1 Chronicles 21:26 (LSB) Then David built there an altar to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to Yahweh and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then Yahweh spoke to the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 Now the tabernacle of Yahweh, 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 Yahweh.

Why do we need a substitute? Why is death necessary to satisfy God? What does this have to do with my death and with your death? This all has to do with how we are made right with God. With this goal in mind, let's take a look at the pattern.

Throughout the Old Testament, we are given examples of substitutionary death. Adam and Eve had clothing made for them from animal skins, having their nakedness and shame covered by the skin of another animal. Their just penalty was to die, but they were mercifully spared through a substitutionary death. Abel brought one of his flock as a sacrifice and as a substitutionary death. God promised a Seed Who would bruise the serpent's head. He promised that Seed would have His heel bruised by the serpent. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. We are told later in Hebrews that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. Instead of raising Isaac from the dead, God provided a substitute: a ram who would take Isaac's place.

The children of Israel were commanded to make sacrifices throughout their wilderness wanderings and all throughout their dwelling in the land of promise. For nearly 1,500 years from the Exodus to the time of Christ (with a couple periods of exceptions), the sacrificial system was carried out every single day. The priests and Levites took the sacrifices from the people to offer up to God what was intended to be a pleasing aroma: the sacrifice of an animal as a representative substitutionary atonement that points to the once-for-all sacrifice of God's Own Son: Jesus Christ. 

We are told that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) Without death, there is no satisfaction for sin. Why? Because those were the terms of the original covenant between God and Adam and Eve (and all their descendants). In the strictest of covenantal terms, Adam and Eve should have been put to death the moment they ate the forbidden fruit. But they weren't. They were covered with the skin of an animal. The animal that died took their place. So, God will only accept death as the payment for falling short of His glory, for which He has created us. The question is this: whose death will pay for your sins? Your eternal death, or Jesus Christ's once-for-all sacrifice on the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago? There is no third option.

Why did David have to sacrifice on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite? Because he and the people of Israel had sinned against God. David had counted the people of Israel, which was against what God required of the king. The king was to trust God for victory in battle, not the size of his army. In fact, we are supposed to trust God for everything! The nation of Israel was to trust God to keep His promise to Eve as they looked forward to that sacrifice through the daily practice of the animal sacrifices. We are to trust God as we look to Him through the once-for-all sacrifice that Jesus Christ willingly and of Himself 2000 years ago. Christ's sacrifice was perfect and unique. It was perfect because He had committed no sin. It was unique because He was the only One Who could be our substitute. He did much more than we should have done. He did what we could NEVER have done for ourselves. 

The temple in the Old Testament was the place where people were made right with God. Now every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit and an instrument of reconciliation between God and man through the proclamation of the good news of the forgiveness of sins by grace alone through faith alone in Christ according to Scripture alone to the glory of God alone. This I repeat to you this day, and I repeat the gospel commands: repent and believe! There is no other way to eternal life than through submission to God Himself. He is our maker and our creator. He sets the rules. O come and taste and see that He is good!

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#SoliDeoGloria