II Samuel 24:1

I just got home from hanging out with some friends and watching the Office after getting our butts handed to us in our volleyball tournament. I'm actually kind of glad we were totally humbled (read: I was totally humbled) because I've really been struggling with my pride lately and I needed to be brought low. Praise God he works so faithfully with unfaithful people like me. Anyway, I wanted to post something because I've been slacking off lately, so here's some thoughts I had on II Samuel 24:1. They're pretty unpolished and need to be cleaned up and a lot more work needs to be done on them (work that I'll probably procrastinate unfortunately), but here's my thoughts:

II Samuel 24:1
“Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

I think this is one of the most provocative statements in Scripture that deals with the will of God and the will of man and how God goes about accomplishing his purposes. This verse begins a narrative wherein David goes out and does what God wanted him to do and then is struck by the sinfulness of what he did. God then judges the nation (apparently) for the sin of David. This raises some difficult questions. Did God cause David to sin? In other words, was God ultimately responsible for the sin of David? How is it that David sinned when all he did was what God told him to do? In other words, did God give David a sinful command?

If the answer to the first question is “yes” then we have a problem with God being the author of sin and sin being attributable to God, thereby destroying all that the Bible tells us of his nature (e.g. God is light and in him there is no darkness [I Jn. 1:5], etc.). If the answer to the second question is “yes” then how can we trust God? Can we trust James when he tells us that God never tempts us to sin?

If we believe the clear teachings of the Bible, then we must believe that God is holy. He does not sin, nor is he the author of sin. Sin does not emanate from his nature. Furthermore, if we base this verse in its context we must agree that what David did was sinful and, based on James 1, we must believe that God did not tempt David to sin, but that David’s sin came from within him.

First, I don’t believe that God caused David to sin or that God gave David a sinful command. This will lead us to examine the means that God uses to bring about his ultimate will and desire. Therefore, David was responsible for the sin he committed. But the question that ultimately must be answered is how could God find fault in David, when it was the will of God that David would do what he did? This presupposes some information about God. This presupposes that God is omniscient and sovereign and omnipotent. Before looking into the deeper meanings of these verses, we must start with a right view of God and his character and attributes. Obviously that would take a multitude of books. But we can know that God is omniscient (Psalm 139 for example), that he is sovereign and he uses his omnipotence to bring about his heart’s desires. For the purposes of this meditation we will assume that these things are true. The proof of them is for another time and many other men have done a far greater job then I could hope to do. Therefore, if God omnisciently knew that David would follow his enticements and number the people of Israel and God actually did entice David to this action, then how could God find fault and bring down justice on the people of Israel? Doesn’t this turn the justice of God into capriciousness?

Short answer: No. God is just in that his justice against and toward the nation of Israel was based upon sin that caused David to act in pride and sin in the nation of Israel that deserved judgment. I think the key to understanding this dilemma rests in verse 10 and in II Kings 22:20-23 and II Chronicles 18:18-22.

In verse 10 we learn that “David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.’” David’s heart struck him. I believe that in order for God to accomplish his purposes he hardened David’s heart for a brief period of time in order that David’s pride might be unrestrained. We see this happening to Pharaoh when God hardened his heart in order that his pride would restrain him from following common sense and letting Israel go. In like manner God hardened David’s heart. David was a man after God’s own heart and possessed a measure of humility only by the grace of God. It is only by the grace of God that we can do anything to please him. David did not earn his humility or favor from God. Rather, God bestowed it upon him as a gift. And as a constant gift, God has the right at any time to withhold that gift and show forth his justice toward sin. In this case, David listened to the enticements of God (we will deal with how God enticed him shortly) because they acted upon his pride and God did not bestow the gift of humility and grace that God had provided in the past. Therefore, God could justly punish the actions of David because his actions stemmed from a heart of pride. God is not required to bestow grace upon us (which is the very definition of grace) but God is required to administer justice upon sin. He will by no means acquit the guilty. He is a just God and his justice required punishment for these actions.

But, you might ask, didn’t God incite David to these actions? Is God just punishing David for something he made David do? Now we must look into how God went about inciting David to sin. The parallel to this story is found in I Chronicles 21. In 21:1 we learn that it was Satan that incited David to sin. So how is it that both God and Satan could incite David to sin? Does this mean that God and Satan were working together to accomplish the same purpose? No. Rather, what it does mean is that God used Satan to accomplish his purposes. Satan may have thought that he won a great victory by causing David to sin, but God was indeed the one who won because Satan was just a pawn to bring about the justice and mercy of God and to glorify his name above all others. In II Kings 22:20-23 and II Chronicles 18:18-22 we read a story of Ahab and Jehoshaphat allying together and seeking the counsel of the prophet Micaiah, who was a true prophet of God. When Micaiah prophesies to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, God pulls back the curtain and shows us what God did to bring about his purposes. “And Micaiah said, ‘Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, “Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying “I will entice him.” And the LORD said to him, “By what means?” And he said, “I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” And he said, “You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.” Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The LORD has declared disaster concerning you.’”

God uses Satan to entice people to sin in order that God’s purposes might come to pass. God used Satan to test Job in order that God could reveal his glory. God used Satan to incite David to sin in order that God might bring his justice upon Israel for an undisclosed sin they had committed. God is just in punishing people because it is their sinful nature and desires that drives their wills to choose sin. And God is holy because he doesn’t sin in the process but uses sinful creatures like Satan to give rise to sinful desires while withholding his grace to ensure that those evil desires are chosen. Who can know the mind of God and who can discern his ways? May we all bow before him and worship the glory of our God.