The Sin of the Census And It's Surprising Outcome (2 Samuel 24)

Introduction: Census

Every 5 years Australia has a census. At worst, it is a mild inconvenience. Someone in each family fills in a questionnaire about who lives in your house. But the good thing is we find out about our country. Who lives in our suburb? What religion are they? What is the average household income. And such data enables our governments to make all kinds of decisions. Where do we put a new school? What services do we need to provide to what areas? What sort of taxes should we impose?

In the ancient world, censuses had a similar function. For governments have always been interested in collecting taxes. From a human perspective, Jesus was born in Bethlehem because of a census.

But there was another important reason why ancient rulers wanted to have a census. They could work out their strength. They could know the size of the army that they could call on. And of course, this was important. Jesus himself tells us this:

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:31 NIV)

And to make that calculation, you have to count your fighting men. And that is why Israel took a census. They were preparing for war (Numbers 1-4, 26)

Context

Of course, in this, and in every area, Israel had to be different for the surrounding nations. So God gave Israel a law about how to take a census. And Israel had to be very careful when they take a census. For there is great danger in counting the number of Israel’s fighting men. Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 to 14:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. (NIV)

First, each fighting man counted must give an amount of money to the tabernacle (eg Exodus 38:25). This money is the ransom price. And it is to be used for the upkeep of the tabernacle.

Why did God demand a ransom price? The ransom price taught that every man in Israel is indebted to God. We are not specifically told why? But we can make a good guess.

The people of Israel belong to Yahweh as Yahweh’s servants. And if the people are to be considered for any other purpose, such as fighting, Yahweh must be paid, as the owner of the person. And the atonement or ransom prices purchases the person’s life.

Second, the census was also a way of collecting money for the tabernacle (Matthew 17:24-25). Because each man had to pay an amount to the tabernacle.

But third, we see there is a danger in counting Israel. Verse 12 mentions the danger of plague when the people are numbered. Again, we are not told why God might be angry about the count. But it is for the same reason that Israel were not to have horses. Counting the fighting men was inherently proud and self-sufficient. It is saying, ‘I’m strong because I’ve got a powerful army’, rather than ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel is my strength and shield’. The census tempted God’s king and people to trust in their army, not God.

Fourth, when we look at other censuses conducted in Israel, we see that Yahweh commanded them (Numbers 1-4; 26). But God doesn’t command David to count the men. So David is at least being presumptious, or, worse, arrogant.

Moreover, the tribe of Levi was not to be included in a military census. Numbers chapter 1 verses 48 to 49:

The Lord had said to Moses: “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. (NIV)

While there are examples of counting the Levites, they were not to be included in a Military census. They belonged to Yahweh for the specific purpose of ministering at the tabernacle. They were not to be used for military service.

David’s Census of the Fighting Men (2 Samuel 24:1-9)

With that background, we come to the last chapter of the books of Samuel. And in the first verse, we again learn that there is something ominous and dangerous in this census taking activity. 2 Samuel 24 verses 1 and 2:

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." ² So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, "Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enrol the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are." (NIV)

Notice verse 1. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel. God is angry with Israel. And the LORD incited David against them.

God is looking for a reason to punish Israel. We can trust that God is just in that desire. And God could of course simply punish them and still be completely just. God has plenty of reasons to punish us, if he wants, for each of us has forfeited our lives by sin. The wages of sin is death.

But God wants to punish his people in a way that shows them their guilt. So David freely, of his own volition, makes a sinful request for a census[1].

David, not God, is responsible for his sin. But the circumstance comes about according to God’s design.

In this verse, we see both the sovereignty of God, and human responsibility. God is sovereign, because he incited David. God, from one perspective, wanted David to take the census. He wanted to chastise his people.

But, from another perspective, God didn’t want the census. Because taking a census often meant God’s moral will had been broken. David wasn’t trusting God. And God never wants that.

This is the God who is in complete control. God has mercy on whom he has mercy, but he hardens whom he hardens. However, he does so using responsible agents, like David. David is guilty, not God. But God is in complete control.

Here are two truths in tension, and we must hold both together: divine sovereignty, and human responsibility. God is fully in control of everything. But God is not the author or originator of sin. Humans, not God, are responsible for their sin.

If that is not hard enough to hold together, let’s make it a bit more complex. There is an interesting parallel verse in 1 Chronicles 21:1. Talking about the very same Census, the Chronicler says:

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. (NIV)

Here, we find another of God’s agents, another of God’s secondary causes. It is Satan. Again, God is in complete control. He wants the census to be taken. But he uses Satan. And Satan uses David. David and Satan are responsible for sin, not God. But what God wants to happen comes about. It is God who is in control, not David nor Satan, although David and Satan are completely responsible.

That David is about to embark on a dangerous activity is shown by 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 3, and Joab’s reaction to the command.

But Joab replied to the king, "May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?"

Joab is clearly worried about this command. Joab knew that the command would bring guilt and God’s anger on Israel (1 Chronicles 21:3). Joab’s concerns seem to reflect the implicit warning in Exodus 30. Certainly, the King should have known Exodus 30, because he was meant to read God’s law daily.

But the king is intent on disobeying God’s word. So the King’s word overruled Joab and the commanders. And they went to enrol the fighting men of Israel. The Chronicler adds that Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. (1 Chronicles 21:6 NIV). Joab was not only worried, but repulsed.

It took Joab and the commanders almost 10 months hard counting and travel. And then they returned and reported to the King. There was 800,000 fighting men in Israel, and 500,000 fighting men in Judah (2 Samuel 24:9)[2]. But notice what is not said. God never says, ‘Go take a census’, as in Numbers 1 to 4 and 26. Again, David is doing something God never asked for, just like he did in wanting to build the temple.

Second, there is no report of the atonement money being paid. The Old Testament law said a silver coin had to be paid for each troop. But there is no record that it was paid.

Third, there is no report here of the Levites being excluded[3]. David never said to exclude the Levites. Indeed, it’s probable that the Levites were included in the count recorded in 2 Samuel.

These things suggest that David had sinned knowing in commanded the census. He had again broken God’s law, just like he did when he committed adultery and murder. And it is probable that like his adultery and murder, David did it against knowledge. David knew it was sin, but did it anyway.

Consequences of the Census

David’s Conscience (verse 10)

So the census is taken and the dirty deed is done. What now? After the sin, then what? The first consequence is in verse 10:

David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." (NIV)

David is conscience stricken. We’ve seen David conscience stricken before: In the cave when he cut Saul’s robe and after Nathan convicts him of adultery and murder.

It would have been better if David had been conscience stricken before the event at the very thought of counting the troops. Conscience is there to guide us before the event, so that we avoid the sin. That is conscience’s positive use, to keep us from sin. We wisely heed conscience before the sin, and run away from the sin, because we know that after the sin, conscience has a much more fearsome role. So Christians should educate their conscience by God’s law, and obey conscience. David in Psalm 32 verses 3 to 4 shows us what a conscience stricken person looks like.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. (NIV)

After the sin, a properly working conscience condemns us for our sin. Conscience is judge, jury and executioner, smiting us, giving us guilty feelings that we know are right and just. These are the symptoms of guilt that flow from conviction of sin.

And a person with an offended conscience cannot live with themselves. If the conscience is working rightly, the conscience never gives that person peace, unless the thing that offends conscience is put right. It is put right by forgiveness toward God and restitution towards humans. Conscience stricken David does the only thing he can in the midst of his fear and guilt. David goes to God and begs forgiveness. Verse 10 again.

"I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." (NIV)

This is sensible. This is only thing David can do. And it is the only thing we can do when we are convicted of sin. When confronted with our sin, we need to go to God and confess it. We need to open up our sin to God, and let God cover it over, not us, in his time.

The Plague (2 Samuel 24:11-17)

But when the King sins, as we’ve seen, the nation suffers. That is just the way God made the world. The king can bring good to his people, like fighting their battles for them. But the king can bring evil to them, like incurring guilt on behalf of the nation. If you want a king, you need to take the good with the bad.

In Exodus chapter 30 verse 12, as we saw, God had warned 400 years earlier of the dangers of taking a census. There was a real possibility of plague. Well, now, we will see that possibility become a reality. For God gives David a horrible choice. Verses 11 to 13:

Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: "Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’" ¹³ So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me."

As a parent, have you ever said to your kids: OK, what will your punishment be: a smack, or you do the washing up when it’s not your turn, or you go in you room for the rest of the day with no TV? You choose your method of punishment. David faced the same sort of choice, except the consequences for David are much more serious.

And the child that wants it over and done with chooses the smack. I don’t want to be stuck in my room or the kitchen. And maybe dad might give me a soft one, anyway. Dad’s sometimes kind. Maybe I can get him to go easy on me. But the child who cannot bear physical punishment takes incarceration. And only a child that wants to be helpful would decide to do the dishes.

It’s a horrible dilemma, but verse 14 show David chooses the smack. And he gives his reason.

David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

David says ‘I’d rather deal with God directly, because he is full of mercy. He might mitigate the punishment. He might give me a softer smack, because he is merciful and compassionate father.’

And the events show that David was wise to choose dealing with God directly. David knew his God.

And Yahweh, the angry yet compassionate God, plagued Israel for the three days (verse 15). The agent of the plague was an Angel. And 70,000 lay dead across David’s kingdom. So much for the census. It’s already wrong. David has less troops now than he started with.

But just as David suspected, God would mitigate his punishment. Verse 16:

When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. (NIV)

From Tragedy and Mitigation Comes the Place of Grace

And the place where God stops the judgment is important. We see this in verse 18:

On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

So David purchases the site[4] and builds an altar and sacrifices burnt offerings. (verse 25) And we read in verse 25:

Then the LORD answered prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped. (NIV)

And we think, ‘Well, that’s it. Another day saved.' And we think nothing more of the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

But we should. Because we know where Araunah the Jebusite had his threshing floor. It was on Mount Moriah, on what we call, the temple mount. 1 Chronicles chapter 22 verse 1 tells us this:

Then David said, "The house of the LORD God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel." (NIV)

So too does 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 1:

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. (NIV)

We’ve heard about Mount Moriah before this. In Genesis 22:2, God told Abraham to go to Mount Moriah, to offer his Son, his only Son, the son whom he loved, Isaac, as a sacrifice. But of course, God stayed the knife-wielding hand and provided a ram in place of Isaac.

On that same mountain 1000 years later, God stopped the plague that he brought on Israel. Just as he commanded Abraham to withdraw his hand and put away his knife, so again, as David stood with the elders in sackcloth and ashes, on the same mountain, God commanded the angel to put away his sword. On that same site, where Abraham offered a ram in place of his Son, David the King Priest of Salem, like Melchizedek before him, offered sacrifices to Yahweh, God Most High. And on that site, for the best part of a thousand years afterwards, the Priests of Israel, the sons of Aaron, offered morning and evening sacrifices to turn away God’s wrath from the people.

And when Jesus ministered in Israel, he went to that site Jesus went and taught, and claimed it was his Father’s house, and cleared it out. And as a result, just outside the city, probably in view of that mount, Jesus was crucified and died, offering the one true sacrifice for sins outside the city wall. And on that site, as Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. For Jesus had stopped the anger of God once and for all against those who trust in him. The anger of God was removed from God’s people, never to be incited again. And it all happened on that site, and next to it.

Conclusion

People love a census, counting the numbers. They love to count the people to see the strength of their numbers.

Ministers are one of the worst for loving numbers. They love to count the people who come to their church. Unless of course there are too few, in which case they give up counting numbers because its too depressing, but pretend they are bigger than all that numbers stuff.

Those who count the money at Sunday church also count the people. The old joke is that you don’t let the minister count the people, because they count feet. Because the minister has a vested interest in having more people at church. Because then the minister with compare his count with his minister friends. And the nominators will ask him about the numbers, ‘How much has your church grown under your ministry. We want a rector who can grow our church.’

And the synod will asks, ‘How many people come to his church. We want our Archbishop to have a good track record.’

And while it is all a bit more sophisticated than the bald ‘My church is bigger than your church!’, sadly for some things it does seem to boil down to such crude measures.

Now, numbers matter, because behind every number is a person. And behind every person is an eternal soul. And that eternal soul with spend an eternity either with Jesus or without him, either in heaven or in hell. Shepherds count sheep to make sure that no one is missing. Shepherds count sheep because Jesus promised to build his church, and Jesus seems to do it one believer at a time. Every true Christian wants more believers to join us at church while we wait for Jesus Christ to return. So numbers do matter.

And it is always easy for small churches to simply be jealous of big churches. And so the small churches easily falls into criticizing the big church just because it is big.

But numbers, while they matter, aren’t the most important thing. Jonathan got it right. 1 Samuel chapter 14 verse 6:

‘Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.’ (NIV)

If David had remembered that God can save by many or few, that, he wouldn’t have numbered his forces. And Jesus relativizes numbers. Remember Jesus’ promise, Matthew chapter 18 verse 20:

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (NIV)

Jesus by his Spirit is with the two or three just as much as the 20 or the 2000 or the 20,000, or the 2 billion. Jesus does not despise the day of small things when his people are gathered. He is with us when we meet in his name, even if it is with just one other person, even if it’s just with a member of your family, or your spouse. If you are meeting around your bible and prayer together, that is as much church with as much the presence of Jesus Christ as the biggest congregation on the face of the earth with the most amazing leader and most mind-blowing music.

And the other reason we can relativize the count is because of the end. For counting will be no good where we are heading. Revelation chapter 7 verses 9 to 10:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb."

God said to Abraham, conduct a census of the stars in the sky, or count up the grains of sand on the sea shore, or count the specks of dust of the earth. So shall your offspring be. And we who have faith in Jesus Christ are his offspring, praise be to God.

Let’s pray.

[1] The census count is clearly presented as sin (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). David confesses that he was the one who acted sinfully in the count (2 Samuel 24:10, 17; 1 Chronicles 21:8, 17). He was warned by Joab before he did it (1 Chronicles 21:3). Afterwards, he blames only himself, and asks for the punishment to be visited on himself and his family. The Chronicler also says it was evil in God’s sight (1 Chronicles 21:7). So David sinfully acted bringing guilt on himself.

[2] 1 Chronicles 21:5-6 sits in tension with these figures in 2 Samuel 24:9. Rather than 800,000 in ‘Israel’ and 500,000 in Benjamin and Judah, the Chronicler reported 1,100,000 in ‘all Israel’ and 470,000 in Judah. The LXX Lucianic Recension has 900,000 and 400,000 respectively, though it can probably can be dispensed with as a scribal emendment. How can the numbers be reconciled?

H G M Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles: NCBC, 145, says the Chronicler records the total figure of 1.1 million for all Israel (including Judah), but does not equal 1.3 million of 2 Samuel because he deducted 200,000 for Levi and Benjamin (on the assumption that he gave 100,000 for each tribe, with Ephraim and Manassah making 13). 30,000 then is somewhat inconsistently later deducted from Judah’s figures for the exclusion of Benjamin. But this assumes that the there was a later hand, a glossator, who deducted 30,000 from Judah. Compare Selman: ‘Unfortunately, this proposal is unjustified and inconsistent. There is no independent evidence of any textual addition, and nowhere else does Chronicles use the simplistic figure of one hundred thousand for each tribe. It is also inconsistent to assume that a glossator has deducted only 30,000 for Benjamin’s omission from Judah’s total of four hundred and seventy thousand’: M J Selman, 1 Chronicles: TOTC, 205.

While it may be that 30,000 was deducted from Judah for Benjamin, it is not necessary that the Chronicler assumed 100,000 for each tribe. It could be that Levi indeed did have 170,000, while Benjamin had only 30,000. If that was the case, then the numbers in 2 Samuel 24 include Levi and Benjamin. This would have increased the guilt of Israel, because Levi should not have been included in a military census (Numbers 1:48-49, 2:33). So then the Northern tribes as ‘Israel’ with Levi had a total of 800,000, of which Levi had 170,000, and Judah with Benjamin had a total of 500,000 of which 30,000 was Benjamin. Including Levi and Benjamin gives a figure of 1.3 million for the United Kingdom, as in 2 Samuel 24:9. Excluding Levi and Benjamin gives 1.1 million for the United Kingdom, and 470,000 for Benjamin, as in 1 Chronicles 21:5-6. The maths works, but the difficulties are that Levi has 170,000 enrolled, which is vastly more than in Numbers, but not impossible.

The inclusion of Levi in the military census is in contradiction to Numbers 1:48-49, 2:33. The Levites were indeed counted in Numbers 3:14-51 at Sinai and Numbers 26:57-62 on the plains of Moab at Yahweh’s command, but it appears that neither of these were a military census.

However, in the alternative, it is possible that the Chronicler records the full number (1.1 million for Israel’s northern tribes which denotes ‘all Israel’, and 470,00 for Judah, totaling 1.57 million), while 2 Samuel records the number without Levi and Benjamin of 1.3 million (1 Chronicles 21:6). Selman says “‘All Israel’ does not inevitably include the south”: 206 fn 1. If so, the Chronicler then may be explaining the lower number in 2 Samuel 24 by the omission of Levi and Benjamin, and himself gives the higher number inclusive of Levi and Benjamin. The difference in the figure for Judah may simply be the result of rounding the figures (compare Selman, 205-6).

[3] 1 Chronicles 21:5-6 says ‘5 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. 6 But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. 7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.’ My resolution of the different numbers depends on 2 Samuel 24 including Benjamin and Levi, while 1 Chronicles 21 excluding Benjamin and Levi. If that is the case, did or didn’t Joab count Benjamin and Levi? My reconciliation requires that Joab did actually count Benjamin and Levi, and had the records of that count (which came down to 2 Samuel and the Chronicler), but Joab didn’t include the count of those tribes in the numbers of his report to David. That is, Levi and Benjamin were not represented in the numbering presented to the King. It may be that David in his sinfulness commanded the counting of Levi against the word of God, but that Joab refused to report it. If so, David’s guilt was all the greater.

[4] 2 Samuel 24:24 says the cost of the threshing floor and the oxen was 50 shekels of silver. 1 Chronicles 21:25 says that cost of the site was 600 shekels of gold. Rashi argued that 50 shekels was the price paid for each of the twelve tribes, equaling 600, but that doesn’t explain the difference between the silver and the gold: A A Anderson, 2 Samuel: WBC, 287. It is possible that a larger sum was provided for a wider site, and the smaller sum was payable for the threshing floor and the oxen but not the wider site: compare Selman, 1 Chronicles: TOTC, 210 and Williamson, ‘More prosaically, the Chronicler thought of David buying the whole site, rather than just the threshing floor itself’: H G M Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles: NCBC, 150