Monday, November 21, 2016

GIVING GOD OUR BEST-EXPECTING HIS BEST


(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


No comments:

Post a Comment