1 Chronicles 21:1-17 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 21:1-17. Let’s go!
1 Chronicles 21:1-6 (NIV)
1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.”
3 But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
4 The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem.
5 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.
6 But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him.
On verses 1-6: King David decides to count the number of fighting soldiers in his army, and God is not pleased with this. You might ask, “What’s the big deal about counting soldiers?” There is nothing wrong with counting numbers per se. But where David sinned was in why he wanted to count numbers. David’s sin was that he was placing his hope more in the number of people fighting for him than in the Lord who was fighting for him.
From this I learn at least two lessons:
(1) God examines our motives. He doesn’t just look at what we do, but why we do it. As Proverbs 16:2 says, “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by theLORD.”
(2) Often we can be tempted to put our hope in things other than God – our own abilities, plans, connections, experiences, or in other people. When we give into that temptation, the results can be dangerously wide reaching. Put your hope in God, not in other people or things.
1 Chronicles 21:7-12 (NIV)
7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.
8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
9 The LORD said to Gad, David’s seer,
10 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.'”
11 So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Take your choice:
12 three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD–days of plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
On verses 7-12: Eventually David realizes his sin and asks God for forgiveness (v8). Even so, the Lord is still intent on teaching David a lesson, letting David choose whether the punishment for David’s sin will be for all of Israel to suffer three years of famine, three months of fleeing from enemies, or three days of plague. What can we learn from this? God’s forgiveness is free and available to us when we sin, but that does not mean that there are no other consequences for our sin. Part of truly repenting is acknowledging that our sins have real consequences that hurt others, and that is a lesson God wanted David to learn.
1 Chronicles 21:13-17 (NIV)
13 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
On verse 13: David is torn between the three choices God gives him, but he concludes: “I would rather fall into the hands of God, because His mercy is great than fall into the hands of men.” What can we learn from this? God is more merciful than people are. I notice this truth often when I hear people on the radio mercilessly attacking and criticizing others for their mistakes, whereas the God I know is One who is fully aware of our failings and yet shows us tremendous love and mercy by dying for us on the cross. There is no mercy or compassion that can compare to the mercy and compassion Jesus showed us at the cross.
1 Chronicles 21:14-15 (NIV)
14 So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.
15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
On verses 14-15: For a season of his life, David mistakenly placed his hope in the number of men he had fighting for him over and above the one Almighty God he had fighting for him. When the plague comes and 70,000 of those men die, it was a sobering, painful reminder to David that putting his hope in people over and above his God was a foolish way to live, that ultimately all strength, protection, and might come from the Lord, not from people. It’s a reminder to us not to put our hope in people or in circumstances, which can change all of a sudden. Instead, put your hope in the God who never changes and who is always fighting for you.
Stress happens when you allow your happiness to depend on a person or a temporary circumstance that is subject to change instead of depending on the eternal God who does not change. Peace happens when we place our hope in God.
1 Chronicles 21:16-17 (NIV)
16 David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
17 David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”
On verses 16-17: If David was the one who sinned, why would God punish all of Israel and not just David (see also 1 Chronicles 21:7 where it confirms that all of Israel suffered because of David’s sin)? A lesson here is that when a leader sins, it does not affect him or her alone, but it affects everyone in that leader’s care, either directly or indirectly. Don’t ever think that your sin affects only you. Directly or indirectly it will affect all those whom God made you to influence as well.
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the lessons I can learn from Your Word today. May my hope always be in You and not in anything or anyone else. When I sin, may I be mature enough to quickly run back to You in repentance and to take ownership of any consequences that arise from that sin. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
