Chapter 18 starts off with the many wars of David. This week, I was asked, "How can God agree to the killing of people?" The Bible tells us "the wages of sin is death." We have to remember these people did evil in the eyes of the Lord. When Israel did evil, God allowed them to be overtaken in battle. Many times people ask why a baby would die, but think of this: What if that baby lived and didn't get saved, he'd be in Hell. God in His omniscience knows and it just could be that in allowing that baby to die as a baby, He has guaranteed them a spot in Heaven, instead of what they would earn or Hell. He is so good.
We have read of these wars before. David was going to show kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash because Nahash, who had died, showed kindness to David. The princes of the children of Ammon convinced Hanun that the comforters David had sent was really there to spy on the land. Hanun then had David's servants clothes to be cut and their beards shaved resulting in more wars. How many times have we misinterpreted an act of kindness for an ulterior motive. Do we repay kindness with meanness? I like the message in I Chronicles 19:13;
Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our
people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that
which is good in his sight."
Do we try and fix things ourselves or do we stand back and let God do it?
When Satan provoked David to number Israel, it displeased God. God sent Gad with three punishments for David to chose from. David chose the punishment; but when he saw the angel of the Lord with his sword drawn over Jerusalem ready to destroy it, he cried out to God to let him take the punishment. He told God that it was him that had sinned and done evil. The people had not done anything so David wanted the punishment to fall on him and not the people.
I think back when I was a kid and did wrong. If my father gave me a choice of what my punishment should be, would I take it or would I be willing to sacrifice my siblings for a lesser punishment. (I'm not going to tell you what my choice would be but you can guess.) We all one day have to stand before our Father in judgment. I am so glad we have a forgiving Father. I am not worthy to stand before Him but I thank Him for His Son who took the punishment in my place.
Boots.....I agree with you, why all the killing! I hate it! But, like you said, God punishes because He is a just God & He knows best! Your comment about letting your siblings take the punishment hit home w/me & I'm right with ya:)!! I just love David, truly a man after God's own heart!! Thank you for your insights & THANK YOU JESUS for taking my punishment!
ReplyDeleteBoots-As I read the chapters today I was fascinated by the personal relationship David had with God. He talked to Him with such a personal and comfortable voice. He was so close to God. I want to be closer to my God and Savior. The way David took the punishment for the people is intriguing. Oh! I want to be more like David in these verses.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading about David counting the fighting men, I wondered why this was a sin. My hunch was that David was trusting in the many men who were fighting with and for Israel. I did some Google-ing and found a few other opinions that were similar. David was trusting in his material resources instead of trusting God.
ReplyDeleteEven Moab asked David why he was doing that and knew that there would be consequences. Moab knew his motives were wrong.
Just as God dealt harshly (in our opinions) with Moses, He seemed to deal harshly with David in this case. God expected full trust and obedience of these patriarchs AND he expects the same from us today.
This is a great example of a reason to check our motives :)
Ms. Boots - I had never thought about the things you said about a baby dying and that it may be an act of mercy because God knows that if that did not happen that person would go to hell because they would reject Jesus. Interesting perspective on that and it actually makes a lot of sense! I also like what you said about misinterpreting an act of kindness by someone...I wonder how many times I have done that and not even realized it?!?!? I think one of the main reasons God dealt SO HARSHLY with David taking the census is that it was all steming from David's pride and God knew that with the wealth and power God had given David had that He could not let David slide AT ALL in this area because it could "snowball" on him VERY quickly!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy 6th grade girls and I were talking today about standing before God and being judged and I had to explain to them that we are covered with God's blood and that our judgment will not be in terms of heaven or hell but in terms of "What did you do with Jesus?". Our level of rewards in heaven will be determined by this and I want to hear God say, "Well done my good and faithful servant."!!!!
Mindy, them words was uttered many times in our SS class today also. I believe we all want to hear those words for our Savior when we come face to face with him. I just want to say that I think all you ladies will hear that. You have made what I consider as some of the most boring and hard to read chapters in the Bible and made them come alive. A task I thought was impossible. I would like to thank each one of you for doing such a fantastic job.
ReplyDeleteHis ways are not ours, and anytime we try to reason why death or dying takes place, we somehow attempt to put ourselves on the same level as He is. When I place MY reasoning and level of morality on HIS decisions, I can quickly become judgmental. And WHO AM I?? :) Death is a direct result of the fall, and there's only one cure.........
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