3 bad options
Hey Marbs,
I found this story very interesting and maybe we can figure it out together. King David did a census of his kingdom. And everyone wondered why? So much so that Joab, his commander in chief, and nephew of the King, said this, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”
From my very little research on the historical reasons and what was happening around that time in history. Guys, this video needs to be short and sweet, okay.
No wars, no attacks, no conquering, no famine, no raising of taxes. I mean, isn’t that why we do a census most of the time? The point is that nothing was going on that needed a census. So I started to really do my best to think on the why for David, because this was all David God did not want him to do this either.
This same story was told in two different books, the first time mentioned was in 1st Chronicles 21, reading from the NLT it says in verse one that, ‘Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.” That made sense to me, especially when you go with the concept that ‘the devil made me do it or they were filled with the devil and so forth’ but that just didn’t seem correct. The next time this story is mentioned is 2 Samuel 24, and that says, Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. huh… So which one made David do it?
I will come back to this in closing because what really made me interested in this story, as I listened to bible audible while I drove into Fairbanks this day, is that God gave David three options for punishment. Number one, three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies (they had a lot of enemies)! Three days of severe plague throughout the land.
Can someone tell me why the people of this nation had to suffer because of their ruler? If anything, David and his family should be punished. He made the decision not his people, that is what drew me to this story! ‘David this is your fault why I got to suffer?’ were literally my thoughts. David even said, “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad(the seeker who told him what God said). “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” Yo, I was floored so much so that I listened to this section like three weeks ago and have been asking God what he needs to show me because I was so mad at every single angle of this story. This plague allegedly deleted, (shout out to the content creator for sharing this word to help our videos to stay up on these various platforms.) This plague deleted 70,000 people. Marbs, the census counted 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and 500,000 in Judah; 2nd Samuel 24:9 and 1st Chronicles 21:5 said There were 1,100,000 warriors in all Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah.
Let’s do the comparison with the larger numbers, shall we
That number is roughly the population of:
San Diego, CA (~1.4M)
Dallas, TX (~1.3M)
Philadelphia, PA (~1.6M)
Thank you ChatGPT. ChatGPT even said that basically The fighting force David counted would equal the entire population of a major modern city or the full army of a global superpower. Which led me to another theory I found in my research that pretty much says David was showing off; he alluded to the fact that his kingdom was so great that he could handle anything. Oh, to not let us follow in our predecessor's footsteps, David.
But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” verse 16. No words, honestly, I have no words.
David made a mistake, as a King, as a child of God, and as the great, great, great-grandfather of Jesus. In a moment, he repeated the actions of Saul, the first King of Israel, and became self-made when, if it wasn’t for God choosing him as King of a nation, he would have continued being a shepherd to a flock of sheep. But what made David different from all the other Kings? He saw his error, asked for forgiveness, and hoped that God would have forgiven him.
Proverbs 18:23NLT says you will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.
Can it be that easy to just make the biggest mistake in your life, and God, being God, gives you grace and forgives you?
David did not stop sinning after this or even before this situation, but what makes David’s relationship with God so interesting is that when he messed up, he would repent deeply to God, asking him not to leave him. Please don’t take your holy spirit away from me! Psalm 51:11.
Growing up, I used to get teased about being a Christian, and let me say a curse word here or cuss somebody out there, oh boy, I would hear, ‘I thought you were a christian.’ My response has always been this, and maybe David could have related.
Yes, I am a Christian, and the difference between you and me is that I can go to my Heavenly Father and ask, beg for forgiveness of my sins. What about you?
2nd Samuel 24:14“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”
And that’s what the bible says, not TJ