Study Desk

Satan^[a](a) stood up against Israel and incited David^(b) to count the people of Israel.

So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number."^(c)

Joab replied, "May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over!^(d) My lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?"

Yet the king's order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem.

Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen.

But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king's command was detestable to him.

This command was also evil in God's sight, so He afflicted Israel.

David said to God, "I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away Your servant's guilt, for I've been very foolish."^(e)

Then^(f) the Lord instructed Gad,^(g) David's seer,^(h)

"Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.'"

So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice:

three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord —a plague on the land, the angel of the Lord bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I should take back to the One who sent me."

David answered Gad, "I'm in anguish. Please, let me fall into the Lord 's hands because His mercies are very great,⁽ⁱ⁾ but don't let me fall into human hands."

So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.

Then God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but when the angel was about to destroy the city,^[b] the Lord looked, relented concerning the destruction,^(j) and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough, withdraw your hand now!" The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Ornan^[c] the Jebusite.

When David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth,^(k) fell down with their faces to the ground.

David said to God, "Wasn't I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? My Lord God, please let Your hand be against me and against my father's family, but don't let the plague be against Your people."

So the angel of the Lord ordered Gad^(l) to tell David to go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.^(m)

David went up at Gad's command spoken in the name of the Lord .

Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel. His four sons, who were with him, hid themselves.

David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

Then David said to Ornan, "Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped."

Ornan said to David, "Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants.^[d] See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I give it all."

King David answered Ornan, "No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the Lord what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

So David gave Ornan 15 pounds of gold^[e] for the plot.

He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord , and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.⁽ⁿ⁾

Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The tabernacle of the Lord , which Moses made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at the high place in Gibeon,^(o)

but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the Lord 's angel.

¹Then David said, "This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel."^(a)

So David gave orders to gather the foreigners that were in the land of Israel,^(b) and he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God's house.^(c)

David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze,^(d)

and innumerable cedar logs because the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.^(e)

David said, "My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands.^(f) Therefore, I must make provision for it." So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.

"My son," David said to Solomon, "It was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,^(g)

but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.^(h)

But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies,⁽ⁱ⁾ for his name will be Solomon,^[a](j) and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.^(k)

He is the one who will build a house for My name. He will be My son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'^(l)

"Now, my son, may the Lord be with you,^(m) and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you.

Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.⁽ⁿ⁾

Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel.^(o) Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or discouraged.^(p)

"Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord —3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver,^[b](q) and bronze and iron that can't be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them.

You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work

in gold, silver, bronze, and iron—beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you."^(r)

Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon:

"The Lord your God is with you, isn't He? And hasn't He given you rest on every side?^(s) For He has handed the land's inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people.

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.^(t) Get started building the Lord God's sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord 's covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built^(u) for the name of Yahweh."^(v)

When David was old and full of days,^(a) he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.^(b)

Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, the priests, and the Levites.

The Levites 30 years old or more were counted;^(c) the total number of men was 38,000 by headcount.^(d)

"Of these," David said, "24,000 are to be in charge of the work on the Lord 's temple,^(e) 6,000 are to be officers and judges,^(f)

4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments that I have made for worship."^(g)

Then David divided them into divisions according to Levi's sons:^(h) Gershom,^[a] Kohath, and Merari.

The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

Ladan's sons: Jehiel was the first, then Zetham, and Joel—three.

Shimei's sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three. Those were the heads of the families of Ladan.

Shimei's sons: Jahath, Zizah,^[b] Jeush, and Beriah. Those were Shimei's sons—four.

¹¹Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; however, Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became an ancestral house and received a single assignment.

Kohath's sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four.

Amram's sons:⁽ⁱ⁾ Aaron and Moses. Aaron, along with his descendants,^(j) was set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense in the presence of Yahweh,^(k) to minister to Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

As for Moses the man of God,^(l) his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

Moses' sons: Gershom and Eliezer.

Gershom's sons: Shebuel was first.

Eliezer's sons were Rehabiah, first; Eliezer did not have any other sons, but Rehabiah's sons were very numerous.

Izhar's sons: Shelomith was first.

Hebron's sons: Jeriah was first, Amariah second, Jahaziel third, and Jekameam fourth.

Uzziel's sons: Micah was first, and Isshiah second.

Merari's sons: Mahli and Mushi. Mahli's sons: Eleazar and Kish.

Eleazar died having no sons, only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

Mushi's sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three.

These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses—the heads of families, according to their registration by name in the headcount—20 years old or more, who worked in the service of the Lord 's temple.^(m)

For David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people,⁽ⁿ⁾ and He has come to stay in Jerusalem forever.

Also, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment for its service"^(o)—

for according to the last words of David, the Levites 20 years old or more were to be counted—

"but their duty will be to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the Lord 's temple, being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God's temple—

as well as the rows of the bread of the Presence,^(p) the fine flour for the grain offering,^(q) the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking,^[c](r) the mixing,^(s) and all measurements of volume and length.^(t)

They are also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the Lord , and likewise in the evening.

Whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on the Sabbaths, New Moons,^(u) and appointed festivals, they are to do so regularly in the Lord 's presence according to the number prescribed for them.^(v)

They are to carry out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the holy place,^(w) and for their relatives, the sons of Aaron,^(x) in the service of the Lord 's temple."