“The Lord's anger burned against Israel again, and He stirred up David against
them to say: ‘Go, count [the people of] Israel
and Judah 2 Samuel 24:1 HCSB)
Perhaps you have heard this
quote from Lord Acton, “Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” My Mama would phrase it this way, “He got too
big for his britches.”
We see an
example of this in David’s life. As a
young man, facing a giant named Goliath, he understood that if victory was to
be won it would require the power of God.
As a king in mid-life, building and defending a nation, he recognized
the Biblical principle that he needed to lean on the Lord. In Psalm
20:7 , he would declare, “Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name
of Yahweh our God.” But, as an old
monarch, David forgot that truth, and he allowed power to lead him to
pride—placing the kingdom in peril. He
got too big for his britches.
We have
parallel accounts of this incident in 2
Samuel 24 and 1
Chronicles 21 . Comparing
the two, we get additional insight from each witness. As with eyewitnesses in a courtroom, you
might get slightly different testimony based on the unique perspective of the
witness. These are not contradictory,
but complementary. So, it is with these
two accounts. The differences in the
details have been harmonized by Bible scholars.
You can read some additional notes at the end which address this in more
detail, if you would care to do so.
But
for now, there are a couple of verses from the different accounts which demand
that we address them, because we need this complete picture. In 2
Samuel 24 , we are told that David’s destructive decision was God’s
doing and in 1 Chronicles 21 ,
that it was Satan who tempted him. Which
is right? Both, of course! These are two sides of the same coin. Understanding this is theologically
important.
God is sovereign. He rules over all. There is none who compare to Him. The opposite of light is dark, for day there is night, cold and hot, love and hate, and so forth. Our temptation might be to say for God, there is Satan as the opposite—but, that is to elevate the Devil to a status he does not merit! In fact, we find that God even uses this Evil One as His means to accomplish His will at times. This doesn’t mean God is the author of evil. He is not and cannot. James says, “No one undergoing a trial should say, ‘I am being tempted by God.’ For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.” (1:13-15) So, although God is in control, it is Satan who does the tempting—and, David did not have to yield to temptation! He made a choice. David was not a puppet, but a creature of volitional capacity. Furthermore, he was given a warning against this action. Joab protested David’s decree. But, David shrugged it off.
Why
did David desire this census and what was wrong with it?
THE
SIN (v.1-10)
We
don’t find David seeking God’s will in prayer, nor find him searching God’s
Word for direction. In pride he decided to act without God and believed he was
accountable to no one. A lack of
accountability will get you into trouble.
So many stories of politicians, preachers, CEOs and coaches caught up in
scandal have their roots in a lack of accountability. The more powerful they became, the more
private they became, and they lost perspective and prideful, they persuaded
themselves that they were above the law.
Eventually, the collapse comes.
We can get too big for our britches.
There is a price to pay when we do.
THE
SENTENCE (v.11-17)
70,000
Jews died. David was proud of the
numbers of soldiers under his command, so God reduced the size of his army—and
reminded him who was in charge and where the source of power resided. These have been challenging and chilling
studies of David. For the most part,
examining his life has been a stimulating call to serving our God. Then, there have been those episodes which
have proven to be a sobering caution about sin against our God. While David was
a man after God’s own heart, he was yet a man! He possessed all the frailties
and failures common to the human condition. He fell at times—but he always got
up. We see that next.
THE
SACRIFICE (v.18-25)
Here’s
what David did: “He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt
offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer on behalf of
the land, and the plague on Israel
God
is just—He is also merciful—or there would be no hope for any of us! David repented and God relented. The promise is that, “If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ) The King became a beggar, as David humbled
himself before God. He had been too big
for his britches, but the garment of a mourner fit him perfectly. If you have become too big for your britches,
try putting on sackcloth. It is
tailor-made, stitched with grace and mercy, designed for the penitent.
If
David could fail, then I am not immune—and neither are you. All of us can get too big for our
britches. A safeguard is to maintain
transparency and accountability.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
As
we have been reading the Bible through, I am sure if you were studying it
intently, you may have run into some slightly different readings of number totals,
etc. in Samuel and Chronicles, which may have raised a few questions in your
mind. Since these have been so slight
and infrequent, I have not dealt with them, except when someone has personally
asked me. The reading for today contains
several, so I thought it would be helpful to address this matter.
John
MacArthur explains the variation in troop totals this way:
24:9 eight hundred thousand … five hundred thousand. First
Chronicles 21:5 has “one million one hundred thousand” and “four
hundred and seventy thousand,” respectively. A solution can be found in seeing
the 1 Chronicles figure including all the available men of military age,
whether battle seasoned or not. But the 2 Samuel figure could be 800,000
battle-seasoned soldiers with the additional 300,000 being of military age who
were in reserve but never fought, or it could be the 288,000 in the standing
army (1Ch 27:1–15 )
rounded off to 300,000. Either of these two contingents would make up the 1.1
million number of 1Ch 21 .
As far as Judah Judah
The difference in the names
Araunah and Ornan is common in Scripture—where you will find numerous instances
of the same person with two different names—such as Matthew and Levi, Simon and
Peter, Saul and Paul. Araunah was his
given name, a man born in Canaan with a pagan
heritage, he had converted at some point to the worship of the God of Israel
and so took a Hebrew name, Ornan. [DLT]
What about the difference in
the first option of judgment given in 2 Samuel 24:13 and 1 Chronicles 21:12 ?
See this note from MacArthur:
21:12 “Three
years” here is correct; “7 years” in 2Sa 24:13 is most likely a copyist’s error, since it
seems 3 years, 3 months, 3 days is the intent.[2]
The Bible was copied by hand
down through the years—multiple copies being made. Occasionally, as one would imagine, a number
got transposed or a letter in a name was changed. This was rare, and in comparing all those
copies we are able to get back to the original perfect text almost
completely—and where we still see a difference, it makes no difference in any
doctrine. As time marches on, this
ancient Book demonstrates its reliability and accuracy again and again. Things which once seemed contradictory have
been harmonized through new discoveries in archaeology and this will continue
to be the case. [DLT]
As to the remaining
“difference” in the amounts David paid, this is easily explained from a close
reading of the text:
24:24 cost me nothing. Sacrifice is an essential part of worship and service
to God (see Mal 1:6–10 ;
2Co 8:1–5 ). fifty shekels. A little more than a
pound of silver. First
Chronicles 21:25 says David paid 600 shekels of gold. How is this
discrepancy resolved? In the initial transaction, David either bought or leased
the small threshing floor (usually 30 or 40 ft. square) and purchased the oxen.
Fifty shekels of silver was appropriate. After that, 1Ch 21:25 says he bought “the
site,” costing 180 times as much, and referring to the entire area of Mt. Moriah
A final thought from your
pastor:
These complementary accounts,
far from disproving that the Bible is the Word of God, affirm it. If the Bible were a mere human invention,
over the centuries, manuscripts would have been changed to make all the
accounts identical. That is what editors
do. We would have collusion on the part
of the witnesses. Instead, the scribes
were meticulous in copying what the text said rather than what they wanted it
to say--such was their reverence for the Word and the God who inspired it. These comparatively few variations have been
mostly resolved, and as additional time passes, we are convinced that new
discoveries will shed additional light.
I have studied the Bible for decades, and the more I read it through,
and meditate on its message, the more certain I am of the Divine inspiration
and preservation of the text. You can be
confident that the Scripture as inspired of God when the original authors
penned it was perfect, and more than that—you can be confident that the Bible
you hold in your hands is the Word of God.
We affirm what Jesus and His Apostles taught: “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17b ).
If I have gleaned anything
from today’s reading, I have learned this: I need to listen to God, rather than
thinking I know more than He does. I
must reject Satan’s temptation to exalt myself—a thought that the Serpent
plants in our minds, and has since the garden of Eden—to doubt, deny and disobey
God’s Word, “you shall be as God” having the knowledge of good and evil (read Gen.3 ). I do not sit in judgment on Him, but God
judges me. I must steadfastly refuse to
accept the premise that I have everything figured out.
Don’t get too big for your
britches! That is always disastrous, as
David discovered.
[1] MacArthur,
J. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible :
New American Standard Bible. (2
Sa 24:9 ). Nashville
[2] MacArthur,
J. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible :
New American Standard Bible. (1
Ch 21:12 ). Nashville
[3] MacArthur,
J. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible :
New American Standard Bible. (2
Sa 24:24 ). Nashville
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