Exodus 30:11-12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying “When you take a census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there be no plagues among them when you number them.
2 Samuel 24:10-21 And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord “I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly. (The special thing about David, HE DID NOT BLAME OTHERS FOR HIS MISTAKES) Now when David arose in the morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer saying “Go tell David, “Thus says the Lord: I will offer you three things; choose one fo them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” So Gad came to David and told, and he said to David; “shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be 3 days of plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand” and the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand be against me and against my fathers house.” And Gad came to David and said to him, “Go erect an alter to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Then Araunah said, “why has my lord the king come to his servant?” and David said, “to buy the threshing floor from you, to build an alter to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
Ezekiel 18:30-32 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord God.” “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” “For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”
2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Lord we thank You for Your long-suffering. Lead Your people to move our eyes and thoughts to You and You alone in this time. To use our time wisely in Your Word and time with You so we may know Your will and Your way. In Jesus name Amen
