards the fortress of Tyre
and all the time of the Hivites and the Canaanites,
finally they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
After they'd gone through the entire land,
they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days.
Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king.
In Israel, there were 800,000 able-bodied men who could handle a sword,
and in Judah, 500,000.
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men,
and he said to the Lord,
I have sinned greatly in what I have done.
Now, Lord, I beg you,
take away the guilt of your servant.
I have done a very foolish thing.
Before David got up the next morning,
the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet,
David's seer.
Go and tell David,
this is what the Lord says.
I am giving you three options.
Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.
So Gad went to David and said to him,
Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land?
Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you?
Or three days of plague in your land?
Now then, think it over and decide
how I should answer the one who sent me.
David said to Gad,
I am in deep distress.
Let us fall into the hands of the Lord,
for his mercy is great.
But do not let me fall into human hands.
So the Lord sent a plague on Israel
from that morning until the end of the time designated,
and 70,000 of the people died.
The people from Dan to Beersheba died.
When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem,
the Lord relented concerning the disaster
and said to the angel who was afflicting the people,
Enough!
Withdraw your hand.
The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor
of Arunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking down the people,
he said to the Lord,
I have sinned.
I, the shepherd, have done wrong.
But these are but sheep.
What have they done?
Let your hand fall on me and my family.
On that day, Gad went to David and said to him,
Go up and build an altar to the Lord
on the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite.
So David went up as the Lord had commanded through Gad.
When Arunah looked and saw the king
and his officials coming towards him,
he went out and bowed down before the king
with his face to the ground.
Arunah said,
Why has my Lord the king come to his servant?
To buy your threshing floor, David answered,
so that I can build an altar to the Lord
so that the plague on the people may be stopped.
Arunah said to David,
Let my Lord the king take whatever he wishes
and offer it up.
Here are oxen for the burnt offering
and here are the threshing sledges
and ox yokes for the woods.
Your majesty, Arunah gives all of this to the king.
Arunah also said to him,
May the Lord your God accept you.
But the king replied to Arunah,
No, I insist on paying for it.
I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God
burnt offerings that cost me nothing.
So David brought the threshing floor
and the oxen and paid 50 shekels of silver for them.
David built an altar to the Lord there
and sacrificed burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings.
Then the Lord answered his prayer
on behalf of the land
and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Well, this is God's word for us this morning
and we're going to look at it together.
Let me pray very briefly
and ask for the Lord's help.
Father, we thank you for all that we have seen
in the book of 2 Samuel
and we pray even now
that as we consider it again together
that you might speak to us
by your spirit through your word.
More than just that,
we pray please that you might change us,
move our hearts which are slow to trust,
to trust you and love you.
Pray for those who maybe
have never really understood
who you are or never trusted you.
May you open their eyes.
May all of us,
me as I preach
and all of us as we listen,
encounter you in your word,
we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I wonder whether you've watched this TV show.
A few of us in our family
have been watching it together.
It's called The Majorca Files.
Has anyone seen The Majorca Files?
It's kind of like a whodunit type series.
It's very kind of sedate.
It's a British and a German detective
both working in Majorca.
They're kind of a bit hapless,
so they don't really know what they're doing.
And in the episode that we watched the other day,
these two detectives had been asked
by a senior police officer from Madrid
to try and catch a conman.
So they did.
These two hapless detectives
managed to catch the conman
and they chased him through the town.
They cuffed him
and put him in the back
of the senior police officer from Madrid's car.
As they were driving away from it,
really feeling quite satisfied with themselves,
they realized and it dawned on them
that the conman was not the person
that they'd put in the back
of the senior police officer's car,
but the senior police officer himself.
So they were distressed.
What are we going to do now?
So they spun the car around
and they chased after
the senior police officer from Madrid.
Then they were chasing him down
and that involved speedboats
and trying to chase him down,
trying to shoot him,
all that sort of stuff.
And it looked like he'd got away.
And then what happened
was the woman in charge
of the Majorca police
turned up with a whole load
of police boats
and arrested the senior police officer
and the guy that they'd caught and cuffed.
And it turns out
that all along,
this Majorca commander
in charge of the police
knew exactly what was happening
and knew that her two hapless detectives
were after the wrong person.
So they'd let it happen.
Now, in a kind of bizarre
sort of roundabout way,
that is kind of what's happening
in 2 Samuel.
In 2 Samuel,
you discover, don't you,
that 70,000 Israelites
died in a plague, right?
But it's not the natural disaster
that you might have thought.
You know, you might just think,
oh, well, plagues happen,
don't they?
We know that.
And this one happens.
But it's not that
because this plague comes
as judgment against David's sin.
He chooses it, doesn't he?
Instead of three years of famine
or three months of military defeat,
he says,
I'll have three days of plague.
And when you see that,
you realize it's not just that either.
Rather, that we find
that behind all of that
is God and his plan.
God in sovereign power
who is executing judgment
on the people of Israel,
even against David's sin
that he had incited
and the plague that followed.
You might remember
that we're at the conclusion
of the book of 2 Samuel.
So basically,
these last few chapters,
picking it up
from chapter 21,
these chapters
are the conclusion,
the summary,
the epilogue
at the end
of the book of 2 Samuel.
And really,
the writer is trying
to round off
his whole book
and trying to tell you
what's been going on.
And it's not
an ordinary history book.
The book is not ending
with the death of David.
We've now
sort of leapt back
into the story of David
to an unidentified point
in David's history.
But the writer thinks
if you understand
this story
and what's happening here,
you will understand
the whole book.
This is the sort of summary.
And what the writer
wants us to understand
is that everything
that's been going on
in the book,
so Absalom's rebellion,
Joab's murders,
David's adultery,
Amnon's rape,
in all of that,
even though God
often was not
mentioned directly,
what the writer
now wants you
to understand
is that all the time,
God was there
and God was in charge.
God was ruling
and reigning.
God has been behind it all,
the good and the evil
accomplishing his purposes.
Let me try
and demonstrate that to you.
It's there in verse 1.
Look down at verse 1.
Let me read it to you again.
Again,
the anger of the Lord
burned against Israel
and he incited David
against them,
saying,
go and take a census
of Israel and Judah.
Just keep your eyes
down on the verse
and work through it
backwards with me
for a moment.
Start at the end.
King David
is the speaker
of the words
in quotation marks.
He's declaring
that a census
of Israel and Judah
should be taken.
Specifically,
it turns out,
and we discovered this,
it's a census
of their fighting men.
There are 1.3 million
fighting men in Israel,
800,000 in Israel,
500,000 in Judah.
Now,
the whole point
of the chapter
rests on the idea
that you understand
that David's instruction
there to go
and take a census
is a sinful instruction.
It was a wicked thing
for him to do.
You see that,
don't you,
in Joab's response
and the commanders
in verses 3 and 4.
They're objecting,
aren't they?
Don't do this, David.
We don't want to do this.
Don't do this.
They try and persuade
David out of it.
But if you look down
at verse 10,
even David himself
acknowledges
that it was sinful.
David was conscience-stricken
after he counted
the fighting men.
And he said to the Lord,
Lord,
I have sinned greatly
in what I have done.
Now,
Lord,
I beg you,
take away the guilt
of your servant.
I have done
a very foolish thing.
Now,
what you need to understand
is not that censuses
themselves are immoral
or wrong always.
The book of Exodus
in chapter 30
permits the leaders
of God's people
to take censuses
of the people of Israel.
It gives them
certain conditions
under which they're
to do it.
The book of Numbers
in your Bible
is actually centered
around two censuses
of God's people.
So it's not always wrong
to count the people,
but it is wrong
in certain circumstances
and for certain reasons.
And we're not told
exactly why that is here,
but still we're left
in no doubt
that David's intention
in taking the census
was a sinful one.
Perhaps it was pride.
I want to see
how big my army is.
Let me work out
how powerful
I really am,
maybe.
We're just not quite sure
what the intention was,
but we are told
that it is sinful.
Perhaps he didn't
collect the relevant tax
that God had told him to
in the book of Exodus.
Now it was sinful
and the people knew it.
Now despite that
and despite the fact
that by verse 10
David is conscience stricken,
still what you need
to notice
in the beginning
of the chapter
is that David
is really determined
to do this sinful thing.
Notice how verse 4
puts it.
David's word prevails
over the objections
of Joab
and his army commanders.
Joab and the army commanders
are saying,
please David,
don't do this,
don't do this.
But David's word prevails.
David gets his way.
Now if that's all
there was in verse 1,
if all you had
in verse 1
was David saying,
go and take a census
of Israel and Judah
and you knew it was sinful,
then what you would have
in some ways
is something a bit similar
to the rest of the things
going on in 2 Samuel
with the mess
that's meant.
You know,
Amnon desires Tamar
and makes a mess.
Absalom desires the nation,
makes a mess.
David desires a census,
makes a mess.
But there's more to it
than that
because there's a twist
here, isn't there?
It turns out
that the chief of police
knew all along
and knew exactly
what was happening
and was behind it all.
Verse 1,
above and behind,
overruling everything
that happens
is God.
The taking of the census,
David's desire
to take a census
is verse 1,
what?
Incited by God.
In other words,
God is leading David.
He's leading him
not against his will,
yet David wants
to do it as well.
He was willingly led,
but still,
chapter 24,
verse 1,
God incited David
to want to take
this census
to punish
the people of Israel.
Now,
God is angry,
isn't he?
He is burning with anger,
we find at the beginning
of verse 1.
He is heated up
against the people of Israel
for some sin or behavior
that's not directly recorded
for us in the chapter.
In other words,
the story is not just
the story of a sort of
hapless David
blundering into sin
by accident,
nor is it the story
of innocent Israel
getting caught up
in the wickedness of David.
Now,
here's God
in righteous anger,
burning against
the people of God,
inciting David
to take a sinful census
so that judgment
might fall
on all the people.
There's a parallel account
in 1 Chronicles 21,
verse 1.
You can turn to it
if you wanted to,
but there,
in 1 Chronicles 21,
verse 1,
you're told that actually
it is Satan
who incites David.
It says that Satan
rose up against Israel
and incited David
to take the census.
Now,
that's not because
1 Chronicles
and 2 Samuel
are contradicting
one another.
Rather,
it seems as though
God's incitement
of David
is done through Satan.
God is not the author
of David's sin.
He's not morally
responsible for it.
Instead,
while Satan desires
to ruin the people
and David desires
to count the people
in pride,
still God stands
behind it all
in his ruling
and reigning.
God incites David
against the people
of Israel
in punishment
for their sin
and 70,000 people die.
I don't know
how well you guys
remember Sermon Series.
Okay,
so I wonder
if you might
possibly remember
when we were looking
at 2 Samuel chapter,
I think it was chapter 10,
we talked about
the rollercoaster
of 2 Samuel.
We said that we'd
arrived at the top.
You know how rollercoasters,
they take you up,
don't they,
and up and up and up
and you get to the very top
and then they let you go
and you fly down.
Well,
that's what 2 Samuel does.
And chapter 8,
you achieve the high point
of 2 Samuel,
right,
and you're sort of
suspended there
for a couple of chapters
as we see David
and all his greatness
and then you fly down
the rollercoaster,
right,
and it's just plummeting
the depths of David's sin
and the chaos
that comes as a result.
But actually what you find
by the time you get
to chapter 24
is that that
was not a very good
illustration of what's going on
because it's not a rollercoaster
where there's no driver
and where you're just going
in an aimless loop.
Actually,
it's more like a proper train
and God himself
is the driver
and knows exactly
where he's going
and exactly what he's doing.
The train is going somewhere.
It's not going just the direction
of David's wicked desires.
Instead,
the direction is led
by the Lord himself.
Now,
I think if you're following
at this point,
you should at least
have some questions
flying around your head.
Not,
what are we going to have
for dinner,
but some questions
about the nature of God
and what he's like.
You should be thinking,
how can God
incite David into sin
without being wicked himself?
How can I believe
in a God
who is involved
like that
in David's life
and is still claiming
to be good?
Doesn't the Bible say
that God can't tempt
people to sin?
That every good
and perfect gift
comes from above?
How is it now
that in 2 Samuel 24 verse 1,
I find God
inciting the king of Israel
to do something
which we know
was not a good thing to do?
Now,
those are brilliant questions
and they're not very easy
questions to answer,
but we must say
that it must be true
that God is good.
The Bible is so very clear
on that.
But whilst it doesn't
undermine God's goodness,
still,
2 Samuel 24 verse 1
must also be true.
Which means that we
we live,
don't we,
in a world
which is ruled
and reigned
by a God
who is good.
A God who in his goodness
and his moral perfection
without ever undermining
any of it,
without becoming
wicked himself,
still,
in uncompromising goodness,
he rules and reigns
and sovereignly rules
even over
the sinful intentions
of wicked people's hearts
in order to accomplish
his purposes.
I know it's so easy
for me to say that
and it's easy for me
to look at you
and think,
I don't know
whether you've got that.
But let me say it again
because it's incredible.
God in moral perfection
rules and reigns
over our world
in such a way
that even the sinful
intentions of the hearts
of people who rebel
against him
are still in his hands.
Still in his hands.
He can still do
his purposes
and his plans.
So at the end of the book
which has catalogued
the disasters
of the sinfulness
of men and women,
mostly men to be fair,
but men and women,
here at the end of the book
you find that God
has not lost the plot,
he's not left the stage,
he's not given up,
rather God has been
driving it all along,
accomplishing his purposes.
And let me show you that
in two specific areas.
That God is sovereign
over our world
and the intentions
of human hearts
in judgment
and in salvation.
So let's start
with in judgment.
This is where verse one starts.
God rules over sin
in judgment.
God is angry, isn't he,
with the people of Israel.
We're not told why.
There are plenty of possibilities
as you read
the book of 2 Samuel.
Sort of depends
on when you think
these events happened.
But the point is
that God's desire
to judge Israel
leads him to incite David,
using David's desire
to sinfully count the army
against the people
so that they're judged.
I think as we watch
the things happening
in our world,
it's common for us
to feel there's a sort
of sense of hopelessness,
isn't there,
in our world?
Oh, there's never
any justice.
Evil people always seem
to be able to get away
with it.
Wicked people seem untouchable.
Good people seem
so inconsistent.
Wickedness seems spiraling
out of control.
But in 2 Samuel 24,
you're introduced
to this idea
that no,
God is in charge of it.
And he is able
to bring sin
back on itself.
He's able to sort of
pile up wickedness
in judgment
on sin itself.
Not necessarily always
in a kind of instant
karma kind of way
that if you rob a bank,
you'll get knocked over
by a bus
as you try and run away.
But rather that
in our world
that God has made,
there is a connection
between sin
and more sin
in God's righteousness
in the way
that he has hardwired
our world.
Now think about it.
If you're a person
who is sinfully angry
with people all the time,
you can expect
to experience
sinful anger
coming back at you,
can't you?
Because that's the way
that God has made the world.
Sin grows sin
in judgment at sin.
If you're full
of sinful self-interest,
you are insecurely
thinking about yourself
all the time,
you can expect
to experience
a sort of shallowness
in your relationships
or a sinful dismissiveness
of others in return
because that's the way
the world works.
Galatians 6
talks about it
in the context
of withholding support
from those
who teach the scriptures
and it says,
do not be deceived.
God is not mocked
for whatever one sows,
that will he also reap.
All of it which make us
sit up and think,
you know,
wow, God,
this is how you've wired
the world.
1 Corinthians 11
talks about people
in the church dying
because of the way
they treated one another
in the Lord's Supper.
Now, we might not be able
to always draw the lines
super clearly
and I don't think
we're supposed to.
I think the Bible says
that innocent people
suffer innocently as well,
but actually we live
in a world
that has been handed over
by God
to the sinful desires
of people,
not in an absence
of his control,
but in his judgments.
And so here in 2 Samuel 24,
sinful Israel
have a sinning king
because God
is judging them.
Interestingly,
the New Testament
talks about it
even more
than just a sort of
sowing and reaping.
In Romans chapter 1,
Paul says
that you can see
in our world today,
you can see
that God is angry
with our world.
You can see
that the word
it uses is wrath.
You can see
God's wrath
in the world.
God's wrath
is revealed
against the sinfulness
and wickedness
of our world.
Where might you expect
to see
God's wrath revealed?
Well,
if you look
at Romans chapter 1,
you see it
in the wickedness
of the world.
So three times
in Romans 1,
you get this repeated,
the idea
that God gives people
over to their sinful desires.
That's what he is doing
in judgment
to their sinful desires,
handing them over
to do what they want.
So much so
that the anger
or wrath of God
is seen
in the sin
that it leads to
in the world.
So Romans chapter 1,
verse 28,
says this.
It's on the slide
behind you,
but you might want
to turn to it
because it's so important.
It's page 1,129.
1,129.
Romans chapter 1.
Romans chapter 1,
verse 28.
Paul writes this.
They are full of envy,
murder, strife,
deceit,
and malice.
They are gossips,
slanderers,
God-haters,
insolent,
arrogant,
and boastful.
They invent ways
of doing evil.
They disobey their parents.
They have no understanding,
no fidelity,
no love,
no mercy.
Although they know
God's righteous decree
that those who do such things
deserve death,
they not only continue
to do these very things,
but also approve
of those who practice them.
It's shocking,
isn't it?
Why is our world
so full of envy?
Why is it that people
in our world gossip?
Why is it that children
are disobedient
to their parents?
Why is it that people
are heartless and ruthless?
What is it that leads people
to such terrible actions?
Well,
Romans chapter 1
is because God
in his judgment
has handed them over
to their evil desires
in judgment
on their evil desires.
Now,
understanding this,
that God judges wickedness
with more wickedness
should bring at least
two responses in us.
One,
I think,
is that it should bring
a sense of consolation.
This idea
that God is sovereign
over the wickedness
of our world
brings great consolation
because you know
that there is nothing
in our world
that is outside
of God's control.
the spiraling wickedness
of our world,
the spiraling wickedness
which you may have felt
personally,
is not outside
of God's control.
It's not a sign
of his absence.
Actually,
it's a sign
of his presence
and his involvement.
You're not to assume
just that because things
go disastrously wrong,
that must mean
that God's not there
or that he's forgotten.
Nor are we to ever imagine
that people get away
with sin.
No,
God sees it all
and is navigating
this world
in such a way
that we see
the consequences
of sin
in a world
that was made good
but ruined
by our rebellion.
That doesn't always mean,
does it,
that it's proportional.
We're not to assume
that it was the 70,000
worst people in Israel
who died in the plague.
David,
whose sin led to this,
remained alive.
There is a final judgment
yet to come
for sin
when all of this
will be finally resolved
and yet still
sin breeds sin
under the judgment
of God in his world
and no one escapes.
The second response though,
it should mean
that we realize
that the big problem
in our world
is that God
burns
with anger
at the sin
and wickedness
in our world.
God is not just,
I think sometimes
we imagine
that God might be
concerned with the injustices
that I'm concerned with
but not others.
But actually,
the message of the Bible
is that God is concerned
with all injustice
and all wickedness
including mine,
including yours.
So that the moral God
who has left
his fingerprints
all over you and me
has shown us
so that just in the way
that we get outraged
by injustice
and wickedness,
so God is outraged
at all injustice
and all wickedness
in the world
including mine
and including yours.
So that my big need,
your big need
is not so much
for comfort,
not so much
for a good night's rest,
not so much
for a refreshing holiday
in the Caribbean.
My great need,
your great need
in this world
of spiraling wickedness
is what?
Forgiveness,
reconciliation with God,
mercy,
grace,
a sacrifice for sin.
That's what I really need
because I live
in a world
of spiraling wickedness
under the judgment
of a just God
who sees it all
and knows it all.
I think we can be
even more clear on it
than just that,
though.
The point here
is that David
in 2 Samuel 24
gets to pursue
his desires.
You see that?
Verse 4,
chapter 24,
it is the king's word
that overrules
Joab and the army commanders.
David is getting
what he wants.
You know,
if you were
David's counselor
in 2 Samuel 24
in a kind of
modern day speak,
you'd sit down
with David
and you'd say,
listen David,
you do you.
You be who
you want to be.
You are the only person
who can do you,
so you do it.
You do what you want
to do, David.
Brilliant,
says David.
I want to count the people.
Well, go ahead.
Count the people.
But actually,
it is in the very process
of him doing
what he wants to do
that he faces
the judgment of God
for his sin.
We assume,
don't we,
that getting what we want,
doing what we want,
is a sign of success
and blessing.
But in 2 Samuel 24,
getting what you want,
doing what he wants,
is a sign of God's judgment.
Have you considered
that perhaps
getting what you want
might not be
the road to glory,
but might be
the road to hell?
But if what you're
living for
is simply the desires
of your own heart,
and you're getting them,
have you considered
that that might not
be the blessing
that you assume it is?
Our lives were given to us
not to live for
our own desires,
but to live for
God's glory.
And if you're living
simply for yourself,
and you're being
successful in it,
it might not be
a sign of God's blessing,
it might just be
that you're getting
the judgment
that God wants you to get.
That's the challenge
of 2 Samuel 24.
David does exactly
what he wants to do,
but he does so
under the hand
of God's judgment.
Secondly though,
God's power over sin
not only means judgment,
it also means salvation.
God rules over sin
in salvation.
This I think is perhaps
easier to miss
in the passage,
but this is where
it's leading to.
God's rule over David's sin
in judgment on the sin
of the people
steers all these events.
You see all of the events
of 2 Samuel 24
arrive at a particular
location,
and it might not
seem much to you,
it's the threshing floor
of Arunah the Jebusite.
That's where you end up.
In fact,
when you read
the story aloud,
you notice that
Arunah's name
gets mentioned
an uncomfortably large
amount of times
in these end verses.
The NIV,
just to make it
slightly easier to read,
has missed out
a few of them
just because
it's so awkward.
It's a strange
sort of emphasis.
Arunah,
Arunah.
Do you know
where you are?
You're at the threshing
floor of Arunah,
Arunah the Jebusite.
Do you know
where you are?
You're at the threshing
floor of Arunah the Jebusite.
Why that emphasis?
Well,
actually,
I think that would
have meant something
more to the people
of Israel
when they're reading it,
because this turns out
to be the site
of the temple
that gets built.
The point of this
is that David
ends up there
not with a sinful
desire to count
the people,
but with a desire
to pay for the sin
of the people,
doesn't he?
He calls them sheep
in verse 17,
and he asks that
he as the shepherd
might stand in their place.
Please judge me,
says David,
as shepherd,
may I stand
in the place
of the sheep
and face punishment
instead.
And Gad steps in
and says,
no,
build an altar here.
Again,
just think about
God's involvement.
David is following
God's lead
as he's instructed
by Gad,
and he builds
the altar,
which he pays
for himself,
and it leads
not just to
the salvation
of David
and the ending
of the plague,
but actually
it becomes
this great sign
of atonement
for years
and generations
to come
as the temple
is built there,
right up until
the age
of the New Testament.
So here,
God sovereignly
rules over
David's sin,
not just to
lead David
and the people
to judgment,
but actually
to lead
and steer
the people
to salvation
as well.
And not just
for the sin
of counting
the people,
but in the
ministry of
the temple
for generations
and generations
to come.
This is the
scene of
acted forgiveness
for generations.
Now,
of course,
what we're going
to find,
which we've been
finding over
and over again
in 2 Samuel,
is that David
is a picture
for us
of Jesus.
Now,
you know,
don't you,
that he's not
a perfect picture.
Jesus is not
proud.
He has no
sinful desire
to incite.
In fact,
in 2 Samuel 24,
for much of it,
David is the
opposite of
Jesus,
isn't he?
You see this,
don't you?
David's sin
leads to
judgment
on his people,
right?
That's the
opposite of
Jesus.
Jesus'
actions of
righteousness
lead to
life and
salvation
for his
people.
David is the
opposite in
much of this.
But you see,
don't you,
the echo of
Jesus in
verse 17,
where David
recognizes that
he,
as a king,
wants to be
representative for
his people,
that his death
might mean their
salvation.
Pointing forward
to Jesus.
And here at the
end,
the parallels are
so clear,
aren't they?
That the true
temple of God
is the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Standing in the
place of Arunah's
threshing floor
is the cross of
Jesus Christ.
As the great
shepherd of the
sheep stands in
the place of the
sheep,
the true
sacrifice for
sin,
not on an
altar,
but the cross.
And the parallels
are even clearer
than that only.
Think about what
happens at the
cross.
We were thinking
about this with
the kids.
The cross,
remember,
is the desire
of sinful men
and women.
Men and women
who have an
inexplicable hatred
for Jesus.
And they yell
for Jesus to be
killed,
don't they?
Despite the fact
they know Jesus
has done no
wrong.
Hard to think
of a more wicked
act than shouting
for the death of
the Son of God
in human flesh.
That's exactly
what the crowds
do,
don't they?
You know,
kill this man.
Oh,
he's had compassion
on the crowds
all of his
ministry,
yet they're
shouting,
kill him,
kill him.
He healed my
mum from a
disease.
Kill him
anyway.
I saw him
raised to death.
Kill him
anyway.
He fed
$5,000.
Crucify him.
Now,
if you want
to know that
our sin problem
is its heart,
a hatred of God,
then look no
further than the
cross.
But still,
in all of that,
in God's
sovereign power
over the
sinfulness of
humanity,
what is God
doing?
He is
saving his
people.
He has a
plan to save.
So much so
that you could
say God
incites their
wicked cries
so that King
Jesus would
arrive at the
cross and
provide the
means for our
forgiveness in
his death on
our place.
In 2 Samuel,
all the roads
are leading,
aren't they,
to Arunah's
threshing floor,
to the place of
atonement.
Actually,
in the Bible,
all the roads
are leading to
the cross,
to the place
of forgiveness.
Now,
think about how
that applies
for us today.
I do think,
I'm no great
cultural commentator,
but I do think
there is a growing
sense of hopelessness,
isn't there,
in our world.
We live at a time
where climate
change has now
become the
climate crisis
and it makes it
sound even worse,
doesn't it?
We live at a time
when politicians
seem to think that
their job is basically
just to tell us the
bad news all the
time.
Let me tell you the
economy is in a
really terrible way,
they say.
Let me tell you that
public services are
in a really terrible
way.
Let me tell you the
bad news about the
NHS.
Let me tell you the
bad news about
global politics.
Now that's not a
political comment,
everybody's doing
that, aren't they?
And it's easy I
think for us just
to be swept along
with this tide and
then there's a
sense of hopelessness
in the church as
well, isn't there?
Oh look, we live in
a morally declining
nation, churches are
shrinking all the
time, they're getting
turned into box of
apartments.
Let me tell you,
it's terrible,
hopeless.
Think about the
loosening of Christian
values from public
life, we've seen
that this week,
haven't we?
But 2 Samuel 24
in its fulfillment
at the cross stands
there as a reminder
that the story of
our world is not the
story of uncontrolled
sin and chaos.
The story of our
world is the story of
a God who longs to
save and is
orchestrating all
things for the
salvation of his
people at the cross
of Jesus Christ.
One who brings
judgment and holds
to account, who
brings forgiveness
and reconciliation even
in the midst of sin
and wickedness.
So that for you and
me this morning, and
maybe this is for the
first time, my hope
and my prayer is that
through this series in
2 Samuel, you and I
might arrive at Arunah's
threshing floor.
Not Arunah's threshing
floor literally, but
its fulfillment in the
cross of Jesus Christ.
Have you been led
there by the book of
2 Samuel to see that
what you really need in
life and in death is
the forgiveness that is
only provided by the
cross of Jesus Christ?
Will you see that?
Will you discover it
maybe even for the
first time that God
has been behind all
the events of your
life, leading you to
turn from your sin and
to trust in him?
And if you're a
Christian this morning,
maybe that happened
years ago, well just
be reminded by 2 Samuel
24 that there is
nothing in your life or
your world that God is
not in charge of.
God will bring you
home because he is in
charge of all things and
you can trust him.
God is the driver of the
train of human history and
you and I trusting in
Christ get to be part of
what he's doing for his
glory and for our good.
Let me pray.
Let's just take a few
moments of quiet.
Maybe you pray in your
own hearts, thanking God
that he's in charge of
your life and all that
happens.
Amen.
Heavenly Father, how
we thank you that you
are sovereign over all
things.
Thank you that there is
nothing in our world, good
or bad, which threatens you
and your plans and your
purposes.
Thank you that the
wickedness of our own
hearts and the wickedness
of the hearts of those
around us have only ever
been able to accomplish
your plans.
And thank you that while
we don't see complete
justice today in our world,
there is a day coming
when justice will be done,
when every wrong will be
put right, every evil will
be punished.
And we recognize that day
involves and includes us.
So we come trusting not in
ourselves but in Jesus
Christ.
Thank you that he died in our
place for our forgiveness,
that we might know you and
love you and belong to you.
Please we pray, give us great
confidence and joy in you.
In a hopeless world, help us
to hold on to this great
hope that you know what
you're doing and that you
rule and reign.
In Jesus' name, amen.