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As this rehearsal makes no mention of David's sin in the matter of Uriah, so neither of the troubles of his family that followed upon it; not a word of Absalom's rebellion, or Sheba's. But David's sin, in numbering the people, is here related, because, in the atonement made for that sin, an intimation was given of the spot of ground on which the temple should be built. Here is, I. David's sin, in forcing Joab to number the people (Ch1 21:1-6). II. David's sorrow for what he had done, as soon as he perceived the sinfulness of it (Ch1 21:7, Ch1 21:8). III. The sad dilemma (or trilemma rather) he was brought to, when it was put to him to choose how he would be punished for this sin, and what rod he would be beaten with (Ch1 21:9-13). IV. The woeful havoc which was made by the pestilence in the country, and the narrow escape which Jerusalem had from being laid waste by it (Ch1 21:14-17). V. David's repentance, and sacrifice, upon this occasion, and the staying of the plaque thereupon (Ch1 21:18-30). This awful story we met with, and meditated upon, 2 Sa. 24.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 21 Excepting the three last verses, is contained in Sa2 24:1 with some few variations, which are there observed; see the notes there.

David had prepared by singing psalms, and the other prophets too by prophesying prepared for the Lord who was indeed the true Solomon a place that he might build a house, because they taught the hearts of their hearers by true faith, earnestly urging them to receive with faith and devotion the Son of God who was coming in the flesh.… It is appropriate that this place should be on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite because the church is customarily designated by the term “threshing floor,” as John says of the Lord: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor.” Ornan, whose name means “enlightened” and who was a Jebusite by origin, signifies the Gentiles by his origin, and by his name he indicates these same [Gentiles] who were to be enlightened by the Lord and transformed into children of the church to whom the apostle rightly says, “Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Jebus is the same city as Jerusalem. Now Jebus means “trampled on” but Jerusalem “the vision of peace.” As long as the Gentile Ornan reigned there it was called Jebus; but when David bought a place of burnt offering there, when Solomon built a temple to the Lord there, it was no longer called Jebus but Jerusalem, because, that is, as long as the Gentiles continued in ignorance of divine worship they were trampled on and made a mockery of by the unclean spirits, following mute idols according as they were led to do; but when they called to mind the grace of their Creator, they immediately found in themselves both the place and the name of peace, as the Lord says of them, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Therefore, while Ornan still held sway in this city it was called Jebus, but when he sold the site of his threshing floor together with his oxen and threshing sledges to king David, it took the name Jerusalem because the Gentiles who still persisted in their obstinacy were trampled on as worthless and contemptible by the wicked spirits; but when they learned to sell all they had and offer it to the true king, they could no longer be trampled on by the demons and vices but were given a greater share of inner peace, which they possessed with their Creator.

David is tempted by Satan to take the numbers of the people of Israel and Judah, Ch1 21:1, Ch1 21:2. Joab remonstrates, but the king is determined, and Joab pleads in vain, Ch1 21:3, Ch1 21:4. He returns, and delivers in the number to the king, but reckons not Levi and Benjamin, Ch1 21:5. The Lord is displeased, and sends Gad to offer David his choice of three great national calamities; famine, war, or pestilence, Ch1 21:6-12. David submits himself to God, and a pestilence is sent, which destroys seventy thousand, Ch1 21:13, Ch1 21:14. At David's intercession the destroying angel is restrained at the threshing-floor of Ornan, Ch1 21:15-17. He buys the piece of ground, builds an altar to the Lord and offers sacrifices, and the plague is stayed, Ch1 21:18-30.

DAVID SINS IN NUMBERING THE PEOPLE. (Ch1 21:1-13) Satan stood up against Israel--God, by withdrawing His grace at this time from David (see on Sa2 24:1), permitted the tempter to prevail over him. As the result of this successful temptation was the entail of a heavy calamity as a punishment from God upon the people, it might be said that "Satan stood up against Israel." number Israel--In the act of taking the census of a people, there is not only no evil, but much utility. But numbering Israel--that people who were to become as the stars for multitude, implying a distrust of the divine promise, was a sin; and though it had been done with impunity in the time of Moses, at that enumeration each of the people had contributed "half a shekel towards the building of the tabernacle," that there might be no plague among them when he numbered them (Exo 30:12). Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected ("the atonement money," Exo 30:16) appeased Him. Everything depended, therefore, upon the design of the census [BERTHEAU]. The sin of David numbering the people consisted in its being either to gratify his pride to ascertain the number of warriors he could muster for some meditated plan of conquest; or, perhaps, more likely still, to institute a regular and permanent system of taxation, which he deemed necessary to provide an adequate establishment for the monarchy, but which was regarded as a tyrannical and oppressive exaction--an innovation on the liberty of the people--a departure from ancient usage unbecoming a king of Israel.

David gave . . . for the place six hundred shekels of gold--At first he bought only the cattle and the threshing instruments, for which he paid fifty shekels of silver (Sa2 24:24); afterwards he purchased the whole property, Mount Moriah, on which the future temple stood. High in the center of the mountain platform rises a remarkable rock, now covered by the dome of "the Sakrah." It is irregular in its form, and measures about sixty feet in one direction and fifty feet in the other. It is the natural surface of Mount Moriah and is thought by many to be the rock of the threshing-floor of Araunah, selected by David, and continued by Solomon and Zerubbabel as "the unhewn stone" on which to build the altar [BARTLETT, Walks about Jerusalem; STANLEY].

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 21 Excepting the three last verses, is contained in Sa2 24:1 with some few variations, which are there observed; see the notes there.