David’s Military Census
(Exodus 30:11–16; 1 Chronicles 21:1–6)
Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 1Ch 21:11Ch 27:23-24Jas 1:13-141Ki 22:20-23Gen 50:201Sa 26:192Sa 12:112Sa 16:10
So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, 1 “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” 2Sa 3:10Jdg 20:12Sa 20:23Jer 17:51Ch 21:22Ch 32:25-262Ch 32:312Co 12:7
But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” Deu 1:11Psa 115:141Ch 21:3-42Sa 10:12Isa 60:5Pro 14:28
Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel. Act 5:29Ecc 8:41Ch 21:4Exo 1:17
They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. Deu 2:36Jos 13:9Jos 13:16Num 21:32Num 32:1Num 32:3Num 32:351Sa 30:28 Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, 2 and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. Jos 19:28Gen 10:15Gen 31:21Gen 31:47-48Jdg 1:31Jdg 18:28-29Jos 11:8Jos 19:47 They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, 3 to Beersheba. Jos 19:29Jos 11:32Sa 24:2Gen 21:22-33Jdg 3:3
At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000. 1Ch 21:5-61Ch 27:23-24Num 1:44-46
Judgment for David’s Sin
(1 Chronicles 21:7–13)
After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 2Sa 12:131Sa 13:13Pro 28:131Sa 24:51Ch 21:81Jn 1:92Ch 16:91Jn 3:20-21
When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: 1Sa 22:51Sa 9:91Ch 29:291Ch 2:19 “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.’” Heb 12:6-10Pro 3:12Rev 3:191Ch 21:10-112Sa 12:142Sa 12:9-10Job 5:17-18Lev 26:41
So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three 4years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” 1Ch 21:121Ki 17:1-72Sa 21:1Lev 26:25Deu 28:22Deu 28:25Deu 28:27Deu 28:35
David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” Psa 119:156Psa 51:11Ch 21:13Jon 4:2Isa 55:7Psa 103:8-14Psa 106:41-42Psa 130:4
A Plague on Israel
(1 Chronicles 21:14–17)
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 5 1Ch 21:141Ch 27:241Ch 27:41Sa 6:19Isa 37:36Mat 24:7Num 16:46-49Num 25:9
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah 6the Jebusite. Exo 12:23Jol 2:13-142Ch 3:12Ki 19:35Gen 6:61Sa 15:11Act 12:231Ch 21:15-16
When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, 7 have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.” 1Ch 21:16-17Psa 74:12Sa 24:10Ezk 34:23-24Job 42:61Ki 22:171Pe 2:24-25Ezk 34:2-6
David Builds an Altar
(1 Chronicles 21:18–30)
And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 1Ch 21:18-302Sa 24:11 So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. Heb 11:81Ch 21:192Ch 20:202Ch 36:16Gen 6:22Neh 9:26
When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. 1Ch 21:20-212Sa 9:8Gen 18:2Rut 2:10 “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. 1Ch 21:222Sa 21:3-142Sa 24:182Sa 24:3Gen 23:8-16Jer 32:6-14Num 16:44-50Num 25:8
“To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”
Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 1Ki 19:211Sa 6:141Ch 21:22Gen 23:11 O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” Ezk 20:40-411Pe 2:51Ti 2:1-2Hos 8:13Isa 32:8Isa 60:7Job 42:8-9Psa 20:3-4
“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 1Ch 21:24-25Mal 1:12-14Gen 23:13Rom 12:171Ch 22:1
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 8 And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 2Sa 21:141Sa 7:172Sa 24:14Gen 8:20Lam 3:32-331Ch 21:26-271Sa 7:9Gen 22:9
Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.