Tuesday
The 1 Chronicles can make us wonder where does evil come from? If God is all-powerful, then why is there sin in the world, why do bad things happen, evil thing? Have you ever wondered about that?
In our reading today, David makes a big mistake, he orders a census to be taken. God did not call for this, God did not tell David he needed to know how many people he ruled. Joab tells David they are all your subjects, don’t do this terrible thing. What is so terrible about David taking a census? The only reason David wanted to know was based in pride. And pride as we know is a sin. As we read on and we see the punishment that is laid out before them, we wonder; where is the compassionate and loving God. The problem for us, is that our sins bring about consequences not only for ourselves but quite often for others. Many can suffer because of our sin.
So David has made a big mistake. We see first that Joab tries to intercede and stop David from going down this path but ultimately he fails. Then, when David realizes what he has done, he now intercedes for the people.
At least seventy thousand men died of the plague. Did these tragedies come because of God’s anger and deliberate intention to strike at Israel?
This is such a difficult question to answer. We see in Job, God allows satan to have free reign (well almost) and we might question why would God allow something like that to happen. But how does Job respond to what is happening? He says: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15, KJV). We sometimes forget that this world is only temporary, we are only passing through. Our true home is in heaven with Jesus for the rest of eternity. What happens here is only to bring us to the point where we can say with Job, no matter what happens to me, I will trust in God Almighty.
Blessings on the day!
Pastor Kathy