2 Samuel 24:1 – 25 “Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
So, the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” 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?”
Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So, Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel.
They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beersheba.
At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.
After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”
So, Gad went and said to David, “Shall you endure three years of famine in your land, or three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
So, the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died. But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely, I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.” And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So, David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded.
When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said.
“To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”
Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”
“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (1.26 lbs. or 569.8 gm. Of silver) And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.”
When the story opens, God is not happy with Israel. Perhaps the Israelites have wandered off into idol worship and have forgotten the God Who has helped them all these years. At any rate, God moves David to take a census. The Israelites have taken censuses at other times, and God has never said anything about it, so why is this census so wrong?
Rick Phillips from Tenth Presbyterian Church gives us an excellent answer. (https://www.tenth.org/resource-library/articles/why-was-davids-census-a-great-sin/)
“What makes this more interesting is that the chapter begins by saying that the LORD incited David to do this, apparently by giving Satan permission to tempt him. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21 says, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” The record in Chronicles places this right after a great victory over the Philistines, so the sin was probably related to a problem with pride and self-reliance. A census was preliminary to a draft of soldiers and a levying of taxes. It seems, therefore, that David’s intent was to increase the royal power in a way that contrasted with humble reliance on God. As Deuteronomy chapter 17 so strongly insists, the human kingship of Israel was to be noticeably dependent on God’s divine kingship. For Israel’s king to build up the same kind of power common to pagan kings was tantamount to repudiating God’s over-kingship. This seems to have been the nature of David’s sin so that God was angered and acted to nip it in the bud.”
Just because David worshiped God did now mean that David could not make big mistakes. Deuteronomy 17 advises that a king of Israel should do 4 things: 1. But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ 2. He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. 3. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold. 4. When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes. Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign many years over his kingdom in Israel.“
The only one of these commands that David followed was the one regarding acquiring lots of horses. David had many wives and at least ten concubines. David was a very wealthy man. And David never made a copy of the Law or studied it for himself.
God gave David three choices: Israel could suffer famine for three years, David could flee from his enemies for three months, or Israel could suffer three days of plague. David chose the plague, and seventy thousand men died. Just as the angel of death was approaching Jerusalem, God relented. David saw the angel at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. “When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely, I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”
God granted David’s request and ordered David to build an altar on the threshing floor. Araunah realized what was happening and offered the threshing floor and the oxen with their yokes for the sacrifice; however, David insisted on paying full price. David’s words echo down the centuries. “I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David paid full price for the threshing floor and the oxen and their yokes and built the altar. God honored this sacrifice and the plague was stopped.
APPLICATION: Even though David was a man after God’s own heart, David was sorely tempted by his kingly power. What might things have been like, had David carried out God’s command and had he made a copy of the Law for himself and then studied it? Had David made a thorough study of the Law in the first place, he might never have called for that census and he might have handled many other issues far more wisely. In many respects, David was a very good man and he did worship God; however, David was also driven by his passions, something that might not have happened had he been better versed in God’s Law.
There is nothing more important to one’s spiritual life than regular Bible study. The Bible is an amazing book, for the longer you study it, the more you learn from it, and the more it shapes your life and your personality. I began reading the Bible through in a year when I was nine years old; since then, I have read it through innumerable times. No matter how many times I have read a passage or even memorized it, I always find new insights and new meaning. When computers first became popular, there was a saying “GIGO.” This acronym stands for “garbage in, garbage out.” If you enter garbage data, you will get garbage results. Our minds work the same way.
“But,” you say, “don’t I need to be trained before I can understand the Bible?” No. Really, the Holy Spirit will gladly train you. The prayer you need for Bible study is from Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes, that I might see wonderful things in your law.” If you ask God for guidance and help, He will give it.
David never really studied God’s law and his people and he suffered as a result. But we can learn from David’s mistake. Find a quiet place and ask God to show you where to begin. You will find God ready to meet you in His Word.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to realize that studying Your Word will rejuvenate us and will bring us hope. Thank You for so many versions that there is one that will speak to each of us. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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