The opening words of this chapter seem to indicate a serious change in that it commences with the anger of The LORD burning against Israel (v1). It is not clear what brought this about or whether God’s anger came because of what David did in this chapter. It continues by stating that God incited David against the men of Israel by instructing him to order a census. He gave orders that Joab and the commanders of the army should go through all the tribes and count the fighting men. One would have thought that he already knew because the numbers were listed above.
The rules for taking a census were stated in Exodus 30:12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.”
Everyone had to give an offering, which was like a tax from all, rich and poor, the same amount, for the upkeep of the tent of meeting. It was The LORD’s prerogative to order a census. Note that a plague could result, obviously if The LORD had not commanded the taking of the census. The offering was clearly to avert the plague. This is what happened here on this occasion – God sent a plague.
In the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 we read that Satan was responsible for moving David to number the people. Is this a contradiction? The two passages may cause a problem and those who oppose the Bible will say it is a contradiction. As believers, however, we would not go along with that, and we would say that there are no contradictions. So, what is the explanation?
The problem probably arises because the translators of the New King James Version used ‘He’ with a capital letter, indicating that God did it.
If we look at the New Testament in James 1:13 says that no-one should say that God tempts them and asserts that God cannot be tempted, nor does he tempt anyone. Anyone who is tempted it is by their own evil desire, and they are enticed and dragged down.
So, clearly, the Bible says that God does not tempt anyone, yet, from Job 1 we know that God allowed Satan to tempt Job, and James 1 says it is ultimately our own evil desires which must combine with Satan’s work of tempting to bring about evil behaviour. The best explanation is that Satan put it onto the mind of King David and is the “he” of 2 Samuel 24:1. The LORD allowed it as a chastisement against David. In Genesis 3, God allowed the temptation, but Satan did the tempting. In the Garden of Eden, it was Adam and Eve who gave way to the temptation of the serpent, the devil.
Even Joab, who was certainly not a godly man, told David that he was wrong to do it – “Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are and may the eyes of my LORD the king see it. But why does my LORD the king desire this thing?” (v3)Joab hints that the reason for David doing this was pride and he states that ‘your God’ (note, not my God) could multiply the troops. He had seen that God had given David victories even when outnumbered. David had certainly seen that God had prospered him and the nation, so why on earth did he need to know if he had enough men? It seems that even the captains of his army tried to dissuade him because we read that David’s “…. word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army.” (v4)
We can be lured into a similar trap – instead of trusting in God, to look to our own achievements and strength, which compared to God’s strength is weakness. We often look at numbers and even pride ourselves in it and forget God.
David really knew that his strength depended upon God, not on himself or a large army. We have already seen that God brought this huge army to him, so what was his concern? As a youth he single-handedly fought Goliath – “You come to me with a sword, with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the Name of The LORD of hosts, The God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45) Even King Saul had said to him “Go and The LORD be with you”. (v37)
But Satan was at work – one with God is a majority, there was no need to know how many when God was on his side. The biggest army, without God = NIL.
In the next few verses Joab and his men travelled through all the land (v5-9) and came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months twenty days. This was no mean task (v8). David had plenty of time to rethink what he was doing but apparently, he didn’t. Joab returned after the said period of time with the results and reported that there were 1.3 million fighting men throughout Israel and Judah.
Opponents of Scripture would point out that the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 give a different total 1,570,000. 1 Chronicles 21:6 also tells us that Joab, who really didn’t want to do this, didn’t bother to count Levi and Benjamin in the census.
I concede that both can’t be correct, so I quote one commentator, “To attempt to reconcile them in every part is lost labour; better at once acknowledge what cannot be successfully denied, that although the original writers of the Old Testament wrote under the influence of the Divine Spirit, yet we are not told that the same influence descended on all copiers of their words, so as absolutely to prevent them from making mistakes.” (Clarke)
Guilt came upon David; his heart condemned him. He told The LORD that he had sinned greatly, and he repented. As we have seen before, was always ready to admit when he was confronted that he had done wrong.
David knows he has done wrong and even though David was described as a man after God’s own heart, he was not sinless. The words he used indicated that it was not just a case of being sorry (v10) – “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” The scripture says he was conscience stricken or his heart condemned him. This was contrite repentance.
God answered (v11-13) – “Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.”’ ” So, Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
God was not going to overlook his sin; punishment must follow just as He chastises us because He loves us. How do we as Christians face sin? Paul asks the question in Romans 6:1, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” In other words, do we carry on sinning because we expect the grace of God to be so forgiving that it doesn’t matter how much we sin? He says, “Certainly not!”, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”.
I’m not sure if David slept that night but, as some versions say, ‘BEFORE he got up next morning’, Gad the prophet visited him with a message from God, just as Nathan had been sent previously (chapter 12). God graciously gave him three options. Amazing that God gave him the choice of his punishment. Was this testing David? He could have seven years of famine, flee for three months before his enemies, or three days plague in the land.
Looking at the choices – seven years famine would certainly mean that many in Israel would die for lack of sustenance. He might even survive as the king would certainly have some provisions set aside, similarly those who were wealthy might. They would more than likely have to depend on their enemies for food. Three months on the run before his enemies, having to fight against them and possibly leading to loss of life of his army. Three days plague in the land which could affect all including himself. He is given a choice and must give the answer to Gad to
take back to God. He could have said, “I’ll speak to God and deal with Him” but Gad tells him he must give the answer to him to take back to God.
David said, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” (V14) David considered that it was better to fall into the hands of God rather than his enemies and he knew that with that he could probably have survived unscathed. He considered that he should face God’s punishment with his people. He could have stayed at home whilst his mighty men and his army did the fighting, and the famine may not have hit him personally. He shows his true loyalty and commitment to God by choosing to fall into God’s hands. He knew that it was the safest place to be, and that God was far more merciful than men would be. Proverbs 28:13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
According to David’s choice to fall into the hands of God, God sent a plague at the appointed time and seventy thousand men died from Dan to Beersheba. When the angel came to Jerusalem to destroy it, The LORD told the angel to stop, saying, “It is enough now, restrain your hand.” The plague was so very severe that seventy thousand died. Was God really being merciful? The LORD took pity and told the destroying angel to withdraw, which he did as he was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (v15,16). David saw what was happening and pleaded with The LORD, saying (v17), “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and my father’s house.” David is so repentant that he pleads with God to take the punishment out on him and his family and spare the people. He probably recalls that he was a shepherd and that his responsibility was to his sheep as he refers to his people as ‘these sheep’. You might say that it took David long enough to come to that position, but it was happening very quickly. Don’t forget that the plague was initially for only three days and it would appear that this was before the three days was up, and he hadn’t yet reached Jerusalem. God, in His great mercy stayed the hand of the angel. The destination of the angel is significant to the rest of the passage.
That same day Gad returned to David with a message from God telling him to go and erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (v18).
The threshing floor of Araunah was significant in history and would be in the future. 2 Chronicles 3:1 tells us that the threshing floor of Araunah was on Mount Moriah. You may recall from Genesis 22:2 that this was where Abraham was told to go to offer Isaac his son. Abraham showed great faith and trust in God, after all God had promised him a son in whom all the nations on the earth would be blessed and yet He told him to offer his son as a sacrifice. Despite any confusion, Abraham obeyed, and God stepped in and provided a ram for the offering. Abraham called it Jehovah Jireh (The LORD will provide) in that God provided the lamb for the offering and would be the same hill where Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, would die on the cross as the sacrifice for our sin, referred to as The Hill of The LORD (Genesis 22:14) and the basis of the belief that God would provide the sacrifice for sin. It is also thought to be the hill where the temple was built in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3), the site of Solomon’s temple 1 Chronicles 21:28 etc.
David obeyed the word of God and went as he had been commanded (v19). When Araunah saw him and his servants coming, he went out to meet him and bowed before the king with his face to the ground and asked why he had come (v20). Clearly God had not warned Araunah, so this was not pre planned but was spontaneous. David told him that he had come to buy the threshing floor so that he could build an altar to The LORD, so that the plague could be withdrawn (v21).
David wanted to buy the threshing floor from Araunah to offer a sacrifice to stay the plague. However, Araunah told the king to take whatever he wanted, oxen for the offering, threshing implements and yokes of the oxen for the wood to make the fire (v22). Araunah was generous and loyal to his king but if David had accepted Araunah’s gift, the offering and sacrifice would have been Araunah’s and not David’s. It is doubtful that The LORD would have stopped the plague as He told David to build an altar and make an offering, not anyone else (v23).
One could assume that Araunah was experiencing the plague, if not personally, in the community and even knowing or not knowing why this was happening. Although the plague was held when it reached Jerusalem. Maybe he considered that by offering his threshing floor, oxen and wood he would be involved in staying the plague, but David knew that it was his own sin that was the cause, and he needed to put the matter right with his God. Our sin is personal, and repentance must come from us, we cannot expect another to do it for us.
David insisted on buying the place, it was to be no cheap offering to God, it wouldn’t do. It would have been an amazing gift. How tempting to say that God had provided just what he needed? Many of us in his position may have
thought that, but David said, “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:” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ”And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel (v25).
“Where there is true, strong love to Jesus, it will cost us something. Love is the costliest of all undertakings… But what shall we mind if we gain Christ? You cannot give up for Him without regaining everything you have renounced, but purified and transfigured.” (F. B. Meyer)
Another commentator says that if anyone has a religion that costs him nothing, his religion is worth nothing. No-one will have a high regard for the decrees of God if they cost him nothing.
“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.” (C.T. Studd)
David paid fifty shekels of silver for the threshing floor and oxen. David built an altar and offered burnt offerings and fellowship (peace) offerings. Burnt offerings were to atone for sin and fellowship (peace) offerings were to enjoy fellowship with God. David, despite his many failings, was a man who enjoyed fellowship with God. In 1 Chronicles 21:25 we are told that he paid 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. Thus, it appears that the 50 shekels of silver were for the threshing floor and the oxen, but the larger amount was for the whole site, a larger piece of land on Mount Moriah.
Note in 1 Chronicles that Araunah is called Ornan. They are one and the same person.
God showed His acceptance of the sacrifice by answering by fire and the plague was averted. As 1 Chronicles 21:27 says, “So the LORD commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.” The picture seems to me to be that the angel had his sword out all the time and was ready to obey and continue to strike until The LORD spoke to him and he put it away.
How we must come before The LORD in penitence and worship! We need to be right before God and God will bless us.
It is evident that David went on offering sacrifices on this site. We mentioned earlier in our study of chapter 6 that according to 1 Chronicles 16:39 etc the original tabernacle had been left at Gibeon and David had prepared a tent for the ark in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 24 does not include that the tabernacle was on the high place at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29) and apparently David could not go there to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. However, in 2 Chronicles 1:3 we read, “Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.”
I’m not sure of the explanation regarding David but he certainly concluded that God had authorised the transfer of the place of worship to this site, on Mount Moriah and subsequently the temple was built on it. 1 Chronicles 22:1 “Then David said, “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
Thus, we end this account on the note that the plague was halted, and God accepted the offering made by David. This was not quite the end of David’s life as we would need to go on the book of 1 Kings and the latter chapters of 1 Chronicles. Suffice it to say that history tells us that David died in the year 970 B.C.
I hope that these simple thoughts about this great man David have been an encouragement to all. I am not a theologian, but I love God’s word and love to share it with others. It is clear that David was by no means perfect, but he recognised his failings and confessed them to God. Even though, what some might call great sin, in God’s sight sin is sin whatever form it takes, it is encouraging that God forgives us and restores us when we come in repentance. We do not need to think that God gives up on us. He can and will use us for His glory if we are fully yielded to Him.
He was described as a man after God’s own heart which is amazing when we consider his failings. We too can be men and women after God’s own heart as we seek to honour Him in everything we do. May we be people after the heart of God.
