David’s Military Census
(Exodus 30:11–16; 2 Samuel 24:1–9)
Then Satan 1rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2Sa 24:1-25Zec 3:11Ki 22:20-22Job 2:1Job 2:4-6Rev 12:10Act 5:3Heb 10:24 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.” 1Ch 27:23-241Ki 4:251Sa 3:202Ch 30:52Co 12:72Sa 17:112Sa 24:152Sa 24:2-4
But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” Deu 1:111Ch 19:131Ki 14:161Sa 2:24Exo 32:21Gen 20:9Isa 26:15Isa 48:19
Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and traveled throughout Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem. 2Sa 24:3-8Act 5:29Dan 3:18Ecc 8:4Exo 1:17 And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah. 2Sa 24:91Ch 27:23 But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him. 1Ch 27:24Num 1:47-492Sa 11:15-212Sa 20:9-102Sa 3:27
Judgment for David’s Sin
(2 Samuel 24:10–14)
This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel. 1Ch 21:141Ki 15:52Sa 11:272Sa 21:12Sa 21:142Sa 24:1Jos 22:16-26Jos 7:1
Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 2Sa 12:131Jn 1:9Jhn 1:291Sa 13:131Sa 26:212Ch 10:92Sa 13:132Sa 24:10
And the LORD instructed Gad, David’s seer, 1Sa 9:92Sa 24:111Ch 29:29 “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” 1Ki 13:21-222Sa 12:10-12Jos 24:15Num 20:12Pro 1:29-31Pro 3:12Rev 3:19
So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You must choose Pro 19:20 between three years of famine, three months of being swept away 2before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” 1Ch 21:15-161Ki 17:12Ki 19:352Ki 8:12Sa 21:12Sa 24:13-14Act 12:23Deu 28:15
David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” Psa 130:7Php 1:23Heb 10:31Isa 55:7Jhn 12:272Ch 28:92Ki 6:152Ki 7:4
A Plague on Israel
(2 Samuel 24:15–17)
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 1Ch 27:241Sa 6:192Ki 19:352Sa 24:15Exo 12:30Num 16:46-49Num 25:9
Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” Gen 6:6Exo 32:14Jer 26:18Mat 23:37-38Mrk 14:411Ki 19:42Ch 3:12Sa 24:16
At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan 3the Jebusite.
When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. Num 14:51Ki 21:272Ki 6:17Jon 3:6-8Jos 5:13-14Psa 35:13-14Exo 14:19-20Gen 3:24 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I 4am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.” Ezk 16:631Ch 21:81Jn 3:161Ki 22:172Sa 12:102Sa 24:12Sa 24:172Sa 7:8
David Builds an Altar
(2 Samuel 24:18–25)
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 Ornan the Jebusite. 2Ch 3:12Sa 24:181Ch 21:111Ch 21:15Act 8:26-40 So David went up at the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD. 2Ki 5:10-14Act 9:6Jhn 2:5
Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Jdg 6:11 David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David. 1Sa 25:232Sa 24:18-20
Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” 1Ki 21:22Sa 24:21Num 16:48Num 25:8
Ornan said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.” 2Sa 24:22-231Sa 6:14Gen 23:4-61Ki 19:21Isa 28:27-28Jer 32:8
“No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” Deu 16:16-17Gen 14:23Gen 23:13Mal 1:12-14Rom 12:17
So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold 5for the site. 2Sa 24:24-25 And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Lev 9:24Jdg 6:211Ki 18:38Pro 15:81Ki 18:241Sa 7:8-92Ch 3:12Ch 7:1
Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath. 1Ch 21:15-16Ezk 21:30Heb 1:14Jer 47:6Jhn 18:11Mat 26:52Psa 103:201Ch 21:12
At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. For the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon, 1Ch 16:392Ch 1:132Ch 1:31Ki 3:4-15Exo 40:1-38 but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. Heb 12:28-29Rev 1:17Rev 15:41Ch 13:121Ch 21:162Sa 6:9Deu 10:12Jer 10:7