Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 2 Samuel 24 and Psalm 100

A passage like 2 Samuel 24 needs to be approached with great caution. The way it has been translated into English creates the impression that God first tempted David to sin and then punished him for sinning. We know that this cannot be correct, as James 1:13 says: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone”.

In the equivalent passage in the book of 1 Chronicles 21:1 we read, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” This makes more sense, especially when we consider Exodus 30:12 “ ‘When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.” God had stated very clearly in the Law that the Israelites were not to be numbered in a census. Why not? In the thinking of these ancient cultures, a man only had the right to count or number what belonged to him. Israel didn’t belong to the king; Israel belonged to God. So God had set down very strict conditions under which a census was allowed – and then only for the purpose of acknowledging (by ransom offerings) that they truly belonged to the Lord.

With this background it then appears that God’s anger burned against Israel because of David’s census, and that the “he” in 2 Samuel 24:1 should not be capitalised to indicate God (it isn’t in the original language) but rather refers to the “adversary”, Satan. Young’s Literal Translation captures this. It reads: “And the anger of Jehovah addeth to burn against Israel, and [an adversary] moveth David about them, saying, `Go, number Israel and Judah.’” (2 Samuel 24:1)

This also explains why Joab and the army commanders (v.3-4) objected to the census and why David was so quick to acknowledge his sin in v.10, saying: “‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done.” But remember that the people had also sinned by not insisting on paying a ransom when they were counted, as per the Law of the Lord. They had also participated in the pride of their king. As Morgan’s commentary points out: “So late in his reign, David was tempted to take some of the glory in himself. He looked at how Israel had grown and prospered during his reign – it was remarkable indeed. The count was a way to take credit to himself. “The spirit of vainglory in numbers had taken possession of the people and the king, and there was a tendency to trust in numbers and forget God.” 

The judgment of God on this sin of pride, and the punishment which came as a consequence, are a dire warning to us: Pride is a root of great evil and brings great suferring in the end.

Heavenly Father, I confess that I do not understand all Your ways, but I humble myself before Your kingly authority. Please forgive me for the pride of my heart and deliver me from it, so that I may not sin against You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.