KEY VERSE (Samuel
the Prophet’s Version):
And again the
anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them
to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. (2 Sam 24:1)
KEY VERSE (Ezra the
Scribe/Priest’s Version):
And Satan stood
up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. (1 Chron 2:1)
Did God authorize the numbering or did Satan, God’s adversary? From Job chapter one, we know that Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Satan’s role in that book was to test the faith of Job by certain trials. It seems that Samuel credited the Lord God with the numbering and Ezra, Satan. Testing the perceived error with scripture from the Book of Job indicates that the census was God’s idea and its implementation Satan’s.
Subsequent to the census came the story of Araunah’s (Ornan’s) threshing floor whereon David built an altar to the Lord, obviously for the sin preceding that.
And when the
angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented
him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough:
stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of
Araunah the Jebusite.
And David spake
unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have
sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let
thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
And Gad came
that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. (2 Sam 16-18)
It would appear that the census was required by God for His threshing of the Israelites. It has been assumed that the sin was the numbering of David’s people. In Ezra’s version that seems to be the case. Note however, in Samuel’s version, the reason is not given, but in Ezra’s version, both the Lord and David merely referred to the sin as this thing: “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore, he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing“ (1 Chron 2:7-8).
This thing is not named, but God authorized the census. Why would that be a sin? God wanted the numbering, obviously for his threshing. (Note that The Angel of God who threshed is pre-incarnate Jesus. God judges and punishes, but we will shortly find that Benaiah took that upon himself to do in the case of the Egyptian.)
The plague was the manner in which God threshed the Israelites. The threshing floor represents God’s judgment. The Holy of Holies, in later days, was beneath the threshing stone (The Foundation Stone) and beneath it the abyss to Hell, according to some Jewish sources.
The souls of the deceased Israelites appeared to have been on the threshing floor, and some were sent to the holy place and others to Hades. My point is that the census was not for David’s purposes, but for God’s, and that David surely was not punished for that!
Why then were the Israelites punished, and consequently David? Did David even sin? Of course, he was responsible! Yesterday I wrote about the “three mighty men” - Adino (meaning “ornament”) the Eznite, Eleazar (Meaning “God helps”) the son of Dodo the Ahohite, and Shammah (meaning “the Lord’s presence) the son of Agee the Hararite.
Let’s take time out for a moment: I contended that those “three mighty men” represented the Holy Trinity. (See my blog at https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/09/dont-cry-over-spilt-waters.html). Now examine the names: “God Helps” represents the Holy Spirit, “The Lord’s Presence” represents Jesus, and “The Ornament” represents the Father is to be glorified! I believe their names validate my hypothesis in yesterday’s commentary!
I submit that the census was not sinful. True, David may have been proud of his accomplishments which the census enumerated, but scripture does not say that. That would be a supposition. Was there an obvious sin? Well, let’s examine scripture:
And Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts,
he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the
midst of a pit in time of snow:
And he slew an
Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went
down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and
slew him with his own spear.
These things did
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.
He was more
honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And
David set him over his guard. (2 Sam 23:20-23)
I believe that Benaiah did the will of Satan.. Why so? (1) Satan is the name that Lucifer made for himself as he was trying to make himself as God (Isa 14:13), and what the people of Babylon were doing when they built the tower (Gen 11:4). And (2) Benaiah killed an innocent Egyptian - disrespectively with his own spear. Benaiah judged the Egyptian as unworthy of life. That, we soon found out, was what the threshing floor was for – God’s judgment. Benaiah presumed to be God, and his sin was the same as Moses whose punishment never entering The Promise Land. Lastly, (3) the three other men were “mighty” but Benaiah merely “valiant” (“bold”).
When people take an innocent life, they act as if they are gods. As we have seen, David’s taking of lives in war was ordained by God, but his taking the innocent life of Uriah for his own elevation (motives) were not.
Benaiah may have thought himself one of the mighty three, and others did too, but he was not: “He attained not to the first three.” He was not mighty but only bold! As the first three were representatives of the Holy Trinity, Benaiah was more of a Judas.
If you remember, Judas also died on a “tree” as Jesus did. But on the cross, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost experienced death. Judas was alone. God in all three “persons” died on the cross. His three “persons” were represented by those three mighty men. Benaiah was not quite as mighty; he judged the Egyptian just as Judas did when he judged himself.
Judas means “traitor.” Benaiah means “Yahweh builds up.” It seems that Benaiah was destined to become as God; not because God builds up, but that Benaiah acted as God with His authority.
I believe that the Israelites were punished because of Benaiah, and David felt guilty because of grace. As a type of Christ, he took Benaiah’s sin upon himself, and then built an altar for the redemption of Benaiah’s sin.
The dead Egyptian was called “good” and we know that only God is good. He was more God-like than Benaiah who was only called “valiant.” Boldness facing Satan is an attribute but against God it is an affront. That offense had to be reconciled by judgment. That’s why the altar was built on the threshing floor.
Benaiah is a great example of grace. He represented evil, but God atoned for his sin when others paid the penalty. As far as we know, Benaiah became a faithful servant after he was redeemed. That raises the question: Was Judas redeemed by Christ's death? Satan entered Judas, but he only used Benaiah. It turns out that when Benaiah became a changed man he too became a mighty warrior.
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