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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Chronicles, Chapter XXI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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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.
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3. He hears of 70,000 of his subjects who in a few hours were struck
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dead by the pestilence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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He was proud of the multitude of his people, but divine Justice took a
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course to make them fewer. Justly is that taken from us, weakened, or
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embittered to us, which we are proud of. David must have the people
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numbered: <I>Bring me the number of them,</I> says he, <I>that I may
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know it.</I> But now God numbers them after another manner, <I>numbers
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to the sword,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:12">Isa. lxv. 12</A>.
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And David had another number of them brought, more to his confusion
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than was to his satisfaction, namely, the number of the slain--a black
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bill of mortality, which is a drawback to his muster-roll.
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4. He sees the destroying angel, with his sword drawn against
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Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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This could not but be very terrible to him, as it was a visible
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indication of the anger of Heaven, and threatened the utter destruction
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of that beloved city. Pestilences make the greatest devastations in the
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most populous places. The sight of an angel, though coming peaceably
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and on a friendly errand, has made even mighty men to tremble; how
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dreadful then must this sight be of an angel with a drawn sword in his
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hand, a flaming sword, like that of the cherubim, which turned every
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way to keep the way of the tree of life! While we lie under the wrath
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of God the holy angels are armed against us, though we see them not as
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David did.</P>
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<P>
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II. How he bore the correction.
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1. He made a very penitent confession of his sin, and prayed earnestly
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for the pardon of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Now he owned that he had sinned, had sinned greatly, had done
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foolishly, very foolishly; and he entreated that, however he might be
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corrected for it, the iniquity of it might be done away.
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2. He accepted the punishment of his iniquity: "Let thy hand be <I>on
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me, and on my father's house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
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I submit to the rod, only let me be the sufferer, for I am the sinner;
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mine is the guilty head at which the sword should be pointed."
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3. He cast himself upon the mercy of God (though he knew he was angry
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with him) and did not entertain any hard thoughts of him. However it
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be, <I>Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are
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great,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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Good men, even when God frowns upon them, think well of him. <I>Though
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he slay me, yet will I trust in him.</I>
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4. He expressed a very tender concern for the people, and it went to
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his heart to see them plagued for his transgression: <I>These sheep,
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what have they done?</I></P>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch21_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ornan's Threshing-Floor.</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>18 Then the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded Gad to say to David,
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that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in the
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threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in
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the name of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons
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with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
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21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and
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went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with
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<I>his</I> face to the ground.
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22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of <I>this</I>
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threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be
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|
stayed from the people.
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23 And Ornan said unto David, Take <I>it</I> to thee, and let my
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lord the king do <I>that which is</I> good in his eyes: lo, I give
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<I>thee</I> the oxen <I>also</I> for burnt offerings, and the threshing
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|
instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give
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it all.
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24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it
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|
for the full price: for I will not take <I>that</I> which <I>is</I> thine
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for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
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25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of
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|
gold by weight.
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26 And David built there an altar unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and offered
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burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
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and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt
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offering.
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27 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded the angel; and he put up his sword
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again into the sheath thereof.
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28 At that time when David saw that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had answered him
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in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed
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there.
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29 For the tabernacle of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which Moses made in the
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|
wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, <I>were</I> at that
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|
season in the high place at Gibeon.
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30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he
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|
was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the controversy concluded, and, upon David's repentance,
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|
his peace made with God. <I>Though thou wast angry with me, thy anger
|
|
is turned away.</I>
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|
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|
1. A stop was put to the progress of the execution,
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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|
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|
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>
|
|
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|
<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>
|
|
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