My Thoughts on David's Sinful Numbering of the People

Both 2nd Samuel 24 (the final chapter of the said book) and 1st Chronicles 21 talk about David's sinful numbering of the people of Israel. Numbering the people wasn't really wrong. Exodus 30 has God commanded Moses to take a census. What we read here is that David really had the sin of pride that led the census to be taken.

There's also the alleged contradiction of 1st Samuel 24:1 and 1st Chronicles 21:1 say the following:

And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. 

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

So how do we reconcile this? First and foremost, we do have to realize that Job teaches one simple fact - God doesn't let Satan attack the believer without permission. Satan had to go to Heaven and get God's permission before he can do anything. We can see that God has allowed Satan to arouse David for a reason. Perhaps David was already becoming arrogant or much evil was in the land that God would allow Satan to do what he does best. God always has a reason to allow Satan to do wickedness based on His sovereignty. Re-reading the book of Job would allow you to understand (in part) how God can use even Satan the father of evil for His purposes.

Now, what was wrong with the census? I was thinking about it that David may have also forgotten this command about the census of Moses:

Exodus 30:12-15 

12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

Making a reference to the Bible with the Bible is the best way to interpret. You can see that God commanded Moses to take a census. When Satan provoked David as God allowed it - it''s possible that Satan purposely allowed David to forget God gave to Moses. David may have forgotten that God commanded Moses that every man was to pay half a shekel when numbering was done. 

I was thinking about what Joab, David's nephew, also said in 2nd Chronicles 21:3:

And Joab answered, The LORD make His people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

I was wondering if Joab was either reminding his Uncle David about the required instructions or David was becoming self-confident. Either way, both self-confidence and ignoring the instructions that God gave to Moses regarding on how to take the census. What I love about Christianity is the give and take relationship. It's very common to have the two extremes of authority. One is authorities speak and the subordinates are just to shut up and listen without question. The other is when authorities refuse to do their job at all and cease to be authorities. The Bible commands in Ephesians 5:21 to submit yourselves one to another. We are commanded to honor our authorities. Our authorities are also commanded to honor those below them. Joab may have been his Uncle David's nephew but he had the duty to rebuke his uncle. David probably felt his position of authority made him right over Joab. David was probably getting arrogant yet again never mind that the incident with Bathsheba had severely humbled him.

The "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible" writes the following on the matter:

10-13. David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned--The act of numbering the people was not in itself sinful; for Moses did it by the express authority of God. But David acted not only independently of such order of sanction, but from motives unworthy of the delegated king of Israel; from pride and vainglory; from self-confidence and distrust of God; and, above all, from ambitious designs of conquest, in furtherance of which he was determined to force the people into military service, and to ascertain whether he could muster an army sufficient for the magnitude of the enterprises he contemplated. It was a breach of the constitution, an infringement of the liberties of the people, and opposed to that divine policy which required that Israel should continue a separate people. His eyes were not opened to the heinousness of his sin till God had spoken unto him by His commissioned prophet.

1. Satan stood up against Israel--God, by withdrawing His grace at this time from David permitted the tempter to prevail over him. As the result of this successful temptation was the entail of a heavy calamity as a punishment from God upon the people, it might be said that "Satan stood up against Israel." 

number Israel--In the act of taking the census of a people, there is not only no evil, but much utility. But numbering Israel--that people who were to become as the stars for multitude, implying a distrust of the divine promise, was a sin; and though it had been done with impunity in the time of Moses, at that enumeration each of the people had contributed "half a shekel towards the building of the tabernacle," that there might be no plague among them when he numbered them ( Exodus 30:12 ). Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected ("the atonement money," Exodus 30:16 ) appeased Him. Everything depended, therefore, upon the design of the census [BERTHEAU]. The sin of David numbering the people consisted in its being either to gratify his pride to ascertain the number of warriors he could muster for some meditated plan of conquest; or, perhaps, more likely still, to institute a regular and permanent system of taxation, which he deemed necessary to provide an adequate establishment for the monarchy, but which was regarded as a tyrannical and oppressive exaction--an innovation on the liberty of the people--a departure from ancient usage unbecoming a king of Israel. 

So, we can see that David was already taking matters into his own hands. We don't know what his reason was but having been directly appointed by God - He had the privilege that no other earthly ruler has today. God commanded Moses to take a census but not David. So David with doing what he did wasn't trusting God's provision or that he failed to consult God. God would already know what David's purpose was. 

There was no sin in taking statistics - the problem was David had some pride going on as Vernon McGee would suggest in his "Thru the Bible Commentary" which says the following: 

God was not pleased when David took a census becasueDavid was not delighting in the LORD; he was delighting in his own might. So the thing that motivated him to number the people was the awful sin of unbelief. David was trusting numbers instead of God. 

So why did God let a plague happen? Again, I think Exodus 30:12 was ignored by David. I wonder where was Nathan in all of this? The prophet Nathan could've advised David early on against this but for some reason, God didn't send Nathan to David. Nathan didn't appear again until David's death bed to remind them that God wanted Solomon to be the next king. David should've had the people prepare for the atonement money so there will be no plague. He was probably cutting corners and ignored God's warning to Moses way back in Exodus 30. Why it affected the people was again because the people were participants in the disobedience. Although God always requires us to never punish the guilty along with the innocent (such as that the sons of Korah were spared because they didn't participate with the rebellion of their father) - the effects of sin also do affect others. If a ruler decides to rule unwisely then doesn't such foolishness afflict the citizens too? David was already given the supernatural privilege and failed to see it. David was already failing to put his trust in God by choosing to delight in his power than the one Who provided the power. 

What can also be seen is David's repentance. In short, he was saying, "LORD, why not punish me instead?" in 2nd Samuel 24:17. I was thinking of here of David was probably already sick. He was probably 68 or 69 - just a year or two before Solomon would turn 20 years old. It really makes me think he was preparing for the foundations of Solomon's kingdom but failed to see God is the one behind the power of the future kingdom. I don't think such humility could be derived if David didn't experience the wrong decision. It was probably to teach David in his final moments to never let pride take over. David would later give burnt offerings and peace offerings. Also, I think David was allowed to commit the mistake to get rid of whatever evil there was at the land at that time. But right now, I can't really give a full thought on this matter and only God knows the rest of the story.