THE TEMPLE’S SITE

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 20 October 2012

Hi all,

The story of David and Araunah the Jebusite is fascinating. At this very spot, God ended a plague brought about by David’s disobedience. David wanted to buy the place to build a sacrificial altar for God. Araunah offered it to him for free. David told Araunah that he would not offer to God that which cost him nothing! Later David bought the entire piece of land from Araunah. Subsequently, this was the place Solomon built the Temple. God brought good out of something bad!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 20 October 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	THE TEMPLE’S SITE
Genesis Chapters 44 and 45 are among the most beautiful chapters in the Old Testament. They are deeply moving. Joseph has not yet revealed his true identity to his brothers. He has had all his brothers arrested. Joseph’s cup was found located in Benjamin’s baggage. Now Joseph tells them that they are free to go but Benjamin will remain in Egypt as his slave. We then read of Judah offering to remain in Egypt as Joseph’s slave instead of Benjamin. Judah’s plea on behalf of his brother and on the danger to his father’s life is touching. If Benjamin does not return to Canaan, his absence will result in his father’s death. At this point, in Chapter 45, Joseph breaks down weeping. He dismisses his servants and reveals his real identity to his brothers. Reading it myself brings me close to tears. Here was the man who had been sold as a slave into Egypt by these same brothers now embracing them and telling them all is forgiven. 5 But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. Genesis 45:5 NLT It is sometimes said that Joseph in the Old Testament is a type of Jesus Christ. There is considerable truth in this statement. Biblically, there is no trace of sin in his life. He bears imprisonment on trumped up charges with great fortitude. Then he is raised from slavery to the right hand side of Pharaoh in one day. I must confess I’m not sure how I would react to meeting the same brothers who had sold me as a slave into Egypt. Could I forgive that? To give the religious answer, “Yes” is easy. But could I do it? I’m not sure. What I can say is that some years later, his brothers were still afraid of him. After the death and burial of their father, they thought the time had come for him to deal harshly with them. Then we get a further glimpse of the forgiveness embedded deeply into Joseph’s heart. He said to them 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 NLT David was a man after God’s heart. But David was subject to the same failings we are. So when he decided to carry out a census of all his people, it was probably pride that pushed him into doing something so foolish. The verses on the right give the background and some of the detail surrounding the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David refused to accept it as a gift from Araunah. He would not make an offering to God that cost him nothing. So David purchased the threshing floor. Later he bought the entire piece of land from Araunah. It was a fair price for the time. But David had no intention of using the place as a farm. He decided that the entire property would be donated toward the great temple his son Solomon would build. Thus it was that this piece of property which David had bought was to be the site on which Solomon’s temple would stand. It has been said that the Holy of Holies in the great temple was directly over the piece of ground on which Araunah’s threshing floor had once stood. We are told that the most expensive building in history was Solomon’s Temple. Most of it was paid for from David’s personal wealth. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			23 I (Araunah) will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the LORD your God accept your sacrifice." 2 Samuel 24:23 NLT 6 What can we bring to the LORD? What kind of offerings should we give Him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer Him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8 NLT 6 We're all sin-infected, sin-contaminated. Our best efforts are grease-stained rags. We dry up like autumn leaves-- sin-dried, we're blown off by the wind. Isaiah 64:6 MSG 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10 TNIV 23 Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory. 24 They receive God's approval freely by an act of his kindness through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free from sin. 25 God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God's approval is given through faith in Christ's blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past. 26 He waited so that he could display his approval at the present time. This shows that he is a God of justice, a God who approves of people who believe in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 GW 6 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves. Ephesians 1:6 NIrV 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. Colossians 2:10 NLT	Sometimes it’s very difficult for us to do what’s right. We often shout and bluster and say that we will fight, To do something we’re feeling, that surely must be done. And then, upon reflection, we feel we have to run, Because we did in foolishness, a very silly deed. The Lord has been offended and there really was no need, To go ahead and do it. We’d got the whole thing wrong. We wonder what the Lord will say. Will He come out strong, And bring about a judgement, because we disobeyed? We’ve made such a mess of it, we ought to be afraid! That is just what happened when David was the king. Go and count the people. It was the very thing He should not have requested and Joab told him so. But David still insisted and told Joab to go, And carry out a census; his curiosity, Overcame his caution. Joab reluctantly, Went ahead and did it. When he reported back, David said to Joab, he’d taken the wrong tack, He knew it was an error. He knew that it was sin. And desperately regretted the mess that he was in. Early the next morning, his seer, known as Gad, Told him he must make a choice from three things which were bad. Three long years of famine that would decimate the land. Three months of his running from his enemies demand; Or three days of a plague in which so many would be dead. David chose the plague because he knew inside his head, God was very merciful. Perhaps He would relent, And He would spare the people, if he would but repent? Even so death’s angel took many folk away. He’d continue killing, till God ordered him to “Stay!” Then he was commanded, at Araunah’s threshing floor, Stop this dreadful killing; I don’t want any more. David then decided, this very place would be, Where he’d build an altar for everyone to see. He said he would buy it. Araunah told him Nay! Let me give it to the king. He doesn’t have to pay, Any sort of money. I’ll give it him for free. David said, “I’m sorry. Here’s how it has to be. I’ll not make a sacrifice that doesn’t cost a thing. I have got to pay for it, I can never bring, Anything to God for which I haven’t paid. Araunah consented; the “deal” was thereby made. David then proceeded. But many folk don’t know. There upon that very spot, the temple had to go. All that piece of property became the spot of land On which God’s Holy Temple, would ultimately stand. David made an error, but God turned it for good. The way the Lord has promised, for certain that He would. Jim Strickland Written 20th October 2012