Our message this evening is entitled, “A Sacrifice Should Cost.” A “sacrifice” is defined as “an offering made to God . . . as an acknowledgement of His power and provision.” It’s also defined as “surrender or loss made or incurred for gaining some object, or for obliging another.”(1) Based on this definition, sacrifice is all about acknowledging God’s power, and giving up something lesser to obtain something greater.
Many times in life we will encounter situations in which we will feel that life is spinning out of control, and that we’ve lost our handle on things. What we are going to discover this evening is that we have to let go – or rather, sacrifice - our control on life, and then acknowledge God’s power and His provision in order to thrive in the midst of life’s difficult circumstances.
In order to receive a spiritual breakthrough we might have to make a sacrifice, but we often avoid sacrifice by any means necessary. We tend to pursue the path of least resistance and look for the easy way out of our circumstances; however, the easy way is not always the best way. What we will learn this evening is that if we desire a breakthrough, then we might have to make a sacrifice, and a sacrifice must cost us something; for we can’t cheat the Lord and expect Him to bless us for it.
David Was Asked to Make a Sacrifice (vv. 18-22)
18 Therefore, the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat. 21 So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and bowed before David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
We read here that David was required to erect an altar to the Lord, meaning he was required to make a sacrifice; and we also see the mention of an angel. So, what’s going on here? I think this is a good time to share the background behind these verses, which can be found in the first seventeen verses of this chapter.
In 1 Chronicles 21, verses 1-6, we find that Satan had moved David to sin against the Lord by taking a census of the people and all the available fighting men in Israel. Taking a census was a sin, because David was placing his trust in the number of soldiers he had instead of placing his confidence in God’s power to fight for Israel; meaning that he trusted in people more than he trusted in God.
In verses 7-16, we read that the Lord punished all Israel for David’s sin by sending a plague that killed seventy-thousand men. The reason why we see mention of an angel is because the Lord had sent an angel to destroy the entire city of Jerusalem; however, God changed His mind and stayed the angel’s hand, and the angel sat in wait over the threshing floor of Ornan until the Lord could see David’s response.
David responded by dressing in sackcloth and falling on his face in mourning over his sin, and for the disaster that he had brought on the people of Israel. In verse 17, we read that he accepted responsibility for his sin; which brings us to our main text where the Lord was asking David to make atonement for his sin, and to prove his repentance by constructing an altar and making a sacrifice.
From the background, we learn a valuable lesson concerning our faith in God. How many times have we taken a census, or numbered our resources, in a moment of crisis or in a time in which God was asking us to walk by faith? How many times have we trusted in, and relied on, human reasoning over God’s infinite wisdom? How many times have we sought advice from people instead of going to the Lord in prayer? Like David, we often trust in people more than we trust in God.
We sometimes feel that human beings have the intelligence and reasoning ability to solve their own problems apart from God; and this is a prideful spirit. Whenever we become proud then we have a difficult time in being obedient to the Lord, and walking in submission to His will and His authority. If we possess this kind of self-sufficient attitude then the Lord will ask us to repent, and He could even ask us to make a sacrifice. “But why a sacrifice?” you may ask.
A sacrifice requires us to put our faith and trust in God instead of ourselves. We have to trust that God will provide either the sacrifice (like he did for Abraham, cf. Genesis 22), or that He will provide for our physical needs after we have made the sacrifice. Once we make a sacrifice it will put us in a place of need, for we have given away the resources that will sustain us. It will put us in a place where our resources are expended and where we can’t take care of ourselves, but we instead have to trust that the Lord will take care of us; it puts us in a place of submission before God.
Ornan Refused to Charge King David (vv. 23-24)
23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.” 24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.”
David was asked to make a sacrifice, and here he was being given an exit or the easy way out of his commitment to God. Ornan wished to give away his threshing floor to David, and not just the land, but also the elements of the sacrifice, such as the oxen, implements, wood, and the wheat and grain. Ornan likely did this out of respect for David’s position as the king, for we read in verse 23 where he stated, “Let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes.” He was indeed the king, and he could have used his position to take advantage of the situation, but David instead chose to do the right thing.
When Ornan offered the sacrificial elements to David free of charge, David replied, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” A sacrifice really isn’t a sacrifice until it costs us something. If it didn’t cost David, or if he decided to take the easy way out, then the Lord would have observed that David was not sincere in his remorse and repentance for his sin; and then he would have brought about the destruction of Jerusalem.
The purpose of a sacrifice is to reveal our inner-most heart attitude before God. Making a sacrifice shows submission and obedience to the Lord, whereas refusing to sacrifice reveals pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency. Have you ever before made a promise to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, or did He ask something from you? What did you promise to God, and then you wound up taking the easy way out? Allow me to provide you with a hypothetical scenario that someone might encounter in their walk with the Lord:
Suppose the Lord asked a young man to make the sacrifice of becoming a home missionary somewhere in the United States; and then He spoke directly to his heart and told him exactly where He wanted him to go. The young man then became excited about the prospect, and told the Lord that he was willing to make the sacrifice; but once he got into the journey, he found out that it was much more than he had anticipated.
You see, he was under the impression that a large mission organization would fund him, but then they refused; and therefore, he was faced with the reality of raising his own mission support, or becoming a bi-vocational missionary. When he was confronted with the huge sacrifice of the endeavor, then he hesitated on going. He waited around to be fully funded; however, he kept waiting and watching, until he finally just gave up.
In no way am I suggesting that missionaries should serve for free; but there are times in which the Lord will ask such a thing. When confronted with an opportunity for mission work, it’s more logical to take a position that pays than one that doesn’t. Waiting around for an opportunity that pays is something we do when we rely on human reasoning, and human reasoning can often interfere with walking by faith; and when we refuse to walk by faith then we are failing to be submissive and obedient to God.
If David had accepted Ornan’s offer it would have revealed that he was not submissive before God; and where the Lord had stayed the hand of the destroying angel and held it back, He would have turned loose. In the illustration of the young man who was called into home missions; his decision to “stay put” could have resulted in spiritual devastation in his own life.
God Honored David’s Genuine Sacrifice (vv. 25-27)
25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. 27 So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
We see here that David actually paid for the sacrifice, revealing his sincere heart before God; and the Lord honored his sincerity and caused the angel to return His sword back into His sheath. What He honored was David’s submission and his willingness to trust God with the situation.
The Lord searches our heart to see if we are sincere before Him. In Jeremiah 17:10, God declared, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
The Lord wants to show that He is strong and faithful on behalf of those whose heart is sincere and trusting, and He will do so if we submit to Him. In James 4:10 we are told, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” If we live a life of submission and sacrifice before the Lord, and put all our hopes and dreams in His hands, and place all our burdens on Him (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:6) instead of bearing them ourselves, then the Lord will provide for us. Whenever we let go of the controls and turn them over to God, then the Lord receives all the glory for our spiritual victories, and that is what He desires – full glory – for He is a jealous God who wants to be praised above all others (Exodus 20:4).
The Threshing Floor of Ornan Symbolizes Sacrifice
On the threshing floor of Ornan is where David made his sacrifice and submitted himself to the Lord. The location where this event took place actually symbolizes sacrifice? In 2 Chronicles 3:1, we read, “Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” The threshing floor of Ornan is also known as Mount Moriah, and this was the site of the first temple; and the temple was where the priests would make animal sacrifices unto God, and prostrate themselves in humble submission before Him.
This site is better known for Abraham’s faith and submission before the Lord. In Genesis chapter 22, we read where God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac, the very son of promise, on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2), and he willingly proceeded to do as He asked. The Lord stopped him at the very last second as he was getting ready to plunge the knife into Isaac, and God provided another sacrifice instead, which was a ram caught in a thicket. This is the location where Abraham experienced the Lord as his Provider, or Jehovah Jireh, in direct response to his obedience and submission.
Mount Moriah represents submission before the Lord, and whenever God requires a sacrifice from us He is seeking our submission unto Him. The Lord wants us to acknowledge that we can’t provide for our own needs, and He wants us to place our faith and trust in Him as our Provider, or our Jehovah Jireh.
Jesus underwent the ultimate act of submission when He willingly laid down His life on the cross (Philippians 2:8), in order to become the once-and-for-all sacrifice as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). While on the cross, Jesus cried out in submission to God and said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46; Mathew 27:50-51), and at that very moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, symbolizing that our relationship with God has been reestablished and that our sin no longer separates us from the Lord’s presence.
The tearing of the veil that took place immediately after Jesus’ ultimate cry of submission, occurred at the temple in Jerusalem which is on Mount Moriah, or the threshing floor of Ornan. Moriah is all about submission, and our submission to the Lord allows Him to do what only He can do.
As Jesus submitted to God and went to the cross, the Lord worked through Him to author our salvation; as David submitted to the Lord and paid for the sacrifice that he was to make, God worked to stop the destroying angel; as Solomon submitted to God’s will to build the temple, the Lord’s presence came down among His people Israel; and as the priests submitted before God in the temple, the Lord forgave His people of their sins. Our submission to God opens the door for His presence, His power, and His provision in our life.
Time of Reflection
If the Lord has ever asked you to make a sacrifice for Him, and you tried to take a shortcut, then you have probably already paid the price by experiencing some kind of hardship; however, you still need to settle the matter with the Lord and ask His forgiveness. Would you do that this evening?
If you are here tonight and you have never had your sins forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and you know deep in your heart that you are lost and dying in your sins, then I wish to invite you to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life. When you receive Christ, then you are opening your heart and giving Him your life, meaning that you must live your life in sacrifice and obedience to the Lord.
Many people fail to receive Jesus simply because they don’t want to make a sacrifice. They instead want to live entirely for themselves; however, I want to caution you that there are no shortcuts to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Therefore, I invite you to go ahead and make a sacrifice unto the Lord this evening by giving Him your life in worship, in love, and in service to His kingdom.
NOTES
(1) Noah Webster, “Sacrifice,” 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (San Francisco, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2002).
