1 Chronicles 21: 1 – 30
Satan made me do it
21 Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.” 3 And Joab answered, “May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. 6 But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. 7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore, He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 9 Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” 13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O LORD my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.” 18 Therefore, the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD. 20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat. 21 So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor and bowed before David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the LORD. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” 23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.” 24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” 25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. 27 So the LORD commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the LORD and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
Why is ‘the devil made me do it’ not a valid excuse?"
The first instance of “the devil made me do it” used as an excuse was in the Garden of Eden. Eve says, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). Her excuse did not get her off the hook (verse 16), and it won’t help us much, either.
Satan may have played a role in her choices, but she has some faulty thinking about temptation and sin. The devil tempts believers, but he doesn’t make us sin. James tells us that God isn’t to blame either: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13). He is good and holy.
Yes, the devil and his demons tempt us to sin but “the devil made me do it” is far too often used to excuse our own bad choices. Except in an instance of demon possession, the devil cannot make us do anything. The devil is absolutely worthy of blame for much of the evil in the world, but using the devil as a scapegoat for our own sinful choices is counterproductive to achieving victory over sin.
Demon possession is a condition in which a demon or demons have complete control over a person. Demon possession involves demons actually inhabiting a person and controlling his or her actions (see Mark 9:22). Christians cannot be demon possessed. The indwelling Holy Spirit will not allow it (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18). Therefore, the devil and his demons cannot control a believer. They cannot make us do anything involuntarily. So, rather than blame the devil, we need to look at ourselves.
Why do we sin? We sin because we are sinners. We are plagued by and infected with sin (Romans 3:10-23). While demonic oppression and influence are real, the primary problem is our sinful natures. “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). Notice, it’s the “works of the flesh” in this list, not the works of the devil.
As Christians, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us overcome sin (1 John 4:4). We have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). If we sin, we have no excuse. We cannot blame the devil. We cannot blame our circumstances. We can only blame ourselves. And, until we recognize that the problem resides within us (Romans 7:20), we will never arrive at the solution.
It may sound harsh to tell someone that the problem is himself and his own choices. But it’s no harsher than a doctor telling a patient to quit smoking and that the tobacco company is not to blame for his poor health. To find a cure, you must start with a correct diagnosis and then move to the correct treatment. The correct diagnosis is sin. The treatment is to submit to God and obey His Word. God can enable us to achieve victory over sin (Romans 7:24-25; 1 John 5:3-5).
If you are a Christian and you commit a sin, the devil did not make you do it. He may have tempted you to do it. He may have even influenced you to do it. But he did not make you do it. You still had a choice. God never allows you to be tempted beyond your ability to withstand, and He always provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). A Christian saying “the devil made me do it” is denying the truth of 1 John 4:4, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
When we disobey God by sinning, let’s not shift the blame or justify our actions with the faulty “the devil made me do it” theology. Instead, let’s take full responsibility for our actions, confess our sins to a gracious and forgiving Father, and pursue right living again.
All that has taken place in chapters 14-20 has been contained within two examples of David’s failure to ‘enquire of YHWH’, the first in chapter 13 being in regard to the moving of the Ark, the second now being in respect of the numbering of Israel. Both involved a threshing-floor, a sign of God’s refining activity, and both had devastating consequences.
But we may ask, why was it so wrong to number Israel (count them man by man)? The act of numbering the men of Israel would appear to have been an act of rebellion against YHWH. According to 27.23-24 YHWH had promised that the number of the children of Israel would be as the stars of the heavens. They were thus not to be numbered arbitrarily nor have any limit put on them, although it was seemingly permitted in a general way in terms of military units for organizational purposes when mustering to battle but not otherwise like a census (12.23-38). For in the end they were YHWH’s people, not David’s. To number them was thus an act of human arrogance and self-exaltation. It was to see them as David’s own people and at his disposal, rather than as YHWH’s people to be preserved by Him as He willed. They could only be numbered at the command of YHWH when He had some specific purpose for it, and even then, a ‘ransom’ had to be paid for each person numbered (Exodus 30.12). So, David is seen as once more having got above himself.
Joab was someone who was very tough skinned and hardened, but even he immediately recognized what a sinful act it was and wanted David to repent from his desire to implement this census. David, on the other hand, was obstinate, and only faced up to it later when God rebuked him by some act of judgment (21.7-8). But it was not an unconscious or unrecognized sin for either of them, for the principle was well established as Joab’s reaction makes clear. Indeed, David appears arrogantly to have dismissed any danger. The situation was that David had slipped into being simply ‘a king like all the nations’ instead of the servant prince of YHWH, or even more dangerously, into thinking that YHWH would approve of anything he did. He had thus thrust YHWH into the background in his thinking, and that was why he had to be jolted out of it. The sad thing was that the people had to suffer for it because it was necessary to nullify the census by diminishing their numbers. (It should, however, be noted that in 2 Samuel 24.1 it was made quite clear that they suffered for their own sins and not just for David’s. They were thus not just being punished for what he did). For David it would mean a diminishing of the people over whom he ruled.
One more factor must be taken account of in this narrative, and that is two other-world figures who have dealings with David. They reveal that behind man’s activity there are spiritual forces at work. The one is ‘Satan’ who persuades David to do wrong, the other is the Angel of YHWH Who steps in to deal with the wrong that has been done. Satan enters for a moment and then is gone, his work seemingly accomplished. He no doubt thought that he had achieved his purpose, and that David would no longer be God’s favorite and thus that he had thwarted God’s plans. But the Angel of YHWH persists until He has brought David to repentance, and until he is again fully reconciled to God, something evidenced by the flame that falls on the altar as God personally accepts David’s atoning sacrifice. Whilst His judgments were dreadful, their final purpose was good.
Absolute power corrupts, and David was no exception. He had become so filled with a sense of his own importance that he had begun to think that he could do anything that he liked, even ignore God’s Law. Thus, presumably to boost his own sense of his importance, he ordered the numbering of Israel, something totally forbidden because they were God’s people, not man’s.
21 Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.
This might be translated, ‘an adversary stood up against Israel’, thus as referring to a spiritual enemy.
On the one hand Satan tempts David and makes him fall deeply, and on the other God counters this through the Angel of YHWH Who deals with the situation and brings David back to God.
So, whilst, as 2 Samuel makes clear, all was under YHWH’s control, it is made clear here that He permitted Satan to tempt David. In 2 Samuel it was YHWH Who moved David to number Israel. In Samuel it was said to be because Israel had in some way offended God (2 Samuel 24.1).
2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”
So, responding to the urgings of Satan David called in Joab and his council and called on them to number Israel from Beersheba to Dan.
David’s motive is not described as being military, but as being because he ‘wanted to know the sum of them’. In other words, it was an act of self-gratification and pride, and even arrogance, for he knew that it was forbidden. It reveals how easily even godly people can allow themselves to sink into such spiritual lethargy that they do things which are seemingly inconceivable.
3 And Joab answered, “May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”
Joab, was horrified (indeed he was so horrified that he would later try to avoid totally fulfilling what was required of him, possibly hoping thereby to avoid YHWH’s wrath). He pleaded with David to reconsider what he was suggesting. He pointed out that all the people were the king’s servants. It was thus unnecessary to number them. That was something that should be left in the hand of God. What he was requesting would bring guilt overall on Israel. All knew YHWH’s demand that God’s people should not be numbered. Were they not as numberless as the stars in the sky, and the sand on the seashore? Their number should be left to God.
4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.
Inevitably the king’s word prevailed. To refuse to obey him would have been high treason and punishable by death. Thus, Joab reluctantly gave in. Consequently, he set about the task, organizing it himself and sending counters throughout Israel, and eventually arrived back at Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 24.8 tells us that the whole task took nine months and twenty days.
5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
Joab then handed in the numbers to David. In Israel there were one million one hundred thousand and in Judah four hundred and seventy thousand men. A total count of every man in each family unit would presumably have been beyond their scope.
6 But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.
In his figures presented to the king, Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin. He could excuse the former by citing the Law (Numbers 1.49), although David may not have intended them to be omitted. The exclusion of Benjamin may have been because, as the smallest of the tribes, he hoped that its absence in the figures might not be noticed. But he knew that YHWH would notice. He may well have been hoping that YHWH would not respond in judgment if a total count was not taken.
7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore, He struck Israel.
But God was displeased (‘this thing was evil in the eyes of YHWH’), for it demonstrated the rebellion in David’s heart. Joab’s attempt at changing the situation had not worked. Besides, as 2 Samuel tells us, YHWH also had an occasion against Israel. ‘Therefore, He smote Israel’ may be a pre-description of the smiting that was to come as a kind of preparation.
When David woke up to what he had done he repented deeply. But it was too late. A lesson had to be learned. So, YHWH offered him a choice between three years of famine, three months of intrusive invasion or three days of pestilence. David was learning again that forgiven sin had its consequences (in the same way as with his sin with Bathsheba)
8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
Something clearly sparked off David’s repentance, and the most obvious thing was that YHWH had in some way smitten Israel. This then apparently brought David to his senses and made him recognize how presumptuous he had been. Alternately it may have been the awakening of his conscience which made him realize his folly. He was appalled to think of what he had done, and he cried for YHWH to forgive him and put his sin away, acknowledging how foolishly he had behaved. The threatened punishments made it immediately apparent that God forgave him, but nevertheless showed that God considered that he had to be taught a lesson. All three punishments would spoil the census figures, but even more, they would bring home to David his guilt as he recognized how he had failed his people.
9 Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.”
YHWH now approached David through the prophet Gad rather than directly, an indication of His displeasure with David. With many kings the sufferings of their people might have been shrugged off. But God knew the heart of David. Thus, He offers him three choices which will directly affect his people.
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
In a sense all three judgments would be ‘invasions.’ In the first water would dry up and insects would invade the land affecting the harvests. A three-year famine was devastating, especially affecting the poor. At the end of the third year all the spare corn would have been eaten by a starving people and there would be little to sow in the next year. It could have devastating consequences. In the second the invasion by an army would result in the sword of men slaying some of David’s people, and who knew where it would stop? In the third they would face the sword of YHWH, that is pestilence and plague. As at the Exodus the angel of YHWH would be destroying men in judgment, but this time Israel would not escape. The whole of Israel would be affected. All the choices were very hard.
So, David had to make a choice as to which of these judgments he preferred. It was a dreadful choice. Had we not learned from 2 Samuel that God had reasons for punishing Israel it would have seemed very unfair. But when a king fails it necessarily affects the behavior of the people. Thus, they too had grown slack towards God. However, all the blame is on David. In both good things and bad things David is central.
13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David speaks of his great constraint. He is torn apart because he loves his people. Famine and the sword of man would be uncontrolled. But with all its problems the sword of YHWH would be in the hands of YHWH. It would do what was necessary and no more. And, indeed, who knew? Perhaps God would be merciful. Better to be directly in His hands than in the hands of men.
14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
So YHWH responded to David’s request and sent a pestilence on Israel. And therefore, seventy thousand men died.
Pestilence would tend to spread through families, as they cared for each other. Seventy out of the total census number was lenient. Jerusalem was approached last and through the mercy of God escaped infection.
The vivid picture of the angel of YHWH with sword drawn is a vivid one and indicates YHWH’s personal involvement in the threatened plague. Satan was being opposed by the Angel of YHWH. The angel is seen as advancing on Jerusalem in judgment, drawn sword in hand, until YHWH in mercy and compassion, calls a halt at the threshing-floor of Ornan (2 Samuel). Meanwhile David and the elders of Israel are pleading before Him for mercy, clothed in sackcloth.
15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
The advancing pestilence, as it moves towards Jerusalem, is depicted in terms of the angel of YHWH with sword drawn.
David was proved right about it being better to be in the hands of YHWH than in the hands of men, for as the pestilence advanced on Jerusalem, with its crowded streets, YHWH called a halt. He ‘repented’ of the evil. The cessation of the judgment, now made clear in the eyes of David, had always been intended to halt here. God apparently ‘changed His mind’ because there was a limit on how far He wanted to execute judgment, and because of circumstances like David’s repentance and prayers. These altered the situation and enabled Him to act in mercy. For ‘God Is not a man that He should --- repent’ (Numbers 23.19), but He could change His mind when circumstances changed. And at the time of the cessation of the pestilence the angel of YHWH was visibly seen at the threshing-floor of Ornan, a Jebusite. This threshing-floor was to have deep significance into the future, for it would become the site of the Temple. We learn later that it was on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3.1).
A threshing-floor was an area of ground in an exposed place which had been levelled for the purpose of threshing the grain, often on a hillside. The grain would be separated from the husks by such means as treading oxen, often pulling a threshing instrument, or winnowing forks, with the grain often being tossed into the air so that the prevailing wind could complete the task of separating the grain from the chaff. It is a regular picture of judgment (Jeremiah 51.33). The hint is given here that that is what YHWH is doing to His people, separating the wheat from the chaff in their hearts.
16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
The visionary nature of the incident now comes out in that David sees the angel of YHWH as ‘standing between earth and heaven’, with his drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem, in other words, with the fate of Jerusalem is in his hands. Judgment is apparently about to fall.
There is no suggestion that at this time David was by the threshing-floor (why should he have been?). He was in Jerusalem praying, and seeing the angel from a different viewpoint. It would only be later that he went to the threshing-floor at the command of YHWH (verse 18).
Seeing this dreadful apparition David and the elders fall on their faces, clothed in sackcloth. They were probably in the palace and in mourning over the huge number of Israelites dying in the plague. Wearing sackcloth was a sign of mourning.
17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O LORD my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
David is not currently repenting. He had already done that. Now he is praying that the effects which his sin had produced might be limited, for he is aware of the awful consequences of his sin. He points out to God that he is the one who is to blame for what has happened. It was he who had sinned and done wickedly. As for the people they were innocent like sheep. They had simply followed him. And so, he prays that the consequences for his sin might fall on him and his house, rather than on the people. It is a warning to us of the consequences of our sin on others. We might repent, but other continue to suffer for our sins.
God, however, saw things differently. He was aware that the whole of Israel was sinning in one way or another. Thus, He was not punishing the innocent for the guilty. In His eyes all were guilty (2 Samuel 24.1).
However, David’s prayer appears to have been effective, for at the threshing-floor of Ornan Jerusalem is spared. YHWH will cease to thresh His people at this time. But for this to happen there must be atonement. God cannot overlook sin.
God now therefore commands David to go and rear up an altar to YHWH at the threshing-floor of Ornan, in accordance with Exodus 20.24 (where an altar can be raised at a place where there is a theophany). There he must offer up offerings and sacrifices. And when he has done so the avenging sword is sheathed.
It is clear from what is said that the angel of YHWH is simply YHWH Himself in a physical manifestation, communicating with Himself interpersonally, for it is not YHWH, but the angel of YHWH, Who comes to Gad the prophet to inform him of what he must do, and yet when Gad speaks it is in the Name of YHWH. Thus, when YHWH gives commands to the angel of YHWH we have another indication of inter-personality within YHWH. He communicates with Himself.
18 Therefore, the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
The idea of ‘the angel of YHWH’ speaking through a prophet of YHWH is unique to this passage. Here the angel of YHWH (in other words YHWH Himself), commands Gad to instruct David as to what he must do. He must go and rear an altar to YHWH on the threshing-floor of Ornan, clearly with the purpose of making offerings on it. YHWH would show mercy but there must be atonement for their sins.
19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD.
Responding to YHWH’s command given through Gad David did what God had instructed him to do. He went up to the threshing-floor of Ornan.
20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat.
Meanwhile Ornan the Jebusite is experiencing something outside all his past experience. Engaged in threshing the wheat he turned around and saw the awe-inspiring figure of the angel of YHWH, as did his four sons, for they also apparently saw Him. And his four sons were so filled with apprehension that they hid themselves.
21 So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor and bowed before David with his face to the ground.
Then Ornan had another surprise, on a day of surprises. He saw the king of Israel himself approaching his threshing-floor, no doubt accompanied by his close assistants. These would include priests among them as sacrifices were in mind. Overwhelmed he left his threshing-floor and went to meet him, bowing deeply to him.
22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the LORD. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
David now began the bargaining process for the purchase of the threshing-floor. He called on Ornan to let him have ownership of the threshing-floor so that he could erect on it a permanent altar to YHWH. He called on him to state the full price and commented that it was necessary in order that the plague might be stayed from the people. This last would act as a spur to Ornan to be willing to sell his family land, which he would otherwise be resistant to do. He could have refused even the king (compare 1 Kings 21.1-3). In Israel ownership of land was sacred. It was having been given to its owners by God.
23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.”
Ornan sees the opportunity to indulge in some hard bargaining. His reply must not be taken at face value. We can compare here Genesis 23 where Abraham bought land for a sepulcher for Sarah, after being offered it as a gift, which follows the same pattern. It would not have been courteous in accordance with oriental practice for Ornan to name a price immediately. No man of standing would do such a thing. It would have been vulgar. So, following the usual standard oriental practice he offered both the land, and the animals for the offerings, for free. But no one would have been more surprised, or offended, than Ornan if the king had accepted. Both knew that he was, in fact, engaging in hard bargaining in the nicest possible way, for he was trying to bring the sale of the animals and the meal, and of his threshing instruments, into the deal. That would raise the price considerably. He was offering a take it or leave it package.
24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.”
Just as Ornan, and everyone there, expected he would, David refused the polite gesture and offered the full price, which was finally agreed for the threshing-floor and the oxen (2 Samuel 24.24), a reasonable price. As David said, it would not be right to offer something to YHWH that had cost him nothing.
25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.
So, six hundred shekels of gold was the amount that David finally paid (a shekel was not a coin but a weight of gold) for the land on which the Temple was going to be built. It was a huge sum. But David would see it as honoring YHWH, and he was not short of gold.
26 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
Having purchased the site David then erected on it an altar to YHWH, no doubt fully in accord with the description in Exodus 20.24-26 which described the kind of altars to be built in any place where He ‘recorded His Name’. There could be no doubt that He had ‘recorded His Name’ here. It is doubtful if David erected it himself. He would no doubt have called on the priests who were with him for the purpose. But he could be said to have built it because it was at his instigation.
So, David, through his priests, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar and ‘called on YHWH’. It was effective. And YHWH answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering, as He had when Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests, (Leviticus 10.24), and as he would later for Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18.18).
27 So the LORD commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
Meanwhile, all this while the angel of YHWH had been hovered with His sword outstretched over Jerusalem (verse 16), but now came the command from YHWH to sheathe the sword, and the angel of YHWH did as He was bid. The threat was officially at an end to the great relief of those present.
28 At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.
And when David saw that the threat was over, and that YHWH had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan, he offered more offerings and sacrifices.
29 For the tabernacle of the LORD and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in Gibeon.
What David did was unusual for it was at the bronze altar at the Tabernacle at Gibeon that continual offerings should be made. Why then did he not go there to continue his offerings? Had he done so the priests would have been fully in accord with him.
30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
The visible ‘angel of the Lord’ must have been an awesome experience for David because he would not venture anywhere outside his home base in fear that he would come face to face with the angel. It was very scary indeed.
