In this episode of AdBible, we delve into the dramatic events of 1 Chronicles 20 and 21. Join us as we explore the battles led by Joab, David’s triumph over the giants, and the intense moral and spiritual conflict David faces when Satan incites him to take an ill-fated census of Israel. Alongside these powerful stories, we contemplate the enduring themes of pride, obedience, and divine justice.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today brings us to chapters 20 and 21 of 1 Chronicles. We’ll listen to the recording by Faith Comes by Hearing of these two chapters.
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1 Chronicles 20 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it, and David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it, and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibachai the Hushethite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lamai the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number. And he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. 1 Chronicles 21 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
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So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report that I may know their number.
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But Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are? Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?
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But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab. But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
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And David said to God, I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.
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And the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say to David, Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them that I may do it to you.
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So Gad came to David and said to him, Thus says the Lord, choose what you will, either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel. Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.
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Then David said to Gad, I am in great distress.
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Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.
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So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. But as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, It is enough. Now stay your hand. And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
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And David said to God, Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.
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Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at Gad’s word which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. And David said to Ornan,
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Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord. Give it to me at its full price, that the plague may be averted from the people.
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Then Ornan said to David, Take it and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for a grain offering. I give it all. But King David said to Ornan,
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No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.
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So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the sight. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord. And the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
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Back in 1983, the first journal I ever wrote when I was 28 years old, I read 1 Chronicles 18-20 on one day and 1 Chronicles 21-22 on the second day. So on the day concerning chapter 20, I wrote David’s census. Satan influenced David on census. God punishes Israel. David chooses punishment from God rather than inflictions by men. I also wrote, worship should cost us something. And I was referring to chapter 21, verse 24. 14 years later, when I was 42, I read chapters 20 through 22 of 1 Chronicles on the same day. And I wrote in my journal, Satan stood against Israel, not in battle from enemies, but from within. David’s heart made him do a census out of pride and dependence on military strength. David takes God’s punishment over man’s because God is merciful. David would not worship. if it costs him nothing. And again, I was referring to that same verse, verse 24 of chapter 21. And 12 years later, in 2009, at 54 years old, I read 1 Chronicles 20-22 on the same day, and concerning chapters 20 and 21, I wrote, Satan moved David to number Israel. He is alone and well on planet earth. He is evident in scripture, the tempter. We, like David, have the choice to resist or follow. Even Joab advised against the census, but David did it anyway. God assigns angels to carry out assignments on the earth, and I referred to verse 15 of chapter 21. I continued to write, we can see angels, chapter 21, verses 16 and 20. And then I wrote, the site the angel was standing on, David bought to build an altar. I continue to write, the Lord commanded the angel and he put his sword back in its sheath. David was terrified by the angel he saw. In chapter 20, we see David fighting the giants again, the giants like Goliath. Verse 6, And there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number. And he also was descended from the giants. We remember, David started his military career by facing Goliath. Here, many years later, he’s still facing Philistine giants. But let’s turn our attention to chapter 21. Verse 1 is startling. Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. David, King David, the David God describes as a man after his own heart, could be so influenced by Satan. Do we think we can be any different? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat. Satan entered Judas in the New Testament. Back to my journal in 2009, I wrote, He is alive and well on planet earth. He is evident in scripture, the tempter. He runs to and fro across the earth seeking whom he may devour. Here in 1 Chronicles chapter 21, Satan incites the great king, David. Is a national census a sin? Well, probably not, but let me read my footnote from my English Standard Version Study Bible concerning this issue. David himself sinned in giving in to Satan’s enticement and ordering the census. This census was sinful probably because it arose from David’s presumptuous military ambitions. and pride, rather than from Yahweh’s express command. In addition, David neglected to levy the poll tax for a census required by Exodus 30.12, an act of disobedience that could bring plague on the people. We saw earlier in 1 Chronicles, when David was trying to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into Israel, that he failed to do it according to the word of the Lord, and Uzzah died and the celebration ceased. Here again, we see David ignorant of God’s law. Now, maybe he just wasn’t taught, but ignorance is no excuse for disobeying the law. It doesn’t work in the court of law in our country. It doesn’t work with God either. That’s why, friends, it’s so important to stay in God’s word. I’m not saying that David disobeyed intentionally. It’s just that he did not know the provisions of God’s word in both of these instances. And in one instance, Uzzah died. In this instance, many people suffer. Verse 7, But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, and that I have done this thing. That’s one thing about David’s heart. When he sins, he knows it, and he confesses it before the Lord. Surely that’s why he’s a man after God’s own heart. We can learn a very simple lesson from that, can’t we? Yes, we’re going to fail. King David failed. But when we fail, admit it to God. Don’t hide it. Don’t cover it up. Admit it to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. God gives David three choices of punishment. Of course, David chooses the Lord rather than to fall into the hands of men. Verse 13, Then David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of men. So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel and 70,000 men of Israel fell. But next we see another example of God’s great mercy. At the end of verse 15 he says, And he said to the angel who was working destruction, It is enough, now stay your hand. David saw this angel of destruction. Verse 16, And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven. There’s a very good chance that the elders also saw because they fell upon their faces. In verse 20, Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. I personally have never seen an angel. I think I’ve seen the effect of angels, but I’ve never seen an angel. And I think that may be just a gift of God’s grace. But look at how this chapter ends. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. Father, we thank you for angels. We thank you that they protect us, but in this instance, they carry out your judgment. May we humbly ask you… to put a hedge of protection around each of us so Satan cannot incite us to do evil before you. Holy Spirit, please shield us from any damaging influences of the enemy. But if we’ve fallen, may we see the example of David and seek your forgiveness immediately. You are a God of love, mercy, and grace, and we thank you for that. In the name of Jesus, amen.
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