(I
Chron. 21:18) “Then the Angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David,
that David should go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor
of Ornan the Jebusite” - 2 Samuel 24:16 16 And when the angel stretched
out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil,
and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine
hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the
Jebusite.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the
angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the
angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And David spake unto the Lord when he
saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have
done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray
thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
18 And Gad came that day to David, and
said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of
Araunah the Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of
Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.
20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king
and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself
before the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my
lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of
thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the
people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my
lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be
oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of
the oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a
king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God
accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay;
but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt
offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David
bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
THRESHING FLOOR. A hard, level surface on which grain is
threshed with a flail (two sticks) …a part of the structure having some
specific spacious cooking area provided plenty of room for servants. The first mention of a threshing floor is found in Genesis
50:10-11, “the threshing floor of 'Atad', where Joseph and his
brothers mourned the death of their father, Israel.
·
The next reference we have
to the threshing floor is in regards to the “heave offering”
in Numbers 15:20. It speaks of the “offering of the threshing floor”.
We see a similar reference in Numbers 18:27.
- It was at the “threshing floor of Nacon”, that
Uzzah was struck dead for taking hold of the Ark of the Covenant (II
Sam. 6:6-7). Where was the Temple built? It was built at the threshing
floor David had purchased from Ornan the Jebusite (I Chron.
22:1).
- Scripture teaches that its meaning goes far beyond
simply “the place where grain was threshed”. It is symbolic of the
relationship connecting the Bride and the Bridegroom. At the center of the threshing floor,
one finds two large flat stones, one resting on the top of the other. They
are “fitted and joined” together. The top
stone was known as the “female” and the bottom stone the “male”.
The “grinding of grain” was a depiction of the act of
marriage (Job 31:10).
- It must be clear to us that the “threshing
floor” speaks to us about a place of worship. Perhaps for us,
there should be a time of “threshing”, when God
separates the “wheat’ from the “chaff” in our lives. When we
enter into worship, we are stepping on to God’s “threshing floor”
where He deals with those things, which need to be “winnowed”
out of our lives.
- Worship from the viewpoint of the “threshing
floor”. Follow David’s example. Learn to give
sacrificially.
24: 18. The threshingfloor of Araunah was on Mt.
Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac (Gen. 22.2), and the location of
Solomon’s temple (2 Chr. 3:1)
24.24. Fifty shekels of silver:
This seems to conflict with 1 Chr. 21:25, which says 600 shekels of
gold. The figure in 2 Sam. specifically
says that David bough the threshingfloor and the oxen for 50
shekels of silver. The figure in 1 Chr.
is for the entire site.
24.25. David…offered burnt offerings and peace offerings: In ch. 23 David combines the three offices of
prophet, priest, and king. These were
again combined in David’s relative, Christ the Messiah, and again combined in
the Spirit-filled church, in whose members the Spirit of prophecy resides (Acts
2:14-21) and who are "kings and priests unto God" (Rev.
1:6, 5:10).
24.24. Giving God Our Best – Then Expecting His
Best.
SEED FAITH.
David had
sinned; and as a result, a plague came on the people. To atone for this sin, the Lord told King
David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Aranuah and offer a burnt
offering so the plague might be stayed.
Araunah tried to give David the land, the oxen, other items
to sacrifice. But David insisted on
paying Araunah, saying that he could not present to God an offering that
cost him nothing.
The very heart
of SEED FAITH is that unless we experience some sacrifice, we have not
truly given. Unless our giving
costs us something-something that represents a portion of our very life-then it
is not a living gift and will not yield a good harvest. Our giving to the Lord must bear these three
qualities.
1.)
It should be our best. When we give God our best, we are in a position
to
expect His best back into
our lives.
2.)
We should give to God first. The very first thought in our minds after we
have received something should be how we can give a portion of our harvest to
the work of the Lord.
3.)
Our giving should be generous,
freely from our heart and without expecting anything back from the one to whom
we give. As Jesus said to His disciples,
"Freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8)
In Christ,
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
