Numbering of the people

Numbering of the people - Besides the numbering of the tribes mentioned in the history of\nthe wanderings in the wilderness, we have an account of a\ngeneral census of the whole nation from Dan to Beersheba, which\nDavid gave directions to Joab to make (1 Chr. 21:1). Joab very\nreluctantly began to carry out the king's command. This act of David in ordering a numbering of the people arose\nfrom pride and a self-glorifying spirit. It indicated a reliance\non his part on an arm of flesh, an estimating of his power not\nby the divine favour but by the material resources of his\nkingdom. He thought of military achievement and of conquest, and\nforgot that he was God's vicegerent. In all this he sinned\nagainst God. While Joab was engaged in the census, David's heart\nsmote him, and he became deeply conscious of his fault; and in\nprofound humiliation he confessed, "I have sinned greatly in\nwhat I have done." The prophet Gad was sent to him to put before\nhim three dreadful alternatives (2 Sam. 24:13; for "seven years"\nin this verse, the LXX. and 1 Chr. 21:12 have "three years"),\nthree of Jehovah's four sore judgments (Ezek. 14:21). Two of\nthese David had already experienced. He had fled for some months\nbefore Absalom, and had suffered three years' famine on account\nof the slaughter of the Gibeonites. In his "strait" David said,\n"Let me fall into the hands of the Lord." A pestilence broke out\namong the people, and in three days swept away 70,000. At\nDavid's intercession the plague was stayed, and at the\nthreshing-floor of Araunah (q.v.), where the destroying angel\nwas arrested in his progress, David erected an altar, and there\noffered up sacrifies to God (2 Chr. 3:1). The census, so far as completed, showed that there were at\nleast 1,300,000 fighting men in the kingdom, indicating at that\ntime a population of about six or seven millions in all. (See Census.) \nAs a side note, both 2.Sam.24.1 and 1.Chr.21 mentiones this couting of\nthe people. There is however a grave difference in the two chapters. 2.Sam.24.1 says: "Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David \nagainst them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." 1.Chr.21.1 says: "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." Further comparison of the following verses will make it certain that \nit's the same affair mentioned in both cases.