David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown (1 Chr 21:16).

A disaster was brought upon the people of Israel when David took a census in Israel. Then, he saw “the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem.” Obviously, this angel was against Jerusalem that time, and was destroying it. Thousands of people died, and more were dying. David wanted to do something to stop it, but was there anything he could do to change the consequence of his sin?

Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (v. 18).

David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath (vv. 26-27).

The same thing happened spiritually on a universal level through Christ, in whom we have now redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and the whole humanity have been set free from curses. Three choices of disasters were given to David, and he was to choose one (v. 12). It is important to know that all of them match with the words of the verdict given after the Fall of Man in Genesis.

: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life (Gen 3:17). … By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground (v. 19) …

: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (v. 15).

: It will produce thorns and thistles for you (v. 18), …

While David was to choose only one of these disasters, Christ took all of them on himself for us. He carried the wood, and gave himself on the altar, while the Father carried the knife and set fire. Then, the angel with a flaming sword, who had been standing at the eastern gate of the Garden of Eden, put his sword back into his sheath.

Abraham was the first individual whom God came to bless after the Fall of Man, and he was without a curse. Out of him came the people of Israel, whom God also blessed. Those whom God blesses cannot be cursed. Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel who were traveling close to his land. But God spoke through the mouth of Balaam:

How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced (Num 23:8)?

I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it (v. 20).

These words, which God spoke about the Israelites, exactly apply to those who are in Christ today. The altar was built, and the sacrifice was already given. The angel who stands between heaven and earth is now for us, not against us, and the drawn sword in his hand is now extended over the ones who curse us.