King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2021
Chapters: I Chronicles 21-22, Psalms 30, 95
Message: Provoked
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday, I did something that I am not proud of, a customer called in near the end of the day when everything was shutting down. She was very irate, swearing, and demanded that she speak to a manager. Well, that was not going to happen because everything was shutting down, I asked her if she would mind a callback and she went off on me about how bad the company is, how bad I am treating her, and continued swearing at me. I got loud and told her that she cannot talk to people that way and expect good customer service. I felt awful that I lost my control and screamed back at her, it was not very professional, but she provoked me to the point where I could not just sit there an allow her to scream and swear at me. Satan has a way of provoking us, he knows just the right moment to get us off guard and bring us to the point of losing our control of a situation. When we realize that we lost control we are reminded that next to God’s mercies comes His grace, [II Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.]
[Provoke; Excited; roused; incited; made angry; incensed.] Being provoked is different than being tempted, when we are tempted we are enticed by things that the flesh desires. When we are provoked we are angry or anxious about something and it builds up until we pretty much explode. I am a very calm person, but tend to let things build up, all it takes is one thing to provoke me and I explode, and when I do people just stand there and wonder where all that came from. Did you know that we can provoke God? Of course, you did. I Chronicles also gives the account of when Satan provoked David and he numbered the people. We know that God had moved Satan to provoke him because He was angry at Israel, and here we are given a different perspective.
[I Chronicles 21:1-7 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. 2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. 3 And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? 4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. 6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. 7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.]
[And God was displeased with this thing;] So, why was God displeased when He allowed Satan to provoke David in the first place? I realized something when I was praying this morning, wondering the same thing before I even read this chapter. God allows and uses our falling into sin to grow us, to remind us of who we are and where we were before we knew Christ as our Saviour, and to also draw us closer to Him. Would you be as close to Jesus as you are now if you did not mess up a time or two. And remember, He will never suffer our feet to be moved, meaning, we will never allow Satan to provoke us to the point that we turn away from our faith. And let me tell you, those who turn on their faith never were true in their faith, [Mark 7:6-7 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.]
Notice that God sent the prophet, Gad, to tell him that he was displeased and that judgment was coming as a result. There are times with God will speak directly to us, but other times He sends other people to tell us that what we did was wrong. This is not their judging us, this is righteous judgment. Remember, Joab tried to get him not to go through with the census, but he would not listen to him. Gad also told David that this time he had to choose which judgment it would be, which he chose the three days of pestilence, in other words, a virus.
[I Chronicles 21:13-17 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. 14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. 15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.]
[for very great are his mercies:] You see, David knew that God’s mercies were much greater than mans, but even he did not expect what was to come of them once that virus struck the nation. [and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven,] Can you imagine what a sight that must have been? This is Jesus Himself, He may have been meek and mild in His human flesh, but He is not in the power of God and all His wrath when He is provoked. When Jesus return in the flesh, He will not be meek and mild lamb, He is coming back as a ferocious lion, [II Thessalonians 1:7-8 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:]
[but as for these sheep, what have they done?] This is what Jesus does for us, He stands before His Father, begging and pleading with Him not to destroy His sheep. He also tells us what we need to do in order for Him to save us. In fact, it was the Angel of the LORD who commanded David to set up an altar.
[I Chronicles 21:18-24 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD. 20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. 21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. 23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. 24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.]
[for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD,] We cannot just take any offering to God, it must be the one that was purchased. Our souls are bought with a price, and that price was the pure and precious blood of Christ, [I Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:]
I still cannot stop thinking that Covid happened and is still going on because God is provoked and the one who provoked Him needs to step up and throw themselves at the altar. And since this virus has hit the entire world, we can pretty much account that there is more that one person that provoked Him. We all need to come to the altar and do exactly what Jesus tells is to do. Now, after that terrible judgment, God pointed out that where they were standing was the place where He wanted the Temple built. David was excited to make all the preparations, he gathered people and supplies that would be needed, including the instructions on who was going to do what. Then he calls for Solomon, and tells him what he expects of him.
[I Chronicles 22:1-5 Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. 2 And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. 3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight; 4 Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David. 5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.]
[This is the house of the LORD God,] Do you see how God turned everything around? This is Solomon, remember, his mother is Bathsheba. God, while He did chasten both David and Bathsheba for what they had done, it did not last, He blessed them with another son who would not only be heir to the throne, but build the first temple ever made for Him. Even though we provoke Him and He gets angry with us, we must remember that it is only for a moment, it will not last, and He will actually repent of the evil that He intended to allow. All we need to do is call out to Jesus and He will deliver us.
[Psalms 30:4-8,11-12 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.]
[by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong:] I love this, I am certainly a sinner saved by grace, and I can list just as many instances that provoked God. His anger certainly does endure, but for a moment, and when we consider what we put God through, the joy that comes truly does remind us of just how great our God is, [Psalms 95:2-7 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,]
We must understand that it is okay to be angry, and let me tell you, we are going to lose control sometimes, we are going to be provoked and even say things out of anger. What we are not to do is allow that anger to bring us to sin, and never go to bed angry, if you do lose control, take a deep breath, talk to God and remind yourself that you belong to Jesus and not even Satan can provoke you so much that you lose your salvation, that is unless you accepted Him in vain, [Ephesians 4:26-30 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [I Chronicles 21:17-18 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. 18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy, no matter what I do, You will never leave nor forsake me. I know I have provoked you a time or two, and have witnessed Your anger. I also have seen Your hand over me more times that I can count, and yet You truly watch over, and protect Your own. Lord, Thank You for Your mercy, Your grace, and Your protection on me. Lead me and guide me, keep Your hedge of protection around me, fill me with Your mercies, grace, and love, for I know I will fail You at times, but You are my strength to get back, to never let the sun go down in my wrath, and to even remove the anger that provoked me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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