“Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day
to the LORD?”
--1
Chronicles 29:5 (NKJV)
“The
work is great, because the temple is not for man but for the LORD God.”
--1
Chronicles 29:1 (NKJV)
The
Lord builds His temple in us, as a result of Christ’s death. Yes, it is through
the suffering of Jesus Christ that we are granted this privilege, therefore
should we not willingly give all that we have toward the building of that
temple? For, as David put it, “…all things come from You, and of Your own we
have given You.” Why should we withhold that which God has given us? Let us
“set our affection on the house of God,” and “give to the house of God over and
above….”
In 2 Samuel chapter 12, when the LORD judges
David’s sin and sends Nathan the prophet to tell him of his wrongdoing, I find
it interesting that David did not at first recognize “the rich man” in the
parable as himself. And yet, every human being has that unfortunate
tendency—all the more detestable in Christians—to ignore their own faults but
quickly spot those of others. David was instantly indignant toward “the rich
man,” exuberantly pronouncing him deserving of death, but was entirely blind to
his own wickedness. No human being can ever honestly say that they are not
guilty of this very same hypocrisy. So why is David called “a man after God’s
own heart,” when he is capable of such wickedness? When Nathan accused David of
wickedness, rather than becoming angry and casting Nathan into prison as many
another king would do (like Asa, in 2 Chronicles chapter 16), David simply
said, “I have sinned against the LORD,” and in Psalm 51 we see his penitent
prayer. This is what set David apart as “a man after God’s own
heart”—repentance. It should set us, as Christians, apart as well.
Despite
the horror of David’s sin, God made something good come of it through the birth
of Solomon. Some may argue that, had David not sinned, Solomon, who made many
valuable contributions to God’s word, would not have been born and that in this
way David’s sin was somehow good. This is a lie of the devil. Sin is never good
and without it, everything would have turned out a thousand times better.
Solomon was born at a tremendous price—we must remember that both Uriah and Solomon’s
brother lost their lives, not to mention the insane guilt David, and probably
Bathsheba as well, suffered—and who knows what glorious things God might have
done had this not happened? Solomon was God’s way of making up for David’s sin,
and we can all agree that He did an excellent job, but this does not make the
fact that David acted wickedly any less true.
In 2 Samuel 15:8, Absalom says: “If the LORD
indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.”
There
is no “if” in Christianity. But so frequently we tease God with our “ifs”—if
You do this for me, I will serve You. Is Christ’s agony not enough? He
suffered so much for us, in Gethsemane and on Calvary, there are no words to
describe it. He has already done so much for us, the least we can do—and yet
the only thing He asks of us—is serve Him without a sigh, take up our cross and
follow Him. There is no “if.”
Often God takes the form of a cloud, so that He
may fill His house in us with His glory. Do not lose heart when a cloud
overshadows you, “so that you cannot continue ministering,” for afterward, if
you persevere, the Lord will fill you with His glory, which will be all the
brighter after the shadow. (See 2 Chron. 5:13-14.)
“He made darkness canopies around Him, dark waters
and thick clouds of the skies.”
--2
Samuel 22:12 (NKJV)
Sometimes,
God appears to us clothed in darkness. There is a face of God that we too often
forget about or choose to ignore. The fact that God is a “consuming fire” and
that He makes “darkness canopies around Him” is just as important as Jesus
Christ being the light of the world, for it is the darkness that makes Jesus
Christ shine all the brighter—and not necessarily the darkness of an evil
world. What we may think is darkness could very well be God, robed in thick
clouds that we may shine brighter for Him. What we may perceive as burns and
scorching flames may be the Consuming Fire that purifies us and melts away our
dross. 2 Samuel 22:13 says: “From the brightness before Him, coals of fire were
kindled.” Though He is clothed in darkness, there is brightness before Him,
ready to kindle a fire in you—but will you be too blinded by the clouds to see
the light? Sometimes Christ appears in darkness, sometimes in light; can we see
Him in both? Sometimes He speaks in thunder, sometimes in the “still, small
voice”; can we hear Him in both? Do not be too quick to rule out the darkness
or the thunder in God’s character. Even so, we must never confuse God’s
darkness with our own. The cloud of sin is terrible, and God will never clothe
Himself in it. As David says in verse 29: “…You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD
shall enlighten my darkness,” (emphasis added). Jesus Christ is the
light that eradicates our darkness, and it is through His light that we see God
in His darkness.
2 Samuel 24 appears to be a retelling of 1 Chronicles
21, in which God punishes David for taking a census of Israel; yet the first
verses of these chapters differ greatly. 2 Sam. 24:1 says: “Again the anger of
the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say,
‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” This is a stark contrast with 1 Chronicles
21:1, which says: “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number
Israel.” If these chapters indeed record the same event, then who moved David
to number Israel: God or Satan? Furthermore, what caused the LORD’s original
anger in 2 Samuel 24 and why did He use such a roundabout method of punishment?
Given
the truth of the entire Bible, we must assume that both God and Satan moved
David to number Israel; the difference is that Satan would stand up against
God’s people for no good reason at all, whereas God stood against them because
He was angry (there is no use asking Him “why,” since we know His anger is
always just). As for His “roundabout method,” God could have punished Israel any
way He liked, but chose to let Satan “stand up against them” and move David to
sin, thus incurring punishment. Why He chose this route is a topic of
speculation, but we do know that it was a learning experience for David and
still contains many valuable lessons for Christians today. Furthermore, the
fact that God’s original anger was not, presumably, a result of David’s
sin leads me to believe that the deaths of those “seventy thousand men of the
people” by the plague that God sent (see 2 Sam. 24:15) was not just punishment
for David’s sin, but for, perhaps, some sin that those seventy thousand men
committed.
“…Whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was
to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”
--2
Chron. 15:13 (NKJV)
This
doesn’t seem right: the fear of God being forced upon someone, and the penalty
of rebellion being death! But let’s take a closer look:
1)
This commandment was made by the people of Judah, not by God.
God simply reminded them that if they forsook Him, He would forsake them, which
would render them susceptible to all the evils thereof.
2)
If all the people acknowledged the truth of God’s word, then such a commandment would make complete sense, for without God Judah would be doomed
2 Chron. 15:13 contains a valuable New Testament truth: the rejection of the Lord most certainly leads to spiritual death for all—“whether small or great, whether man or woman.”
, therefore even the very smallest rebellion could ruin the nation. With this line of thinking, it is possible that the people of Judah were thinking more in political terms than in spiritual.
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