Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

1 Chronicles 21 Devotional

The Sword Put Away

“Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.”1 Chronicles 21:27 (BSB)

Chronicles opens this chapter with a stark line: Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census (21:1). Joab objects, David insists, and the command is evil in God's sight, so he strikes Israel (21:3-7). David confesses that he has sinned greatly (21:8). Seventy thousand die, and the angel of the LORD stands over Jerusalem with a drawn sword (21:14-16).

But the LORD himself calls a halt (21:15). David is told to build an altar on Ornan's threshing floor, and he insists on paying full price rather than offering what costs him nothing (21:24). He offers burnt offerings, calls on the LORD, and the LORD answers with fire from heaven on the altar (21:26). Then the LORD speaks to the angel, and the sword goes back into its sheath (21:27). Wrath ends at an accepted sacrifice. Paul says those justified by Christ's blood will be saved from wrath through him (Romans 5:9). For everyone in Christ, the sword has been put away.

To think about: Do you still live as though God's sword hangs over you, and what would it mean to rest in the sacrifice he has accepted?

About 1 Chronicles 21: David’s Census and Ornan’s Threshing Floor

Provoked by Satan, David orders a count of Israel over Joab’s objection, and God judges the nation with a plague. David confesses, pleads for his people, and buys Ornan’s threshing floor at full cost. The LORD answers his sacrifice there with fire, and David offers sacrifices at that spot, afraid to go to Gibeon.

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