God
established the Census as the way for Israel’s leader to prevent a plague of judgement from coming on the nation when they
sinned or to stop the pestilence once
it had begun. Yet, one of the most frequently repeated
urban legends about the Bible is that God punished David for counting the
fighting men of Israel by sending a
plague. This out of context extrapolation has caused us to miss out on some of
the most important theological themes and prophetic moments in the Old
Testament—perhaps even the climax of the entire arc of Old Testament history. I believe that a closer examination of the Biblical text will enlighten our understanding. To explore this issue, I will begin by answering a few simple questions to
debunk certain misconceptions.
Was/Is it ok for a leader
to count the people?
Before
he led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into freedom, Moses was a shepherd
for 40 years. David was also a shepherd before he was anointed as king. The
idea of a Shepherd-King was an important one in the Ancient Near East. One of
the primary roles of a Shepherd is to count the sheep. Throughout the Bible,
leaders appointed by God are continuously called upon to count the people. In
fact, there is an entire book of the Bible devoted to the subject of Numbers in which Moses’ recorded his first
census. When the people of Israel left Egypt, there were 600,000 men, plus
women and children. Numbers matter because they represent individuals who
matter to God. The Good Shepherd would leave the 99 sheep safely grazing to go and
find the one which had wandered away and gotten lost. Matthew 10:30 declares: Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. The disciples counted
5,000 heads of household present when Jesus fed the gathered Galilean crowd
from just 5 loaves and 2 fishes. On the day of Pentecost,
120 men and women were gathered together in an upper room praying and 3,000
were baptized later that day. There were other important times where the people
were counted and we will be exploring the significance of some of those events.
Was it ok to count the
fighting men of Israel?
When
God granted Joshua victory over Jericho, many of the people defied the Lord’s
command by bringing silver, gold, garments and spoils of war into their tents. Because
of this sin, Israel suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the city of
Ai. Joshua exercised leadership. He had each tribe brought before him,
presented by clans and households and he held all of the fighting men to
account as each was presented before him. They burned the spoils in the fire.
He examined them to find out the sin among them and executed the family of
Achan who kept riches hidden in their tent. Joshua counted out 30,000 skilled
fighting men and God granted him victory over Ai.
32,000
fighting age males were counted who rallied to Gideon’s cause and that number
was reduced to 300 to whom God granted victory.
340,000
men of war, plus 200 chiefs of Issachar and their kinsmen assembled to retrieve
the Ark of the Covenant and crown David king over all of Israel. Once the priests were properly trained to carry the Ark, they were able to enter Jerusalem and enthrone David.
When David
went into exile because of his son Absalom, he carefully counted the people who
were with him. He divided the military men into units, assigning commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds and was then given victory and restored to his throne.
Counting and organizing the fighting men of Israel was not only permitted, it was expected of God's chosen leader.
What is a Census?
Like
most of you, I recently filled out my United States Census survey, as our
nation has been counting the people who live here, even in the midst of this
COVID-19 Pandemic. Many of us form our opinion of what a census is according to
our American pre-conception of the census which includes a basic counting of
the people and gathering of information about their background. As a result, when
we see the term census in the Bible,
we tend to miss out on an important aspect of its meaning. A Biblical census
includes much more than taking a simple headcount. God expects his leaders to
keep track of the people and to keep them in line, under control and doing the
right things. In the Bible, two different words are translated as census. The first, ro'sh, means to be chief, to be the head, to be the principal leader in charge. The second, manah, means to appoint, number and assign. These words describe the act of ruling,
governing, exercising oversight and even punishing. It is helpful to think of the
term censure, because giving
correction is an important part of conducting a census. The Biblical census included counting the people, usually heads of households, and then
appointing them to their duties and assigning responsibilities.
There
are 4 major Censuses taken in the Bible, each with prophetic and theological
significance. Each is connected to the others in the pattern of God’s redemptive
plan.
I. THE CENSUS OF MOSES
God
ordained the census in Moses’ day. Exodus 30:12 records His instructions:
When you take a census of the
Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at
the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.
Ro'sh, the word for acting as "Chief," is translated here as census. There
is a price that must be paid to be counted among God’s people. There is a price
to be paid for sin. When God’s anointed leader had to exercise authority over a
rebellious people, they were required to give an offering as a ransom for their
lives.
Exodus
38 records that there were 603,550 Hebrew men over the age of 20. A half shekel
offering was given as a RANSOM for each man resulting in a total offering of
100 talents and 1,775 shekels of silver. This offering, along with many donated
items, given by the people as a freewill offering, was used to build the
TABERNACLE.
On
another occasion, recorded in Numbers 25-26, the people of Israel joined
together to worship the false gods of the neighboring Moabites. They bowed down
before idols, committed sexual sins and joined themselves to Baal of Peor. God sent
a plague and killed 24,000 Israelites in one day. Moses, exercised authority
and had the judges of Israel kill every man who had participated in this sin
and God stopped the plague.
And it came to pass, after the plague
that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying:
Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from 20 years
old and above, by their Father’s houses, all who are able to go to war in
Israel.
Moses
completed a second census which is recorded in the rest of Numbers. There were 601,730 registered. Every
single man was accounted for. He established the offerings that were to be
given at various Biblical feasts, organized the army under commanders of
thousands and hundreds and began assigning tribal inheritances. They also completed
the giving of a RANSOM, taking an offering of 16, 750 shekels.
The
Ransom from Moses’ first census was used to build the Tabernacle.
II. THE FAILED CENSUS OF
DAVID
When
studying Old Testament history, it is absolutely imperative to read the events
recorded in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings and then to compare them with
the parallel accounts contained in 1 & 2 Chronicles. If you only read one account of a Biblical event without harmonizing it with its companion passage, you may be missing half the story. It is also important to
compare multiple translations and to focus on word for word translations and
look up the meanings of key words because sometimes even a well-meaning
interpretation can reflect the bias of the translator. In the accounts of David's life, I have uncovered certain instances in which a translation dramatically altered the meaning of the text in order to fit a pre-conceived ideal. In addition, Old
Testament history must be interpreted through the lens of the law. If you aren’t
familiar with the Law (found in Deuteronomy), then you won’t know who the good
guys are and who the bad guys are and who is acting according to God’s will and
commandments.
I
once had the privilege of spending the entire summer teaching through 1 & 2 Samuel.
We studied David’s just, forgiving and remarkable actions. We also studied each
of his failures and blatant sins. My class was introduced to a surprise villain
in the person of David’s nephew Joab, who holds the dubious distinction of being identified as NOT one of David's mighty men. Worm-tongue, I mean Joab, was the captain of Israel’s
army, whose murderous ways, treachery and deceitfulness knew no bounds. In
order to facilitate our study of David's census and it’s significance, while
debunking the traditional and popular, yet incorrect interpretation of it, I
will offer a brief summary of the events surrounding the census.
The
circumstances that led to the necessity of David’s census are more complex than
those of Moses and require explanation. David committed a number of sins, bending
and breaking God’s law in various ways such as taking multiple wives and acquiring
horses and chariots. 1 Chronicles 19-21 and 2 Samuel 10-12 record the
events leading up to and surrounding David’s census. After recording the final words of David in chapter 23, 2 Samuel 24 adds another page to the scroll, recalling the census.
In 2 Samuel 11:1, the KJV correctly translates that a series of events began after the year was expired. These events began at
the conclusion of the year according to the Jewish calendar, in early fall, which is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
when all of the men of Israel were required to come to Jerusalem to present
themselves before the Lord, repent of their sins, and the priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for them. Instead of bringing his army in, David sent his army out on a
mission of personal vengeance...with Joab in charge. David was angry because the young King of the
Ammonites embarrassed his ambassadors. David broke God’s law by not leading and watching over
the army himself and using it for his own purposes. He violated the Lord’s
commands by sending 20,000 pagan conscripts out to fight with his army. Under
Joab’s unscrupulous leadership, they disregarded God’s laws and ravaged through the
countryside, pillaging and destroying all that was in their path.
When God sent Joshua to conquer the promised land, no treaties were to be made and no quarter was to be given to the Canaanites.
In all other wars and battles, Israel was required to offer terms of peace as the army
stood before a city ready to attack it. If the city accepted terms, they became
a province of Israel and paid them tribute, also sharing in the blessings of the
Kingdom. If they rejected terms, the men were killed in battle, but if Israel
was victorious, they became responsible to care for, provide for and protect
the women and children. I have found no record of Joab offering terms of peace as he approached the
Ammonite capital to put it under siege. Meanwhile, David was back at the
palace, lustfully taking Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, into his own bed. When she became
pregnant, David ordered Uriah killed to cover his sin and Joab carried out the
nefarious mission by sending him to the front lines of the battle to die. When the city fell,
Joab, the pagans and the fighting men of Israel sawed the women and
children apart and hacked them to pieces with axes. David then joined them in
raucous celebration and personally led them to commit the same egregious war
crimes against every single city of the Ammonites, the
descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They misrepresented our Holy God and His
character to the surrounding nations. They took the Lord’s name in vain, as if holding up a banner with his name in front of them while committing these despicable acts. This was a terrible form of blasphemy.
The
episode ends with the statement found in 1 Chronicles 21:1:
Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved
David to number Israel.
This verse presents a cause and effect situation. Satan rose up against Israel to accuse
them. Under God’s covenant, when Israel sinned, they would be turned over to
their enemies or suffer famine or disease. Satan had been there all along, tempting, enticing and manipulating Israel to sin. Now he was revealed. Satan had a claim on them and he stood up to accuse them. The
only way for David to prevent the punishment coming his way from God or to keep
God from abandoning them to Satan and their enemies was to take a census. The parallel passage found in 2
Samuel 24:1 states:
Again the anger of
the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying,
“Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
The words stirred
up or moved and against mean that God has brought David
over to his side to deal with the sin of Israel. God directly ordered David to
take the census in accordance with the law. David passed the buck to Joab to take the
census. Joab thought that it was an odious task and he did not want to do it. He
tried to talk David out of it. In direct contradiction to the word of God and
in his usual sneaky, manipulative way he replied:
Why
then should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?
Joab Worm-tongue tried to trick David out of following God’s order and when he did not prevail against the king, he took
almost 10 months to take the count of the men of Israel. He took the leaders with
him on a little vacation outside of the borders of Israel, up to Tyre and Sidon, which is similar to going to Las
Vegas, Atlantic City or New Orleans during Mardi Gras. They "visited" many Canaanite cities. Given Joab's proclivity for plundering, we have good reason to believe that instead of atoning for their sins by reverently conducting a census, they were adding to their sins and incurring God's wrath during this time.
After Joab returned with an initial count of 1,300,000 fighting men, David's heart became convicted.
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.
David had used God's army for his personal vengeance, taken multiple wives, trusted in the power of horses instead of the power of God, failed to supervise the troops, slept with another man's wife, violated God's rules of war, ruthlessly murdered Ammonite women and children, treacherously killed many of his Moabite cousins as they attempted to surrender, had Uriah killed, misrepresented God's name and led the nation into sin. He had committed a great many sins, but was finally feeling the conviction of the Spirit of God. David knew that he had done evil in God's sight. He could sense that the census had not atoned for their sins. David knew that he was not forgiven.
Since we know that counting the people was not a sin and that God had told him to do it, we must ask the question of the text, What went wrong? David had ordered his nephew and other leaders to count Israel from Dan to Beersheba--from top to bottom, but they did not even bother
to count the tribes of Benjamin or Levi. 1 Chronicles 21:6-7 records:
But he did not count Levi and
Benjamin among them, for the king’s command was abominable to Joab. And
God was displeased with this thing, therefore he struck Israel.
God
was angry that Joab did not finish the census that He, Himself had ordered. Because they neglected to count the tribes of Benjamin and Levi and there is no evidence of an offering being taken as a ransom for their lives, the census was incomplete and insufficient to provide atonement for the many sins of Israel and especially of the fighting men. Israel
had punishment coming and they would receive it. This position is further
clarified in 1 Chronicles 27:24:
Joab the son of Zeruiah had begun to
count them, but did not finish and because of this, wrath came upon Israel.
God's anger was unleashed on the nation because they did not fear him enough to finish taking the census correctly. They showed tremendous disrespect and disregard for his laws and His righteous decrees and David and his commanders were the ringleaders. David's sin was not in taking the census, God ordained the census. David's sin was in failing to oversee its completion. It was not a sin for David to count the fighting men of Israel as God directly ordered him to do. It was a sin not to carefully account for all of them. When presented with a choice by the prophet Gad, David
chose to fall into the hands of God and be punished with a plague rather than endure a 3 year famine or be turned over to his enemies for 3 months, hoping that God might show mercy. David, who had so badly misrepresented God by mercilessly exacting revenge upon the Ammonites, would now throw himself on the mercy of God. But God also loves justice. In one day, God killed
70,000 men of Israel with a plague. But as the angel of the LORD approached
Jerusalem, sword drawn, ready to destroy the entire city, God did indeed show compassion, relenting from the calamity He was about to inflict. God relents from disaster. Over and over, we are reminded in Scripture that The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful, merciful lovingkindness. God showed grace. David saw the angel standing there over the city with sword
in hand. He and the Elders put on sackcloth and fell on their faces at the
threshing floor, a plateau of stone at the highest point on Mt. Zion.
David said to God, "Is it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but
these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand be
against me and my father's household, but not against Your people that they
should be plagued."
David had ordered Joab to number, caphar, Israel and bring the number, micpar, to him. David told him to count and register the people and then come back and deliver the results of the tally. The word numbered that is used here is not a word that means merely
to count, it is the Hebrew word manah
which also means to assign or appoint. This word is also translated as Census. This is like David saying Wasn’t I the one in
charge? Wasn't I the decider? The appointer? The Chief? Wasn’t I the one giving the orders? David took FULL responsibility
for the sins of the nation. In a shocking display of humility and love for his
people, completely in contrast to the exploitive nature of most ancient kings, David
asked for the punishment to fall on him and his descendants. As far as I am
concerned, this is the climax of the Old Testament Action. Everything has led
up to this crucial moment. David had just asked for an alteration to the
covenant Israel had made with God, and God granted his request. David offered himself up to take the punishment for his people so that they could be forgiven. The
punishment would indeed fall upon David’s household. It would fall on the Son of
David, Jesus. Certainly, this was a prophetic moment. I believe this is the very moment the New Covenant was brokered. Rather than sacrifice a lamb or an animal in order to atone for sins, David offers up himself and his household. His descendant, Jesus, the Son of David, would be the substitute, not only for Israel, but for all of us, taking our punishment in our place so that we can be forgiven of our sins.
Chapters 24-29 of 1
Chronicles records David’s second chance as he directed the most careful CENSUS
in the history of Censuses. David appointed the priests to their duties and times
of service and appointed the military men to their responsibilities. He
assigned men to watch over the flocks and herds, to manage the storehouses, to
tend the orchards, prune the vineyards and to harvest the fields. He organized the
musicians for service to the Lord and took an astonishing offering (the RANSOM)
in preparation for the TEMPLE to be built by His son, Solomon on the site of the very threshing floor where David and the Elders had worshipped and pleaded with God.
III. THE CENSUS OF RETURNING EXILES
In the days of
Zerubbabel and Jeshua, Ezra and Nehemiah, as the people of Judah returned from
exile in Babylon, they carefully numbered each person. 42,360 people returned in the first wave. They modeled after
David, assigning the priests to their duties and re-establishing worship. In
this instance, the offering, the RANSOM, was provided for the people. By Royal
decree, the people living around them gave the Jews departing gifts as they returned to the promised land.
In fact, the ransom was always provided by God. When David took a census, the offering was provided through God’s blessings which had been
showered upon Israel. In the census of Moses, the ransom was provided through
the plunder given to them as they left Egypt. In each census, the Ransom was
provided for them. The 1st Temple had been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The ransom offering was used to build the 2nd
TEMPLE.
IV. THE CENSUS OF CAESAR
Luke 2 begins with
these words:
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This CENSUS took place
while Quirinius was governing Syria.
Caesar was the ruler
over all of the Roman empire including Judea at that time. God used this census to set salvation in motion. In fulfillment of
prophecy, Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, the city of David their ancestor to be counted among their people.
1 Timothy 2:6
describes Jesus:
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a RANSOM for
all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Moses interceded for
the people and was a sort of mediator between them and God, representing God to
the people. When God’s appointed leader would step up and take control, he
could prevent God’s wrath from coming on the people. David interceded for the
people with God, taking responsiblity and willingly offering to be punished in their place. The priests were also responsible for filling the role of mediator. Now
JESUS is our mediator. He took our punishment in our place, providing atonement for our sins.
Just as in the other
censuses, the Ransom was provided for the people. God provided the ransom
Himself. To ransom or redeem something means to buy it back. Jesus paid the
price to redeem us back to himself with His life. Jesus, the Son of David, took our
punishment, in our place, by being beaten and dying on the cross. Unlike David's first failed attempt at providing atonement for the sins of the people, Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world. He paid the price for us to be
reconciled with God. It is only through Jesus that we can be forgiven and put
into a right relationship with God. But just like each Israelite had to stand up and be counted, each person must choose to become a follower of Christ to be counted among the people of God.
In each census, the ransom
offering was used to build a house for God. The offering taken in the census of
Moses was used to build the tabernacle. David’s offering was used to craft the first
temple. The offering of the exiles contributed to construction of the second temple. The
ransom of Jesus is building a temple as well, God’s house, the church. Ephesians 2:19-21 teaches:
So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but
fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the
cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy
TEMPLE in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling
in the Spirit.
The tabernacle and the temples represented God living among his people. Now God lives within us.
CONCLUSION
Our current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, is nowhere nearly as potent as the Biblical plagues. A Biblical plague was a judgement of God. The plagues in the days of Moses and David caused nearly instantaneous death in tens of thousands of people as a result of specific and identifiable sin. I would caution against pronouncing this novel coronavirus or any virus to be a specific judgement of God. It is, however, true that all diseases, epidemics, pandemics and plagues exist because of the sin that Adam and Eve introduced into the world. Various pestilences that were released into the world as judgements may still linger. It is possible that this new coronavirus strain could be a judgement on the sin of unbelievers, but it is also possible that it was man-made as the result of a bat coronavirus modified in the Wuhan Institute of Virology for research purposes that was released into the world through documented deficiences in safety protocols. We simply do not and can not know for sure. What we can be sure of is that we live in a special age of grace because of Jesus' sacrifice. All who are willing can receive mercy and forgiveness through him. His kindness is meant to lead people to repentance. Because Jesus paid the ransom, a price which has been credited to the account of believers, I believe it is theologically untenable to view a disease as a judgement of God on the church or on Christians. A disease like this should, however, remind us of our mortality, help us to remember that a day of judgement is coming and make us keenly aware of the need for God’s mercy. We should be grateful and praising God that this virus has turned out to be much less fatal than originally thought. I view this fact as an act of kindness. Hopefully families have taken this time to reconnect and allowed it to work for their good. If we want this illness to go away, we should fall on our faces like David and the elders of Israel. We should repent of our sins and we should give the offering of praise. We should pray for healing. We should pray for our nation and our world and for the salvation of leaders and the salvation of many. We should gather for worship.
Under the Old Covenant God's anointed leader would represent Him to the people and tell them what was required for their forgiveness. Under the New Covenant, believers have been given the responsibility of representing God as ambassadors to all people, calling them to repentance and extending the invitation to receive forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. The leader would serve as a mediator between God and the people. Now, all believers have unfettered access to God through Jesus, our mediator. Each head of household, as the representative of all who lived in his tent, was important and needed to be counted. Just as each individual person and group of people is important to God today and should be given the choice and the opportunity to respond, to stand up and be counted among the people of God. There has always been a price to be paid for sin, a ransom price to be paid for the redemption of each life and judgement has always been the consequence. Now, Jesus has already paid that price. God is being patient, wanting people to be saved, holding back punishment for the coming day of judgement on those who reject Him. In ancient Israel, the people of God would have to stand up and be counted. Now, we publicly confess the name of Jesus and are Baptized to be added to the number of believers and counted among the people of God. The ransom offering, that price of redemption, was used to build houses for God. Now, Jesus has purchased us for himself and believers ARE the household of God, the temple that He dwells in and the church of the Most High.
Just as it was thrice given to the people of Israel to build a house for God, it has now been given to the church to build up the house of God. Jesus has made the preparations and provided all that is necessary for His house to be built. He has paid the ransom price for our forgiveness. He has given us His Spirit and gifts to use to bring others into His household.
