Chapter 24
Last chapter of 2Sam.
2 Sam 23 started with "The Last Words of David". Then it named all his mighty men, including Uriah the Hittite. And now, in 24, we have David still king, and events proceeding. Why, I wonder, were David's last words inserted well before his actual death?
After the 3 year famine is over, God is again angry with Israel and incites David against them. David orders that a census be taken. Joab is against it but David is the King. So they go to number the people. This was a military thing, and they were counting the able bodied for the army of Israel.
2022 - This doesn't really say that David messed up badly in taking the census. It says God caused this to happen. God "incited" David.
It took 9 months and 20 days to do the numbering. Israel had 800,000, Judah had 500,000. These are different numbers than Chronicles has. Could have been that the "standing" army in each case was not included here but was in Chronicles. MSB has several other explanations that harmonize the numbers in each place. He does not think it is a typo.
2022 - It does seem strange however, that there are so many in Judah compared to Israel. Geographically, Israel is much larger.
After it's all over, David's conscience bothers him and he realizes this numbering not of God was a sin. It seems interesting to me that David was "incited" in vs 1 because God was angry at Israel, but now it is David that has sinned. Ultimately, it is the nation that suffers, so this seems to be God's intent from the first.
2022 -
How do you resolve this verse: 1 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, number Israel and Judah." [2Sa 24:1 ESV]
with this verse: 10 But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly." [2Sa 24:10 ESV].
God seems to me to have ordered David to do this and then held him to account for it as a sin. How is this not God ordering David to sin? MSB takes us to the notes on 1 Chr 21 where it says: 1 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. [1Ch 21:1 ESV]. This makes things even more difficult - at least for me. The MSB notes say that God used Satan, as he sometimes does, both sovereignly and permissively, to achieve his purposes. This is a very unsatisfactory statement. MSB then has a list of ways that God uses Satan - four ways are listed, including to judge sinners (Mk 4.15, 2 Co 4.4), to refine saints (Job 1.8-2.10; Lk 22.31,32), to discipline those in the church (1Co 5.1-5; 1Ti 1.20), and to further purify obedient believers (2Co 12.7-10). There are multiple verses after each one. Something like this - something as confusing as this - ought to be studied and one should have an explanation ready at hand. I went back and put in the references so I can study them in East Texas. Still...is the fact that God does do things this way sufficient to explain what's going on here? I guess it would be wiser to wait until after I've read all these references to answer that question...but as of now, this seems like one of those things you have to just except without complete understanding.
From succeeding events, it seems that David was also in error during this time, perhaps prideful about the size of his army, or otherwise exulting in how favored by the Lord he was. The fact that his song comes before this might be to show that he had developed some pride of position, and was crediting himself with being worthy of it rather than thanking God for undeserved blessing. In any case, and however these events came about, they were corrective for David.
For punishment, God gives David three choices. Another three years of famine, 3 months on the run from his enemies, or 3 days pestilence. David chooses the last, because it is all in God's hands, and not men's hands.
This verse:
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. [2Sa 24:15 ESV]
The pestilence kills 70,000 people. How do we read this in light of the corona virus. A pestilence is surely killing a lot of people in the US. Is it a punishment against us generally, a punishment brought on by our leader(s)? Or is this something that happened in the OT, and has nothing to do with today in the US? I don't think there's a connection, except the general one. God had a specific covenant with Israel and had told them that if they rebelled, over time, then the corrections he sent to them would grow more frequent and more intense. We have no such specific covenant - we are under the new covenant. What we have with corona is the birth pang sequence of the end times. This is not a new thing, as 1918 Spanish Flu would attest. Perhaps these diseases will get more frequent. But the first sign of the last 7 years is the white horse. Here are my notes about that horse:
First seal, white horse, bow, crown. Conquering and to conquer. A bow but no arrows. A ruler who ascends not through war but through intrigue, subterfuge, and back room negotiations. BTN chart says this corresponds to Mt 24:4,5:
4 And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. [Mat 24:4-5 ESV] There isn't even a hint at this point in Revelation that the "conqueror" is pretending to be Jesus. Seems a pretty big stretch to me. We know that "false Christs" are often spoken of in the epistles, almost all of which were written before 70 AD. That is when false Christs were everywhere.
So...where is this leader? If this is end times, then where is he? I don't think we are at the first seal. We are still in the birth pangs.
When the angel doing the killing gets to Jerusalem, God relents, and stays his hand. David asks that the punishment be on him and his father's house, not on Jerusalem.
Gad tells David to build an altar. He does so, and offers sacrifices, and the plague is averted.
2023 - This chapter, and indeed the book of 2Samuel, end rather abruptly. They just stop.