A Leader NEVER Uses The People

1 Chronicles 21:1–4 (ESV) Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem.

This chapter picks up on a particular sin of David recorded also in 2 Samuel 24. David takes a census of the nation. The account in 2 Samuel 24 says God was the instigator of the moment. Here, it is Satan. Why the difference? It's the Bible's way of saying the same thing in two ways. Yes, Satan incited David but the Lord was ultimately in charge of the entire moment. 

The narrative of 2 Samuel provides us with a reason for David's irrational request. He wanted to know who was still with him after Absalom's rebellion. Here in 1 Chronicles the temptation is different. David is thinking about the temple being built and defended. If he is going to leave this job to his son, he wants him well supplied (workers) and well-defended (military). Both a military and workforce were acquired in ancient times through a national census. 

At the heart of it, David was thinking the people were at his disposal to accomplish his plans. It's a mistake Saul made early on and David only makes here. We must remember there was a law in the Torah about census taking:

Exodus 30:12 (ESV) “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.

Not only were the people to give a ransom to the Lord they were to ceremonially wash so that they did not spread disease (we know something of this in 2020, right?). God was reminding the people of two realities here: First, the people were his and so a ransom was required. Second, the people were sinful and cleansing was needed. 

The real sin here, however, lay with David. He's immediately judged by the Lord and given three options in descending length order: 
1 Chronicles 21:11–12 (ESV) So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”

David chooses the shortest option but also the option with God in total control of the impact. David knows God's mercy will keep Israel the safest in judgment. It will be the mercy of God that keeps the angel from destroying Jerusalem. Why? Because that is where the Temple will be. That is where Christ Himself will arrive and be rejected. 

In complete irony, David's sin of counting the people for his own glory results in him purchasing a plot of land for the foundation of the Temple to which Christ will come having set aside His glory for the sake of the people. He comes to Ornan the Jebusite and offers to buy it. Ornan offers it for free and David's heart has changed completely: 

1 Chronicles 21:24–27 (ESV) But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25 So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. 26 And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

David comes full circle in this chapter to model Christ here. Leadership in God's economy never uses the people for the leader's sake. Leadership gives their lives for the people's sake. Leadership is exemplified in Christ who knew who He was in the Father rather than in the eyes of men. Leadership that doesn't need the people can serve the people. It's a leadership rooted in love, which comes to us from God the Holy Spirit.

/// Check out my upcoming book:

/// 
Considering giving to support this work. 
Easily Drop Cash: cash.app/$TimHatch
OR

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

The Stain of Slavery

One of the greatest pains in my heart over the history of the church is the fact that many "Bible-believing" Christians used the Bible to promote, continue, and enable slavery in America's past. It may have happened elsewhere, but I'm an American, and I know it happened here. Then, some repeatedly make the claim because of a tiny amount of verses where God informs Israel on how to take slaves, it means the Bible is a pro-slavery document. How absurd. The overarching narrative of the Bible is that God sets the slaves free. The second book testifies to this part of God's character.  Getting to Jeremiah's day, one of the reasons Israel's nation was handed over to exile was because they enslaved each other. This attitude was so engrained into the culture of Israel that they had a hard time giving up slavery even in the face of national catastrophe.  In Jeremiah 34, the king is promised that he will die in Babylon, but he will die in peace. Jeremiah 34:3–5 (ESV...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more