“So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:24-25, NKJV).

In this final chapter of II Samuel, King David sent Joab, his military commander, to take a census of Israel. By numbering the people for military purposes (vs. 9).

David apparently showed a lack of trust in God to supply the necessary men when needed and wrongful pride in the hundreds of thousands of forces at his command (see vs. 10).

As a consequence of David’s sin God offered David three choices: 1) three years of famine in the land; 2) three months of fleeing from his enemies; or 3) three days of pestilence in the land.