At that time when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
David had counted his fighting men, a plague followed, and the angel's sword hung over Jerusalem until David bought Ornan's threshing floor and built an altar there. Here he sees that God has answered, and he keeps sacrificing on that spot — so what was the answer, and why did it fix the place of worship?
David had asked for the plague to stop, and the reply came as visible fire on the offering. David would not let Ornan supply the ground or the fuel. Nothing in this sacrifice belonged to another man:
David does not wish to give to God what belongs to another, but what is his own, just as Christ gave His own life. David pays for everything himself: the place, the threshing floor, the altar, and the burnt offerings. Ornan wanted his threshing-sledges to burn the sacrifice, but God burns it with fire from heaven instead. That fire shows His character in judgment. At the same time it is the Lord's sign that He has fully accepted the sacrifice.
The fire did more than end a plague. It also settled a question for the whole nation:
At the Lord's command the angel put away his sword, and David said that this was the house of the Lord God, and this the altar of burnt offering for Israel. The place where God accepted the sacrifice was to be the spot where Israel would worship. True worship is based on the acceptance of the sacrifice.
"He sacrificed there" marks a lasting change, not one act. David had built his altar while the angel still stood over him. Afterwards he would not walk back toward that sword, so the old tent of worship at Gibeon lost him:
David was given grace to read the writing on the Jebusite's floor. That sacred plan had shone with the glory of forgiving love. There he had seen that with his God "mercy triumphs over judgment" — a truth often repeated, but always sweet and blessed. So he keeps close by this floor. The grain his faith had trodden down there was the finest wheat, the very best of the wheat. Having tasted it, he dared not turn away from his own mercy. He had fed at an altar spread with the good things of a Father's love, so he could not go back to serving the tabernacle (Hebrews 13:10). He had not been afraid to prepare his altar in the angel's presence. But now he is afraid to return by way of the angel's sword.
The place itself carried a message. This altar stood on land bought from a Jebusite, one of the non-Israelite people who had held Jerusalem. A king offered on it, not a priest:
Here is an altar completely new, built by the man who was afraid to go to the other one. Does not David's sin become the occasion for showing that grace without law is the only foundation, even for the kingdom? It also shows that the priests of Aaron's line have nothing to do with it. For it is David the king who builds it, and sacrifices on it, and the Lord answers by fire. It is a new way, unknown to the law, and there you find both Israelite and Jebusite. What right had the priests who served at the altar in Gibeon to the altar the king built? And what right have those who plead works as their ground of acceptance with God to this altar? It is the expression of pure, unmixed, sovereign grace, without works.
David had long wanted to know where God would dwell. He learned it late, and not cheaply:
Only after a humbling experience did David come to know Mount Zion as the place God had chosen. In 1 Chronicles 21 and 22 we find that God's judgment first had to fall on his pride. Only after he had paid the full price did God show him the place for the Lord's house. To look away from everything natural and act only by God's thoughts always costs something. It calls for sacrifice.
- Answered — God replied with fire from heaven on the offering. That fire was His sign that He accepted the sacrifice.
- Accepted — God accepted the sacrifice there, so that ground became the place of worship. True worship rests on an accepted sacrifice.
- Anchored — David never went back to the old altar at Gibeon. He had tasted mercy at this floor, and he feared to return by way of the angel's sword.
- Open — a king built this altar on a Jebusite's land, not a priest. It was a new way, unknown to the law, with no place for works as a ground of acceptance.
- Costly — David paid the full price himself and gave God nothing that belonged to another. He found the chosen place only after God had judged his pride.
And the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
Israel had two altars at this moment. The old bronze one, made in Moses' day, stood far off at Gibeon. The new one David had just built stood in Jerusalem, on the threshing floor of a Jebusite — a man who was not an Israelite. This verse tells us where the old altar was. The next verse tells us why David would not go to it.
How did the altar Moses made end up at Gibeon?
After Saul destroyed Nob, the tabernacle went to Gibeon. It stayed there until Solomon built the house of the LORD. David had brought the ark from Kiriath-jearim, not far from Gibeon, to the tent he had pitched for it in Jerusalem. But the tabernacle and the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, stayed at Gibeon. The high place at Gibeon means the hill on which the tabernacle and the altar stood. At first the same spot was a Canaanite place for worshipping idols. God had chosen the temple as the central place for worship. As long as it was not standing, worship of the LORD at the Gibeon high place was not sinful. After the temple was built, the high places became centers of idolatrous practices.
So the ark of the covenant and the altar of sacrifice were in two different towns.
Gibeon held the altar the law appointed. David did not go there.
For David, the bronze altar at Gibeon was no longer a place of security. It was a terrifying place, and he would go there no more. Nothing set up under the law could reassure his soul any longer, for the law was a ministry of condemnation. God had revealed another place of approach to Himself. Grace had chosen it, and there divine judgment had been abolished. From now on it was the only place that could suit David.
The reason given in the text is fear of the angel's sword. One writer draws a line between that sword and the older structures mentioned in this verse.
David is afraid to go to the old altar and the tabernacle at Gibeon, because of the sword of the angel of the LORD. This sword is always connected with the old altar and the tabernacle that Moses made. But here is an altar altogether new, built by the man who feared to go to the other… It is a new way, unknown to the law, where you find both Israelite and Jebusite. What right did the priests who served at the altar in Gibeon have to the altar the king built?
A king, not a priest, built that new altar.
David had found mercy at this threshing floor. He would not go back to serve the old tabernacle.
God gave David grace to read the writing on the Jebusite's floor… There he had seen that with his God "mercy triumphs over judgment" — the often repeated but ever sweet and blessed truth. So he keeps close by this floor… He had fed at an altar where the delights of a Father's love were spread out for him. He could not return to serve the tabernacle (Hebrews 13:10). He had not feared to prepare his altar in the angel's presence, but he does fear now to return by the way of the angel's sword.
How did David know this floor should be the site of God's house? Not by any command.
There was no direct word from God to this effect. David was a man of spiritual perception. The pardoning grace of God shown at that spot suggested to his heart that Israel's God would delight to dwell there… God's gracious intervention suggested to David that the LORD had in this way pointed out His choice of site for the sanctuary. So when building time came, we read, "Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."
And the teaching came the hard way:
He taught His servant David by means of judgement first, and mercy afterwards. So He led him to the place where He would have His temple built, and to its meaning.
- Located — The tabernacle and bronze altar Moses made stood at Gibeon. They went there after Saul destroyed Nob. The ark sat in David's tent in Jerusalem.
- Lawful — While no temple stood, worship of the LORD at that high place was not sinful. Once the temple was built, the high places turned to idols.
- Left — The old altar could no longer reassure David. The angel's sword belonged with it, so he would go there no more.
- Learned — God taught him by judgement first, then mercy. No direct command named the temple site; David read God's grace and knew.
- Loved — David had fed where mercy triumphed over judgment, so he stayed by the new altar on the Jebusite's floor. Solomon later built the house of the LORD on that spot, Mount Moriah.
But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.
David had just built an altar on Ornan's threshing floor, and fire from heaven had answered him there. This verse tells us why he stayed: the old altar still stood at Gibeon, yet the forgiven king was too afraid of the angel's sword to go near it.
The tabernacle Moses made still stood at Gibeon, with its bronze altar. But God had answered David somewhere else.
God gives His answer to man at Ornan's threshing floor. From then on, that is where David sacrifices. For David, the bronze altar at Gibeon was no longer a place of safety. It was a terrifying place, and he would go there no more. Nothing set up under the law could reassure his soul any longer. The law was a ministry of condemnation. God had revealed another place of approach to Himself. It was the place chosen by grace, where divine judgment had been abolished. From now on, that was the only place that could suit David.
One writer ties the sword to the old system, and points out who built the new altar and who did not.
This sword is always connected with the old altar and the tabernacle that Moses made. But here is an altar altogether new, built by the man who feared to go to the other. Is not David's sin made the occasion of showing that grace without law is the only foundation, even for the kingdom? And that the priests of Aaron's line have nothing to do with it? For it is David the king who builds it, and sacrifices on it, and the Lord answers by fire. It is a new way, unknown to the law, where both Israelite and Jebusite are found.
It would be easy to read this fear as weak faith — a king who has lost his nerve with God. The same writer reads it the opposite way.
The old altar is connected with law, and judgment, and the sword; and David is afraid. His fear does not come from a lack of confidence in the Lord. It is a quiet confession that he deserved death and could not stand before the sword. He builds an altar and turns to it where there is no angel with a drawn sword to fear.
David built and sacrificed with the angel's sword still drawn. Yet he would not take the road to Gibeon.
He had fed at an altar where the good things of a Father's love were spread for him, so he could not go back to serve the tabernacle (Hebrews 13:10). He had not feared to prepare his altar in the angel's presence, but he does fear now to return by the way of the angel's sword. Of Ornan's floor he said, "This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel." The Spirit always witnesses to grace, and by Him David's heart was tied to that spot.
The difference was not David's courage. It was what God had revealed to him. The same writer sets him beside Ornan, who hid instead:
The grace of the Lord had not been revealed to Ornan... And so he hid himself, as simply a creature in the sight of God, like Adam before him in the same situation. But David knew the remedy that mercy rejoicing over judgment had provided. So he dares to stand, though shamed and humbled... The sword still unsheathed holds no alarm for him now.
One writer treats these two verses about Gibeon as more than a side note on geography.
The high place in Gibeon, where the tabernacle of the Lord was, must now disappear. Fear was still connected with the tabernacle (see verses 29, 30). May we not see here the passing away of a legal institution, to make way for that full grace? That grace would set the altar of burnt offering on a divine and permanent basis.
David still meant to build God a house. But there are two very different grounds a man can build on.
Instead of saying, "Look, I live in a house of cedar," he might say, "Look, I am a poor, pardoned sinner." It is one thing to act on the ground of what we are. It is quite another to act on the ground of what God is. The house of God must always be the witness of His mercy.
- Sin — David's sin became the occasion to show that grace without law is the only foundation, even for a kingdom.
- Sword — the drawn sword belongs to the old altar at Gibeon. That is why a place God once appointed now terrified David instead of keeping him safe.
- Fear — David's dread is not lost confidence in God. It is a quiet admission that he deserved death.
- Altar — the king builds a new altar on a foreigner's threshing floor, and the Lord answers by fire. From then on, only that place suits David.
- Worship — he builds not as a king in a cedar palace but as a pardoned sinner. So God's house stands as the witness of His mercy.