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563 lines
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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Chronicles, Chapter XXI].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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"Prophecy, Rapture,hope,bible map,bible maps, God, tribulation,Second Coming,Christ,large print bible,commentary,complete">
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<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC13020.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC13022.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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As this rehearsal makes no mention of David's sin in the matter of
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Uriah, so neither of the troubles of his family that followed upon it;
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not a word of Absalom's rebellion, or Sheba's. But David's sin, in
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numbering the people, is here related, because, in the atonement made
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for that sin, an intimation was given of the spot of ground on which
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the temple should be built. Here is,
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I. David's sin, in forcing Joab to number the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. David's sorrow for what he had done, as soon as he perceived the
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sinfulness of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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III. The sad dilemma (or trilemma rather) he was brought to, when it
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was put to him to choose how he would be punished for this sin, and
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what rod he would be beaten with,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>.
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IV. The woeful havoc which was made by the pestilence in the country,
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and the narrow escape which Jerusalem had from being laid waste by it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:14-17">ver. 14-17</A>.
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V. David's repentance, and sacrifice, upon this occasion, and the
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staying of the plaque thereupon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:18-30">ver. 18-30</A>.
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This awful story we met with, and meditated upon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:1-25">2 Sam. xxiv.</A></P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Giants Subdued.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1017.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to
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number Israel.
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2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go,
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number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of
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them to me, that I may know <I>it.</I>
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3 And Joab answered, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> make his people a hundred times
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so many more as they <I>be:</I> but, my lord the king, <I>are</I> they not
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all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing?
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why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
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4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab.
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Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came
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to Jerusalem.
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5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David.
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And all <I>they of</I> Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred
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thousand men that drew sword: and Judah <I>was</I> four hundred
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threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
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6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the
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king's word was abominable to Joab.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Numbering the people, one would think, was no bad thing. Why should not
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the shepherd know the number of his flock? But God sees not as man
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sees. It is plain it was wrong in David to do it, and a great
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provocation to God, because he did it in the pride of his heart; and
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there is no sin that has in it more of contradiction and therefore more
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of offence to God than pride. The sin was David's; he alone must bear
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the blame of it. But here we are told,</P>
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<P>
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I. How active the tempter was in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David</I> to do it. Is
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is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:1">2 Sam. xxiv. 1</A>)
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that <I>the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved
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David</I> to do it. The righteous judgments of God are to be observed
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and acknowledged even in the sins and unrighteousness of men. We are
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sure that God is not the author of sin--he <I>tempts no man;</I> and
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therefore, when it is said that he moved David to do it, it must be
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explained by what is intimated here, that, for wise and holy ends, he
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permitted the devil to do it. Here we trace this foul stream to its
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foundation. That Satan, the enemy of God and all good, should <I>stand
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up against Israel,</I> is not strange; it is what he aims at, to weaken
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the strength, diminish the numbers, and eclipse the glory of God's
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Israel, to whom he is <I>Satan,</I> a sworn <I>adversary.</I> But that
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he should influence David, the man of God's own heart to do a wrong
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thing, may well be wondered at. One would think him one of those whom
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the wicked one touches not. No, even the best saints, till they come to
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heaven, must never think themselves out of the reach of Satan's
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temptations. Now, when Satan meant to do Israel a mischief, what course
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did he take? He did not <I>move God against them to destroy them</I>
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(as Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+2:3"><I>ch.</I> ii. 3</A>),
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but he provoked David, the best friend they had, to number them, and so
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to offend God, and set him against them. Note,
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1. The devil does us more mischief by tempting us to sin against our
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God than he does by accusing us before our God. He destroys none but by
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their own hands,
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2. The greatest spite he can do to the church of God is to tempt the
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rulers of the church to pride; for none can conceive the fatal
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consequences of that sin in all, especially in church-rulers. <I>You
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shall not be so,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:26">Luke xxii. 26</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. How passive the instrument was. Joab, the person whom David
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employed, was an active man in public business; but to this he was
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perfectly forced, and did it with the greatest reluctance
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imaginable.</P>
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<P>
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1. He put in a remonstrance against it before he began it. No man more
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forward that he in any thing that really tended to the honour of the
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king or the welfare of the kingdom; but in this matter he would gladly
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be excused. For,
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(1.) It was a needless thing. There was not occasion at all for it. God
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had promised to multiply them, and he needed not question the
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accomplishment of that promise. They were all his servants, and he
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needed not doubt of their loyalty and affection to him. Their number
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was as much his strength as he could desire.
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(2.) It was a dangerous thing. In doing it he might be a cause of
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trespass to Israel, and might provoke God against them. This Joab
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apprehended, and yet David himself did not. The most learned in the
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laws of God are not always the most quick-sighted in the application of
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those laws.</P>
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<P>
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2. He was quite weary of it before he had done it; for <I>the king's
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word was abominable to Joab,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Time was when whatever king David did <I>pleased all the people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+3:36">2 Sam. iii. 36</A>.
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But now there was a general disgust at these orders, which confirmed
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Joab in his dislike of them, so that, though the produce of this muster
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was really very great, yet he had no heart to perfect it, but left two
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tribes unnumbered
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>),
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two considerable ones, Levi and Benjamin, and perhaps was not very
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exact in numbering the rest, because he did not do it with any
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pleasure, which might be one occasion of the difference between the
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sums here and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:9">2 Sam. xxiv. 9</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David's Numbering the People.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1017.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote
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Israel.
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8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I
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have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the
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iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
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9 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
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10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, I offer thee
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three <I>things:</I> choose thee one of them, that I may do <I>it</I> unto
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thee.
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11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Choose thee
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12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed
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before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh
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<I>thee;</I> or else three days the sword of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, even the
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pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> destroying
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throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself
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what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
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13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall
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now into the hand of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; for very great <I>are</I> his mercies:
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but let me not fall into the hand of man.
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14 So the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of
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Israel seventy thousand men.
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15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as
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he was destroying, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> beheld, and he repented him of the
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evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay
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now thine hand. And the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> stood by the
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threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in
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his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders
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<I>of Israel, who were</I> clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their
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faces.
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17 And David said unto God, <I>Is it</I> not I <I>that</I> commanded the
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people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done
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evil indeed; but <I>as for</I> these sheep, what have they done? let
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thine hand, I pray thee, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> my God, be on me, and on my
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father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be
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plagued.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David is here under the rod for numbering the people, that rod of
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correction which drives out the foolishness that is bound up in the
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heart, the foolishness of pride. Let us briefly observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. How he was corrected. If God's dearest children do amiss, they must
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expect to smart for it.
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1. He is given to understand that God is displeased; and that it is no
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small uneasiness to so good a man as David,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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God takes notice of, and is displeased with, the sins of his people;
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and no sin is more displeasing to him than pride of heart: nor is
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anything more humbling, and grieving, and mortifying to a gracious
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soul, than to see itself under God's displeasure.
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2. He is put to his choice whether he will be punished by war, famine,
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or pestilence; for punished he must be, and by one of these. Thus, for
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his further humiliation, he is put into a strait, a great strait, and
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has the terror of all the three judgments impressed upon his mind, no
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doubt to his great amazement, while he is considering which he shall
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choose.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
3. He hears of 70,000 of his subjects who in a few hours were struck
|
||
|
|
dead by the pestilence,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
He was proud of the multitude of his people, but divine Justice took a
|
||
|
|
course to make them fewer. Justly is that taken from us, weakened, or
|
||
|
|
embittered to us, which we are proud of. David must have the people
|
||
|
|
numbered: <I>Bring me the number of them,</I> says he, <I>that I may
|
||
|
|
know it.</I> But now God numbers them after another manner, <I>numbers
|
||
|
|
to the sword,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:12">Isa. lxv. 12</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And David had another number of them brought, more to his confusion
|
||
|
|
than was to his satisfaction, namely, the number of the slain--a black
|
||
|
|
bill of mortality, which is a drawback to his muster-roll.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
4. He sees the destroying angel, with his sword drawn against
|
||
|
|
Jerusalem,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
This could not but be very terrible to him, as it was a visible
|
||
|
|
indication of the anger of Heaven, and threatened the utter destruction
|
||
|
|
of that beloved city. Pestilences make the greatest devastations in the
|
||
|
|
most populous places. The sight of an angel, though coming peaceably
|
||
|
|
and on a friendly errand, has made even mighty men to tremble; how
|
||
|
|
dreadful then must this sight be of an angel with a drawn sword in his
|
||
|
|
hand, a flaming sword, like that of the cherubim, which turned every
|
||
|
|
way to keep the way of the tree of life! While we lie under the wrath
|
||
|
|
of God the holy angels are armed against us, though we see them not as
|
||
|
|
David did.</P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
II. How he bore the correction.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. He made a very penitent confession of his sin, and prayed earnestly
|
||
|
|
for the pardon of it,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Now he owned that he had sinned, had sinned greatly, had done
|
||
|
|
foolishly, very foolishly; and he entreated that, however he might be
|
||
|
|
corrected for it, the iniquity of it might be done away.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
2. He accepted the punishment of his iniquity: "Let thy hand be <I>on
|
||
|
|
me, and on my father's house,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I submit to the rod, only let me be the sufferer, for I am the sinner;
|
||
|
|
mine is the guilty head at which the sword should be pointed."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
3. He cast himself upon the mercy of God (though he knew he was angry
|
||
|
|
with him) and did not entertain any hard thoughts of him. However it
|
||
|
|
be, <I>Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are
|
||
|
|
great,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Good men, even when God frowns upon them, think well of him. <I>Though
|
||
|
|
he slay me, yet will I trust in him.</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
4. He expressed a very tender concern for the people, and it went to
|
||
|
|
his heart to see them plagued for his transgression: <I>These sheep,
|
||
|
|
what have they done?</I></P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_18"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_19"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_20"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_21"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_22"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_23"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_24"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_25"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_26"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_27"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_28"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_29"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="1Ch21_30"> </A>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
||
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ornan's Threshing-Floor.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1017.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Then the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded Gad to say to David,
|
||
|
|
that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in the
|
||
|
|
threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
|
||
|
|
19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in
|
||
|
|
the name of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
||
|
|
20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons
|
||
|
|
with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
|
||
|
|
21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and
|
||
|
|
went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with
|
||
|
|
<I>his</I> face to the ground.
|
||
|
|
22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of <I>this</I>
|
||
|
|
threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
|
||
|
|
thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be
|
||
|
|
stayed from the people.
|
||
|
|
23 And Ornan said unto David, Take <I>it</I> to thee, and let my
|
||
|
|
lord the king do <I>that which is</I> good in his eyes: lo, I give
|
||
|
|
<I>thee</I> the oxen <I>also</I> for burnt offerings, and the threshing
|
||
|
|
instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give
|
||
|
|
it all.
|
||
|
|
24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it
|
||
|
|
for the full price: for I will not take <I>that</I> which <I>is</I> thine
|
||
|
|
for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
|
||
|
|
25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of
|
||
|
|
gold by weight.
|
||
|
|
26 And David built there an altar unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and offered
|
||
|
|
burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
|
||
|
|
and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt
|
||
|
|
offering.
|
||
|
|
27 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded the angel; and he put up his sword
|
||
|
|
again into the sheath thereof.
|
||
|
|
28 At that time when David saw that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had answered him
|
||
|
|
in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed
|
||
|
|
there.
|
||
|
|
29 For the tabernacle of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which Moses made in the
|
||
|
|
wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, <I>were</I> at that
|
||
|
|
season in the high place at Gibeon.
|
||
|
|
30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he
|
||
|
|
was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
||
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
We have here the controversy concluded, and, upon David's repentance,
|
||
|
|
his peace made with God. <I>Though thou wast angry with me, thy anger
|
||
|
|
is turned away.</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. A stop was put to the progress of the execution,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
When David repented of the sin God repented of the judgment, and
|
||
|
|
ordered the destroying angel to <I>stay his hand</I> and <I>sheath his
|
||
|
|
sword,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
2. Direction was given to David to rear an altar in the threshing-floor
|
||
|
|
of Ornan,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The angel commanded the prophet Gad to bring David this direction. The
|
||
|
|
same angel that had, in God's name, carried on the war, is here forward
|
||
|
|
to set on foot the treaty of peace; for angels do not desire the woeful
|
||
|
|
day. The angel could have given this order to David himself; but he
|
||
|
|
chose to do it by his seer, that he might put an honour upon the
|
||
|
|
prophetic office. Thus the revelation of Jesus Christ was notified by
|
||
|
|
the angel to John, and by him to the churches. The commanding of David
|
||
|
|
to build an altar was a blessed token of reconciliation; for, if God
|
||
|
|
had been pleased to kill him, he would not have appointed, because he
|
||
|
|
would not have accepted, a sacrifice at his hands.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
3. David immediately made a bargain with Ornan for the threshing-floor;
|
||
|
|
for he would not serve God at other people's charge. Ornan generously
|
||
|
|
offered it to him gratis, not only in complaisance to the king, but
|
||
|
|
because he had himself <I>seen the angel</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
which so terrified him that he and his four sons hid themselves, as
|
||
|
|
unable to bear the brightness of his glory and afraid of his drawn
|
||
|
|
sword. Under these apprehensions he was willing to do anything towards
|
||
|
|
making the atonement. Those that are duly sensible of the terrors of
|
||
|
|
the Lord will do all they can, in their places, to promote religion,
|
||
|
|
and encourage all the methods of reconciliation for the turning away of
|
||
|
|
God's wrath.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
4. God testified his acceptance of David's offerings on this altar; He
|
||
|
|
<I>answered him from heaven by fire,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
To signify that God's anger was turned away from him, the fire that
|
||
|
|
might justly have fastened upon the sinner fastened upon the sacrifice
|
||
|
|
and consumed that; and, upon this, the destroying sword was returned
|
||
|
|
into its sheath. Thus Christ was made sin and a curse for us, and it
|
||
|
|
pleased the Lord to bruise him, that through him God might be to us,
|
||
|
|
not a consuming fire, but a reconciled Father.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
5. He continued to offer his sacrifices upon this altar. The brazen
|
||
|
|
altar which Moses made was at Gibeon
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
and there all the sacrifices of Israel were offered; but David was so
|
||
|
|
terrified at the sight of the sword of the angel that he <I>could not
|
||
|
|
go thither,</I>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The business required haste, when the plague was begun. Aaron must go
|
||
|
|
quickly, nay, he must <I>run,</I> to make atonement,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:46,47">Num. xvi. 46, 47</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And the case here was no less urgent; so that David had not time to go
|
||
|
|
to Gibeon: nor durst he leave the angel with his sword drawn over
|
||
|
|
Jerusalem, lest the fatal stroke should be given before he came back.
|
||
|
|
And therefore God, in tenderness to him, bade him build an altar in
|
||
|
|
that place, dispensing with his own law concerning one altar because of
|
||
|
|
the present distress, and accepting the sacrifices offered on this new
|
||
|
|
altar, which was not set up in opposition to that, but in concurrence
|
||
|
|
with it. The symbols of unity were not so much insisted on as unity
|
||
|
|
itself. Nay, when the present distress was over (as it should seem),
|
||
|
|
David, as long as he lived, sacrificed there, though the altar at
|
||
|
|
Gibeon was still kept up; for God had owned the sacrifices that were
|
||
|
|
here offered and had testified his acceptance of them,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
On those administrations in which we have experienced the tokens of
|
||
|
|
God's presence, and have found that he is with us of a truth, it is
|
||
|
|
good to continue our attendance. "Here God had graciously met me, and
|
||
|
|
therefore I will still expect to meet with him."</P>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
|
||
|
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|
||
|
|
<HR>
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|
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|
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
||
|
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
||
|
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[<A HREF="MHC13020.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
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|
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[<A HREF="MHC13022.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
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|
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
||
|
|
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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||
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</TABLE>
|
||
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