This chapter starts with a tremendous conundrum as God incites David to count the fighting men of Israel and Judah and then ends up punishing them for exactly this which resulted in the death of 70,000 people!
Anyway, the count took 9 months and 20 days to complete the census of fighting men which showed that there were 800,000 able-bodied men in Israel that could handle a sword, and there were 500,000 in Judah. David recognized his sin in having conducted the census and asked forgiveness. Then God gave 3 options of punishment to David for having carried out the census and David opted for the 3 days of plague which killed 70,000 people.
So David purchased a threshing floor and there he built an altar for the Lord where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. Hence God answered prayer and the plague on Israel was stopped.
No comments:
Post a Comment