So, why was it so important that the Temple of the Lord be built in Jerusalem? Today’s passage tells us why David chose the site, and it had to do with one of the greatest sins which he had committed while he was king.

I suppose we’ve all heard about how David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of his faithful general Uriah, and then how he conspired to have Uriah killed in order to cover up her pregnancy (see II Samuel 11). But David committed another sin, not this time because of lust, but because of pride. He wanted to count up all the people of Israel (I Chronicles 21:1-2). And because of that, God sent a great plague on the Israelites, and 70,000 of them were killed (v. 14).

It was in the midst of the plague that David offered a self-sacrificial prayer, a prayer that God would punish him and his dynasty instead of the people (v. 17). And it was on the day that David prayed that selfless prayer that God told him to build an altar right on the spot where the Temple would one day be built. And when David made burnt offerings to God on that altar, the plague ceased.

The Temple was thus not to be a triumphant proclamation of royal power and authority over divine worship. Instead, it was to be a constant reminder to David and his descendants of the danger of royal pride and the devastating consequences that could come from abuse of their power. These are not bad lessons for any leaders to learn in any time or place.

But the Temple didn’t just look back to a time when God delivered His people from a plague. For a thousand years later, in the same place, Jesus, the Son of David, would fulfill David’s prayer, taking on Himself the ultimate penalty, not just for David’s ambition, but for the sins of all the world. Yes, Jesus offered Himself up as a substitute for all of us – that is the ultimate truth which all the ceremonies in the Tabernacle and then the Temple foreshadowed.

So, even though the Temple is gone, the Christ to Whom it pointed is still alive. So, just as David did, let us confess our own sins and accept His gracious pardon, a forgiveness bought with His own blood on the cross. And then let us live for the One Who gave Himself up for us.

I Chronicles 21:28-22:1 (NAS)

28 At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifice there.
29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.
30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the LORD.
Then David said, “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”