 From the Editor |
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What’s Wrong with Counting?
Perfecting our faith. By Anika E. Sandy-Hanson
Recently, I was reading about King David and what occurred when he decided to take a census of Israel. This account is found in both 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 and details the events surrounding and resulting from David commanding a census of the children of Israel. Although I had read the scriptures before, I had to research the account for a Bible study, and this allowed me to gain some true insight into this doubly recorded story. What I found has given me a greater appreciation for my perspective as a Christian, and I believe it will be helpful for all of us.
Did God Tempt David To Sin? The first lesson comes at the very beginning of the story. In verse one of 2 Samuel 24 in the King James Version (KJV) the writer tells us, “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.” From this wording it appears God incited David to do something we later see is wrong. However, this is dichotomous, or contradictory, to what we know about the nature of our Lord. Would he cause or drive us to sin? To answer this I looked to the most insightful description of how human beings are tempted to commit sin—the book of Job. In this account Satan and all the angels went to heaven to be accountable to God. Like us, these beings aren’t allowed to do whatever they choose, we can be confidant that Yahweh is always in charge. This introduction shows that God allowed Satan to test, or tempt, Job. This set a precedence that could lead us to believe that God probably allowed Satan to tempt David. In fact, if we read a different translation of the census account we see this is exactly what happened. First Chronicles 21:1 Contemporary English Version (CEV) reads, “Satan decided to cause trouble for Israel by making David think it was a good idea to find out how many people there were in Israel and Judah.” This situation occurs for all human beings, but especially for Christians. Satan is always looking for ways to trip us up and trick us out of our salvation. He would have liked nothing better than to catch David in a sin from which he couldn’t escape. But let’s see what David did after Satan put this idea in his head. In 1 Samuel 24 David’s command was not to count all the people of Israel as the KJV implies, rather, he wanted Joab to see how many men he could enlist in his army to fight when war time came. The Purpose of Our Actions This is where we get our second lesson—it’s not always about what we do, but why we do it. David was trying to assess his military strength; he wanted to be confident that when battles came he had enough human might to win. We might ask, what’s wrong with that? The answer is evident if we look at how David started out his career as a warrior. When David faced Goliath he wasn’t concerned with human might, he was focused on God and the reality that all of our strength is from the Lord. In that battle we see David put his faith in the right place and was rewarded. In the census account David tried to get confidence from man, and he was punished. Likewise, we have to put our faith in God rather than in our possessions, others, or ourselves. We see this supported in Romans 1:17, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” The King James Version gives an idea of what Paul is conveying; however, the Worldwide English version makes things much clearer; “The good news shows how God puts a person right. God puts a person right when that person believes in his Son and keeps on believing. The holy writings say, ‘A person who is put right because he believes, will live for ever.’” Thus, we must repent of our sins and then commit to living a righteous life based on an unwavering faith in God. Through this formula we can have true success. We must make no mistake that David learned his lesson and teaches us in the process. If we complete both Old Testament accounts we realize that David repented of his sin and gained favor with God and his people. But that is a lesson for another day; for now we can rest assured that faith in God is the best insurance we could ever have and we need to practice this faith until we have it perfected (James 2:22). |