In I Chronicles 20, God asks David to do a census of the Israelite Troops. And Israel was punished for it. Why was census taking such a crime?

God doesn’t command the 1 Chronicles 21 census; you might want to correct that.
God’s anger is for faith in numbers and the power of armies (and pride and arrogance, like as not) rather than in Him. Same general thing as the prohibitions on witchcraft: God wants you to rely on Him, not yourself or other entities.

Census-taking is not itself the sin; indeed, God does command a census elsewhere for other purposes.

How can I modify it? Thank you for your answer, Nullo.

When David decided to do the census Joab tells him it’s not a good thing. David doesn’t listen and God gives his three choices as a punishment. God punished David because he did not rely on Him and wanted to see how big/strong is his kingdom.

Like Nullo said. later God orders David to do the census which David does. At this point David is more humble.

So God gets pissed at him for doing a census then asks him to do one later?! WTF???

@mrrich724 It seems it’s not the act of headcounting as much as the significance and motivation behind it. They can count for logistical reasons but should not take the result as the ultimate source of their strength.

@mrrich724 it’s about showing David if he puts his faith in Him, He will give him a lot of people under his rule. To bad when Solomon died the kingdom splited in two.

@mazingerz88 you spoke like a true believer ^^