David’s Might Fails

2 Samuel 24

Immanuel – 10/8/23

Even though we have come to the last chapter in 2 Samuel, we are not finished with 2 Samuel. Next week we will conclude this series on David with 2 Samuel 23. I wanted to focus on the outer layers of this chiastic structure, before we plunge into its heart and consider the song of David’s last words.

Remember, when you see a chiastic structure like this, there is a larger theme governing its individual parts. That theme is that the will of God must be understood and obeyed. We saw last week in chapter 21 that David acted in ignorance of God’s will. Today we see he disobeys the will of God. In both cases disaster ensues.

And like last week, we come to another deeply troubling passage. In fact, many consider this passage to be one of the most troubling passages in the entire Old Testament. Last week we were forced to question David’s sense of justice, and it was twisted and irredeemable. This week we are forced to question God’s sense of justice, but this time is righteous and holy and shrouded in mystery.

Mysterious indeed. This chapter may leave us with more questions than answers: And if, after hearing this chapter read, you are not filled with questions, then you were probably not listening very well.

We certainly do not have time today to explore all the questions 2 Samuel 24 wants us to ask. And for some questions there are no answers; we are left only with the mysterious nature of God. But should we be so surprised that our intellect cannot reach into heaven and pull to earth the Infinite One?

As God declares in Isaiah 55:9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Being the very word of this Infinite One, the Bible understands us more than we understand the Bible. A whole lifetime and we will barely plumb its depths, but in a moment the Bible can cut you to the heart. So as we look into His word today, seeking understanding, may our hearts be cut!

Purpose

1. So much in this passage relates to us today.

2. Reveal an awesome God that weaves history into glory.

It may be obvious that chapter 24 is broken into three sections. Perhaps the headings in your Bible has tipped you off to that.

1. Census

2. Judgment

3. Altar

And right off the bat the text hurls us into some of the most mysterious reaches of reality.

Read vs 1-2

The Census

This first sentence should stun you. God is angry with Israel, and to bring judgment upon Israel He incites David to take a census – a census that is wicked for David to conduct.

We’re not told why God is angry with Israel, we can only presume that Israel has broken covenant with God. We’re not told why God wants to use David’s sin to bring judgement upon Israel; He just does. We’re not told how God incites David to sin, and then later holds him responsible for it, but it’s how it is. We are given no explanations; we are simply observing God being God.

And where there are no explanations, we must resist the urge for speculation.

To avoid speculation, let’s go to 1 Chronicles, which give us a parallel account for so many of the events in David’s life. Listen to how the parallel account of 2 Samuel 24 begins in 1 Chronicles 21.

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

-1 Chronicles 21:1

So, is it Satan who incited David, or is it God? The answer is yes. And here I think the story of Job is a great help to us.

In that account, God directs Satan’s attention to the righteousness of Job. Satan thinks Job is righteous simply because Job has a successful life, and Job would reject God if he were to suffer. So, God allows Satan to bring suffering upon Job. But through Job’s trials far greater glories are revealed – glories that touch every reader of the book of Job. In the end Job does not reject God but remains faithful to God, God lavishes him with an abounding restoration, and Satan is shamed.

A similar principle is at work in 2 Samuel 24.

So, putting speculation aside and using Scripture to help interpret Scripture, we understand that Satan tempted David to sinfully conduct a census. But Satan can only ever operate by the decree of God. Therefore, God is the first cause, as He is the first cause of all things. Thus 1 Chronicles can say that Satan incited David while 2 Samuel says God incited David. In other words, God uses Satan’s ideas and David’s sinfulness to punish the people of Israel.

Read vs 3-4

It is not clear yet, but it will be soon. The census David demands is to get a count of the fighting men in the kingdom. Joab, the commander of the army, and all the generals with him, resist David. That’s surprising, because if anyone would want to measure the military, you would think it would be these joint chiefs of staff.

And yet, they – and especially Joab – want nothing to do with this census. In verse 3, Joab essentially says to David, “Rather than counting the military, may you be satisfied by God’s abundant provisions within your kingdom.”

Then Joab goes on to say something that may clue us in to why the census is evil: “Why does my lord delight in this thing?” I believe that word, delight, is a clue. Delight has to do with desire, it reveals something within David’s heart; and what the text is clearly indicating is that the census is an expression of rot in David’s heart.

Based on Joab’s response to David, here’s what seems to be happening: David is ignoring God’s provision and God’s faithfulness, and he is going his own way. He wants to measure his own strength. And remember that word delight: David wants to delight in, or gloat over, the power he wields. You see the census itself isn’t the real issue, it’s the rot in David’s heart, it’s the disobedience. Disobedient desires. These are rotten desires for a man after God’s own heart.

Psalm 20 records David’s words:

Some trust in chariots and horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

-Psalm 20:7

But here David has this in the reverse order. David is placing his trust in chariots and horses – or the power of military might – and forgetting the faithfulness of God. Joab, and the other generals, clearly see this when David orders the census.

Briefly, though these could each be sermons, there are three things we need to see too.

1. We are never to rejoice in our prosperity or success. No, we are supposed to be grateful, because any measure of prosperity comes from the hand of God. Rather, we are told to rejoice when we face trials of various kinds, because through the fires of trial God is refining us, transforming us more into the image of Christ. And he is revealing something for the good of his church.

2. It is far harder to remain faithful in the face of prosperity. Prosperity tempts us to be complacent, lazy, indifferent, to forget God’s faithfulness; and believe me, in the United States we are a prosperous people! And our ability to resist prosperity’s temptations is no better than David’s.

3. Joab’s resistance is a way of escape from this temptation. Through the voice of Joab, God was being faithful to David.

God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

-1 Corinthians 10:13

But like a fool, David thought himself wiser than those around him, so he pressed the issue and commands the census. Despite their misgivings, and like dutiful soldiers, the military commanders obey the king and circumnavigate the kingdom to count the military.

(Parenthesis)

Just a note, and we have seen this multiple places now in Scripture, one thousand was the name of Israel’s largest military unit. It does not mean it was literally comprised of 1,000 soldiers. Think of it like a battalion in today’s US army. So, when you read that there were 500,000 men of Judah, you should really understand that to say, “Judah was able to form 500 battalions.”

Each military unit could have 1,000 men, or it could have 500, or it could have 1,500. There is no way to precisely know. It also explains why the census brings back different numbers in 1 Chronicles 21.

I spend the time on this parenthesis, one, because I want to help you harmonize 1 Chronicles 21 and 2 Samuel 24, if you are to hold them side-by-side. I don’t want there to be doubts in your mind where there doesn’t need to be doubts.

Then, second, it’s helpful to know what these numbers represent later in on our passage. The 70,000 men that died means a loss equivalent to 70 military units, or 70 battalions.

(Close Parenthesis)

After nearly 10 months, the numbers come back to David.

Read vs 10

The Judgment

All the way back in 1 Samuel 15, when Saul disobeyed the will of God, he did not recognize his sin until he was confronted by the prophet Samuel. But even then, he was not repentant; instead, he was gripped by self-pity.

But when David’s sin consummated, when the numbers come back, and before any prophet confronts him, David immediately recognizes his wickedness – his heart struck him. This is what continues to make David such a compelling figure: He has not grown cold, he cares, he feels the pain of his sin. And we know what it is to feel the pain of our sins.

Conversely, Scripture speaks of something called a seared conscience. It’s when you sin, and it does not affect you. And you sin again, and again, and you know it, and you remain unbothered. That is a seared conscience, and it is incredibly dangerous. It either means that you are an unbeliever; or it means that, as a follower of Christ, you disgrace the cross of Christ and regard the shed blood of Christ as cheap. Either way, repent and believe! Today is the day of salvation!

But David’s heart struck him, and he immediately repents of his sin. Notice how David does not say, “The devil made me do it.” Or “You did this to me, God.” No, David takes full responsibility, complete ownership; because he knows that however the temptation came to him, it was out of his own sinful heart that disobedient action followed.

Temptation is not wicked, but allowing your thinking to embrace that temptation, to curl up with it, that is evil. Using your hands, or your mouth, to follow through, that too is evil. Both are sinful. David has done both, and he knows it.

Full of remorse, David pleads that God would take away his sin. He is appealing to what God had promised him following the Bathsheba incident.

Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

-2 Samuel 12:13

David seeks the same. His trust turns from himself now, to the Lord; and he trust that this faithful God will forgive him.

God will certainly forgive Daivd, but David’s repentance does not turn back God’s anger towards Israel.

Read vs 11-14

As far as I can tell, there is nothing like this anywhere else in the Bible; where a person gets to pick their punishment – or pick their poison, if you like. Each one of these three is a consequence of covenant unfaithfulness – for Israel – as found in Deuteronomy 28.

But the consequences come with spans of time: 3 years, 3 months, 3 days. This appears to imply that as the amount of time decreases, the potency of the judgment increases. But no matter what David choses, the message is clear: judgment for Israel is inescapable.

Of the three options, David only responds to one. He does not want the second option, fearing to fall into the hands of men; for there is no mercy in men.

This may seem like a self-serving answer, but I assure you it is not. What would it mean for the king to fall into the hands of men? Another rebellion? Another civil war? We’ve seen these time and again in the Samuels. Each time thousands of Israelites die and divisions between the people grow deeper. The king falling into the hands of men is indeed a judgment against Israel.

So, rejecting the second option, which involves a human element, David responds to Gad with, “Let us (Israel) fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercy is great.”

Again, David is trusting in the mercy and faithfulness of God. His repentance is authentic. And David acknowledges that grace is not cheap, sin must be paid for. Where there is evil, there must be punishment, there must be justice. Even still, David knows that God’s justice is always tempered by His compassion.

After rejecting the second option, David leaves the remaining choice in the hands of God. God choses three days of pestilence.

Read vs 15-17

God sent pestilence upon Israel at the hand of an angel. Verse 16 identifies the angel as the Angel of the Lord. This is no ordinary angel. In 1 Chronicles 21:18, the Angel of the Lord is the one who is speaking to Gad, the prophet, as if the angel is God, or God is the angel.

Once again, as we have seen earlier in David’s story, as we saw previously in Abraham’s journey, the angel of the Lord is Yahweh. More specifically, the Angel of the Lord is the preincarnate Son of God. This angel is the One who will one day be called the Lion of Judah.

The Lion of Judah, in the Angel of the Lord, tears through Israel, reaping His judgments. But just as He is about to pounce upon Jerusalem, the Father speaks mercy, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” He stops on a hill overlooking the city, right on a Jebusite threshing floor. Shortly I’ll tell you why we can know this exact location.

At the exact same moment that God tells the angel to stop, David is in his palace praying. I presume he is in his palace because it puts him in just the right spot to see the terrifying sight, the Destroyer, the approaching Angel of the Lord. Would you not fall on your knees and cry out to God in such a moment?

David cries out to God, “These sheep, what have they done?” David knows full well that the sheep of Israel are not innocent. The whole reason the Angel of the Lord approaches is because of Israel’s wickedness. But to David, that wicked bunch is his flock. As a boy, wrestled with a bear and lion to protect his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34). Now the king, on his knees to protect another flock, David wrestles with the almighty Lion of Judah.

Verse 17 ends with David ready to sacrifice himself, and his entire legacy, in place of his people. Do you see David prefiguring someone else?

And right there, at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, God answers David’s prayer and stops. Did David’s prayer stop the angel, or did God’s mercy? The answer is yes. In His mercy, God incited David to pray at the exact right moment, and in answer to that prayer, through the means of that prayer, God stopped the pestilence. It was true then, it is true now, God uses our prayers to accomplish His purposes. So pray, brothers and sisters. God plans to use those prayers in mighty ways!

Clearly, the pestilence did not last the full three days, for Jerusalem was spared. David was right, God did have compassion and His mercy stayed His justice. How truly we see that God takes no pleasure in the death and destruction that sin deserves. But know this, whatever the justice, whatever the mercy, their allotments are entirely up to the all-knowing and righteous will of God.

Read vs 18-25

The Altar

By God’s command, through the prophet Gad, David is told to build an altar on Araunah’s threshing floor. David repented, he has prayed, now he must obey.

Araunah looks down and sees the king approaching. The fact that he looks down to see David reveals that he is on a height above David – the hill above Jerusalem.

Araunah and David then enter something like a negotiation. Araunah, apparently quite wealthy, not only offers to give David the threshing floor for the altar, but also everything needed to offer sacrifices. Even though Araunah is a Jebusite, from outside the people of Israel, he shows great loyalty and deference to David, and through David, to Yahweh.

Then David has this incredible line, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD that cost me nothing.” How we can learn from David here. Worship that costs nothing can hardly be called worship. Think of it this way: A young man – who has money – finds a woman of incredible worth. If he wants to marry her, what does it mean if he goes to the Dollar Tree to find an engagement ring?

Such a principle applies to all forms of worship. But I will apply it to the modern form closest to the context of the passage: money. If you feel no cost when you put money in the offering plate, is that worship, or is that just to make you feel better? Learn from David: “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD that cost me nothing.”

After paying full price, David offers two types of sacrifices: burnt offerings and peace offerings. Burnt offerings were sacrifices to atone for people’s sins. Peace offerings were celebratory, offerings in thanksgiving for God’s mercy and provision. And the fact that both types of sacrifices that David offers is plural, it means that he was doing this for more than himself. David was doing this for Israel: atoning for their sins and expectantly thanking God for His mercy.

This very spot would become a place of sacrifice long into Israel’s future. 1 Chronicles 21 tells us that this exact spot, upon the threshing floor of Araunah, the altar of the temple would be built. For centuries, this would be the site of Israel’s atonement and thanksgiving.

Back in verse 25, the text says that the Lord responded to David’s obedience and offerings and the plague was averted. Even though the angel stopped when David prayed, even through David obediently built the altar, it was still entirely in God’s hands when deliverance would come.

And this deliverance is like a stone dropped in water with ripples rushing back 1,000 years and forward 1,000 years.

1,000 years before, long before Araunah built his threshing floor, Abraham built an altar on this same height, Mount Moriah. There, as Abraham lifted his knife and prepared to sacrifice his son, his only son – at the last moment – God provided a substitute; instead of Isaac, a ram caught in the thicket. That altar cite became the Holy of Holies.

1,000 year after David, a son of David came to Mount Moriah, to Mount Zion, and the temple there. Once David was prepared to substitute his life for the salvation of the people, once David atoned for the sins of the people; Jesus did both as David never could.

The anger of God was burning against us for our many evils, for trusting in ourselves rather than He who created us. We all have deserved God’s righteous condemnation. But the Angel of the Lord came once more to the borders of Jerusalem, to the exact right spot where justice and mercy met, to Golgotha’s height. There the Lion of Judah became the Lamb that was slain, and the innocent One received our full punishment. Our substitution, His blood atoned for our very many sins.

What glory! How awesome is our God to weave such wonders!

Though there is profound mystery in this passage, how clearly we can see that God’s judgment ended, and His mercy swelled, at the exact right spot. Only when the angel was upon that exact spot, did David pray. David then built the altar upon that same location. We should thus stagger back in awe of our God, who by His hand were wielded the wills of angels and demons, a nation and a man, and the turning of the ages.

And this same God is wielding all things together for the good of those who love Him. Truly, His ways are above our ways, His thoughts above ours. Even if it costs us everything, let us worship this Sovereign God!