Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ 1 Chronicles

[Popular & Anonymous]

What do you make of 1 Chronicles 21 vs 2 Samuel 24? (The LORD / Satan)

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1

Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."

2 Samuel 24:1

[jimwalton]

Walton & Walton, in Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: "Satan is here portrayed as an instrument of the Lord, the agency by which YHWH incited David. The depiction of Satan as an instrument of wrath is consistent with every other appearance of the title. The point of the author is that David earned a punishment and God relented from carrying it through because of His love for Israel (2 Sam. 24.6; 1 Chr. 21.15), thus confirming David’s affirmation that “the Lord’s mercy is great” (2 Sam. 24.14; 1 Chr. 21.13)."

Merrill says, "2 Sam. 24.1 says it was the Lord. Theologically there is no inconsistency between the accounts, for God controls the actions of Satan ultimately and even uses him to accomplish his purposes." (MY NOTE: In a sense, it would be like the President of the United States giving a command to his general, and that general giving the command to the military. One account might read that the President gave the order to start the bombing, and another “contradictory” account might say the general did it. They can easily both be true.)

My observations:

In the ancient world, God was considered to be the one who controlled the actions of Satan, and even used Satan to accomplish some of His purposes on Earth. In the book of Job (1.10 and 2.5), Satan explicitly admits he doesn’t have the ability to act independently of the will of God. He knows that the power he has is delegated to him by God, and while he has freedom to act within boundaries, he can’t go outside of those boundaries. So did God “incite David to take a census of Israel” or did Satan? Suppose your Prime Minister issues an order to one of your Brigadier Generals to order some infantry corps to a trouble spot in Dublin. Who issued the order? Well, one could rightfully say your Prime Minister did, but one could also say the general did. That’s not a contradiction, it’s ranks of power, and they can both easily be true.

The nature of God’s relationship with Satan in the Old Testament was not well known. Satan was perceived as an adversary, but still only able to operate within a particular sphere of action. Suppose there was trouble in Dublin, and your military surrounded the trouble area so it couldn’t spread. Within that radius, the rebels were wreaking havoc, not because your Prime Minister made them do it, but because they were choosing to do that, and he hadn’t moved in the army yet to stop them. That doesn’t make your Prime Minister responsible for the carnage; he has a strategy of how and when he is going to act.

So also with God. Satan moves with certain walls. God has a strategy to stop him, but it involves the appropriate action at the right time. Some people, I’m sure, would say the Prime Minister might as well have been doing it because he wasn’t putting a stop to it. Others would say that it was the rebels themselves causing the problem, and that the army would move when it was ready.

Here in this text, 2 Samuel 24.1 says “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel.” That’s true. Israel had sinned. God knew there was compromise, idolatry, and ungodliness in the nation, and by inciting David to take a census, it would bring out the truth of that, and how corrupt the people were. In the New Testament, Jesus told the woman at the well, “Go get your husband,” knowing full well she didn’t have one. In asking that, he brought out the truth of the sin. So also here. God uses Satan to incite David to take a census. So was it the Lord’s anger, or was it Satan? God uses Satan to accomplish his purposes, just as your Prime Minister might use his General or his army.