1 Chronicles 21
We now come to 1 Chron. 21, so important with regard to the ways of grace toward Israel. As we have done on other occasions, let us try to note the very instructive differences between this chapter and 2 Samuel 24. There is much to be gained by minutely comparing the one with the other.
Let us first of all note that here the thought of numbering the people is the result of Satan's direct action against Israel, and not as in 2 Samuel, the result of the Lord's wrath. To this end, Satan inclines David's heart to sin so that he might bring God's counsels toward His people to naught. But God uses the very schemes of the enemy to accomplish His own purposes, in introducing David and Israel into His presence on a new footing, that of grace, substituted for the ordinances of the law. In 2 Sam. 24 we find another thought: David's heart is put to the test when the Lord was angry against Israel and judgment was ready to fall on the people. If David, who represented the people, had not allowed himself to be seduced, this judgment could have been avoided.
But it is marvelous to see here that had he resisted, the counsels of grace made manifest in Christ and His work could not have been proclaimed. We can therefore say that David's failure was necessary because through it God substituted the rule of grace, with the throne and the altar at Zion for its center, for the rule of law and responsibility, with the tabernacle for its center.
Not that this numbering was not most sinful, for by it David had sought his own glory instead of the Lord's glory. He had desired to know his own resources instead of relying upon those of God—the God who had raised up David, had taken him from the pastures, from the flocks, had made him prince over Israel, and had given him a name like the name of the great ones on earth! What more did David want? Alas! under Satan's instigation he wanted to make a name for himself and see what resources he could count on while excluding the Lord. If he had succeeded, he would have glorified himself and become independent of God. This is what made this fault so serious and so foolish for a believer like David. When he came to himself (1 Chron. 21:8) he confessed this sin which was nothing other than independence and human self-will.
Joab seeks to dissuade David from this decision: "Are they not all, my lord O king, my lord's servants? why does my lord require this thing? why should he become a trespass to Israel?" (1 Chron. 21:3). The role of this man, energetic and valiant but without scruples once an obstacle blocks his path, and above all cunning to claim and maintain the first place—this role, so condemnable in the books of Samuel and Kings, has disappeared in Chronicles. In 1 Chron. 11:5-6 Joab had been the instrument chosen by God to capture "Zion," the city of David; through this exploit he had become chief and captain. Here we find him again, taking sides for God against David: "The king's word was abominable to Joab" (1 Chron. 21:6). Joab is therefore on the one hand the instrument for accomplishing God's purposes toward Jerusalem, and on the other hand the instrument to warn his master not to fall into sin lest he become "a trespass to Israel." In Chronicles his entire role is reduced to these two episodes together with yet a third in 1 Chron. 26:28. He does not succeed, but his warnings make the king's failure even more serious and leave him without excuse. "But the king's word prevailed against Joab." However, the latter does not fully complete his mission, for he did not number either Levi or Benjamin.
The difference between the figures of the census and those of 2 Sam. 24 seems to come from the fact that the latter does not count the standing army of 1 Chron. 28 to which must be added also the captains of hundreds and the captains of thousands. Indeed, it was not the regular army that David wanted to number, for he knew its sum perfectly well, but he wanted to know in what measure Israel could be the force which he, David, would be able to use on occasion.
Let us now return to the truth already stated, that in order to manifest God's counsels toward the kingship it was indispensable that our book record David's failure. This failure brings out grace, but at the same time it shows the necessity of judgment, for it is only as righteousness and grace are in accord that the reign of peace can be ushered in.
Let us remember that at that time the Tabernacle, as a system established by God, had really come to an end. The ark, the symbol of God's presence in the midst of His people, had been carried into captivity, abandoned, and then brought back by God Himself to the fields of Jaar in view of the establishment of a new order of things. Lastly, it had been brought to Mount Zion by the kingship according to God, there to await the peaceful reign of Solomon who would build a house for the Lord. But, during this intermediate period the brazen altar, the tent, and the vessels of service were at Gibeon, no longer associated with the ark. One could approach the ark at Zion, but without the sacrifice which was the only way into the sanctuary; one could approach the altar at Gibeon, but this would only give access to the holy place which was completely empty. The relationship between the altar and the ark seemed to be lost forever through the unfaithfulness of the priesthood. This truth that the altar—expiation—was the means necessary to gain access to God's throne, and that without it, it was impossible for the Lord to dwell in grace in the midst of His people, had to be established anew completely. The ark was in Zion; it was asserting its place on the mountain of grace, but could it be enthroned there unless the question of sin were definitely settled?
At this time God used the king's sin, the sin of a single man but one representing the people before Him, to show the resources of His grace in dealing with sin upon the altar, the witness of expiation.
Chronicles highlights this great event. God's counsels can be fulfilled only at Moriah (2 Chron. 3:1). As far as the promises of God were concerned, that had already been revealed in figure to Abraham at this same place when Isaac was sacrificed. Without the Father's "one beloved Son" (Mark 12:6), no sacrifice for sin could be provided. Hence the name of this place: "On the mount of Jehovah will be provided" (Gen. 22:14). In type, grace had found a way of displaying itself in its fullness at the altar on Mount Moriah, where Isaac, the father's son, had been offered; and not at the brazen altar which belonged to the order of Sinai and which could never take away sins. At Moriah grace met righteousness, and there God found the means (He alone could do so) to make these two apparently irreconcilable attributes of His Being kiss each other. Thus triumphant grace reigns through righteousness; thus God's counsels are fulfilled!
The failure has scarcely been committed when we find how God judges it and also—according to the warning Joab had given—its consequences for all the people. Over against this judgment the king confesses the evil, and not, as in 2 Sam. 24, when only his conscience accused him. In both cases, he asks God to put away his iniquity; but how could God do so? Must not judgment run its course? David is called upon to choose between three alternatives (1 Chron. 21:10-12), and this free choice brings out his entire confidence in the mercies of the Lord which are very great (cf. 2 Sam. 24:14). According to Rom. 12:1, the mercies of God are all His work of grace with regard to sins and to sin. Naturally, the extent of this work could not be revealed to David in the same way it is to us, but he sensed that he could commit himself to it alone. He did not want to fall into the hands of men, for he knew he could find no grace from that direction.
In contrast with the "us" of 2 Sam. 24:14, here in 1 Chron. 21:13 we find an important little word: "Let me fall, I pray Thee, into the hand of Jehovah." Here David offers himself as a substitute. He stands alone in the breach. Further on (1 Chron. 21:17), he takes the fault entirely upon himself: "Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered?" and he offers his life for the sheep. After that, he intercedes: "Let Thy hand, I pray thee... be... not on Thy people, that they should be smitten." David could not say to God as Christ: Why hast Thou forsaken me? but he could take the character of a mediator and truly charge himself before God with all the guilt by identifying himself with the judgment of the people.
We are running ahead a bit in order to show how David represents Christ, although very incompletely, since his own sin was the cause. Let us now return to 1 Chron. 21:14. The plague is raging in Israel: The angel comes to Jerusalem. What will become of this city, the place of royal grace? How will God reconcile His judgment with His grace? Will He destroy Jerusalem to make His righteousness prevail? Will He pardon it at the expense of His holiness? David "saw the angel of Jehovah stand between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem" (1 Chron. 21:16). The king humbles himself, repents, and mourns with the elders. Together they fall upon their faces, but David alone confesses his sin, as representative of the people. David, we say, sees the angel, but the Lord had seen the angel and had stopped him. "And as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and He repented Him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand" (1 Chron. 21:15). The first thing that God does is to suspend judgment; only after that does David, seeing the angel, humble himself. Then the angel, standing by the threshing floor of Oman, speaks to Gad the prophet. At the Lord's command, he had withdrawn his hand, but he had not yet put his sword back into its sheath; he commands David to go up to the very place where he was standing.
The Lord, we have said, had seen the angel; then David had seen him; now Oman in turn sees him (1 Chron. 21:20). At this sight he and his sons hide themselves, terror-stricken. But Oman is reassured when he sees David (1 Chron. 21:21), sent by God to erect an altar on the threshing floor of Oman. Indeed, what could be more reassuring than to see the Lord's Anointed, the one commissioned by God to accomplish expiation and put an end to judgment?
David buys the place of the threshing floor, not just the threshing floor alone as in 2 Sam. 24:21, 24. This explains the difference in the purchase price. Oman, full of good will, but ignorant, would like to be able to contribute to this work. David does not allow him to do so; he alone will offer God a sacrifice which he pays for out of what he has, but which will cost Oman nothing. David does not wish to give to God that which belongs to another, but that which is his own, just as Christ gave His own life. David acquires everything with his own resources: the place, the threshing floor, the altar, and the burnt-offerings.
Oman's threshing-sledges are not used, as he had desired, to consume the sacrifice: God consumes it with fire from heaven. That is His character in judgment, but it is at the same time, as with Elijah, the sign given by the Lord that He has fully accepted the sacrifice.
All these details reveal to us in David in a marvelous way, Christ, of whom it is said that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Indeed, David here plays this role in figure, although we must not forget that his own sin was the cause of all this scene. He is the mediator, intercessor, and priest, for he builds the altar and offers the sacrifice. The high priest is not even mentioned here, so as to leave all the place to David.
Now judgment has been consummated, the offering is accepted; now that justice has been satisfied, the angel's sword is of no further use. "Jehovah spoke to the angel; and he put up his sword again into its sheath" (1 Chron. 21:27). Peace with God has been definitely acquired on David's altar in Oman's threshing floor on the summit of Moriah; peace is acquired for Israel and for whosoever, as Oman, from among the nations has seen David and has accepted the sacrifice. Henceforth, as long as it is a question of the counsels of God in grace alone, this sword shall never again be drawn against Israel or Jerusalem.
How different is the scene when it is a matter of the responsibility of man or the people! (Deut. 28:15-44; Ezek. 5:12-17; Rev. 6:7-8). And far more yet: for men who rebel against God and who have not received the love of the truth that they may be saved, a sword, more terrible than that of the angel, will issue forth from the mouth of the Son of Man when He shall come from heaven to consume them (Rev. 19:15).
The divine answer is given man at Oman's threshing floor. Henceforth it is there that David sacrifices. "At that time when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. And the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah" (1 Chron. 21:28-30). The brazen altar at Gibeon, instead of being a place of security for David, was a terrifying place and he would go there no more. All that had been instituted under the law could not henceforth reassure his soul, for the law was a ministry of condemnation. God had revealed another place of approach to Himself, the place chosen by grace where divine judgment had been abolished, the only one that could suit David from now on.
What would now become of the altar instituted under the law? Another altar had taken its place and had been reunited to the ark, God's throne in the midst of His people. In all this scene we are surrounded by grace which does away with judgment! Zion is the mountain of grace; the altar is the altar of grace; the sacrifice, a sacrifice of pure grace; and henceforth God's throne takes on the character of a throne of grace. We are speaking of this scene as it is presented to us in the First Book of Chronicles.