2 Samuel 24
Today's Passage: 2 Samuel 24
2 Samuel 24:1 might be a little confusing for the modern reader—the Lord’s anger burned inciting David to take a census. Is a census that big a deal? The US census bureau states that a census is necessary to “tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation, and helps our communities determine where to build everything from schools to supermarkets, and from homes to hospitals.” As noble an idea as that may be, an ancient census wasn’t to determine grocery store locations, it was to determine the fighting strength of a nation.
Thinking about this census, I can’t help but think about a scene from the satirical classic, Dr. Strangelove. In this nuclear-war comedy, there’s a moment where the Russian ambassador was invited into the “war room.” George C. Scott delivered one of the great lines from the movie when in exacerbation at how bad an idea this was, he said, “But he’ll see the big board!”
In the movie, the “big board” contained an at-a-glance overview of the US’s first-strike fighting capabilities. That’s most likely what David wanted and why it’s so wrong—where are my fighting-aged men at?
Joab, the commander of David’s army, tried to talk David out of doing this thing (v. 3). The problem with the census is that it turned David’s heart away from dependence on the Lord to what he could do for himself. This was so serious that in 1 Chronicles 21 this same event is recorded except instead of the Lord, it says, Satan was the one who incited David’s census. So who was it, the Lord or Satan? The answer is “yes.” The Lord through Satan “incited” David.
Eventually, David saw the error of his ways. Verse 10 says, “David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ‘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.’” There were still consequences the Lord delivered through the prophet, Gad. David’s sin led to the death of 70,000 people. Then, in order to make proper atonement, David followed Gad’s instructions to build an alter and make costly sacrifices.
We need to tread carefully here as we seek to apply this text. Remember, the events recorded are descriptive, telling us what happened. This is not prescriptive, telling us what to do. So what timeless truths can we glean from this passage? First, the Lord does not author sin or tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13), yet he allows people to “follow their heart.” In this case, Satan followed his own heart by inciting David to follow his own heart. The Lord is a good father, yet just like the Compassionate Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, God often allows us to pursue and experience the fruitlessness of our sin (Luke 15:13).
Second, true repentance is a heart-level agreement that my sin is wrong. How many times have you seen a child become “sorry” because they were caught? Every parent has said, “Are you sorry because what you did was wrong or because you got caught?” The Compassionate Father says the same thing to us!
Finally, sin leads to death. It’s shocking for us to read that thousands of people died because David did this thing. When we really swallow the pill that death is the good and right consequence for sin, it should drive us to repentance and gratitude for a God who saves.
What else did you see in this passage?
Written By: Tyler Short
2 Samuel 24:1 might be a little confusing for the modern reader—the Lord’s anger burned inciting David to take a census. Is a census that big a deal? The US census bureau states that a census is necessary to “tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation, and helps our communities determine where to build everything from schools to supermarkets, and from homes to hospitals.” As noble an idea as that may be, an ancient census wasn’t to determine grocery store locations, it was to determine the fighting strength of a nation.
Thinking about this census, I can’t help but think about a scene from the satirical classic, Dr. Strangelove. In this nuclear-war comedy, there’s a moment where the Russian ambassador was invited into the “war room.” George C. Scott delivered one of the great lines from the movie when in exacerbation at how bad an idea this was, he said, “But he’ll see the big board!”
In the movie, the “big board” contained an at-a-glance overview of the US’s first-strike fighting capabilities. That’s most likely what David wanted and why it’s so wrong—where are my fighting-aged men at?
Joab, the commander of David’s army, tried to talk David out of doing this thing (v. 3). The problem with the census is that it turned David’s heart away from dependence on the Lord to what he could do for himself. This was so serious that in 1 Chronicles 21 this same event is recorded except instead of the Lord, it says, Satan was the one who incited David’s census. So who was it, the Lord or Satan? The answer is “yes.” The Lord through Satan “incited” David.
Eventually, David saw the error of his ways. Verse 10 says, “David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ‘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.’” There were still consequences the Lord delivered through the prophet, Gad. David’s sin led to the death of 70,000 people. Then, in order to make proper atonement, David followed Gad’s instructions to build an alter and make costly sacrifices.
We need to tread carefully here as we seek to apply this text. Remember, the events recorded are descriptive, telling us what happened. This is not prescriptive, telling us what to do. So what timeless truths can we glean from this passage? First, the Lord does not author sin or tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13), yet he allows people to “follow their heart.” In this case, Satan followed his own heart by inciting David to follow his own heart. The Lord is a good father, yet just like the Compassionate Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, God often allows us to pursue and experience the fruitlessness of our sin (Luke 15:13).
Second, true repentance is a heart-level agreement that my sin is wrong. How many times have you seen a child become “sorry” because they were caught? Every parent has said, “Are you sorry because what you did was wrong or because you got caught?” The Compassionate Father says the same thing to us!
Finally, sin leads to death. It’s shocking for us to read that thousands of people died because David did this thing. When we really swallow the pill that death is the good and right consequence for sin, it should drive us to repentance and gratitude for a God who saves.
What else did you see in this passage?
Written By: Tyler Short
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