The Plague Was Cut Short
Revival: Stronger Than Ever • Sermon • Submitted
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FORECAST
Today we are starting an adventure in recovering.
Open a Bible to the book of Ezra and put a bookmark in it. - I know. Ezra is not a place you turn to very often. So you may need to use your table of contents. Take a minute to get there, because the book we are going to begin studying today is the book God wrote for such a time as this.
For many months now our country has been shut down. Lives have been lost, jobs have been lost, loneliness has crept in, and it’s been hard to hold onto hope.
Today, we begin the recovery. Our country is opening up. Our businesses are opening up, and our church is opening up. But, it will take time to recover what we’ve lost.
Today, I want to tell you the history behind the book of Chronicles. And what a book it is!
You’ll need to listen carefully for a few minutes in order to put it all together, but give me 3 minutes of focus and you will begin to see what a wonder the Bible is, and how amazing it is that God put the book of Chronicles in it.
NEED
The Bible has lessons for every situation we will ever face. Chronicles was written to teach us how to recover from a national crisis.
If you’re ready to do some learning, pray this prayer out loud after me: Lord Jesus, speak to me.
1. The book of Chronicles is the book of recovery.
Let me tell you about it.
2. In 606 B.C. Israel was exiled to Babylonia.
The Babylonians surrounded Jerusalem, broke down its walls, and carried virtually everyone into captivity. The Israelites lost everything: their homes, their jobs, their identities, their loved one.
3. For 70 years they lived in refugee camps. outside the city of Babylon. Then God set them free. He used a Persian King named Cyrus to conquer the Babylonians. Cyrus then issued an “open up” order to all the conquered nations.
“Go home,” he said. “Open up your countries. Restart your jobs and businesses, and worship your God.”
So the Israelites did.
4. In 536 B.C., they returned home. They packed up their possessions and children and marched the 800 miles to the Holy Land.
NEED
How would they recover? How would they establish patterns and morals that would help them avoid their previous mistakes?
To lead them in this endeavor,
5. God sent them two Spirit-filled leaders: Nehemiah and Ezra.
He led Israel in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem so they could have safety. You see, when people are first freed from a crisis, like we are being freed now, there is still the issue of maintaining safety.
The second leader was Ezra.
Ezra wasn’t a builder of walls, he was a builder of hearts. A builder of character. Nehemiah gave people the Wall. Ezra gave people the Word.
Open your Bible to its table of contents and you’ll find 17 historical books at the very front.
The ninth historical book is the book of 1 Samuel. It is followed by 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles. – Can you see them?
6. The books of Samuel and Kings record the political history of Israel.
During what is called, “the kingdom period.”
7. The book of Chronicles records the same history. Why would you need two histories?
Because the first was written for details. And the second was written for lessons.
8. Samuel and Kings record details. Chronicles records lessons.
Samuel and Kings tell the story of what happened to Israel.
Chronicles tells the story of what happened to Israel as a result of their choices.
9. A group of prophets wrote Samuel and Kings.
10. Ezra wrote the book of Chronicles.
Ezra wrote to a discouraged people. They were returning to a land that flourished under their grandfathers, but had perished under their fathers.
God removed them from the land to teach them some lessons. God was now bringing them back so they could put those lessons into practice.
NEED
Why do you think our nation shut down and God is bringing it back right now?
More importantly, why do you think COVID and the shut down and everything else has come into YOUR life?
Think about that as you think about the book of Chronicles.
Chronicles is our book, friends. This book will be our teacher for the next 6 weeks.
- If we learn its lessons, we will recover better, faster, stronger, and with more ability to help our friends and nation live righteously.
- If we fail to heed its lessons, it is likely our nation will never recover – or at least not to the extent that we want, or God wants, or our world needs.
Now please open a Bible to 1 Chronicles 21.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our plague was cut short and we woke up tomorrow to find that the coronavirus had just gone away?
Subject
The story we’re going to read is about a plague that was cut short, but the lesson we are going to learn is about what to do when you’ve done something wrong.
Need
Have you ever done something wrong, and you knew it was wrong, but chose to do it anyway? Unfortunately, we’re probably all guilty of this.
And, King David is no exception. David was one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history. Yet he failed many times, and God still loved him, and God still used him.
CONTEXT
The story of 1 Chronicles 21 is a story specifically chosen by Ezra to teach us a lesson about restarting. His lesson for us today is about starting over with God when we’ve offended Him, or disobeyed Him.
To teach us this lesson, Ezra selects, not what we would consider a huge sin in the life of David, but a small sin.
Ezra doesn’t tell us about David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Or of his murder of Uriah the Hittite. Or of the rebellion of his son Absalom.
Ezra tells us the story of doing something that sometimes isn’t even always wrong.
(Are you wondering what the sin is?)
Recognize Personal Sin
Recognize Personal Sin
In the evangelical tradition we have whole lists of fatal sins. We have the nasty nine and the dirty dozen. We have the 7 deadly sins. If you grew up in a Christian home in the 60’s or 70’s, you learned that good boys don’t smoke, drink, dance, or chew, or go with girls that do. Those were sins. Black and white, no question.
In 1 Chronicles 21, David does something none of us would ever think of doing. We’ve never been tempted to do what he did. We’ve never even THOUGHT about doing what he did.
What did David do?
He took a census. What’s wrong with taking a census?
Let’s read and find out!
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
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 it.
Censuses aren’t bad things. Our government is required to take a census every 10 years to reapportion congressional seats and determine funding allocations based on population distribution. Our census helps us figure out how many freeway lanes we need to build. It helps school superintendents project how many students they’ll have and how many teachers they’ll need and how many classrooms to construct.
In the book of Numbers, God Himself ordered a census of Israel as they left Egypt. He ordered a second census as they got ready to enter the Promised Land.
Censuses aren’t sins. But David’s was, because David was taking one to measure His own greatness.
- He wasn’t at war.
- He didn’t need to know how many fighting men he had.
- He just wanted to know how many troops he had so he could pat himself on the back.
Joab, the commander of the army, knew there was no good reason for this census, so…
And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are 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?
Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
Have you ever been afflicted by God? Some people are wondering if the COVID virus is an affliction by God.
Throughout Scripture, God uses plagues to get people’s attention. He’s got a lot of people’s attention right now. I hope He has ours.
To David’s credit…
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.
You almost wonder if David rehearsed this ahead of time. It’s possible he thought, “I’m going to take this census, and I know it’s wrong, but I also know God loves me, so after I take it, if I get caught, I’ll just ask God to forgive me. And He will.” Christians think that almost every time we sin, don’t we?
But this sin doesn’t take place in the New Testament. It happens in the Old Testament.
Recognize Sin Has Consequence
Recognize Sin Has Consequence
God is a God of justice, so sin always has to be paid for. Jesus paid for our sins permanently, as our once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross.
But the Cross hasn’t happened yet. So David’s sin hasn’t already been paid for. It’s going to have to be paid for now.
Look at v. 9 -
David’s Punishment
David’s Punishment
And the Lord spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,
So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee
Sin is always painful, so paying for sin is always painful.
If you were David, how would you choose between famine, war, and plague?
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
David’s Altar
David’s Altar
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
Ezra had a message from history to the broken Israelites
Ezra had a message from history to the broken Israelites
One reason Ezra tells this story is to help the Israelites understand the history of their Temple, and why it was located where it was.
Their Temple was destroyed by Babylonians. It’s now the dwelling place of God on earth. It’s the one place they were allowed to make sacrifices to atone for their sins. It’s critical they rebuild the Temple. So Ezra wants them to understand why the Temple was built where it was.
This is the story that explains that.
The angel of the Lord stops his plague at “the threshing floor of Ornan.” A threshing floor is a windy place, usually at the top of a bluff or cliff or hill where there is just enough wind so that the farmer can bring his wheat there and, using a pitchfork, can throw it up in the air. The wind will blow the chaff away, and the kernels of wheat, which are heavier than chaff, fall back to the ground, for the farmer to collect.
Ezra doesn’t tell us this, because everyone reading the story already knew it, but the threshing floor of Ornan was located on ancient Mount Moriah.
Have you heard of Mt. Moriah? Anybody know what happened there 1,500 years earlier?
For the full story, read Genesis 22, where God says to Abraham, “Abraham, take your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and sacrifice him to Me there.”
So Abraham takes Isaac to Mt. Moriah, where he straps him to an altar, and is about to thrust a knife into his chest when God says, “Abraham, do not lay a hand on the boy! Now I know that you will not withhold anything from me, because you did not withhold your only son.”
Ezra wants the people to know why the ground of the Temple Mount is holy ground.
- The plague of the angel of the Lord was stopped there.
- And a lamb was provided there in place of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
The second reason Ezra wants us to know this census-and-plague story is because this story is our story. It’s a do-over story.
Like David, we’ve all done things to puff up our pride from time to time.
We may never have been tempted to commit adultery or murder, but we’ve all given in to the temptation to commit “little sins” – sins we knew were wrong when we did them, because God told us they were wrong.
Ezra is reminding us that ALL sins matter and must be atoned for.
ALL sins can create great sorrow, like this one did for Israel. 70,000 men were lost, because of the vanity of one leader.
LESSON
Ezra is teaching us about forgiveness. – What it looks like, and what happens when we repent.
Ezra is teaching us about forgiveness. – What it looks like, and what happens when we repent.
Ezra is teaching us the costliness of sin. – One man’s sin – which didn’t really seem like that big a deal, did it?
One man’s sin cost 70,000 other men their lives.
Sometimes we think that what we do in the privacy of our own minds is just between us and God. “It’s just a little sin,” we say. “It won’t hurt anybody.” – Except maybe me, but that’s my choice. (And besides, God loves me, so after I ask forgiveness, He’ll let it go, without any consequences).
David’s sin was small, and personal, and incredibly costly.
And God’s response was creative, and instructive, and ultimately, merciful.
God’s response was creative in it’s choices: “David, do you want
- 3 years of war,
- or 3 months of famine,
- or 3 days of plague?”
That’s creative isn’t it?
God gives David a choice, because he wants David to take responsibility for his own retribution.
So David chooses. He chooses the option that allows for God’s mercy. “I’d rather fall into God’s hands than men’s hands,” he says.
So the plague starts. And people die.
As the numbers mount, David realizes the magnitude of his sin. “I did this,” he says. “I caused this to happen.”
What happened in David’s heart is a roadmap to restoration to God. Ezra uses this story to teach us how to reconcile with God when we’ve disobeyed Him.
It’s a simple process, really. You might want to write it down.
The first thing Ezra encourages us to do is…
A Road Map to Restart
A Road Map to Restart
Step 1: Admit your sin.
Step 1: Admit your sin.
And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
He’s saying, “This is my fault. I caused this. I own this. ”
The lesson of the census is that God relents when we repent.
There’s a principle here: God relents when we repent.
When we sin, effects are put into place. The way to reverse them starts by admitting that you caused them.
The second step Ezra’s teaching us in Step 2 is to…
Step 2: Take responsibility for your actions. v. 17b
Step 2: Take responsibility for your actions. v. 17b
And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
Before the plague comes, David says, “Please don’t let ME fall into human hands.”
After the plague starts, he says, “Let your hand be against ME.”
Every restart begins with taking responsibility. We have to own what we’ve done and be willing to shoulder the responsibility for the harm we’ve caused.
Ezra’s third lesson to us is that once we accept responsibility, we must…
Step 3: Make things right. v. 18
Step 3: Make things right. v. 18
How do you make things right with God?
Well, you start by admitting your sin, and taking responsibility.
But sometimes you don’t really know what more to do.
David doesn’t know what more to do. So God tells him.
[Follow this closely. This is an important lesson to know if you want to please God.]
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
God tells Gad to tell David to set up an altar.
Is that a hard thing to do?
David could do that easily. In a few hours. Just by gathering rocks or some wood and building a platform there in the middle of the field.
Let me read v. 18 with you again:
18 So the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
QUESTION
Do you think that when God asked David to set up an altar, He intended for David to do more than just set up an altar?
He doesn’t tell him to do any more than that, but what is God implying and expecting when the altar is built?
[Here’s hoping that David is going to sacrifice something on it.]
NEED
This might be the most important lesson of the chapter:
REVIEW
Ezra is teaching us what to do when we’ve disobeyed God and pushed Him away.
He’s teaching us how to restart after we’ve sinned, no matter how minor the sin.
With the rest of the chapter, David did not just set up an altar. He buys the field. And the wood for the fire. And the oxen for the sacrifice.
He doesn’t accept those as gifts. He buys them… at full price.
Ezra is showing us that once David comes around to owning his sin and taking responsibility for it, he not only does what God asks… he does more than God asks.
Lesson #4 from the threshing floor: if you want to get close to God, be obedient by doing what He asks. And if you really want to get close to God, do more than He asks.
Step 4: Do more than He asks.
Step 4: Do more than He asks.
David – who will forever be known as a man after God’s own heart, was a man after God’s own heart because more than anything, David wanted to please God. And he pleased God by treating God like He was the most precious thing in the world to him.
- He sets up the altar.
- And offers a sacrifice.
- And pays full price for the animals, and the wood.
- And he even buys the field on which he makes the sacrifice.
I want to be like David. Don’t you?
The story starts with David in sin. And it ends with us all wanting to emulate him.
JESUS
There’s a story in Matthew 26 about a woman who comes to Jesus and pours a bottle of expensive perfume over his feet. The bottle of perfume was from India. Transportation wasn’t cheap back then. That bottle of perfume was worth around $50,000 of today’s dollars.
One of the Disciples said, “What a waste! We could have used that money to feed the poor.”
Jesus rebuked him by saying, “This woman did a noble thing for me.” He accepted the lavish gift, because He knew He was worthy of lavish gifts.
It’s easy to rationalize being frugal towards God, because He doesn’t need anything, and He owns everything.
But God is touched when we act lavishly towards Him.
David decides he isn’t going to do the minimum.
And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
Ezra writes for his people, tells stories of things they never want to repeat. And he tells stories they want to imitate over and over again.
This is a story to imitate: As we move back into the land, let’s avoid sin as much as we can. But if we do sin, whether it’s something big or small, let’s respond to it like David. Let’s thrust ourselves on the mercy of God, admit our sin, take responsibility for it, do whatever He tells us to do to make up for it. And then do more than make up for it. Let’s do things that move the heart of God when He sees our hearts moving towards Him.
I will not offer the Lord that which costs me nothing.
I will offer the Lord that which cost me something.
APPLICATION
There’s a huge chance to restart as this quarantine is lifting. Let’s be righteous every chance we get, and lavish towards God every time we can.
When we hurt somebody, let’s do more than say, “I’m sorry.”
When God asks for an offering, let’s buy the field.
You’ve heard it said, “You can’t outgive God”?
What if we tried to outlove God?
Think we could do it? Nope, He’ll always show us more love than we show Him. But wouldn’t it be fun to try? What do you have to lose?
Maybe, as we come out of COVID, we can be a church that lavishly loves our neighbors.
It could be costly…. But it will be worth it!