Repentance Isn't Enough

King David was in a jam. He'd decided, against the Lord's will, to number the fighting men of Israel. It was a huge number, but finding it out came at a huge cost. When God called David on it he said in 1 Chronicles 21:8 "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant..."

God didn't do that. Instead he gave David three choices of consequences: three years of famine, three months running from his enemies, or three days of the "sword of the Lord." David chose the latter and over 70,000 died.

When the angel of the Lord was about to strike Jerusalem, God stopped him saying "it is enough."

Now here is where it gets interesting. David buys the land (which later becomes the temple) in order to perform sacrifices. Here in Chronicles it tells us that he did not go to the Tent of Meeting which was in Gibeon but performed this sacrifice right there because "he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord." (vs 30)

When David repented of his sin the sword of the angel was still unsheathed and ready to continue at God's command. It wasn't until David presented the burnt offering on the altar he made that the Lord told the angel to put away the sword.

Why is this significant? We sometimes have two mistaken notions about sin. One, we think that if we just stop doing something bad, like a kid that has stopped hitting their brother, that God will turn away to read his newspaper again and be satisfied. Or secondly, we think that not just stopping but actually being sorry and turning away from the sin is enough. "I won't do it again, I promise, I feel really bad about what I did."

It's not enough. An offering must take place or the sword of God's judgment still hangs over us because we cannot survive in his presence if there is any evil in us.

I thank God that he provided for me a sacrifice by providing himself as that payment for my sin. Now when I repent (which means to change your mind about the sin) there is a way to sheath the sword of the Lord and a way to help me not do it anymore (the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life).

Pastor Tom