70,000 Victims of Pride

“And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.” 1 Chron 21:1-2

This week marks the end of our series over sins of pride. I felt it necessary to speak about one example of pride in our Bibles to show how our pride affects others. 1 Chronicles 21 gives us the account of when Satan influenced David to number Israel. From the account, we read we can safely ascertain that pride was the chief influence.

David had plenty of experience that would help him to steer clear of the temptation of pride. In 1 Samuel 31, the Philistines killed King Saul, but 1 Chron 10:14 indicates that it was Jehovah who slew Saul. How and why did God slay Saul? He made the determination to remove His anointing and hedge of protection because Saul had trespassed against Him (cf 10:13). On another occasion, David had been witness to the sudden death of Uzzah for touching the ark of the covenant (2 Sam 6:7). Moreover, David should have been used to not getting all he wanted because God had denied him the opportunity to build the temple (2 Sam 7). With all of these examples, why did David leave room for pride? We need to ask the same questions ourselves.

If we have such a great list of examples in the Scriptures, why do we still make room for the sin of pride? Today’s sermon is on the consumption of alcohol. This sermon will challenge our modern thinking, as the previous topics of abortion, modesty, and homosexuality have. We must consider that our response to Biblical teaching on a subject not only has an effect on our own souls but also on those of the ones we influence.

When David numbered the people the result might have assured him of his military might, but look at what the result was on the people. 70,000 men of Israel died. Without a single spear thrown, or arrow shot, 70,000 died (1 Chron 21:17;26). 70,000 men were victims of the pride of 1. When you say things like, “everything in moderation is permissible”, think about how many lives and souls are eternally changed because of a little moderation. Pride is a threat to all souls, and if our hearts are truly concerned with all souls, we will not let our pride threaten any.

Grace and Peace,

R.D. Beavers

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