Recently I passed an accident on the highway just as the first patrolman was arriving. Heavy black skid marks slanted from the right lane toward ditch where a vehicle was resting on its side. A half dozen people were milling around it. An 18-wheeler was on the shoulder just beyond the vehicle in the ditch. Soon traffic on the highway would slow as people would try to see. Each would ask themselves, "What happened?" Some would say this, and others that. Many answers might be given. Several might be right, and many would probably be wrong.
When we look at the account of David numbering the people of Israel as recounted in 1 Chronicles 21 and 2 Samuel 24, we get two explanations as to what happened. 2 Samuel says the Lord incited David against Israel, but 1 Chronicles says that Satan incited David to take a census of Israel. Are these explanations contradictory, or could both be true? What really happened?
FIRST. Satan rose up against Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1). This is surely due to his malice against God, against God's people, and even against God's ruler. He tempted them to be dissatisfied with God's rule and to desire to be like the nations.
SECOND. The Lord's anger burned against Israel (2 Samuel 24:1). Israel had displeased the Lord by falling to Satan's temptation. They had rebelled against David, the Lord's anointed, who provided righteous rule, directed their devotion toward God, and gave them safety from their enemies. They had wanted a king like the nations, a king like Absalom.
THIRD. David sinned (2 Samuel 24:10; 1 Chronicles 21:7). After the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba, David's faith may have wavered. God tested him. Would he rely on God, or would he be anxious about the strength of his army? Anxiety won over faith. Even though God had not commanded him to take a census as he had commanded Moses on two occasions (Numbers 1:2; 26:2), David ordered that the people be numbered. In this, he also would have been thinking like the nations, relying on military strength instead of the Lord. David's command to number the people was "evil in the sight of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 21:7).
FOURTH. Wrath came on Israel on account of the numbering (1 Chronicles 27:24). Israel may have found satisfaction in David's numbering of the people capable of bearing arms. David had started acting like a "real" king in measuring the strength of his army. He had never done this before. The numbering was a way for them to "flex their muscles."
So who incited David to take the census? God tempts no one to sin, but he did test David, and Satan used the occasion to lure both Israel and David into sin. Numbering the people was a sin both for David and for Israel. However, even though Satan meant harm, God would purify Israel with his wrath and establish a place for his name to be glorified through David's confession and intercession.
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
-- James 1:13-14 NIV
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