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| 1 And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them saying, Go, number Israel and Judah. |
He moved David – Satan provoked David to number Israel, contrary to the command of the Lord. R5106:4; Q281:4
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| 2 And the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go, I pray thee, through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people. |
The king said – As the Lord's representative, he was acting without instructions and due authority. Q832:2
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| 3 And Joab said to the king, May Jehovah thy God even add to the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing? |
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| 4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel. |
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| 5 And they passed over the Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jaazer. |
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| 6 And they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and came to Dan-jaan, and to the environs of Sidon; |
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| 7 and they came to the fortified city of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites; and went out to the south of Judah, to Beer-sheba. |
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| 8 And they went through all the land, and came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. |
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| 9 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king; and there were of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. |
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| 10 And David's heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; and now, I beseech thee, Jehovah, put away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. |
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| 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of Jehovah came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, |
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| 12 Go and say to David, Thus saith Jehovah: I impose on thee three things; choose one of them that I may do it unto thee. |
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| 13 And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine adversaries while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now be aware and consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. |
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| 14 And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are great; but let me not fall into the hand of man. |
I am in a great strait – Realizing his own weakness; David, in humility, declined to make a choice. R5106:4; Q281:4
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| 15 And Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the set time; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. |
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| 16 And the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it; but Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed among the people, It is enough: withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. |
The angel stretched – The word "angel" here does not necessarily refer to a member of the angelic order, but signifies "messenger" or agency which God used; in this case, a pestilence. R2382:2
The LORD repented – Before the Lord's punishment reached David he had received the Lord's forgiveness. R5106:4; Q281:4
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| 17 And David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote among the people, and said, Behold, it is I that have sinned, and it is I that have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be on me, and on my father's house! |
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| 18 And Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. |
Rear an altar – A remarkable spot. It was here that Abraham offered Isaac and Solomon built the Temple. (2 Chron 3:1) R2510:6, R1395:6
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| 19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as Jehovah had commanded. |
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| 20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on towards him; and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. |
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| 21 And Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar to Jehovah, that the plague may be stayed from the people. |
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| 22 And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up that which is good in his sight: see, here are oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges and implements of the oxen for wood. |
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| 23 All these things, O king, doth Araunah give to the king. And Araunah said to the king, Jehovah thy God accept thee. |
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| 24 And the king said to Araunah, No; but I will in any case buy them of thee at a price: neither will I offer up to Jehovah my God burnt-offerings without cost. And David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. |
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| 25 And David built there an altar to Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. And Jehovah was propitious to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. |
The LORD was intreated – Only proper for Israel, because of God's special covenant with that nation. R2029:2
Offered burnt offerings – Recognizing God's chastisement, he prayed for divine mercy. R2029:2
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