So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay 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, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”
Comment: I don’t know what the pestilence was, but its result was horrible. 70,000 died in 3 days! ‘Surely you don’t believe that God would do that’ I hear many exclaim. In the Italian invasion of Ethiopia there are stories of Italian troops lining up 10,000 civilians and shooting every tenth person – all because three soldiers were killed in an ambush! When announcing a new cure for leprosy and collecting all the lepers over a large area, locking them in a large church and burning them all alive! Think about the horrors of war and yet we declare that God is in control. It raises some huge questions, such as i) Is God unjust ii) Is God vindictive? iii) What was Israel’s sin? iv) Have I the right to question God? v) Is the God of the OT the same God as we see exampled in Jesus? I believe that God is just; the OT and NT God is the one and the same – gracious and merciful and just; Does it all make sense to me? No – but ‘history’ is ‘His story’ and the bad bits are caused by our, mine and yours, mankind’s, rebellion. I thank God for the Cross and the Easter history which makes a right relationship with Him possible.
Prayer: Thank You that You don’t me being honest with You.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. As you said, it is “His story”.
God bless you.
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