Hello Everyone: 

In our story today, it appears to be slightly contradictory. 

Here is the story that we posted the other day.

II Samuel 24: 1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.” 3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” 4 The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel. 5 After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6 They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. 7 Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. 8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand. 10 David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

The text starts off by saying that the anger of the Lord was burned against Israel and “he” incited.  This “he” would appear that it is talking about God.  If you take that approach however, the text becomes problematic. 

For if God told David to take the census and then punishes David for doing it then that becomes problematic.

Joab does not want to do the senses and seems to suggest by saying  “do such a thing” that it is a bad thing to do.

The text says that at the end that David was conscious stricken and said to God that he had sinned greatly in what he had done and pleaded that God would take the guilt away from him, so if this was a command from God there would be no need for begging for forgiveness.

This account is also told in I Chronicles 21^st chapter and it gives us a much clearer translation of what happened.  Let’s look at a couple of verses”

I Chronicles 21: 1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.” 3 But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

In this account, it identifies Satan as the one that rose up against David and incited him to take a census.

You may ask what the big deal in taking a census is.  The whole idea is that now David is relying on the talents and military power and numbers in his men instead of depending on God.  God has always been there for David and now David is looking to his own military strength and power instead of looking to God.

Tomorrow, we will study what God’s response will be to David taking this census. 

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

This entry was posted on 18. March 2010 at 12:45 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.