Samuel vs Chronicles in the Narrative of Inciting David to Sin

Video: “13 More Bible Contradictions” by Holy Koolaid
The texts in question are 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1

Below are Mr. Koolaid’s statements (in bold) followed by my response.

“But here’s a bigger biblical whoopsie in both 2 Samuel [24] and 1 Chronicles [21] King David, the same David of David and Goliath fame, has his commander Joab take a census of Israel’s fighting men, which enrages God. Why God hates censuses so much is a little unclear.”

I don’t know why Mr. Koolaid thinks God hates censuses. I can only speculate he probably hasn’t really read the Bible. Exodus 30:11-16 permitted censuses to be taken but warned that a ransom be given to the LORD so that there will be no plague among the people (verse 12). The money was to be used for the service of the tent of meeting, also known as the tabernacle (verse 16). Several times the LORD permitted censuses (Numbers 1:2; 4:2; 4:22; 26:2). So no, God does not hate censuses—as long as they are carried out properly.

What enraged God was not so much the taking of the census. Perhaps a second reading of the first part 2 Samuel 24:1 might refresh your memory, “Now the anger of the LORD burned against Israel…” What Israel did to deserve God’s anger isn’t specified but the verse makes it clear who God was angry with, and that is Israel, not David.

So then, you might be wondering why would David’s own action is considered sin, even if God permitted censuses to be held.
1) First, because he had the wrong motives. (It doesn’t matter where the temptation came from, he was still held accountable for his disobedience.) Joab’s protest shows that David was only interested in his military might and not resting on God’s promise of protection (2 Samuel 24:3-4 and 1 Chronicles 21:3-4.). David ignored this warning and persuaded Joab to conduct the census.
2) Second, because David failed to require Joab to collect the half-shekel ransom to be paid by each of the men counted in the census (Exodus 30:12-13).

“Because of the census God gives David several punishments to choose from: 1) three years of famine; 2) three months fleeing from his enemies; 3) or three days or plague. In both accounts, David chooses plague and seventy thousand people die.”

As the verses from both books show, David did not choose a punishment but rather chose to cast himself on the mercy of God. He did request that he not “fall into the hand of man” but he made no actual choice. As the scripture says, “Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man’” (2 Samuel 24:14); and also, “David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man’” (1 Chronicles 21:13). Those that think David made a choice are reading it into the text (eisegesis) rather than simply letting the text speak for itself (exegesis).

“David builds an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, sacrifices some oxen and God lifts the curse.”

It may or may not be true that David sacrificed oxen, but it shows that Mr. Koolaid didn’t pay attention to the texts. Araunah did offer his oxen, among other things, to David (2 Samuel 24:22-32 and 1 Chronicles 21:23), and David bought the land and the things offered by Araunah. However, both accounts do not specifically say what David offered up to God except to say that he performed two types of sacrifices, burnt offerings and peace offerings (2 Samuel 24:25 and 1 Chronicles 21:26). Again, always be careful not to add to the text things that aren’t there.

“In 1 Chronicles [21:1], Satan is the one who incited David to take the census but in 2 Samuel [24:1] but instead of Satan it’s God who incited David to take the census. Yikes! Even the Bible can’t tell God’s actions apart from the devil’s.”

So then, which one is true? Both of them.

God is sovereign. He uses all things, both good and evil to accomplish His goals expressly for the good of those of us that are saved (Romans 8:28). One such example is when Satan entered into Judas (Luke 22:3-4, John 13:27) to betray Jesus to the Temple authorities so they could arrest Him. The result was that Jesus was nailed to the cross for the forgiveness of sins. There would be no salvation otherwise.

God also uses evil to tempt us so that we can learn from it. The object is to drive us back to God for His protection from sin. One example of this is when Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:4-5), although Eve failed when tempted. An even better example of this is when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan to bypass the cross (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). Jesus relied on God’s Word to resist temptation to disobey Gods’ will.

God also uses evil to test us. Not for His sake, but for ours, to increase our faith in Him and/or to teach us our weaknesses so that we can become willing to rest upon His power and not ours to live according to His will. This is clearly shown in the book of Job where Satan attacked Job to try to prove to God that Job would turn his back on Him if all he had was taken away (Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6). The result was that because Job held on to his faith in God, he was rewarded with more possessions and children than he lost.

With that in mind, when you put the two together, 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1, God used Satan to incite David to take the census. God never tempts anyone to sin (James 1:13), so God allowed Satan to tempt David to take the census. Satan was the active mover and the tempter who prevailed against the king. There is nothing in this universe that can occur that God cannot ultimately use for good.

So then, you’re probably wondering what good comes out of this.
1) The punishment eventually resulted in the building of the Temple on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem, the very place where the plague came to an end. This gave Israel a permanent location to worship God and to carry out their sacrifices.
2) We learn that God is serious about obedience to His commandments and that He doesn’t wink at sin. We can learn from this example, both individually and nationally, that to turn our back on God and disobey His will can, and often does, result in serious repercussions (Romans 15:4).