I Chronicles 21 (NIV)

Summary:

David Numbers the Fighting Men
Verses 1-30

Satan arose against Israel.  He prompted David to take a census of Israel.  David told Joab to count those from Beersheba to Dan.  Joab responded:  Let God multiply the troops by 100.  Weren't all of them David's subjects?  Why did David want to bring guilt on Israel?  But, David overruled Joab.

Joab did so and reported 1,100,000 swordsmen, including 470,000 in Judah.  He left out Levi and Benjamin, because the command repulsed him.  The command was also evil in God's eyes, so He punished Israel.  David confessed his sin and asked for God to remove his guilt.  God responded through Gad, David's seer.  God gave David three choices:  3 years of famine, 3 months of being driven away by their enemies' swords, or 3 days of the sword of the Lord - a plague in the land and the Lord's angel ravaging Israel.  David responded:  He was in deep distress.  Let him fall in God's hands, because God is merciful, but do not let him fall into the hands of men.  So, God sent a plague on Israel.  70,000 men fell.

An angel was sent to destroy Jerusalem.  God grieved because of the calamity and told the angel to withdraw.  The angel was standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  David saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword over Jerusalem.  David and the elders were wearing sackcloth and they fell facedown.  David told God that it was he who had sinned, that the Israelites were just sheep.  He asked for the punishment to fall on him and his family. 

The angel of the Lord told Gad to tell David to build an altar to God on Araunah's threshing floor.  David obeyed.  Araunah was threshing wheat when he saw the angel.  His four sons hid.  David approached and Araunah fell at David's feet.  David asked to buy Araunah's threshing floor, at full price, to stop the plague.  Araunah offered it for free, as well as the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for wood, and wheat for the grain offering.  David insisted to pay the full price for what would be used for God.  He paid 600 shekels (~15 pounds) of gold.  He built an altar to God, sacrificed burnt and fellowship (peace) offerings.  David called on God and He sent fire from heaven on the burnt offering. 

God told His angel to sheath his sword.  When David saw that God had answered him, at Araunah's threshing floor, he offered sacrifices there.  The Lord's tabernacle, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offerings were at the high place in Gibeon.  David couldn't go there to inquire of God, because he feared the sword of the angel of the Lord.

Lori's Thoughts:

Obviously, David sinned because he followed orders from someone other than God.  However, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around why taking a census is bad.  Here's my educated guess:  David was counting the fighting men of Israel.  Knowing this number would give him a false sense of security.  He would rely on humans for strength and protection, rather than on God.  Allowed to do so, David would have ended up as King Saul - in self-worship.

So, God brought it to David's attention that he had sinned.  He was good enough to consult with David for the punishment of Israel.  Because of one man's sin, a whole nation was punished.  I mean, 70,000 people died for David's sin!  Well, I have good news for you.  The sacrifice of one Man covers the whole world's debt for their sins.   Check yes or no for receipt.

Now, how amazing and scary would it have been to see the angel of the Lord, wielding a sword?  I would have been scared.  I bet Araunah was thinking of the angel of God that had destroyed the firstborn Egyptians.  Maybe that's why his sons hid.

Well, Araunah was quite respectful of David and of God, offering everything for free.  We should be willing as well to offer everything to God, if He asks us to.  David was right to pay Araunah, though.  This was another sign of contrition and act of atonement.  What saved David was his immediate repentance and obedience.  He did exactly what God told him to do and the destruction stopped.  God let David know He had heard his prayers by sending fire from heaven for the burnt offering, which must have been another amazing sight.

Like David, we should fear God's wrath, but know that He is merciful and just, and He does love us.  He wants to save us, not destroy us.  Remember, God was grieved at Jerusalem's destruction and stopped it, before everyone was killed.  However, there is no room for sin, with God.  It must be eradicated.  I guess it is fitting that this story ends at a threshing floor.  In the words of John the Baptist, " 'I will baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.' "  (Matthew 3: 11-12)  Let the Holy Spirit help you remove the sin from your life, like chaff.  Be on fire for God.