1 Chronicles 21:1 says, And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. Satan himself is said to have stood up against Israel and caused David to number the people of Israel, but this time not by God's command to do so. If we begin to take pride in the number of people who attend our local church and count the number of member so we can brag about how large we are, then this is an abuse of numbering the people I believe. This was wrong because it was motivated by Satan and not by God and not just because the people were being counted. Even a man after God's own heart could be tempted by Satan, but it took a willingness on David's part to act on that temptation for it to become a sin. We will never be above temptation in this lifetime, and at times the temptation may even sound like a good thing, but we must always rely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit to guide us in anything we do, and Satan can never make us do anything. Verse two adds, And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. David instructed Joab and the other rulers of Israel to count the people so he could know the number. He was involving others in his prideful action, and sometimes we may be guilty of the same thing. As followers of Christ, we need to first make sure that He is the One Who is directing our actions and that we are not doing things out of a sense of self-pride, and we should never involve others in what we are doing if it isn't being done under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Verse three continues, And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Joab questioned why David wanted to do this, since no matter how many there were of them, they were all his people. Since God was the One Who had given David the kingdom and promised to multiply it, Joab said that David had no need to know how many people God had brought into the kingdom. We don't need to know everything God is doing in the world today, nor even the results of everything we do for Him. All we need to do is be obedient to Him and give Him the glory for all that He does through us. Verse four states, Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. Since Joab could not convince David that what he was doing was wrong, he left to do as David had instructed. Joab may have thought that since David ordered him to do this over his objections that he had no choice but to do it, but he did have a choice. I don't believe that we should ever do anything that we believe to be wrong in the eyes of God, no matter how powerful the person instructing us to do so may be. Verse five adds, And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. Joab counted the people, and there was a total of over a million and a half men who could draw a sword, which meant the total was even greater. Still, this would indicate that David was putting his faith in the number of men he had and his own abilities and not in God. We as Christians should never put our faith in anything other than God. Verse six continues, But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab. Joab had not counted the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, nor the tribe of Benjamin who were noted for their military abilities, because Joab had viewed the whole act of counting Israel an abomination. We cannot go partially against what God tells us to do or not do and then stop and expect to be blameless. Verse seven declares, And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. God was displeased with Israel, even though they were doing what David their king had ordered to be done. We cannot excuse our actions even if people in power, within the church or within the secular government order us to do something that goes against God's word. Verse eight adds, And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. David then acknowledged that he had sinned greatly and acted foolishly and asked God's forgiveness. Once we realize that we have sinned, in which case we will have always acted foolishly, we can only acknowledge our sin and ask God's forgiveness and move ahead in faith and obedience to Him. We also need to realize that Satan is always going to tempt us, but he can never cause us to sin.
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