1Ch 21:14 | KingComments | STEP | David, with his words to fall in the hand of the LORD, has put his choice in the hand of the LORD ( ). Then the LORD gives an outbreak of the pestilence ( ). David did want to know the number of the members of his people of war. Now he is told how many members of his people he has lost ( ). If God is for us, we do not need to count. If He is against us, we will see what we have lost. Pestilence is a disease, but God sends it through an angel. An angel with a message of peace already causes terror and trembling ( ), how much more an angel with a drawn sword, sent to judge ( ). At the height of the plague, when 70,000 men have already fallen, Jerusalem is reached ( ). When destruction begins there, God says it is enough. He is moved over that city with compassion. He “was sorry over the calamity”. When God is sorry over something, it is not because of something wrong that He has to return to – He does not do wrong things – but because He sees the outcome of certain developments and stops that development. In other words, God’s sorry has to do with the suffering and sorrow He must cause and what reveals His compassion about it. At the moment when God stops the judgment, the angel stands by a threshing floor. A threshing floor speaks of judgment, but it is a judgment in which the wrong, the chaff, is separated from the good, the wheat. At the threshing floor it is all about the good, the wheat. The place of judgment is therefore the place of blessing. We see this also here, because here will be the altar of David and later the temple of Solomon. At the place where judgment has been stopped, the altar must be placed, on which the daily burnt offerings will form a reminder of His purpose and mercies. He is going to show mercy. Only then, in the following verses, the confession of David comes. Here God’s actions stand alone. He finds reason in Himself for this action. God stops judging because He looks ahead, ultimately to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. David sees “the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven”. He stands there “with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem”. The invisible world is opened up to the human eye here (cf. ; ; ). The effect of this impressive view on David and the elders is that they fall on their faces. In this attitude David addresses the word to God, a word for the benefit of God’s people. In this he resembles the Lord Jesus, Who always makes intercession by God for His people ( ). David’s responsibility is in stark contrast to that of the Lord Jesus. He knows that he is a sinner and pleads for God’s grace, that others should not bear the consequences of his sins. Yet he is also a type of the Lord Jesus. We see this when he offers himself as a substitute for the people. He says, as it were: “Punish me, the true culprit, and release the innocent.” This is in contrast to the Lord Jesus, for He is the true innocent One Who is punished for the guilty. There is also a parallel, because the Lord Jesus becomes the guilty One, He takes the guilt on Himself and declares His people innocent.

‏ 1 Chronicles 21:14

The Sword of the LORD

David, with his words to fall in the hand of the LORD, has put his choice in the hand of the LORD (1Chr 21:13). Then the LORD gives an outbreak of the pestilence (1Chr 21:14a). David did want to know the number of the members of his people of war. Now he is told how many members of his people he has lost (1Chr 21:14b). If God is for us, we do not need to count. If He is against us, we will see what we have lost.

Pestilence is a disease, but God sends it through an angel. An angel with a message of peace already causes terror and trembling (Lk 1:12 ; Lk 2:9-10), how much more an angel with a drawn sword, sent to judge (1Chr 21:16).

At the height of the plague, when 70,000 men have already fallen, Jerusalem is reached (1Chr 21:15). When destruction begins there, God says it is enough. He is moved over that city with compassion. He “was sorry over the calamity”. When God is sorry over something, it is not because of something wrong that He has to return to – He does not do wrong things – but because He sees the outcome of certain developments and stops that development. In other words, God’s sorry has to do with the suffering and sorrow He must cause and what reveals His compassion about it.

At the moment when God stops the judgment, the angel stands by a threshing floor. A threshing floor speaks of judgment, but it is a judgment in which the wrong, the chaff, is separated from the good, the wheat. At the threshing floor it is all about the good, the wheat. The place of judgment is therefore the place of blessing. We see this also here, because here will be the altar of David and later the temple of Solomon.

At the place where judgment has been stopped, the altar must be placed, on which the daily burnt offerings will form a reminder of His purpose and mercies. He is going to show mercy. Only then, in the following verses, the confession of David comes. Here God’s actions stand alone. He finds reason in Himself for this action. God stops judging because He looks ahead, ultimately to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

David sees “the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven”. He stands there “with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem”. The invisible world is opened up to the human eye here (cf. Num 22:31; Jos 5:13; Jdg 6:11). The effect of this impressive view on David and the elders is that they fall on their faces.

In this attitude David addresses the word to God, a word for the benefit of God’s people. In this he resembles the Lord Jesus, Who always makes intercession by God for His people (Heb 7:25). David’s responsibility is in stark contrast to that of the Lord Jesus. He knows that he is a sinner and pleads for God’s grace, that others should not bear the consequences of his sins.

Yet he is also a type of the Lord Jesus. We see this when he offers himself as a substitute for the people. He says, as it were: “Punish me, the true culprit, and release the innocent.” This is in contrast to the Lord Jesus, for He is the true innocent One Who is punished for the guilty. There is also a parallel, because the Lord Jesus becomes the guilty One, He takes the guilt on Himself and declares His people innocent.