Scripture: 2 Samuel 24

SERMON SUMMARY

So, how do you end a book on the life of David, Israel’s greatest king and the king from whom King Jesus will come? God’s answer is to close the life of David with a foreshadowing of the gospel. 

SERMON KEY POINTS

In some ways, 2 Samuel 24 is a fairly straightforward story. David sins against God by taking a census. God judges David’s sin by sending a plague on Israel that kills 1000s of people. David repents and offers sacrifices for his sin, and God, in His mercy, stops the plague. Sin, judgment, repentance, mercy.

But as we read this story, there are some serious questions are raised here. For example, doesn’t this seem like a strange way to end a story on the life of Israel’s greatest-ever king? And why is God angry with Israel? What’s all this about God “causing” or “inciting” David to take a census, which was clearly a sin? Why did God use David’s senseless census sin to punish Israel? When we come to things like this in the Bible that are hard for us to understand, we need to remember that “the main things are the plain things.” Meaning, focus your attention on what God has made plain because those are the main things He wants you to know and to apply to your life. There’s a lot packed into this passage.

Questions aside, we do learn something about how God's testing of us, Satan's tempting us, and the sinful desires of our hearts all come to bear when we face cross-road decisions in our lives. We also gain insight into the mystery of how God’s sovereign purposes, our prayers, and our faithful obedience also work together to accomplish His good purposes in our lives and in our world. But there’s even more here as the chapter ends with David building an altar of sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

So, stay tuned as we unpack this strange ending to David’s story using the principle, “The main things are the plain things.” You might be surprised by what you find here.

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS                 

1. Talk about the idea that when we encounter passages in the Bible that are difficult to understand, we should remember that “the main things are the plain things.”
2. How does this statement from the Westminster Confession of Faith help us in Bible study? “Not all things in Scripture are equally plain in themselves or equally clear. “[But all the] things [that] are necessary to be known, believed and observed, for salvation, are…clearly stated.”
3. Why do we tend to get caught up in speculating about the things we don’t understand when the things that God has made plain are the very things that bring about life change?
4. Talk about how this Bible study principle translates into a principle for your daily life. It’s also true that in your daily life, “the main things are the plain things.” So, when things come into your life that you don’t understand, how easy is it for you to trust God when your “why” questions go unanswered?   
5. How does Psalm 145:17-18 speak to all this?
6. How did Charlie explain the statement that “God caused or incited David to take this census?” How does 1 Chronicles 21:1 shed light on what’s going on?
7. Talk about how “God tested David by allowing Satan to tempt David.”
8. How does Joab’s statement in v3—“But why does my lord, the king, delight in doing this?”—reveal that something is off in David’s heart?
9. How does James 1:12-15 help us understand the relationship between God testing us, Satan tempting us, and the sinful desires percolating in our hearts?
10. How does Joab’s objection to the census help us understand another important principle of sin and temptation found in 1 Corinthians 10:13?
11. Read v10—How does David’s repentance reflect how he’s grown to be more sensitive to sin in his life? (hint: think back to the Bathsheba, Uriah story?)
12. Talk about how we see a “picture-in-picture” telling of the story as it unfolds in vv16-25. One picture from God’s perspective (His mercy triumphs over judgment) and another picture from David’s perspective (his prayer and offering sacrifices to God).
13. Talk about how God’s sovereign plans and our prayers somehow work together.
14. Why did the Holy Spirit close David’s story with this story about building an altar of sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah? What happened here 1000 years earlier? (Genesis 22) What’s going to happen here in just a few years? (2 Chronicles 3:1ff [Araunah and Ornan are the same name]) And what will happen here 1000 years later?
15. What is your biggest “take-away” from what you’ve learned in 2 Samuel 24?