2 Samuel 24:1-2 Assume

 ”Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”“ II Samuel‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David: The translators of the New King James Version believe that “He” in this sentence applies to God, because they capitalize it. Yet 1 Chronicles 21:1 tells us, Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. The best explanation is that Satan prompted King David and is the “he” of 2 Samuel 24:1. Yet the LORD expressly allowed it as a chastisement against David.

i. “Now the ‘he’ there, we assume would be the Lord. But as we find out in 1 Chronicles 21, it was Satan that moved David’s heart to the numbering of the people. So God opened the door, and allowed Satan to move in and tempt David.” (Smith)

b. Go, number Israel and Judah: This was dangerous because of a principle stated in Exodus 30:12: When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.

i. The principle of Exodus 30:12 speaks to God’s ownership of His people. In the thinking of these ancient cultures, a man only had the right to count or number what belonged to him. Israel didn’t belong to David; Israel belonged to God. It was up to the LORD to command a counting, and if David counted he should only do it at God’s command and receiving ransom money to “atone” for the counting. (Guzik)

Assume!

You know what they say about the word assume, ass out of you and me! Satan is good at tricking us and twisting the word of God! Satan was successful in tricking Adam and Eve and in these verses he was successful in tricking king David in performing a census! David should have prayed to God about it and waited for an answer, instead of assuming that he wanted a census.

What will God do because of David’s sin?

Blessings