1 Chronicles 21:1-30

LESSON TEN 21-22

A MILITARY CENSUS AND A PLAGUE
13. DAVID'S MILITARY CENSUS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES (Chapter 21)

INTRODUCTION

The final serious mistake David made was this military census. God did not withhold judgment. Israel suffered. David repented and begged for God's mercy. Preparing for the building of the Temple and charging Solomon with the responsibility of carrying out the plans occupied king David's last days.

TEXT

1 Chronicles 21:1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. 2. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them. 3. And Joab said, Jehovah make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants; Why doth my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? 4. Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword; and Judah was four hundred three score and ten thousand men that drew sword. 6. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them; for the king's word was abominable to Joab. 7. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. 8. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

9. And Jehovah spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying, 10. Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 11. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Take which thou wilt: 12. either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel, Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me. 13. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man. 14. So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. 15. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have the done; Let thy hand, I pray thee, O Jehovah my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against they people, that they should be plagued.
18. Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of Jehovah. 20. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. 21. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 22. Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto Jehovah: for the full price shalt thou give it me, that the plague may be stayed from the people. 23. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal-offering; I give it all. 24. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt-offering without cost. 25. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 26. And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon Jehovah; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burn-offering. 27. And Jehovah commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
28. At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. 29. For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. 30. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 21:1. Then Satan brought disaster upon Israel, for he made David decide to take a census. 2. Take a complete census throughout the land and bring me the totals. he told Joab and the other leaders. 3. But Joab objected. If the Lord were to multiply his people a hundred times, would they not all be yours? So why are you asking us to do this? Why must you cause Israel to sin? 4. But the king won the argument, and Joab did as he was told; he traveled all through Israel and returned to Jerusalem. 5. The total population figure which he gave came to 1,100,000 men of military age in Israel and 470,000 in Judah. 6. But he didn-'t include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in his figures because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do. 7. And God, too, was displeased with the census and punished Israel for it. 8. But David said to God, I am the one who has sinned. Please forgive me, for I realize now how wrong I was to do this.

9. Then the Lord said to Gad, David's personal prophet, 10, 11. Go and tell David, -The Lord has offered you three choices. Which will you choose? 12. You may have three years of famine, or three months of destruction by the enemies of Israel, or three days of deadly plague as the angel of the Lord brings destruction to the land. Think it over and let me know what answer to return to the one who sent me. 13. This is a terrible decision to make, David replied, but let me fall into the hands of the Lord rather than into the power of men, for God's mercies are very great. 14. So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel and 70,000 men died as a result. 15. During the plague God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem; but then he felt such compassion that he changed his mind and commanded the destroying angel, Stop! It is enough! (The angel of the Lord was standing at the time by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.) 16. When David saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, pointing toward Jerusalem, he and the elders of Israel clothed themselves in sackcloth and fell to the ground before the Lord. 17. And David said to God, I am the one who sinned by ordering the census. But what have these sheep done? O Lord my God, destroy me and my family, but do not destroy your people.
18. Then the angel of the Lord told Gad to instruct David to build an altar to the Lord at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19, 20. So David went to see Ornan, who was threshing wheat at the time, Ornan saw the angel as he turned, and his four sons ran and hid. 21. Then Ornan saw the king approaching. So he left the threshing-floor and bowed to the ground before King David. 22. David said to Ornan, Let me buy this threshing-floor from you at its full price; then I will build an altar to the Lord and the plague will stop. 23. Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish, Ornan said to David. Take the oxen, too, for the wheat for the grain offering. I give it all to you. 24. No, the king replied, I will buy it for the full price; I cannot take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not offer a burnt offering that has cost me nothing! 25. So David paid Ornan $4,300 in gold, 26. and built an altar to the Lord there, and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings upon it; and he called out to the Lord, who answered by sending down fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar. 27. Then the Lord commanded the angel to put back his sword into its sheath;
28. and when David saw that the Lord had answered his plea, he sacrificed to him again. 29. The Tabernacle and altar made by Moses in the wilderness were on the hill of Gibeon, 30. but David didn-'t have time to go there to plead before the Lord, for he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of Jehovah.

COMMENTARY

Chapter twenty-one describes another sin in David's life. Why his sin with Bathsheba is omitted in Chronicles and why this account of the sin in the military census is included are matters not explained in the Bible. The particulars of the military census are detailed in 1 Chronicles 21:1-8. The parallel account is recorded in 2 Samuel 24:1-25. The record in Samuel says that the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them (1 Chronicles 24:1). The chronicler says (1 Chronicles 21:1) that Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. The king in the later years of his reign stubbornly insisted that a numbering of the warriors be done even though it was unnecessary and contrary to Jehovah's will. As in the matter when David sinned with Bathsheba, so David permitted Satan to have control of his life. The results were disastrous. Every indication pointed to a military census of Israel as we consider the kind of numbering that was to be done. Chapter 27 in I Chronicles describes the careful organization of David's army. When he set up twelve courses of warriors, one for each month of the year, for special duties, he was careful not to number those under twenty years of age (1 Chronicles 27:23). Joab was the chief military captain. He and the princes of each tribe were charged with this responsibility. The whole procedure had to do with the military establishment. The project involved an extensive review and description of Israel's total manpower. All of the territory from Dan to Beersheba had to be traversed. David was quite old at this time. Israel's wars under his leadership were past. What he ordered with regard to this census could have no real motive other than that of self-congratulation. The whole matter was contrary to Jehovah's will. Joab saw through David's problem in this matter and at great personal risk dared to hesitate to do what David had appointed. Joab warned that David would bring Jehovah's judgment on Israel by this act. Satan was powerful. David would not be denied. The census probably could have been completed in a relatively short time. Joab and the princes gave some attention to the assignment and after nine months and twenty days (2 Samuel 24:8) reported to David in Jerusalem. The census takers had gone across the Jordan river through the Gilead country to Tyre and turning south they journeyed to Beersheba. In numbering all of Israel except the tribe of Judah, one million one hundred and ten thousand warriors were counted. In addition to these, four hundred and seventy thousand warriors of Judah were numbered. The Levites were not numbered. This had been characteristic of the earlier censuses. The tribe of Benjamin was not included simply because Joab was unhappy with his assignment.[39] The total number of warriors amounted to one million five hundred and seventy thousand. After the numbering had been done, David began to think clearly about his motives. His own conscience condemned him and Jehovah used the prophet, Gad, to bring David to his senses. David, like other great leaders of Israel, was capable of terrible sins. He also, like Moses and Aaron, had unusual ability to experience genuine repentance. David said, I have sinned greatly. I have done foolishly. He pleaded for Jehovah's forgiveness. He humbled himself. No longer was he a selfish, stubborn king; he would be Jehovah's servant.

[39] Schaff, Philip, Lange's Commentary, Chronicles, p. 132.

The rest of the chapter (1 Chronicles 21:9-30) describes Jehovah's judgment on David and Israel. Gad was David's personal spiritual adviser. He had been with David (1 Samuel 22:5) in the wilderness of Judah when David was hiding from Saul. He was an historian of the life of David (1 Chronicles 29:29). Jehovah used Gad on this occasion to inform David with regard to Jehovah's judgment on his sin. In a rare action Jehovah through Gad laid before David three terrible penalties from among which David had to choose one. The penalties were (1) three years of famine, (2) three months of military reverses at the hand of Israel's enemies, (3) three days of the sword of Jehovah which would include an awful pestilence. These three choices were only a suggestion of the vast numbers and kinds of trouble which Jehovah could unleash upon those who disobey Him. Jehovah's mercy cannot be weighed. He is also the God of wrath. When David had been charged to make a choice, he found himself cornered by the Lord. He faced the most tragic dilemma of his life. Which choice would be best for him and for his people? Famine, military defeat, and the deadly pestilence had not been known in Israel in David's day. David was the one who had sinned. Which of the choices would bring the least amount of suffering on Israel and cause David himself to bear the weight of the judgment? David admitted his predicament. I am in a great straight. He did not choose any one of the three possibilities. Instead, he humbly submitted himself to God. He preferred to fall into Jehovah's hand and not into the hand of man. He trusted Jehovah's mercy. He made the best choice. Jehovah sent the deadly pestilence. The tenth plague visited upon the Egyptians in Moses-' day bears many similarities to this death. Before proper intercession was made, seventy thousand Hebrews died because of this pestilence. The trouble moved toward Jerusalem. Many had already died and the lives of David and his family were seriously threatened. Jehovah intervened. It is enough, God said. The angel in charge of the judgment stood by the threshing floor of Ornan (Araunah) the jebusite. The Jebusites were original inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jehovah permitted David to see the angel suspended between earth and heaven and holding the sword in a threatening manner. Sackcloth was a symbol of mourning. David and the elders prostrated themselves on the ground pleading for Israel. David's heart was broken because so many Israelites (sheep) had died. He, alone, had been responsible for the sin. He pleaded with God to judge him and to spare the people.

At the angel's direction Gad told David what to do. The threshing floor most likely was located on Mount Moriah in the eastern sector of Jerusalem, An altar was to be built on the threshing floor. In typical oriental fashion David bargained with Ornan for the threshing floor. David said he would pay the full price. Ornan said he would give it to David. Abraham was involved in a similar experience when he secured a burial place for Sarah (Genesis 23:9). Ornan intended to get the full price for his property. David revealed an important key to worship when he said he would not present to Jehovah any offering which did not cost him something. This is the essence of genuine worship. Hebrews could not offer a fish to God on the altar of burnt offering. No human labor or investment was required to produce the fish. Jehovah freely accepted lambs, goats, and bullocks as sacrificial materials because those who offered these kinds of sacrifices had labored over them for this purpose. When a shepherd offered a lamb, he also offered something of himself. David knew that a burnt offering and a peace offering had to be lifted up before Jehovah immediately if the plague was to be arrested. So he bought the site where he set up the altar. This altar would have been formed out of natural rock on which no tool had been used. David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold (perhaps about 6,000 dollars). Under normal conditions this would have been a very high price. As the offerings were on the altar and the smoke and fire ascended, the angel sheathed his sword. God's wrath was turned. David's house and the people of Jerusalem were spared. After such a wonderful experience on Mount Moriah, David often returned to that place to worship Jehovah. The Temple had not yet been built. The tabernacle was at Gibeon which was located in Benjamin about eight miles north of Jerusalem. The fear of Jehovah kept David from going to Gibeon. The angel's sword, as had been the case with Balaam (Numbers 22:31), made a deep impression on David. To inquire of God meant to seek God's will. Priests and prophets often assisted in this matter. David's declaration in 1 Chronicles 22:1 accounts for the choice of this site for Solomon's Temple. This is the house of Jehovah and this is the altar of burnt offering came to be regarded as historic declarations.