For the conclusion of the story that we looked at yesterday we turn to the expanded account in 1 Chronicles 21. The important thing about this story, as tragic as it is, is that it leads to the nomination of the temple site. To atone for his sin and stop the curse upon Israel, David was told by God to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. This is the first time God ever explicitly told someone to build an altar in a particular place. What was so important about this place? Moses had told Israel that, once they conquered the land (and David had now completed that conquest), they were to offer their sacrifice in “the place the Lord your God will choose” (Deuteronomy 12:5). The place God chooses here, the threshing floor of Arunah, was also the very place where Abraham had offered up his son Isaac (the area now covered by the Dome of the Rock on the temple-mount in Jerusalem). This was where Solomon built the temple. So, the experience of this curse has led directly to the designation of the place that symbolised redemption. This is how God’s redemptive grace works: it kicks in right when the curse of sin demands our blood. It is at this point that Jesus Christ, the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, offers his blood for us, as Paul says, “while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In our worst moments we can experience God’s best. God’s redemptive grace, symbolised in the tabernacle and temple, is essentially blessing for those who deserve the curse.
Praise God for his grace that saves you from curse and pray for God’s blessing where you need it most.
Read 1 Chronicles 21:18-22:1
