Why was God so angry at David for taking the census?

2 Samuel 24 brings before us one scene more, with which the book closes. "And again the anger of Jehovah 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 Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people." Oh, what a forgetfulness of the Lord! He was everything to David, and everything to Israel, yet David was now repeating the sin of Saul in principle. The people would have a king, when God was their king; and the king thinks of the people only as his own. The people forgot their highest portion was God, and wanted to be like the nations; and the king whom God gave now sought a people just like a Gentile. It was the worst unfaithfulness in David, now evidently a snare to the king. It was judged in Israel; how much more judged in David! Even Joab was alarmed and shocked. He felt that it was not only a crime, but (what he cared for far more) a blunder. Joab would not have stuck much at a sin if it had seemed useful politically; but Joab was too good a politician to be guilty of a blunder, and his quick eye soon perceived that the numbering of Israel was a fatal mistake; not that he cared to please Jehovah, but he would avoid His displeasure, and felt for the interests of the kingdom of David his uncle.

The king proceeds, spite of Joab's remonstrance; the number is taken, and God seems as if He saw it not and heard it not. Months and months passed on, and the king's will and word was still being carried out; but then comes the heavy sentence from God, and David has to choose which of three strokes of His anger he will have. David, guilty as he was, chose like a man of faith; for the believer shows his faith even after he had been so faulty. David under any circumstances prefers God's hand, though it were stretched out against him, to man's hand. But God's hand did not slacken. For very love, for His own name's sake, God could not, would not, spare; and the plague swept over the land and people as a terrible scourge. But in the midst of judgment mercy rejoiced against it, and that very Jerusalem from which the guilty order went forth was the place where the hand of judgment was stayed; and if grace thus would prove itself mightier than judgment — and it always will — grace would prove itself in every way, for it was to David that God listened. The guilty one that had brought the plague on Israel pleads and is heard. It was at the threshing-floor of a poor stranger — of a Gentile — that the uplifted hand of the angel was stayed. This purchased possession of the king God would make the site of His house, the blessed connecting link between heaven and earth, between God and man, in days yet to dawn on a world still groaning, but to be surely blessed under the Lord Jesus.

The state of Israel is such that God is provoked to anger against them, and out of this comes the thought which God permits to be suggested to David, to number the people. It is a military order, clearly having respect to their strength for war, and which shows the spirit dictating it, a spirit in which king and people shared alike. The victories abroad, the growth of a petty kingdom hardly able to preserve its independence of the nations round it, into an empire, — had no doubt intoxicated them with pride and ambition. And pride is the giant sin of a fallen nature, the essential evil, man lifting himself up, even against God. It is the typal sin, therefore; and against which God must, in very mercy, show Himself. He therefore exhibits it, and smites upon it. So plainly is it manifest, and yet so blind is the one actuated by it, that Joab sees at once the evil which David cannot see. He demurs to the numbering, shirks it as far as possible, but is overborne by the king's mandate. The sum of the people is delivered to the king; and only then does his conscience awake to the meaning of what he has done. Little, after all, would it seem in man's eyes; but God seeth not as man seeth.

The reason for God's anger burning against Israel (v.1) is not told us: if there is no public occasion for it, then it must be due to the moral and spiritual condition of the nation. Very likely that condition was represented in the pride that led David to desire to have Israel numbered. The nation had grown from a small people of no significance in the world's eyes into a strong empire. Had this humbled the people in thankfulness for the grace of God in so blessing them? Apparently not. We too easily glory in numbers, as though our increase in numbers makes us more distinguished than others. God allowed David to follow his natural inclinations of pride in being the king of so great a nation. No doubt Israel had the same proud thoughts, and God saw that this needed some serious humbling. When David gave instructions to Joab to number the people. Even Joab, self-centered man as he was, realized that David's desire stemmed only from pride, and protested that, while it would be good to see Israel increased one hundred fold, yet to take delight in the number of the people appeared unseemly in his eyes. It is often true that an unbeliever can see through the inconsistent ways of a believer.

David insisted on his having the people numbered, though the commander of the army as well as Joab did not agree. It was they who were required to do the job, and they travelled through all the country, taking nine months and twenty days to complete their task (v.8). Yet 1 Chronicles 21:6 tells us that Joab did not count Benjamin and Levi because of being disgusted with David's order. The number given, however, is not that of all the people, but only of their military strength, 800,000 soldiers in Israel and 500,000 in Judah. Judah's population was proportionately much higher than that of the other nine tribes.

When David's desire to number the people of Israel is considered there is no motive given which indicated he was thinking about God or His interests. The fact is he was thinking about himself. His pride was active. He wanted to know the extent of his army. Joab, his general, realized David's motive and tried to persuade his king not to proceed with the numbering. David was adamant and Joab had to obey. David didn't consider Joab's objection. Sometimes when objections are raised about a wrong purpose the objections stregthen the resolve of the wrong doer. It is to David's credit that he soon saw that he was wrong and confessed it to God. But self will, although confessed and forgiven, has sad consequences. The greater the man, the more serious the sin. It is a sad story when a leader's failure creates havoc amongst the people of God. There may have been moral reasons why God used Satan to tempt David. Compare 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1. But David was the instigator of the failure that brought sorrow and death upon Israel. God hates pride and those who sow discord amongst brethren (Prov. 6:16-19). David requested God to punish him for his failure but it was too late. The angel of God in devastating judgment chastised the people. Eventually the judgment was finished and blessing was secured. Burnt offerings and peace offerings were made to God and later Solomon, David's son by Bathsheba, erected the Temple on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Chr. 3:1. Typically, the judgment had to fall upon Christ before the church could be built. See Matthew 16:18, 21).

The final chapter of the books of Samuel is of much interest and importance. "And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel , and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah ." In 1 Chronicles 21:1 we read "And Satan stood up against Israel , and provoked David to number Israel ." This has often been pointed out as a discrepancy and contradiction. Criticism has explained it in the following way: "Of surpassing interest for the study of the progressiveness of revelation in the Old Testament period is the form which the chronicler has given to this verse. To his more developed religious sense the idea was abhorrent that God could be subject to moods, and incite men to a course of action for which He afterwards calls them to account. Accordingly he writes: 'And Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel .'" There is no contradiction here nor do the two accounts need an explanation as the above. Israel had committed some sin which brought upon them the displeasure of Jehovah. Satan the accuser was then permitted to influence David.

The statement, "He (God) moved David," also means in Hebrew, "He suffered him to be moved." He permitted Satan to do his work. In 1 Tim. 3:6 we read that pride is the condemnation (or as it is literally "the crime") of the devil. And Satan the accuser moves David with national pride to number the people. It is significant that preceding this record are the names and achievements of the mighty men of David. No doubt his heart swelled with much elation over his victories and great achievements. While David's eyes were blinded by Satan, Joab saw the danger. In 1 Chron. 21:3 we read that he said to David: "The LORD make His people an hundred times so many more as they be; but, my lord the King, are they not all my lord's servants? Why doth my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel ?" The King's word prevailed and reluctantly Joab and the captains went forth to carry out the King's command. It was altogether a military census. But the census was not completed (1 Chronicles 27:24).

David's heart then smote him and we see him coming to the Lord and confessing his sin. "I have sinned greatly in that I have done; and now I beseech thee, LORD, take away the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have done very foolishly." It was a true confession he made that night. Then the Lord sent the answer through the prophet Gad. The Lord leaves the choice to David. Either three years of famine, three months of flight or three days of pestilence. (This is according to 1 Chron. 21:12; 2 Sam. 24:13 records seven years, which must be the error of some copyist.) And here the man of faith asserts himself "Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD; for His mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man." And the Lord did not disappoint His servant's faith in His mercy. When the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it the Lord said, It is enough; stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord, the same who appeared to the patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua and others, was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Once more David's voice is heard in confession. "I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house." He was willing to be the one sufferer for his people; in this he is a type again of our Lord, the sinbearer. He is commanded to rear an altar upon the threshing floor of Araunah. "It was a fitting spot for mercy upon Israel, this place where of old faithful Abraham had been ready to offer his only son unto God; fitting also as still outside the city; but chiefly in order that the pardoning and sparing mercy now shown, might indicate the site where, on the great altar of burnt-offering, abundant mercy in pardon and acceptance would in the future be dispensed to Israel " (A. Edersheim).

David's sin lies not in the bare fact of numbering the people; for they had been numbered by God's command before. God looks at the hidden spring. Fleshly and worldly ostentation, springing up in his heart, for the moment shut out the thought of God. Had David forgotten the grace that took him while yet unknown, and even unthought of by his own family, and anointed him to be king? His heart swelling with his own greatness, as if acquired by his own power, he would know the extent of his rule from Beersheba even unto Dan. God judged the secret motive, and later on David judges himself. "I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing; but now I beseech Thee do away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly" (1 Chron. 21:8). Does not Psalm 30 refer to this time when prosperity for a moment hid God from his soul? "And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved." When restored, all breaks into the praise of God, "To the end my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent; O Lord my God. I will give thanks unto Thee for ever."

Not that this numbering was not most sinful, for by it David had sought his own glory instead of the Lord's glory. He had desired to know his own resources instead of relying upon those of God-the God who had raised up David, had taken him from the pastures, from the flocks, had made him prince over Israel, and had given him a name like the name of the great ones on earth! What more did David want? Alas! under Satan's instigation he wanted to make a name for himself and see what resources he could count on while excluding the Lord. If he had succeeded, he would have glorified himself and become independent of God. This is what made this fault so serious and so foolish for a believer like David. When he came to himself (v. 8) he confessed this sin which was nothing other than independence and human self-will.

Joab seeks to dissuade David from this decision: "Are they not all, my lord O king, my lord's servants? why does my lord require this thing? why should he become a trespass to Israel?" (v. 3). The role of this man, energetic and valiant but without scruples once an obstacle blocks his path, and above all cunning to claim and maintain the first place-this role, so condemnable in the books of Samuel and Kings, has disappeared in Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles 11: 5-6 Joab had been the instrument chosen by God to capture "Zion," the city of David; through this exploit he had become chief and captain. Here we find him again, taking sides for God against David: "The king's word was abominable to Joab" (v. 6). Joab is therefore on the one hand the instrument for accomplishing God's purposes toward Jerusalem, and on the other hand the instrument to warn his master not to fall into sin lest he become "a trespass to Israel." In Chronicles his entire role is reduced to these two episodes together with yet a third in 1 Chronicles 26: 28. He does not succeed, but his warnings make the king's failure even more serious and leave him without excuse. "But the king's word prevailed against Joab." However, the latter does not fully complete his mission, for he did not number either Levi or Benjamin.

The Word tells us that “the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel” (v. 1). It does not reveal the occasion for this, but in 2 Samuel 21 we have seen that events that happened long ago remain present before God when it is a matter of chastening or disciplining His people. David becomes the instrument of this chastening: “[Jehovah] moved David against [Israel] saying, Go, number Israel and Judah.” In 1 Chronicles 21:1 we find that as in the case of Job, Satan was the agent used against the people and to seduce David. “The accuser of the brethren” would have liked for God to curse the people and their prince; he could not know that God would use him as an involuntary servant for His designs for the ultimate blessing and triumph of those He had chosen.

We might ask in what way this numbering of the people was so contrary to the Lord's mind, for from the time of the departure from Egypt many numberings of the able-bodied men of Israel had been commanded and approved by God.

We would ask the reader to turn with us to a chapter in David's history, which in measure illustrates, and that in the order of New Testament revelation about God, the activity of His grace on the one hand, because of what He is, and the necessity of a sacrifice on the other, to assure the guilty of deliverance from deserved judgment. The history is related in 2 Sam. 24 and in 1 Chron. 21, and provides instruction in a double way. In 1 Chronicles it is introduced to show us how David learnt where the place was that God had chosen for the erection of the house, and the altar of burnt-offering for all Israel. In 2 Sam. the same history comes in, but it is introduced in connection with God's dealings in government with that nation, which He had redeemed to be forever His people. "The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah" (2 Sam. 24:1). God had dealt governmentally with David and his house (12 — 20.) He had dealt governmentally with Saul and his house (21). Now God would deal in government with Israel, chastising them through the act of their king.

On two occasions had God directed Moses to number the people. On the first it was done in connection with their encamping in the wilderness (Num. 1) On the second, it was enjoined with special reference to the different tribal allotments in the land (26:2). On each occasion he numbered from twenty years old and upwards, all that were able to go forth to war; the fighting strength of the congregation was thereby ascertained. Subsequent to their entrance into the land, God never commanded them to be numbered. There was then no occasion for this census. And Joab, with the captains of the host, well aware of that, deprecated before David such an act on his part. But God was angry with Israel. Joab's entreaty was unavailing, for "Satan stood up," as we read in 1 Chron., "against Israel, and moved David to number Israel." God purposed to chastise them; Satan was the instrument allowed on this occasion to further that purpose. Nor is this surprising. He is a creature, so God can, and does, use him to carry out His wise purposes in His dealings with men. A lying spirit was permitted by God to lure Ahab on to his death at Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:21-22). A messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, buffeted Paul, that he should not be exalted above measure (2 Cor. 12:7). Paul could deliver a man to Satan, that such an one might learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20). So Satan was allowed, for he can only act by divine permission, to move David to number Israel and Judah.

Joab, the captain of the host, David's ready instrument on other occasions, undertook this service with manifest reluctance. It occupied him nine months and twenty days. Returning with the results of his mission, David's heart smote him, and he spoke to God, saying, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now I beseech Thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have done very foolishly." For upwards of nine months David seems to have been callous about his sin. At length he woke up to it, without, as far as we know, any human instrument convincing him of the evil he had done. But God would not leave him in indifference about it. God worked on his conscience. He confessed his sin at night, and in the morning the prophet Gad visited him with the answer from God. "Take away the iniquity of Thy servant," had been David's petition. But the Lord had a controversy with Israel, so governmental dealing could not be averted. "Thus says the Lord," ran the message of Gad in 2 Sam., "I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it to thee. … Shall seven years of famine come to thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me."

Let us first of all note that here the thought of numbering the people is the result of Satan's direct action against Israel, and not as in 2 Samuel, the result of the Lord's wrath. To this end, Satan inclines David's heart to sin so that he might bring God's counsels toward His people to naught. But God uses the very schemes of the enemy to accomplish His own purposes, in introducing David and Israel into His presence on a new footing, that of grace, substituted for the ordinances of the law. In 2 Samuel 24 we find another thought: David's heart is put to the test when the Lord was angry against Israel and judgment was ready to fall on the people. If David, who represented the people, had not allowed himself to be seduced, this judgment could have been avoided.