The Life & Times of King David | Dr. Randy White
2 Samuel 24:1-24 | A Census and its Consequences | Sermon 42
God’s Anger and David's Census (2 Samuel 24:1-9)
In this passage, the Lord's anger is kindled, though the reason isn't specified. In His anger, He leaves David to his own devices. 2 Samuel 24:1 suggests that the Lord prompted David to "Go, number Israel and Judah." While this might seem like a typical royal duty, it is problematic. The key issue is: "Who initiated the census?" It's troubling to think God would instigate something sinful that leads to punishment.
This confusion deepens when comparing 2 Samuel 24:1 with 1 Chronicles 21:1, which states, "Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." How can one passage attribute the action to the Lord and another to Satan? The proposed resolution is that the Lord, angry with Israel, withdraws His protection, allowing Satan to influence David—similar to the story of Job.
When David instructs Joab to take the census (verses 2-3), Joab objects: "Why would you want to do such a thing? The number of Israel is the Lord's doing, not ours." This objection is rooted in Moses' instruction in Exodus 30:12, which states that each person must pay a ransom when counted to prevent a plague, acknowledging that the nation belongs to the Lord.
Despite Joab's attempts to dissuade him, David insists, and the census takes nine months and 20 days. The final count is "eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword" in Israel and "five hundred thousand men" in Judah (v. 9).
God’s Judgment for the Census (2 Samuel 24:10-14)
David expresses remorse for his actions, confessing, "I have done very foolishly" (v. 10), and pleads with the Lord to "take away the iniquity of thy servant." The prophet Gad reappears and offers David three punishment options:
1. seven years of famine,
2. three months of fleeing from enemies, or
3. three days of pestilence sent by the Lord.
These choices highlight the severity of David's sin, each causing significant suffering to Israel. Faced with this decision, David responds, "I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man" (v. 14).
The Plague (2 Samuel 24:15-17)
The plague moved southward, sparing only Jerusalem, and 70,000 men perished. An angel executed God's judgment and was about to destroy Jerusalem when "the LORD relented from the calamity and said, 'Enough! Withdraw your hand.'" The term "evil" originally meant "calamity," and "repented" indicates that God changed His mind.
This raises the question: Can God change His mind? The text suggests He can, and any struggle with this concept may stem from our own theological assumptions.
The angel is identified as "the angel of the LORD," possibly a Christophany—a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. This event occurred at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, a location that becomes significant later. Witnessing the devastation, David pleads for the punishment to fall on him rather than on the people (v. 17).).
David’s Altar and Sacrifice (2 Samuel 24:18-25)
Upon the command of the Lord through the prophet Gad, David determined to build an altar to the Lord at the very place the plague was stopped. He approached Arauna, the landowner, to purchase the property. Araunah graciously offered not only the land, but also oxen and everything needed for an altar and a sacrifice. But David would not take it, giving some of the most famous words of his life, insisting that he would not offer to the Lord “that which doth cost me nothing” (v. 24). David purchased the property, built the altar, offered the sacrifice, “and the plague was stayed from Israel” (v. 25).
It's worth noting that verse 24 states David paid 50 shekels of silver for the threshing floor, while 2 Chronicles 21:25 mentions 600 shekels. How can we reconcile this difference? Rather than assuming an error in the text, we can reasonably conclude that the two accounts refer to different aspects of the same purchase. Bullinger suggests that the 50 shekels were for the threshing floor alone, while 600 covered the entire "place," as worded slightly differently in 2 Chronicles 21:25. Jewish tradition offers another interpretation: 50 shekels per tribe, totaling 600.
David’s Attempted Temple (2 Chronicles 22:1-8)
At the climax of 2 Samuel 24, David builds an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, where the plague was halted. This location becomes profoundly significant, later serving as the site of the Temple—the central place of worship in Israel for centuries.
In 1 Chronicles 22:1, David declares, "This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel." This marks the recognition that this site would host the future Temple, where God's presence would dwell and sacrifices for Israel's sins would be offered.
David immediately begins gathering workers and materials, setting masons to cut stones and preparing abundant iron, brass, and cedar wood from the Zidonians and Tyrians (2 Chron. 22:2-4). However, all this was preparatory. God had told David in 2 Samuel 7:13 that his son would build the Temple. Acknowledging this, David prepares extensively before his death (1 Chronicles 22:5), but verse 8 reveals that God did not permit him to build it because he had shed much blood during his reign.
Despite David's dreams, property purchase, and material preparations, the cornerstone of the Temple would ultimately be laid by Solomon four years after David’s death (1 Kings 6:1)
