OPEN: Back in 1995 (“Bits & Pieces” pamphlet) I read the following story:
Every February on George Washington’s birthday, the late newspaper columnist, Frederick C. Othman, used to visit the West Wing of the Smithsonian Institution, look at a certain statue there among the antique printing presses, then reprint this piece in his column as a tribute to governmental bungling....
"I regret to report that Father of his country looks as goose-pimply as ever - all 11 feet, 4 inches of him - with a sheet around his middle, a laurel wreath on his brow, and his bare toes in the breeze. I guess you might call this the result of one of Congress’s sorriest experiences with the arts.
"It began in 1833, when Horatio Greenough was paid $5000 to sculpt a heroic statue of George Washington for the Capitol’s rotunda. Horatio went to Florence, Italy, and emerged several years later with a 20 ton marble statue. When the longshoremen started to hoist the statue onto a boat, the rope broke and George sank in the mud. The U.S. Navy sent a battleship to Italy, fished George out and took him to New York. Because some railroad tunnels between there and New York weren’t big enough, they took him to New Orleans and forwarded him by devious routes, without tunnels, to Washington. This artistic enterprise by now had cost some $26,000.
"When the statue proved too heavy for the Rotunda, it was quickly moved to the Capitol lawn, where the unveiling came on George Washington’s birthday, 1843. The Navy band tootled, the lawmakers made speeches, the Speaker of the House pulled the string, and sure enough - there was George Washington, twice as big as life, scantily clad as a Roman Senator!
"Over Capitol Hill rose a horrified gasp. After weeks of bitter debate, Congress decided to build a wooden shed for $1600 to hide the statue. By 1908, the shed was so weather beaten – and the lawmakers so mortified, that they appropriated a final $5000 to tear it down and haul the semi naked Washington - in the dead of night - to the Smithsonian."
APPLY: Why did this Frederick Othman visit the Smithsonian every February… and then (every February) reprint this story about this statue?
Why? Because in Washington D.C., Othman was constantly exposed to governmental waste and incompetence – AND this story perfectly symbolized the emotions of anger and frustration he felt every time he was exposed to the bad judgment of elected officials.
I. II Samuel 24 tells us God was angry.
2 Samuel 24:1 tells us “Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel…”
We’re not told exactly why God was so angry. At one time, I had thought it was because He had commanded Israel not to take a census (and that this was a direct violation of His will).
So I hunted throughout the law seeking for that command. It wasn’t there. In fact, the book of Numbers was dedicated to that very issue: taking a census of the people.
I examined the sermons and commentaries of others on this subject, and no one seemed to give me what I considered to be a satisfactory answer.
But then I got to thinking... why would God get mad at Israel? The more I thought about it, the it seemed that his anger had to do with pride. Pride in their own accomplishments and power.
The previous chapter (II Samuel 23) detailed the successes David’s army had had in battles with the Philistines and the Moabites and other enemies.
As I read this, it occurred to me that Israel may have begun to look to those victories.... that they may have begun to notice that whenever David went out with his armies, they just beat the tar out of them.... That as a result of their army’s successes, no one dared to stand up against them - and that any army that did was sent home with their tale tucked between their legs.
As a result Israel began to think they were pretty good. They began to think of themselves as unbeatable and invincible. And (I believe) they took their eyes off of God and forgot that it had been GOD who had delivered their enemies into their hands
A sinful attitude of pride began to settle in…
In Deuteronomy, God’s people were warned against this very sinful attitude:
"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery….
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed." (Deuteronomy 8:10-19)
I believe Israel had fallen into this attitude of sinful pride and so “…the anger of the LORD burned against Israel…” (II Samuel 24:1)
And, it appears that this attitude (of pride) had also infected David, so we’re told that God “… incited David against them, saying, ‘Go and take a census of Israel and Judah’” (II Samuel 24:1)
II. Why have God do that? Why would God incite David to take a census?
I Believe it was because this census symbolized the pride of Israel.
It symbolized a pride based upon their strength at war.
It symbolized a faith in the power of their military.
Just like the reporter used Washington’s statue as a object lesson to symbolize government waste
…God used this census as an object lesson to symbolize why He was bringing judgment upon the nation of Israel.
Now, Joab (one of David’s principal military commanders) for some reason, realized this wasn’t a good idea, and he tried to talk David out of it. But David’s attitude was such that it wasn’t until after the census had been taken that he realized the folly of his actions.
As a result… a terrible plague came upon the nation, and 70,000 people died
II Samuel 24:16-17 tells us: “The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, ‘I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.’”
In answer to David’s prayer, God tells him to build an altar on this threshing floor that belonged to Aruanah the Jebusite.
David buys the property, builds the altar, offers the sacrifices… and 2 Samuel 24:25 tells us
“…Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.”
III. Now, what does this story teach us? What’s in there that we can learn?
1st… it teaches us that there is a price for sin
Many people would recoil at - idea that 70,000 Israelites would die as result of God’s judgment
And yet Romans 6:23 tells us “…the wages of sin is death…”
And Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
In other words… we all deserve to die – not just a physical death like the 70,000 in Israel…
but a Spiritual death. An eternal separation from God and His blessings and love.
ILLUS: And, in reality, we often agree with God on this. How many you have ever experienced at a time when you’re by yourself and not being distracted by something – and then you remember something you’ve said, or done, or thought – something you know was wrong and brought you shame? (Almost unanimous show of hands). Do you remember the wave of guilt that swept over you. The pain and the anguish, and the intense desire that it had never happened? And you just wanted to crawl into a corner and die.
That’s the pain and the anguish that God experiences when we sin. Sin makes God angry.
Ephesians 2:3 tells us that “All of us also lived among (the disobedient) at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath (God’s anger at our sin).
There IS a price for sin.
2ndly – someone has to pay that price for sin
The people were paying a terrible price for their sin… until David stepped in.
Their plague was averted because David was willing to pay a price for their sin.
It was his purchase of the land
It was his sacrifices placed upon the altar that he had built
It was his understanding - that that which is offered to God MUST cost something
AND, it was his sacrifice – given because he loved these people…
That stopped God’s judgment upon the people
And the hill that David purchased for this altar became the Temple mountain where thousands of sacrifices were offered there every year for the sins of the people.
John 3:16 tells us God also offered a sacrifice for us –
He offered this sacrifice because He loved us
He offered a sacrifice that COST Him something
… And His sacrifice bought our forgiveness
John 3:16 says “For God so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should NOT PERISH, but have everlasting life.”
It was on a hill - not too far from the place where David built his altar… that God’s sacrifice of His son was offered for the sins of all people.
1st – sin has a terrible price
2nd – God has paid that terrible price so that you and I would not have to perish
As Ephesians 2:3-5 tells us: “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.”
IV. Now, originally, I had planned to preach this text as a sermon on giving
I mean… how can a preacher pass up a text where David declares: “I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
But the more I got into the text, the more it seemed to teach about
· the cost of sin and
· the price of forgiveness.
It was because David understood his sin
And it was because he understood that the mercy of God was something he didn’t deserve
that (when he offered his gifts to God) it was offensive to him/ to have his offerings be considered cheap and insignificant.
And so he made sure his offerings to God cost something.
Likewise, it is only when we realize our own sinfulness and we realize the punishment that we deserve and we realize the price God paid to cover our guilt…
…It is only then that we really understand what it is to give gifts that really cost us something
whether it is monetary
or our time
or our ministry
CLOSE: At one time in London, there was a restaurant owner named Emil Mettler, who was a close friend of Albert Schweitzer… and a kind of agent for Schweitzer in Britain.
Mettler never allowed a Christian worker to pay for a meal in his restaurant…
…but one time he did happen to open his cash register in the presence of a Secretary of
the London Missionary Society.
The Secretary was astonished to see among the bills and coins a six-inch nail.
The secretary asked: “What was it doing there?”
Mettler explained, “I keep this nail with my money to remind me of the price that Christ paid for my salvation and of what I owe Him in return.”
