Hi First Presbyterian Church,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Last Sunday, we had some technical difficulties playing the pre-recorded videos that were contributed by the BSA Scout troops our church supports that were meant to be part of our worship service. You can see those videos here. Last Sunday, we also had the amazing and exciting opportunity of baptizing Griffin in a hot tub outside! If you missed it, you can see a recording of it here. Miraculously, there was a robin who alighted on a tree behind Griffin as he got into the hot tub to watch his baptism and then flew away when he got out! This Sunday, we will be commissioning our team of young people who are headed on a mission trip to New Bern, North Carolina, during their winter break to help rebuild homes after the disastrous hurricanes in recent years. There are lots of exciting things happening at FPCP, and you won’t want to miss a Sunday!
Today is Day 157 of our one-year Bible-reading plan, and I wanted to point out something interesting that we read yesterday. We’ve been reading through 1-2 Samuel recently, which tells the interesting stories of Israel’s first kings - Saul and David. In 2 Samuel 24, we read an interesting story that starts off like this.
"Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go, count the people of Israel and Judah'" (2 Samuel 24:1).
The story continues and says that God sent a plague on Israel, because David had taken the census, which counted the number of eligible soldiers in Israel’s army. While the story doesn’t say why counting the soldiers was wrong, it is likely because the census was perceived as trying to quantify the strength of Israel’s power rather than simply trusting in God’s strength to protect them.
But here’s the interesting thing. Later in our Bible-reading journey, we will read 1-2 Chronicles, which is a retelling of the exact same stories we read in 1-2 Samuel except written 100 years later. In 1 Chronicles 21, we will read the same story about David taking a census of all of Israel’s eligible soldiers, except one very important and very theologically significant detail is different.
"Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel" (1 Chronicles 21:1).
Did you notice it? In 2 Samuel 24:1, it had said that God incited David to take the census. But in 1 Chronicles 21:1, it said that Satan incited David to take the census. That’s an important difference!
This goes back to what I said in my sermons during January when we were looking at explanations for the violence of God in the Old Testament. While the Old Testament tells us about moments in history when God was truly active in the life of Israel and was being revealed to Israel through those moments, it is obvious that Israel was also dependent upon interpreting the experiences they had. Sometimes, like in 1 Chronicles 21:1, they looked back and reinterpreted those moments. "Maybe that wasn’t God and something else was happening."
This is why Jesus eventually came to us - to correct all the ways people had misinterpreted their experiences of God, leading them to wrong conclusions. This is why it is always my advice when reading the whole Bible that when Jesus seems to be saying something different than the Old Testament, always side with Jesus. As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is our clearest display of God, and we can always trust him.
When reading the Bible, whether it’s the Old or New Testament, always look for Jesus. If you can’t find him, just keep reading until you do.
Peace,
Pastor Aaron