The OFFERING that stopped the plague…

In 2 Samuel 24, we find King David in a desperate situation. After taking a census of Israel—a decision that displeased God—a devastating plague swept through the land as divine judgment. Seeking to make atonement, David was instructed to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

What happens next is profound. When David arrives, Araunah—recognizing the gravity of the moment—freely offers everything David needs for the sacrifice:

“Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood.” (2 Samuel 24:22, NKJV)

This is more than just an act of generosity—it is a moment filled with deep symbolic meaning, pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice that would come through Jesus Christ.

A Sacrifice That Costs Something

Araunah’s offering wasn’t cheap. He gave David his oxen—not just any animals, but the very ones he used for work. He didn’t stop there. He also gave up his threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen—essential tools for processing grain and farming. These weren’t excess goods lying around; they were his livelihood.

David, however, refuses to take it for free:

“No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24)

Here, a critical biblical principle emerges:
✅ True sacrifice must cost something.
✅ Worship without cost is empty.
✅ Atonement requires a real price to be paid.

This scene foreshadows the greatest sacrifice in history—where Jesus Christ would lay down everything for us.

Fire, Wood, and the Atoning Sacrifice

In the Old Testament, burnt offerings were a symbol of atonement—they represented judgment being satisfied through the total consumption of the sacrifice (Leviticus 1:3-9).

Araunah’s threshing implements and ox yokes weren’t just extra materials—they were fuel for the fire that would consume the offering. The wood was necessary to complete the sacrifice.

This takes on even greater meaning when we consider another sacrifice that happened centuries later—the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

🔹 Araunah’s wood carried the oxen to be sacrificed.
🔹 The cross carried Christ, the Lamb of God, to be sacrificed.

Just as fire consumed the oxen on David’s altar, so too did the judgment of God fall upon Christ at Calvary. He was wholly consumed by suffering and death, taking on the full wrath of God in our place.

The Threshing Floor Becomes the Temple

There is yet another profound truth buried in this story. Araunah’s threshing floor, the very place of David’s sacrifice, later became the site of Solomon’s Temple (2 Chronicles 3:1).

✅ This means that the first recorded sacrifice on that site was one of atonement.
✅ The Temple, where Israel would offer sacrifices for generations, was founded on an act of sacrificial worship.
✅ Jesus, the ultimate Temple (John 2:19-21), would one day replace the old system with His perfect, once-for-all atonement (Hebrews 10:10).

Through this connection, we see that everything was pointing to Christ. Just as David’s altar prepared the way for the Temple, the Temple prepared the way for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Christ: The Greater Sacrifice

Araunah’s offering teaches us many things:
📌 Atonement requires a real cost. Jesus paid it all with His blood.
📌 The sacrifice must be wholly consumed. Christ was completely given over for our sins.
📌 The wood was necessary to complete the offering. The cross became the instrument through which redemption came.
📌 The place of sacrifice became the place of worship. The events on and surrounding the cross became the foundation of our faith and interaction with God.

Jesus fulfilled everything Araunah’s sacrifice pointed to. He didn’t just offer a costly sacrifice—He was the sacrifice. He didn’t just provide the wood for the fire—He carried His own cross to the altar of Golgotha. And because of His perfect atonement, no further sacrifice is needed.

THE REMAINING QUESTION…

Araunah gave freely, David gave sacrificially, but Jesus gave everything.

Now, the question remains: What will we do in response?

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

We no longer offer burnt offerings, but we offer ourselves—our lives, our devotion, our worship—to the One who gave Himself for us.

Will we, like Araunah, hold nothing back?
Will we, like David, insist on giving God something costly?
Will we, like Christ, surrender everything for the glory of the Father?

The sacrifice has been made. The price has been paid to set us free.

Now, we live as living sacrifices in response to the One who sacrificed for us.