“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Isaiah 48: 9

“For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Our soul, the bride, the church should arise as the altar of the Lord.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that we, the bride, the church should be careful never to arouse the anger of God.

Next what we are meditating upon is that 2 Samuel 24: 9 – 19 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 

“Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” 

So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 

And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 

So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.

In the above-mentioned verses, Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, in 2 Samuel 24: 12, 13 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” 

So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

The above-mentioned things which God told Gad after Gad had told them to David Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died.  And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.” And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.

My dear people, in the above-mentioned verses the facts mentioned are that David numbering the people was evil in the sight of the Lord. But David’s soul was moved to number in this manner, and it was the plan of God. The reason for this is that God was angry with the people. Not only that but he had a plan to erect an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and we can know that. This is shown as a pattern that the Gentiles will put their hope in the Lord, and this is written in Isaiah. Regarding that, in Romans 15: 9 – 12 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.”

And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”

And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

When we meditate upon the above-mentioned words, our Lord Jesus Christ is arising from our souls, the Gentiles and this should be noted. Also, in Acts 15: 14 – 20 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.

And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’

Known to God from eternity are all His works. 

Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 

but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

Therefore, when the angel of the Lord stretched out His hand by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel “It is enough; now restrain your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by that threshing floor. David is confessing his sins and the Lord is telling him to build the altar. This, when we, the Gentiles build the altar in our soul then the anger of the Lord will go away from us. That altar is Christ. In this manner, let us submit ourselves to the Lord.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

       - To be continued