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Transcript 346B — Was David Moved by the Lord or Satan?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Good evening. I have one question involving two separate parts of the Bible. In II Samuel 24 and I Chronicles 21 there are great similarities. And my main question then is, in reading the opening verses of both chapters, in II Samuel 24 it says the Lord moved David against Israel to count them, but in I Chronicles 21 it says Satan moved David against Israel to count them. And that puzzles me a bit.
HC: All right. Now the question is raised concerning II Samuel 24 as it relates to I Chronicles 21. In II Samuel 24:1 we read, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab, the captain of the host which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people that I may know the number of the people."
Then in I Chronicles 21:1 we read, "And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go number Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan. And bring the number of them to me that I may know it."
And then if we go on in the context we'll discover that this was sin on David's part. Actually, God here is letting Satan have his way. You see, God restrains sin in the lives of unbelievers, He restrains sin in the lives of believers. Even believers like David still have an old nature that lusts after sin. Praise God that once we're saved we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and God strengthens us, so that we are able to not fall so easily under the temptations of Satan. But here God allows Satan to have his way with David, and removes His hand of restraint on David in order that David might commit this sin. Satan can do nothing except under the permissive will of God. We see this very clearly, of course, in Job 1 and 2.
Now this sinful act on David's part was really a repudiation of God being his strength. He was numbering the people of Israel from the same vantage point that the Eastern kings did, to indicate his strength, his power, his might. His glory was not in God at that point. His glory was in his own strength. And so this became a real sin in David's life, and it brought great judgment against the nation of Israel.
CALLER: Yes, I see. Apparently Joab, in both chapters, was reluctant to number. He must have had some knowledge.
HC: Joab, in both of these passages, is really speaking out for the right. In other words, David is doing this in the face of good, sound advice from his general. But you see, when we become perverse, when we take our eyes off God and try to satisfy our own ego or our own pride, sometimes we are very very insistent on having our own way, are we not? And that's where we really get into sin.
CALLER: Okay. Thank you very much.