The Sinful Census

2 Samuel 24 - The Sinful Census

Big man, big sin - King David tended to commit some epic wrongs in his lifetime. He was known as a man after God's own heart, but that is more because he lived and sinned greatly and repented wholeheartedly rather than lived some pure and blameless life. His last big failure comes at the end of his life. He has survived rebellions, wars, affairs, and now is sitting firmly in control of the kingdom when Satan plants a seed in his mind. "I wonder how much control I actually have?".

"Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah."

Sometimes translating stories that were written in ancient Hebrew can be a bit of a problem. It seems like God is angry because he told David to do something sinful and David listened. Kinda like if I told Annabelle to take a hike, and I discovered my 4 year old out on the appalachian trail all alone.

But we find out from a parallel passage that these statements are totally separate and not in chronological order. The "He" is actually Satan - Satan motivates David to take the census and God gets angry! "Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel."

So David is going to count the people of Israel, why is that so terrible? Why is this a sinful census?

First off, there is a law about the census: "The Lord said to Moses, "When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them". Exodus 30. The purpose of the census was to give an offering to God in thanks for his deliverance. Each person was to pay a census tax that would be given to support worship at the tent of meeting (the big tabernacle tent that held the ark or the covenant and essentially served as their church).

David's purpose for the census was not to raise money for worship. It was to figure out how many men were of fighting age to serve in his army.

Wars in the Old Testament were a symbol of God's favor and displeasure. The leaders and kings like David had prophets who would give God's word on whether or not a fight should be undertaken. If God's favor and blessing were with the Israelites, they would win the war. Size of the army and size of the opponent had nothing to do with the outcome, God was in control.

David should have known this better than anyone. He was the little boy who went up against Goliath and singlehandedly defeated the Philistines. "You come at me with sword and spear, but I come in the name of the Lord". Size of a warrior or army does not matter, God determines the outcome.

Think about Jehrico. Joshua takes the troops but those men didn't even fight, they just marched the ark of the covenant around the city and blew a trumpet. The commander of the army of the Lord, led the actual charge and caused the walls to crumble. (check out Joshua 5) The armies of angels fought the battle - God won the day.

How about Gideon who was taking 22,000 men to fight the Midianites? The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, dlest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’. God pared the army down to 300, and still granted the victory.

Despite all his knowledge and experience, David sent out the military commanders, and they counted the able-bodied men in the land. "And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000."'

David sees the numbers and immediately knows he has done a bad thing. The bible says "his heart struck him". I don't know if he literally had chest pains or felt sick to his stomach. Of maybe his heart crawled out of his body, picked up a scroll containing Old Testament law and beat him with it. Whatever the case, King David realized immediately that he was guilty. "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly".

Illustration by Amber

Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, "Go and tell David, 'Thus says the LORD: "I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you."' " So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, "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 three days' plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me."

God is so parent-like here. Little Timmy draws on the walls with crayon and his Mom gives him a choice, no TV for a week, have a tea party with his sister, or get a spanking when Dad comes home. Little Timmy isn't happy about any of the choices, but a spanking will mean the punishment is over quickly, Dad is not mean enough to really injure Timmy, and spanking doesn't hurt nearly as much as a tea party.

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."

Why is the wrath of God better than famine or war? If there were famine, Israel would be left begging the nearby nations for food, just as when Joseph's family went to buy bread in Egypt. Famine = loss of sovereignty. War means placing Israel at the mercy of enemies. War = loss of control. David decides that whatever happens, God will deal him more kindness than enemy nations. **

What is baffling to me is that David would choose "pestilence" after his previous experience with God's punishment. Remember when David ordered the murder of Uriah the Hittite so that he could marry Bathsheba? The consequence was that God caused his son to become sick and die. If I were in David's shoes, knowing full well the pain of punishment from God, I would do anything to avoid it. But above all, David trusts God.

"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, I pray, be against me and against my father's house."

David, for his flaws, did not cover up or try to hide his wrongdoing. He takes the blame and asks for the angel to punish him, not the "sheep" of Israel. David is called a "man after God's own heart,"and I am pretty sure this is why. Not that he didn't sin greatly and make terrible decisions at times. But when he did something wrong, he ran straight to God and confessed his sins. He turned the time of punishment into a time of fellowship with God. He didn't hide, he confessed and prayed, and trusted the Lord to be merciful.

And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar 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 out and bowed 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 altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people. Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

The threshing floor was a big stone circle high in the mountains, where farmers would toss their grain in the air to let the wind separate wheat from chaff so they could make bread. It was a beautiful place, supposedly on the same mountain where Abraham offered to sacrifice Isaac.

Aruna, who is more famous as a lyric in the beach boys song (Aruna, jamaica, ooh I want to take ya. . .), tries to give David the threshing floor and oxen to sacrifice. it's a very nice gesture, but David recognizes this is not what God wants. David committed the crime, he must set things right, and do it properly. "I will not offer burnt offerings which cost me nothing".

Imagine you wanted to give your mom a puppy for valentines day.  There are two ways you could get the puppy.  You could mow lawns and rake leaves to save up the money.  Or you could rob the pet store and steal a puppy.  Which do you think would make her happier?  To see you put thought and effort into the gift, or just to take it. David knows that the same is true of God, that the Lord will not be happy with a borrowed sacrifice.  

"He who has a religion that costs him nothing, has a religion that is worth nothing." (Clarke)

God's mercy cannot be purchased, there is not enough silver in the world to buy forgiveness for our sins. But at the same time, though our salvation is freely given through Jesus (who was the final sacrifice - no more burnt animal offerings) there are costs to following God. Whether it be friendships, generosity with money, giving of time to come to be in church on Sunday morning, we cannot be men and women "after God's own heart" if we give him "burnt offerings which cost us nothing".

"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".

"This shows that David understood that the death of the 70,000 in Israel in the plague did not atone for his and Israel's sin. Atonement could only be made through the blood of an approved substitute. Burnt offerings were to atone for sin; peace offerings were to enjoy fellowship with God. This shows us from beginning to end, David's life was marked by fellowship with God".  http://guzik.biblecommenter.com/commentaries/1024.htm

Last thought, the working through of the punishment and sacrifice are all marked by prayer. David prays, God answers and acts, David prays, God answers and acts and forgives. When we are doing great, we pray, part of that being we pray that God would lead us not into temptation. When we sin, we that God would forgive our sins and help us forgive those who sin against us. The prayers we pray in church are built on these Old Testament stories, which give us a picture of what a relationship with God should look like. We pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, which is very much like the prayers that David prayed.

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who win against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. . ."