311 lines
23 KiB
XML
311 lines
23 KiB
XML
|
<div2 id="iCh.xxii" n="xxii" next="iCh.xxiii" prev="iCh.xxi" progress="77.28%" title="Chapter XXI">
|
|||
|
|
<h2 id="iCh.xxii-p0.1">F I R S T C H R O N I C L E
|
|||
|
|
S</h2>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="iCh.xxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXI.</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="intro" id="iCh.xxii-p1">As this rehearsal makes no mention of David's sin
|
|||
|
|
in the matter of Uriah, so neither of the troubles of his family
|
|||
|
|
that followed upon it; not a word of Absalom's rebellion, or
|
|||
|
|
Sheba's. But David's sin, in numbering the people, is here related,
|
|||
|
|
because, in the atonement made for that sin, an intimation was
|
|||
|
|
given of the spot of ground on which the temple should be built.
|
|||
|
|
Here is, I. David's sin, in forcing Joab to number the people,
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.1-1Chr.21.6" parsed="|1Chr|21|1|21|6" passage="1Ch 21:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. David's
|
|||
|
|
sorrow for what he had done, as soon as he perceived the sinfulness
|
|||
|
|
of it, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.7-1Chr.21.8" parsed="|1Chr|21|7|21|8" passage="1Ch 21:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. III.
|
|||
|
|
The sad dilemma (or trilemma rather) he was brought to, when it was
|
|||
|
|
put to him to choose how he would be punished for this sin, and
|
|||
|
|
what rod he would be beaten with, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.9-1Chr.21.13" parsed="|1Chr|21|9|21|13" passage="1Ch 21:9-13">ver. 9-13</scripRef>. IV. The woeful havoc which was
|
|||
|
|
made by the pestilence in the country, and the narrow escape which
|
|||
|
|
Jerusalem had from being laid waste by it, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.14-1Chr.21.17" parsed="|1Chr|21|14|21|17" passage="1Ch 21:14-17">ver. 14-17</scripRef>. V. David's repentance, and
|
|||
|
|
sacrifice, upon this occasion, and the staying of the plaque
|
|||
|
|
thereupon, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.18-1Chr.21.30" parsed="|1Chr|21|18|21|30" passage="1Ch 21:18-30">ver. 18-30</scripRef>.
|
|||
|
|
This awful story we met with, and meditated upon, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.1-2Sam.24.25" parsed="|2Sam|24|1|24|25" passage="2Sa 24:1-25">2 Sam. xxiv.</scripRef></p>
|
|||
|
|
<scripCom id="iCh.xxii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21" parsed="|1Chr|21|0|0|0" passage="1Ch 21" type="Commentary"/>
|
|||
|
|
<scripCom id="iCh.xxii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.1-1Chr.21.6" parsed="|1Chr|21|1|21|6" passage="1Ch 21:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Chr.21.1-1Chr.21.6">
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="iCh.xxii-p1.9">The Giants Subdued. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1017.)</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="passage" id="iCh.xxii-p2">1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and
|
|||
|
|
provoked David to number Israel. 2 And David said to Joab
|
|||
|
|
and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba
|
|||
|
|
even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know
|
|||
|
|
<i>it.</i> 3 And Joab answered, The <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p2.1">Lord</span> make his people a hundred times so many
|
|||
|
|
more as they <i>be:</i> but, my lord the king, <i>are</i> they not
|
|||
|
|
all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing?
|
|||
|
|
why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? 4 Nevertheless
|
|||
|
|
the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed,
|
|||
|
|
and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And
|
|||
|
|
Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all
|
|||
|
|
<i>they of</i> Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred
|
|||
|
|
thousand men that drew sword: and Judah <i>was</i> four hundred
|
|||
|
|
threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. 6 But Levi
|
|||
|
|
and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was
|
|||
|
|
abominable to Joab.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p3">Numbering the people, one would think, was
|
|||
|
|
no bad thing. Why should not the shepherd know the number of his
|
|||
|
|
flock? But God sees not as man sees. It is plain it was wrong in
|
|||
|
|
David to do it, and a great provocation to God, because he did it
|
|||
|
|
in the pride of his heart; and there is no sin that has in it more
|
|||
|
|
of contradiction and therefore more of offence to God than pride.
|
|||
|
|
The sin was David's; he alone must bear the blame of it. But here
|
|||
|
|
we are told,</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p4">I. How active the tempter was in it
|
|||
|
|
(<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.1" parsed="|1Chr|21|1|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>Satan
|
|||
|
|
stood up against Israel, and provoked David</i> to do it. Is is
|
|||
|
|
said (<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.1" parsed="|2Sam|24|1|0|0" passage="2Sa 24:1">2 Sam. xxiv. 1</scripRef>) that
|
|||
|
|
<i>the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved
|
|||
|
|
David</i> to do it. The righteous judgments of God are to be
|
|||
|
|
observed and acknowledged even in the sins and unrighteousness of
|
|||
|
|
men. We are sure that God is not the author of sin—he <i>tempts no
|
|||
|
|
man;</i> and therefore, when it is said that he moved David to do
|
|||
|
|
it, it must be explained by what is intimated here, that, for wise
|
|||
|
|
and holy ends, he permitted the devil to do it. Here we trace this
|
|||
|
|
foul stream to its foundation. That Satan, the enemy of God and all
|
|||
|
|
good, should <i>stand up against Israel,</i> is not strange; it is
|
|||
|
|
what he aims at, to weaken the strength, diminish the numbers, and
|
|||
|
|
eclipse the glory of God's Israel, to whom he is <i>Satan,</i> a
|
|||
|
|
sworn <i>adversary.</i> But that he should influence David, the man
|
|||
|
|
of God's own heart to do a wrong thing, may well be wondered at.
|
|||
|
|
One would think him one of those whom the wicked one touches not.
|
|||
|
|
No, even the best saints, till they come to heaven, must never
|
|||
|
|
think themselves out of the reach of Satan's temptations. Now, when
|
|||
|
|
Satan meant to do Israel a mischief, what course did he take? He
|
|||
|
|
did not <i>move God against them to destroy them</i> (as Job,
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.2.3" parsed="|Job|2|3|0|0" passage="Job 2:3"><i>ch.</i> ii. 3</scripRef>), but he
|
|||
|
|
provoked David, the best friend they had, to number them, and so to
|
|||
|
|
offend God, and set him against them. Note, 1. The devil does us
|
|||
|
|
more mischief by tempting us to sin against our God than he does by
|
|||
|
|
accusing us before our God. He destroys none but by their own
|
|||
|
|
hands, 2. The greatest spite he can do to the church of God is to
|
|||
|
|
tempt the rulers of the church to pride; for none can conceive the
|
|||
|
|
fatal consequences of that sin in all, especially in church-rulers.
|
|||
|
|
<i>You shall not be so,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.26" parsed="|Luke|22|26|0|0" passage="Lu 22:26">Luke xxii.
|
|||
|
|
26</scripRef>.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p5">II. How passive the instrument was. Joab,
|
|||
|
|
the person whom David employed, was an active man in public
|
|||
|
|
business; but to this he was perfectly forced, and did it with the
|
|||
|
|
greatest reluctance imaginable.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p6">1. He put in a remonstrance against it
|
|||
|
|
before he began it. No man more forward that he in any thing that
|
|||
|
|
really tended to the honour of the king or the welfare of the
|
|||
|
|
kingdom; but in this matter he would gladly be excused. For, (1.)
|
|||
|
|
It was a needless thing. There was not occasion at all for it. God
|
|||
|
|
had promised to multiply them, and he needed not question the
|
|||
|
|
accomplishment of that promise. They were all his servants, and he
|
|||
|
|
needed not doubt of their loyalty and affection to him. Their
|
|||
|
|
number was as much his strength as he could desire. (2.) It was a
|
|||
|
|
dangerous thing. In doing it he might be a cause of trespass to
|
|||
|
|
Israel, and might provoke God against them. This Joab apprehended,
|
|||
|
|
and yet David himself did not. The most learned in the laws of God
|
|||
|
|
are not always the most quick-sighted in the application of those
|
|||
|
|
laws.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p7">2. He was quite weary of it before he had
|
|||
|
|
done it; for <i>the king's word was abominable to Joab,</i>
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.6" parsed="|1Chr|21|6|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Time was when
|
|||
|
|
whatever king David did <i>pleased all the people,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.3.36" parsed="|2Sam|3|36|0|0" passage="2Sa 3:36">2 Sam. iii. 36</scripRef>. But now there was a
|
|||
|
|
general disgust at these orders, which confirmed Joab in his
|
|||
|
|
dislike of them, so that, though the produce of this muster was
|
|||
|
|
really very great, yet he had no heart to perfect it, but left two
|
|||
|
|
tribes unnumbered (<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.5-1Chr.21.6" parsed="|1Chr|21|5|21|6" passage="1Ch 21:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5,
|
|||
|
|
6</scripRef>), two considerable ones, Levi and Benjamin, and
|
|||
|
|
perhaps was not very exact in numbering the rest, because he did
|
|||
|
|
not do it with any pleasure, which might be one occasion of the
|
|||
|
|
difference between the sums here and <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.9" parsed="|2Sam|24|9|0|0" passage="2Sa 24:9">2
|
|||
|
|
Sam. xxiv. 9</scripRef>.</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div><scripCom id="iCh.xxii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.7-1Chr.21.17" parsed="|1Chr|21|7|21|17" passage="1Ch 21:7-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Chr.21.7-1Chr.21.17">
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="iCh.xxii-p7.6">David's Numbering the
|
|||
|
|
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p7.7">b. c.</span> 1017.)</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="passage" id="iCh.xxii-p8">7 And God was displeased with this thing;
|
|||
|
|
therefore he smote Israel. 8 And David said unto God, I have
|
|||
|
|
sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech
|
|||
|
|
thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very
|
|||
|
|
foolishly. 9 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.1">Lord</span>
|
|||
|
|
spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying, 10 Go and tell David,
|
|||
|
|
saying, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.2">Lord</span>, I offer
|
|||
|
|
thee three <i>things:</i> choose thee one of them, that I may do
|
|||
|
|
<i>it</i> unto thee. 11 So Gad came to David, and said unto
|
|||
|
|
him, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.3">Lord</span>, Choose
|
|||
|
|
thee 12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be
|
|||
|
|
destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies
|
|||
|
|
overtaketh <i>thee;</i> or else three days the sword of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.4">Lord</span>, even the pestilence, in the land,
|
|||
|
|
and the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.5">Lord</span> destroying
|
|||
|
|
throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself
|
|||
|
|
what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 13 And
|
|||
|
|
David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into
|
|||
|
|
the hand of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.6">Lord</span>; for very great
|
|||
|
|
<i>are</i> his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
|
|||
|
|
14 So the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.7">Lord</span> sent
|
|||
|
|
pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand
|
|||
|
|
men. 15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it:
|
|||
|
|
and as he was destroying, the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.8">Lord</span>
|
|||
|
|
beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that
|
|||
|
|
destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the
|
|||
|
|
<span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.9">Lord</span> stood by the threshingfloor of
|
|||
|
|
Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw
|
|||
|
|
the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.10">Lord</span> stand between
|
|||
|
|
the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand
|
|||
|
|
stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders <i>of
|
|||
|
|
Israel, who were</i> clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
|
|||
|
|
17 And David said unto God, <i>Is it</i> not I <i>that</i>
|
|||
|
|
commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned
|
|||
|
|
and done evil indeed; but <i>as for</i> these sheep, what have they
|
|||
|
|
done? let thine hand, I pray thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p8.11">O
|
|||
|
|
Lord</span> my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on
|
|||
|
|
thy people, that they should be plagued.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p9">David is here under the rod for numbering
|
|||
|
|
the people, that rod of correction which drives out the foolishness
|
|||
|
|
that is bound up in the heart, the foolishness of pride. Let us
|
|||
|
|
briefly observe,</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p10">I. How he was corrected. If God's dearest
|
|||
|
|
children do amiss, they must expect to smart for it. 1. He is given
|
|||
|
|
to understand that God is displeased; and that it is no small
|
|||
|
|
uneasiness to so good a man as David, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.7" parsed="|1Chr|21|7|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. God takes notice of, and is
|
|||
|
|
displeased with, the sins of his people; and no sin is more
|
|||
|
|
displeasing to him than pride of heart: nor is anything more
|
|||
|
|
humbling, and grieving, and mortifying to a gracious soul, than to
|
|||
|
|
see itself under God's displeasure. 2. He is put to his choice
|
|||
|
|
whether he will be punished by war, famine, or pestilence; for
|
|||
|
|
punished he must be, and by one of these. Thus, for his further
|
|||
|
|
humiliation, he is put into a strait, a great strait, and has the
|
|||
|
|
terror of all the three judgments impressed upon his mind, no doubt
|
|||
|
|
to his great amazement, while he is considering which he shall
|
|||
|
|
choose. 3. He hears of 70,000 of his subjects who in a few hours
|
|||
|
|
were struck dead by the pestilence, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.14" parsed="|1Chr|21|14|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. He was proud of the multitude
|
|||
|
|
of his people, but divine Justice took a course to make them fewer.
|
|||
|
|
Justly is that taken from us, weakened, or embittered to us, which
|
|||
|
|
we are proud of. David must have the people numbered: <i>Bring me
|
|||
|
|
the number of them,</i> says he, <i>that I may know it.</i> But now
|
|||
|
|
God numbers them after another manner, <i>numbers to the sword,</i>
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.12" parsed="|Isa|65|12|0|0" passage="Isa 65:12">Isa. lxv. 12</scripRef>. And David
|
|||
|
|
had another number of them brought, more to his confusion than was
|
|||
|
|
to his satisfaction, namely, the number of the slain—a black bill
|
|||
|
|
of mortality, which is a drawback to his muster-roll. 4. He sees
|
|||
|
|
the destroying angel, with his sword drawn against Jerusalem,
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.16" parsed="|1Chr|21|16|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. This could
|
|||
|
|
not but be very terrible to him, as it was a visible indication of
|
|||
|
|
the anger of Heaven, and threatened the utter destruction of that
|
|||
|
|
beloved city. Pestilences make the greatest devastations in the
|
|||
|
|
most populous places. The sight of an angel, though coming
|
|||
|
|
peaceably and on a friendly errand, has made even mighty men to
|
|||
|
|
tremble; how dreadful then must this sight be of an angel with a
|
|||
|
|
drawn sword in his hand, a flaming sword, like that of the
|
|||
|
|
cherubim, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
|
|||
|
|
life! While we lie under the wrath of God the holy angels are armed
|
|||
|
|
against us, though we see them not as David did.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p11">II. How he bore the correction. 1. He made
|
|||
|
|
a very penitent confession of his sin, and prayed earnestly for the
|
|||
|
|
pardon of it, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.8" parsed="|1Chr|21|8|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>.
|
|||
|
|
Now he owned that he had sinned, had sinned greatly, had done
|
|||
|
|
foolishly, very foolishly; and he entreated that, however he might
|
|||
|
|
be corrected for it, the iniquity of it might be done away. 2. He
|
|||
|
|
accepted the punishment of his iniquity: "Let thy hand be <i>on me,
|
|||
|
|
and on my father's house,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.17" parsed="|1Chr|21|17|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. I submit to the rod, only let
|
|||
|
|
me be the sufferer, for I am the sinner; mine is the guilty head at
|
|||
|
|
which the sword should be pointed." 3. He cast himself upon the
|
|||
|
|
mercy of God (though he knew he was angry with him) and did not
|
|||
|
|
entertain any hard thoughts of him. However it be, <i>Let us fall
|
|||
|
|
into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great,</i>
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.13" parsed="|1Chr|21|13|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. Good men,
|
|||
|
|
even when God frowns upon them, think well of him. <i>Though he
|
|||
|
|
slay me, yet will I trust in him.</i> 4. He expressed a very tender
|
|||
|
|
concern for the people, and it went to his heart to see them
|
|||
|
|
plagued for his transgression: <i>These sheep, what have they
|
|||
|
|
done?</i></p>
|
|||
|
|
</div><scripCom id="iCh.xxii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.18-1Chr.21.30" parsed="|1Chr|21|18|21|30" passage="1Ch 21:18-30" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Chr.21.18-1Chr.21.30">
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="iCh.xxii-p11.5">Ornan's Threshing-Floor. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p11.6">b. c.</span> 1017.)</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="passage" id="iCh.xxii-p12">18 Then the angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.1">Lord</span> commanded Gad to say to David, that David
|
|||
|
|
should go up, and set up an altar unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.2">Lord</span> in the threshingfloor of Ornan the
|
|||
|
|
Jebusite. 19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which
|
|||
|
|
he spake in the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.3">Lord</span>.
|
|||
|
|
20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four
|
|||
|
|
sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
|
|||
|
|
21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went
|
|||
|
|
out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with
|
|||
|
|
<i>his</i> face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan,
|
|||
|
|
Grant me the place of <i>this</i> threshingfloor, that I may build
|
|||
|
|
an altar therein unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.4">Lord</span>: thou
|
|||
|
|
shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed
|
|||
|
|
from the people. 23 And Ornan said unto David, Take
|
|||
|
|
<i>it</i> to thee, and let my lord the king do <i>that which is</i>
|
|||
|
|
good in his eyes: lo, I give <i>thee</i> the oxen <i>also</i> for
|
|||
|
|
burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the
|
|||
|
|
wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. 24 And king
|
|||
|
|
David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full
|
|||
|
|
price: for I will not take <i>that</i> which <i>is</i> thine for
|
|||
|
|
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.5">Lord</span>, nor offer burnt offerings
|
|||
|
|
without cost. 25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six
|
|||
|
|
hundred shekels of gold by weight. 26 And David built there
|
|||
|
|
an altar unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.6">Lord</span>, and offered
|
|||
|
|
burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.7">Lord</span>; and he answered him from heaven by
|
|||
|
|
fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.8">Lord</span> commanded the angel; and he put up
|
|||
|
|
his sword again into the sheath thereof. 28 At that time
|
|||
|
|
when David saw that the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.9">Lord</span> had
|
|||
|
|
answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he
|
|||
|
|
sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.10">Lord</span>, which Moses made in the wilderness, and
|
|||
|
|
the altar of the burnt offering, <i>were</i> at that season in the
|
|||
|
|
high place at Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to
|
|||
|
|
enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel
|
|||
|
|
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iCh.xxii-p12.11">Lord</span>.</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p class="indent" id="iCh.xxii-p13">We have here the controversy concluded,
|
|||
|
|
and, upon David's repentance, his peace made with God. <i>Though
|
|||
|
|
thou wast angry with me, thy anger is turned away.</i> 1. A stop
|
|||
|
|
was put to the progress of the execution, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.15" parsed="|1Chr|21|15|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. When David repented of the sin
|
|||
|
|
God repented of the judgment, and ordered the destroying angel to
|
|||
|
|
<i>stay his hand</i> and <i>sheath his sword,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.27" parsed="|1Chr|21|27|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. 2. Direction was given
|
|||
|
|
to David to rear an altar in the threshing-floor of Ornan,
|
|||
|
|
<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.18" parsed="|1Chr|21|18|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. The angel
|
|||
|
|
commanded the prophet Gad to bring David this direction. The same
|
|||
|
|
angel that had, in God's name, carried on the war, is here forward
|
|||
|
|
to set on foot the treaty of peace; for angels do not desire the
|
|||
|
|
woeful day. The angel could have given this order to David himself;
|
|||
|
|
but he chose to do it by his seer, that he might put an honour upon
|
|||
|
|
the prophetic office. Thus the revelation of Jesus Christ was
|
|||
|
|
notified by the angel to John, and by him to the churches. The
|
|||
|
|
commanding of David to build an altar was a blessed token of
|
|||
|
|
reconciliation; for, if God had been pleased to kill him, he would
|
|||
|
|
not have appointed, because he would not have accepted, a sacrifice
|
|||
|
|
at his hands. 3. David immediately made a bargain with Ornan for
|
|||
|
|
the threshing-floor; for he would not serve God at other people's
|
|||
|
|
charge. Ornan generously offered it to him gratis, not only in
|
|||
|
|
complaisance to the king, but because he had himself <i>seen the
|
|||
|
|
angel</i> (<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.20" parsed="|1Chr|21|20|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>),
|
|||
|
|
which so terrified him that he and his four sons hid themselves, as
|
|||
|
|
unable to bear the brightness of his glory and afraid of his drawn
|
|||
|
|
sword. Under these apprehensions he was willing to do anything
|
|||
|
|
towards making the atonement. Those that are duly sensible of the
|
|||
|
|
terrors of the Lord will do all they can, in their places, to
|
|||
|
|
promote religion, and encourage all the methods of reconciliation
|
|||
|
|
for the turning away of God's wrath. 4. God testified his
|
|||
|
|
acceptance of David's offerings on this altar; He <i>answered him
|
|||
|
|
from heaven by fire,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.26" parsed="|1Chr|21|26|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:26"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
|
26</scripRef>. To signify that God's anger was turned away from
|
|||
|
|
him, the fire that might justly have fastened upon the sinner
|
|||
|
|
fastened upon the sacrifice and consumed that; and, upon this, the
|
|||
|
|
destroying sword was returned into its sheath. Thus Christ was made
|
|||
|
|
sin and a curse for us, and it pleased the Lord to bruise him, that
|
|||
|
|
through him God might be to us, not a consuming fire, but a
|
|||
|
|
reconciled Father. 5. He continued to offer his sacrifices upon
|
|||
|
|
this altar. The brazen altar which Moses made was at Gibeon
|
|||
|
|
(<scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.29" parsed="|1Chr|21|29|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), and there
|
|||
|
|
all the sacrifices of Israel were offered; but David was so
|
|||
|
|
terrified at the sight of the sword of the angel that he <i>could
|
|||
|
|
not go thither,</i> <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.30" parsed="|1Chr|21|30|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:30"><i>v.</i>
|
|||
|
|
30</scripRef>. The business required haste, when the plague was
|
|||
|
|
begun. Aaron must go quickly, nay, he must <i>run,</i> to make
|
|||
|
|
atonement, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.46-Num.16.47" parsed="|Num|16|46|16|47" passage="Nu 16:46,47">Num. xvi. 46,
|
|||
|
|
47</scripRef>. And the case here was no less urgent; so that David
|
|||
|
|
had not time to go to Gibeon: nor durst he leave the angel with his
|
|||
|
|
sword drawn over Jerusalem, lest the fatal stroke should be given
|
|||
|
|
before he came back. And therefore God, in tenderness to him, bade
|
|||
|
|
him build an altar in that place, dispensing with his own law
|
|||
|
|
concerning one altar because of the present distress, and accepting
|
|||
|
|
the sacrifices offered on this new altar, which was not set up in
|
|||
|
|
opposition to that, but in concurrence with it. The symbols of
|
|||
|
|
unity were not so much insisted on as unity itself. Nay, when the
|
|||
|
|
present distress was over (as it should seem), David, as long as he
|
|||
|
|
lived, sacrificed there, though the altar at Gibeon was still kept
|
|||
|
|
up; for God had owned the sacrifices that were here offered and had
|
|||
|
|
testified his acceptance of them, <scripRef id="iCh.xxii-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.21.28" parsed="|1Chr|21|28|0|0" passage="1Ch 21:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. On those administrations in
|
|||
|
|
which we have experienced the tokens of God's presence, and have
|
|||
|
|
found that he is with us of a truth, it is good to continue our
|
|||
|
|
attendance. "Here God had graciously met me, and therefore I will
|
|||
|
|
still expect to meet with him."</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div></div2>
|