“The anger of Adonai blazed up against Isra’el, so he moved David to act against them by saying, ‘Go, take a census of Isra’el and Y’hudah.'”-2 Samuel 24:1
Alrighty, so there’s a common misconception we gotta straighten out about verse 1 in 2nd Samuel Chapter 24.
It’s the idea that the Lord decided to take out His anger on the people by specifically asking David to go out and take a census of the people.
No, no, no.
A million times no.
Here’s what this verse really means.
The Lord incited David to do something harmful and dreadful to the people of Israel.
Then, in response to the Lord riling up David…
The thought that popped into David’s mind was to order a census to be taken.
Got it?
Is that clear?
That’s the order of things, man!
FIRST, the Lord incited David.
THEN David decided to take a census.
The Lord did NOT ask David directly to go out and take a census.
Now you might be thinking, well, what in the hell is so wrong about taking a census in the first place?
Hold on to your horses, homie.
We’ll get to that in due time.
For the time being, just understand that what God did with David is the same thing He did with Pharaoh and then later Saul in the past.
In other words, the Lord got them all riled up to do something evil that would harm His people, the Israelites.
A lotta folks, especially with their God-is-only-love theological nonsense, don’t like to hear that.
A lotta folks just can’t stomach the idea that God sometimes does and will override people’s free will.
Or that He would incite any person to do evil, for that matter.
If you’re one of the folks who harbor that notion, I’ve got news for you.
Scripture flat out contradicts you.
Whenever the Lord wanted to punish His People for disobedience, more often than not, He used another individual or a nation to do it.
Ya feel me?
It’s rare when the Lord uses some devastating supernatural event of cosmic proportions to judge His people.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was one such rare instance.
But that wasn’t a judgment against Israel.
Israel didn’t even exist at that time.
More often than not, God uses powerful rulers to carry out His discipline.
He used the king of Assyria to punish Israel in the north.
He used Nebuchadnezzar to punish Judah in the south.
Then He even used Cyrus of Persia to punish the people who went too far in punishing His own people.
So, as we often witnessed in 2nd Samuel…
When disaster struck in the form of war, loss, or family troubles…
David didn’t blame bad luck or other people.
He didn’t go online and buy some New Agey you can manifest your way out of your problems $69.00 e-book from Kevin Trudeau (ask me how I know).
No man!
David correctly viewed adversity as God working through men to discipline him.
And you know what?
This is a God-principle that hasn’t changed one bit since Yeshua ushered in and established the New Covenant.
That’s right, man.
And that’s your takeaway.
When you’re facing persecution in your life that pops up outta nowhere…
Maybe consider that it ain’t bad luck…
Or annoying people out to get you.
Maybe it’s a form of discipline from the Lord trying to wake your butt up and get you back onto the straight, narrow, and righteous path.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
and chastises every son whom He receives.”
Hebrews 12:6
“It is for discipline that you have to endure.
God is treating you as sons.”
Hebrews 12:7
“For he is God’s servant for your good…
an avenger who carries out God’s wrath
on the wrongdoer.”
Romans 13:4
“Therefore God sends them a strong delusion,
so that they may believe what is false.”
2 Thessalonians 2:11
“He humbles you and
disciplines you for your good,
that you may share His holiness.”
Hebrews 12:10
People constantly forget, or maybe (to be fair) they never knew, that God lives and thinks and works on an eternal plane.
When God talks about living or dying, he doesn’t mean what we mean when we use those terms: we think I am alive or I am dead because we exist and can only think on a physical plane of existence.
Not so with God- he sees everything from an eternal plane of existence, so when God says live or die, he means eternal damnation or eternal joy in his presence.
As such, what happens on the earth isn’t really important, giving us (with our mortal mindset) the sense that God is cruel or doesn’t care.
But it is the exact opposite- yes, God doesn’t really care about what happens now (but he will intercede on our plane of existence at times) because he cares deeply about what happens for the rest of eternity.
So, when God does soemmthing, like inciting people to do something that willresult in God’s judgement on others, it isn’t so much to get immediate change but to start them on the pathway to eternal salvation.
Great points, Steven.
The Lord always takes the eternal perspective.
Humans not taking the eternal perspective is the chief cause of all the frustration we face this side of heaven.
We become too attached to the promotions, the money, to getting all the sex we can get, not realizing in the eternal scheme of things, those things don’t mean diddly squat.
What I love about the Lord, though, is that even though he takes the eternal perspective, and expects us to do so as well, He also makes sure our earthly or material needs are met.
As Yeshua said…
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”-Matthew 6:31-33
Be blessed!