I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
David went to war against the Ammonites after they insulted the ambassadors he had sent to offer his condolences about the death of the new king;s father. Instead of following the normal practice of kings and leading the army to war himself, David sent the army out under the command of Joab. David only came out at the finish to claim the victory (here, and elsewhere in the Bible, David is chided for not leading the armies in the first place, but not for claiming the victory). After the defeat of the Ammonites, war broke out with the Philistines again. In several battles, warriors under David’s command killed Philistine warriors who were the descendants of giants and were larger than normal people.
Later, David decided to take a census of the people of Israel, against the advice of Joab. Joab told David that such a census was a sin, but David ordered it any way. God was displeased that David ordered the census and punished Israel for this sin. A plague spread over the land, stopping just before it reached Jerusalem. The passage tells us that David saw the angel of the Lord standing at the threshing floor of Araunah, with its sword extended over Jerusalem. Araunah also saw the angel. David approached Araunah to request that Araunah sell him the threshing floor in order for David to build an altar there. Araunah offered to give David the land, but David insisted on buying it. David then built an altar there to worship the Lord.
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What was the sin that David committed by taking the census? The answer is that David wanted to know how big of an army he could raise. He did not want to have to rely on God when he went into battle. He wanted to know that he could win on the strength of the army he had. On another point, when I read about the plague that followed the census it strikes me that it is quite possible that the process of a few people traveling around the entire land in order to count the people, may have provided the vector for the spread of disease in a manner that ordinary interactions between people in different parts of the country would not have.
The ritual of circumcision only has spiritual value if you keep the entire Law. If you do not fully obey every aspect of God’s law, then being circumcised makes you no better than anyone else. On the other hand, those who are uncircumcised, but otherwise keep God’s law, will be declared by God to be His people. It is not circumcision, or other outward markers, which makes someone one of the people of God. Rather, it is being changed inwardly by the Spirit into someone who seeks praise from God, instead of from people.
In the next paragraph Paul does what to me seems like a slight subject jump (I see the connection, but I it looks to me like his train of thought goes off in a different direction than the one he had been following). Paul starts by asking what value there is in being a Jew or in the ritual of circumcision. This is a rhetorical question which he starts to answer. He says that there is great value in both. First of all, Jews have been entrusted with God’s revelation of His will to mankind. Then he says that this is not diminished by the fact that some Jews were unfaithful. Their unfaithfulness in no way lessons God’s faithfulness. Even if every human is a liar, this does not mean that God is a liar. Paul goes on from there to address the idea that by sinning people make God look better and thus they should sin. Paul rejects this idea in its entirety. Paul is reacting to some who claim that he teaches that the more we sin, the better it is.
In a way, Paul is starting in the middle of a particular discussion of theological ideas. Paul teaches elsewhere that no matter what we do, we end up serving God’s purposes. We cannot avoid it. Even when we do evil acts for evil reasons, the results of our actions will accomplish God’s goals. There are those who distort this teaching to attempt to justify their evil behavior, saying that since their actions have resulted in God’s will, doesn’t this mean that God is wrong to punish them for the evil they have done. Paul answers that even though God will use our evil acts to accomplish good goals, it does not mean that He wants us to do those evil acts, or that He will not punish us for the evil and harm we cause, even though He will use our rebellious action to bring about even greater good.
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Today’s psalm seems oh so appropriate now. I will affirm what the psalmist says as his opening line. I will trust in the Lord for protection. I will not flee, even though it seems as if what he says shortly after is also true.
What can the righteous do?
I will not flee because, despite appearances, the Lord still rules from heaven. This means that, while humans may have done everything in their power to destroy the foundations of law and order, those foundations are still secure. The foundations of law and order are in the Lord and beyond the ability of humans to effect. He will bring judgment and punishment on the wicked, while the virtuous will see His face.
Being slow to anger is a sign of wisdom and the fastest way to earn respect is to forgive those who have done you wrong.