Why Take a Census? (2 Samuel 24:1-7) Mission Blessings

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.” Good morning! Here is today’s word of blessings for you. 2 Samuel 24:1-7 1Again 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. Today’s title is “Why Take a Census?” There are a few places in the bible that are not easy to understand. Today’s passage is one of those difficult passages to understand. This passage talks about the census that David had forcefully ordered his armies to take. But why did David suddenly order to take a census? Verse 1 says that God incited David to take a census because the anger of the Lord burned against Israel. It was fundamentally against Israel. Does Israel include David or not? We are not quite sure. It could be either yes or no. I am inclined to “yes”. Then why would righteous God incite David to do something that would result in His punishment? That doesn’t make sense, at least on the surface. As a matter of fact, the bible deals with the same incidence in the 1st Chronicles 21:1-8. But the first chapter of the passage says “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” The following verses are almost identical to today’s passage. This passage makes much more sense. Satan did what he does all the time. Satan wants to disrupt the peace and prosperity of God’s kingdom and His people. Now Satan stirs up trouble for the people of Israel and David who were having great peace and prosperity. I personally understand the first verse of today’s passage the same as the first verse of 1 Chronicle 21. When Satan does an evil act, God can either stop him or permit him. What God did to Satan in the first chapter of the book of Job can be a good example (Job 1:6-12). There God permitted Satan to bring trouble to Job for some time. One can say that so it was God who caused suffering for Job. Others might say that it was Satan, not God who brought suffering to Job. However, you say it, it is exactly the same thing. I believe the same principle of interpretation applies to this passage. Satan rose up against Israel and David to bring them trouble and temptation. God permitted it. Satan did it to destroy and kill the people of God and His servant. But when God permitted it, all things will eventually work for the good purpose of God. That’s what Lord Jesus said in 1oth chapter of the gospel of John. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). What about David? Was he completely innocent and righteous about this like Job was? It doesn’t seem so, at least in my understanding of the passage. We will elaborate on that more tomorrow. For now, we ought to be reminded of the urgent warning of the Bible against Satan’s attack.. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering. (1 Peter 5:8-9)”