1 Chronicles 21
2 Chronicles 21 records the reign of Jehoram, who became king of the Kingdom of Judah after King Jehoshaphat, along with its results. The chapter focuses on how Jehoram killed his brothers, walked in an evil way, and, because of this, came under God’s judgment. It also highlights that being entangled through a marriage relationship with Ahab’s house of the Northern Kingdom of Israel led Jehoram to increasingly imitate evil acts.
1verseSatan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.
2verseDavid said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know how many there are.”
3verseJoab said, “May the LORD make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?”
4verseNevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, then came to Jerusalem.
5verseJoab gave the sum of the census of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew a sword; and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew a sword.
6verseBut he didn’t count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.
7verseGod was displeased with this thing; therefore he struck Israel.
8verseDavid said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
9verseThe LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,
10verse“Go and speak to David, saying, ‘The LORD says, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’”
11verseSo Gad came to David and said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Take your choice:
12verseeither three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the LORD’s angel destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’”
13verseDavid said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the LORD’s hand, for his mercies are very great. Don’t let me fall into man’s hand.”
14verseSo the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
15verseGod sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, the LORD saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” the LORD’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16verseDavid lifted up his eyes, and saw the LORD’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
17verseDavid said to God, “Isn’t it I who commanded the people to be counted? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.”
18verseThen the LORD’s angel commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19verseDavid went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the LORD’s name.
20verseOrnan turned back and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
21verseAs David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
22verseThen David said to Ornan, “Sell me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD on it. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
23verseOrnan said to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all.”
24verseKing David said to Ornan, “No, but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
25verseSo David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place.
26verseDavid built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
27verseThen the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
28verseAt that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
29verseFor the LORD’s tabernacle, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
30verseBut David couldn’t go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid because of the sword of the LORD’s angel.
Structure of the Main Content
- Verses 1-7: the death of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram’s succession to the throne, and the killing of all the brothers
Jehoram became king at age 32, and it mentions that God did not completely destroy him for the sake of Jehoshaphat’s father David. - Verses 8-11: rebellion of Edom and Libnah
Under Jehoram’s rule, these peoples rebel. It indicates that Jehoram’s spiritual condition and disobedience brought about a national security crisis. - Verses 12-20: the book of the prophet Elijah—God’s declaration of judgment on Jehoram and its execution
God’s warnings about Jehoram’s evil deeds (the proclamation of sickness and calamity) are recorded, along with the actual illness and suffering, and Jehoram’s final end when he died in a painful way.
Overall Meaning and Message
Jehoram’s life shows what results wrong choices and influential actions can have on a community. The king’s evil conduct, idolatry, and the murder of his brothers led directly to judgment, division within the community, and instability in the nation. However, the author of Chronicles briefly emphasizes that God’s covenant with David—mentioned in verse 7—remains valid, suggesting that even amid human failure, God’s faithfulness is at work.
Points for Reflection
- We can consider how the spiritual choices of one leader may affect many people.
- Jehoram’s short and unfortunate life, in contrast, shows how important it is to live within God’s will and covenant.
Applying It to Me
- Even a small choice can become an opportunity to seriously think about how my choices today will affect my home and community.
- In any situation, I can remind myself that living by holding on to God’s covenant is the path of life.
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