Commentary - 1 Chronicles 21:18-30

Bird's-eye view

This passage is the climax of the terrible judgment that has fallen upon Israel because of David's sin in numbering the people. The angel of Yahweh, sword drawn, has been cutting a swath of death through the land, and has now arrived at Jerusalem. But at the point of utter crisis, God relents and provides a way of atonement. This is not a generic atonement, but a specific one, at a specific place, for a specific sin. The angel of Yahweh, who was the instrument of judgment, now becomes the one who dictates the terms of mercy through the prophet Gad. David is commanded to build an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, the very spot where the angel stood. David's obedient and costly sacrifice is met with fire from heaven, the plague is stayed, and the location for the future Temple is established. This is a story of sin, judgment, mercy, sacrifice, and the consecration of holy ground.

We see here the profound principle that true worship costs something. David refuses to offer to God that which costs him nothing. We also see the transition from a mobile tabernacle to a permanent place of worship, a transition necessitated by David's fear of the angel's sword. The terror of God's holiness creates the need for a fixed point of access, a place where sin can be dealt with decisively. This threshing floor, purchased with a price, becomes the place where heaven and earth meet, where judgment is turned back by substitutionary sacrifice, prefiguring the ultimate sacrifice on a hill just outside this same city.

Outline

Commentary

18 Then the angel of Yahweh said to Gad to say to David, that David should go up and erect an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

The one who bears the sword of judgment is the one who now points the way to mercy. This is always how God works. The law condemns, and in so doing, it drives us to the Gospel. The angel of Yahweh, who stands with his sword drawn over Jerusalem, is the very one who commands that an altar be built. The place of judgment is to become the place of salvation. God's wrath is not a blind, capricious force; it is a holy, righteous wrath that has a purpose. And here, its purpose is to bring David, and all Israel, to a particular spot on the earth to deal with their sin. Notice the chain of command: Yahweh speaks to the angel, the angel speaks to Gad, and Gad speaks to David. God's word is mediated, but it is no less authoritative. David is not left to guess what he should do. In the face of terrifying judgment, God provides a clear, spoken word of grace.

19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of Yahweh.

David's obedience is as immediate as his sin was arrogant. When God speaks, the king listens. He doesn't dither, he doesn't form a committee, he doesn't send a subordinate. He goes himself. This is the mark of true repentance. It doesn't just feel bad about the consequences of sin; it acts on the word of God to make things right. David "went up," which is likely a literal description, as threshing floors were typically on high, windy places. But it is also a spiritual "going up." He is ascending to the place of worship, the place where his sin will be atoned for. He is moving from the low place of his prideful sin to the high place of humble sacrifice.

20 Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat.

We are given a glimpse of the scene from the perspective of an ordinary man. Ornan is going about his business, threshing wheat, providing for his family. And then the veil is pulled back. He sees the angel. The Chronicler makes a point of telling us that his four sons saw him too, and they reacted as any sane person would in the presence of a celestial being with a drawn sword: they hid. This is not a tame, stained-glass-window angel. This is a terrifying warrior of God. The sight of God's holiness, even in His angelic representative, produces fear and trembling. This is a necessary prerequisite for true worship. We must see the terror of the Lord before we can truly appreciate the wonder of His grace. Ornan is working, but his work is about to be interrupted by a divine appointment.

21 Then David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David, and went out from the threshing floor and bowed his face to the ground before David.

Ornan, having just seen the angel of Yahweh, now sees the anointed of Yahweh. His response is proper and immediate. He bows before the king. There is a hierarchy of authority here. David is the king, but he is a king under authority, coming to obey the word of the Lord. Ornan, a Jebusite, a remnant of the people Israel was supposed to have driven out, now shows proper submission to Israel's king. It is a picture of the eventual submission of all nations to the Son of David.

22 Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to Yahweh; for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be checked from being upon the people.”

David gets straight to the point. He is on a mission from God. He needs this specific piece of land, "the site", for a specific purpose: to build an altar. And the altar has a specific goal: to stop the plague. This is intercession. This is substitution. An altar is a place of death. David is seeking to substitute the death of an animal for the death of the people. But notice his insistence: "for the full price you shall give it to me." This is crucial. Atonement is not cheap. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. It cost God His Son, and our response to that grace must not be one of casual indifference. David understands that a sacrifice that costs him nothing is no sacrifice at all.

23 And Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I will give everything.”

Ornan's response is breathtakingly generous. He has just seen the angel of death hovering over the city. He knows what is at stake. And in response, he offers not just the land, but everything needed for the sacrifice. The oxen he was using to thresh, the wooden threshing sledges for the firewood, and the wheat for the grain offering. "I will give everything." This is a beautiful picture of a heart moved by the fear of God and a desire to see mercy extended. It is a pagan Jebusite who schools us in the nature of true generosity. He holds nothing back. He is all in.

24 However, King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not lift up what is yours to Yahweh, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.”

David's refusal is not a rejection of Ornan's generosity, but a profound statement of theological principle. You cannot offer to God something that belongs to someone else. And you cannot offer to God a sacrifice that has no personal cost. This strikes at the heart of all cheap grace and easy-believism. Worship that costs you nothing is worth nothing. David, as the representative head of the people, must bear the cost of this atonement himself. He is the one who sinned, and while the people are suffering the consequences, he must be the one to pay the price for the place of sacrifice. "I will not... offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing." Let that sink in. Is your worship costly? Does your service to God require you to give up something you value? If not, you are not following in the footsteps of David, and you have not yet grasped the nature of the cross.

25 So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.

This is a significant sum. The parallel account in 2 Samuel 24 mentions 50 shekels of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. The best way to reconcile this is to see the Samuel account as the initial purchase of the immediate necessities, and the Chronicles account, with its much larger sum of gold, as the purchase of the entire site, the whole property, which would become the temple mount. David is not just buying a spot for a temporary altar; he is securing the ground for the permanent house of God. He is making a capital investment in the future of Israel's worship, and he pays for it in gold. The place of atonement is precious, and it is purchased at a great price.

26 Then David built there an altar to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to Yahweh and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

The transaction is complete, and the action follows immediately. David builds the altar and offers the two primary kinds of sacrifices. The burnt offering signifies total consecration and atonement for sin, the whole animal goes up in smoke. The peace offering signifies reconciliation and fellowship with God, the worshiper gets to share in the meal. And then, the divine response. God answers with fire from heaven. This is the ultimate sign of acceptance. We see it with Aaron's first sacrifice (Lev. 9:24), with Gideon (Judg. 6:21), and with Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:38). It is God's visible "Amen" to the sacrifice. He consumes the offering, signifying that His wrath against sin has been satisfied by the substitute. The fire that should have consumed the sinners consumes the sacrifice instead. This is the gospel in miniature.

27 Then Yahweh spoke to the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.

Once the sacrifice is accepted, the threat is removed. The sword of judgment is put away. God Himself commands the angel to stand down. Atonement has been made. The price has been paid. The wrath has been appeased. Mercy triumphs over judgment because of the blood of the sacrifice. The sheathing of the sword is the direct result of the fire on the altar. There is no other way to stop the judgment of God. It must be met and satisfied by a substitutionary death.

28 At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

David recognizes the significance of what has happened. This is not just any piece of ground anymore. God has marked it out by His presence, by His judgment, and by His accepting fire. So David continues to sacrifice there. This place has become sacred. It is the new center of worship. God has chosen it. The threshing floor has become God's house.

29 Now the tabernacle of Yahweh, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.

The Chronicler provides some important context. The official, authorized place of worship was miles away in Gibeon. The Mosaic tabernacle, with its bronze altar, was there. According to the law, that is where David should have been sacrificing all along. But a crisis has occurred that has superseded the normal routine.

30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of Yahweh.

Here is the reason for the shift. David was paralyzed by fear. He could not make the journey to Gibeon because the angel with the sword stood between him and the old sanctuary. The way to God's presence was blocked by God's holiness and judgment. This is a profound spiritual reality. Our sin cuts us off from God. The drawn sword of His law stands in our way. We cannot, in our own strength, approach Him. David's terror was a right and holy terror. He understood that he could not simply waltz into God's presence at Gibeon as if nothing had happened. A new way had to be opened. And God opened it, not at Gibeon, but here, on Ornan's threshing floor, the very place where judgment was met with costly grace. This spot, consecrated by fear, fire, and blood, would become the site of Solomon's temple, and the place where God would dwell with His people until the true Temple, Jesus Christ, would come and make the final, costly sacrifice for all.