1 Chronicles 21
McGeeCHAPTER 21THEME: David’s sin in taking a censusThis chapter deals with the greatest sin that David committed, and it has nothing in the world to do with Bathsheba. It is the kind of sin about which folk say, “Well, I can’t see why this is such a great sin.” Everyone seems to think that the matter of Bathsheba is a terrible sin, and I’m in that number. I agree it was an awful sin. But in this chapter, as in all of Chronicles, we are given God’s perspective. God does not record David’s sin with Bathsheba in the Book of Chronicles, but He does record this sin of numbering the people because it is on the spiritual level. It won’t affect David’s salvation one whit, but it certainly is going to affect him and the nation of Israel in their personal relationship with God.
1 Chronicles 21:1
Now we have found the real culprit. This was satanic. Satan was in back of this whole incident. This throws light upon David’s great sin. David’s sin with Bathsheba was a personal sin, a sin of the flesh. In Psalms 51, he cried, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” (Psa_51:1). He was referring to his sin with Bathsheba. But here “Satan stood up against Israel,” and moved David to take this census.
1 Chronicles 21:2
You recall that Moses had taken a census of the people on two occasions. In the Book of Numbers we are told that he took a census at the beginning of the wilderness march and then again at the end of the wilderness march. There was nothing wrong with that. At least, God did not find fault with that. But here it is sin. There are those who say that the reason David did this was because he was proud. Well, let’s read on.
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Here is the first man to oppose the computer. David wanted statistics and there is a sin in statistics. Everything today is being computerized, including all of us, for that matter. Joab opposed getting these statistics because he felt that pride was involved in this. I am of the opinion that although pride did enter into it, pride is not the total explanation of the sin. “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jer_9:23-24). God was not pleased when David took a census because David was not delighting in the Lord; he was delighting in his own might. So the thing that motivated him to number the people was the awful sin of unbelief. David was trusting numbers instead of trusting God.
1 Chronicles 21:4
In Israel he had 1,100,000 men, and in Judah he had 500,000 men. When Moses had taken the census, he had 603,000 men. David has a million more men than Moses had! What contrast this is to David, the shepherd boy, when he came into the camp and saw the great giant Goliath strutting up and down defying Israel. This little shepherd boy didn’t want to take a census; he didn’t number the army. He just said, “Let me go out after him.” Why did he have the courage to do it? Well, he trusted the Lord. He went out with a sling and five stones! My friend, you don’t feel the need of God when you have one million men. When you have only a slingshot and five stones, you know you need Him. I’m afraid that our nation is in very much this same position today. “The greatest nation on earth"how often we hear that phrase! I imagine the people in the Roman Empire heard that until they got tired of hearing it. They did the same in Babylon and in Greece and in Egypt. Those kingdoms are long gone as great world empires. Why? Because they trusted in armies. Don’t misunderstand me. Every nation needs an army to defend itself in this evil world. We are not to be fools and fanatics who say we need no protection and no army. But that is not where our confidence should be! Joab protests to David. He says, “David, all these men are yours. You don’t need to number them. God has given you all these people, and they will be adequate with God.” But David insisted on a census. Today people think that with our atom bombs and hydrogen bombs we have no need for God. My friend, we do need God. People are trusting the wrong things in our day. David’s great sin was unbelief. I realize this fact does not register with many people. Just as today we point the finger at a church member who would stagger into the church service while he was drunk. But you could walk into our Sunday morning church service in unbelief and no one would be the wiser. And if your unbelief was known, this would not be considered a serious matter. My friend, God is telling us here that he considers unbelief the most serious matter. Satan is always behind unbelief. He puts unbelief into our hearts and minds so that we will not trust God. He is always urging us to put our trust in men, in armies, in money, in anything but God. That is the sin of statistics. May I say that a great many folk today trust mathematics and not the Maker. They trust the computer and not the Christ. They trust in numbers and not in the name of the Lord. David learned his lesson. Listen to him: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes” (Psa_118:8-9). “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion” (Psa_71:1). We need to ask ourselves these penetrating questions. Do we really trust God? Do we really believe God? “But without faith it is impossible to please him …” (Heb_11:6). The Lord Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit would come into the world, He would convict the world of sin. What kind of sin? “…because they believe not on me” (Joh_16:9). Paul writes, “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom_14:23). This is the sin of David, and it is real sin. David soon began to see what a terrible thing he had done.
1 Chronicles 21:7
DAVID CHOOSES HIS PUNISHMENTNow the Lord is going to put before David a choice of punishment.
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Now listen to David. This is tremendous. I hope you agree with me by now that David was a great man. Oh, he was human like I am and you are. He stubbed his toe, he committed sins, he had his faults, but he never lost his salvation nor his desire for fellowship with God.
1 Chronicles 21:13
David knew his God. Here is a man who ordered the census because he was trusting in man. He sees now what he has done. I think David is an old man now, and he remembers that little shepherd boy who went out with his slingshot and five smooth stones. How he trusted God, and what a testimony he had then! David was as human as we are; we trust God for salvation, but we don’t trust Him for the problems of life. David now looks about at his enemies. Their numbers are great; they are giant nations. David wonders if his army is big enough. He has forgotten for the moment that his God is big enough for all the giants and all the nations that are threatening him. So David takes a census. How many times have you and I taken a census? We didn’t really trust God, and we put our faith in something else. But David knows his God. He says to Gad, “Don’t let me fall into the hand of man. I want to fall into the hands of God.” Why? Because David has learned that God is merciful. I am afraid that many of us have not learned that. God has “…not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him” (Psa_103:10-11). God is merciful in salvation. He holds out today salvation to a lost world. On what basis? Christ is the Mercy Seat. You recall that John puts it this way: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1Jn_2:2). What is propitiation? It is the Mercy Seat. He has an abundance of mercy. All you have to do if you want to be saved is to go into court with God, plead guilty, and then ask for mercy. He has plenty of mercy. That is the way He will save you. There is a pardon for you, and you must claim it. Also there is the mercy of God in providence. I look back upon my lifeoh, how good He has been! He is so merciful today, not only to me but to the whole unsaved world. Why didn’t He come in judgment last night? Because He is merciful. He will come some day but He is long-suffering, He is merciful, He keeps giving time for repentance.
He pities us like a father pities his children. His mercy will extend into the future. We can lean securely on His mercy. It will never cease. It is not just a momentary happy disposition with Him. It is not some development in His character.
He didn’t just read How to Win Friends and Influence People and then decide to be merciful. David could say, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psa_136:1). So David casts himself upon God’s mercy.
1 Chronicles 21:14
Notice this marvelous prayer of David. He takes full responsibility for his sin. I would say that David has changed a great deal. The time when he committed the sin with Bathsheba he wasn’t going to say a word about it. He even tried to push the blame for the death of Uriah the Hittite to someone else. David tried to cover up. Now it is different. He has learned his lesson. His soul stands absolutely naked before God. He tells the Lord, “I am responsible. I did this thing. Let the judgment fall upon me.”
1 Chronicles 21:18
DAVID BUYS THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ORNANWhen I was in Jerusalem, I walked up and down the site of that threshingfloor. It is located on Mount Moriah, the place where the Mosque of Omar stands today. That is the old temple area. So here we learn that it was not actually David who chose that spot for the temple; God chose it. And David certainly concurred with Him.
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Ornan was threshing wheat at his threshingfloor. It is interesting that I was there just at the beginning of harvest season. Every afternoon the wind would come up. I sat in our hotel room and I could look over this area, the temple area, the site of Ornan’s threshingfloor. The wind really whistled through there, so much so that we had to close the doors to our room. In the days of David they would wait for that wind to come up, and then they would pitch the grain up into the air. The wind would blow away the chaff and the good grain would fall down upon the threshingfloor. As I have mentioned before, Mount Moriah is the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. And at the other end of that same ridge is Golgotha, the place of the skull, where God offered up His Son. When I was there, I took a picture of the sheaf of rock which was taken out to make the roadway up to the Damascus gate. The wall of Jerusalem goes up over that ridge. It is very high. After taking that picture, I turned right around, walked ten steps, and took a picture of Golgothalocated on the same ridge, at the same elevation.
It was a continuous ridge until they put the roadway through there. You see, God chose the site of Ornan’s threshingfloor on Mount Moriah because that is the place where God told Abraham to offer his son, looking forward to the time of the temple sacrifices and finally to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.
1 Chronicles 21:22
This man Ornan was very generous. He offered the property, and the wheat that he was gathering in which David could use for a meal offering, also the wood and the oxen for a burnt offering. This man offered the whole thing to David. But now listen to David:
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David refused to offer to God that which cost him nothing.
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David paid the full price for the threshingfloor.
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David now makes a sacrifice to God. The fire from heaven indicated that God had accepted David’s offering.
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The sword of judgment was sheathed. But at Golgotha, that sword pierced the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. As someone has said, “I got into the heart of God through a spear wound.”
1 Chronicles 21:28
I want you to see something very important here. David put this altar in the place where the temple is to be built, and he offers a sacrifice. This is the place God met with His people. This is now become the place of sacrifice. You see, David understood what a lot of church members today do not understand. David put up this altar, and he offered on it a burnt offering.
That burnt offering speaks of the Person of Christ. Then he offered a peace offering. This speaks of Christ as our Peace. Christ made peace by the blood of His cross. Jesus Christ is our Peace. He has sprinkled His own blood on the mercy seat for us.
He is our great High Priest. He has ascended into heaven and stands at the right hand of the Father. There is no access to God except through the Lord Jesus Christ. David understood this, and he offered the burnt offering and the peace offering to God. Now remember that there was a plague going on. David has seen the angel with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. David offers sacrifices to God and calls on the name of the Lord. What was he asking for? For mercy! God is a God of mercy, of loving-kindness. But did you know that God doesn’t save us by His mercy? God can’t just be bighearted. He can’t be a sentimental old gentleman. You see, there is a penalty that must be paid. Sin must be dealt with.
God is also righteous and He cannot save us simply by His mercy, or by His love. God can’t save you by love, friend. He loves you and He will extend mercy to you, but He cannot save you that way. We are saved by grace through faith. What does that mean? That means that someone had to pay the penalty for our sins.
God couldn’t just open the back door of heaven and slip us in under cover of darkness. He cannot let down the bars of heaven. Sin must be dealt with. He cannot shut His eyes to sin in order to save us. We are guilty sinners before God, and the penalty must be paid. Jesus Christ came to pay our penalty.
He is the propitiation, He is the mercy seat for you and me.