Mon.’s Devo - Counted

Read: 1 Chronicles 19:1-21:30; Romans 2:25-3:8; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 19:10-12
When God wants to deal with a nation he will stir up the conflict. God wanted to deal with the Ammonites so he caused a misunderstanding between Israel and the Ammonites. Their king, Nahash had died and David wanted to pay his respects so he sent some men to comfort his son, Hanun. Hanun was persuaded that David’s men were just spying out their land to come back and take it so, they shaved David’s men and cut off their uniforms. This was very shameful for them.
The Ammonites knew that David would retaliate so they hired the Armenians who had chariots and were trained for war to help them against Israel. They surrounded Israel’s army so Joab split his army and fought from both sides. They sent the Ammonites and the Armenians fleeing. The Armenians returned and fought Israel again losing 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. When they lost their commander, they ended up making peace with David and becoming his subjects. They were never willing to help the Ammonites again.
Chapter 20 tells the story of when Joab fought the Ammonites but David stayed home. Chronicles doesn’t tell us that this was when David stayed home and was tempted by Bathsheba and fell into horrible sin against her and her household ( 2 Samuel 11:1).
Once David repented of his sin (2 Samuel 12), Joab was able to take Rabbah and took the crown from the king of Rabbah and brought it home and gave it to David who wore it. The Ammonites were captured and brought to Jerusalem to build the temple.
The Philistines fought with Israel and they had giants. Israel fought many of them and finally brought the Philistines under their control.
David once again forgot to read what the law said about taking a census and let Satan entice him to take count the people. The law says that when you take a census, you are to have the people pay for the souls of the ones counted or a plague will come on the people. David did not do that so a plague came on the people.
To count the people is a picture of judgement. When judgment comes we will be judged or counted and our fate is then sealed. To count them without requiring the price to be paid is to cause them to die with no hope. Jesus paid the price for us and bought us out of judgment.
It was not the fact that David counted them but the fact that he didn’t know to let them atone for their lives first.
The redemption is that the angel of the Lord stopped the plague on the very hill that Jesus would die on and redeem us from the curse once and for all.
In Romans, Paul had just pointed out the hypocrisy of the Jew and their sins. He proved how their lifestyle caused the Gentile to blaspheme their God. Their obedience to be circumcised did not do them any good if their lifestyle was full of sinful acts. Paul challenged them with this question: If the ones who were not circumcised actually lived righteously, wasn’t that better than being circumcised and living like hell? Righteousness had to do with the heart much more than it had to do with some outward ritual.
What Paul was saying to them was like asking us the question: does going to church make us righteous if we live like the world all week. It is not going to church that makes us holy. Holiness is the outward manifestation of the condition of our heart. If we love God then we will want to live for him 7 days a week.
Lord, help us desire you above everything the world has to offer. Let us walk in a way that we are always prepared to be counted.