Yesterday we learned David was offered his choice of three disciplinary actions for having ordered the census. We talked about how any of these choices would affect more people than just David but that the choice he made---plague---was the one that was capable of affecting David the most. The other two choices---famine or attacks by enemy nations---would have less effect on David because of his enormous wealth and the fact that he is no longer young enough or fit enough to fight in the army. But plague plays no favorites and David chose it because his wealth and power could not exempt him from possibly being struck by it.
Another thing we talked about yesterday was why some of the citizens of Israel were going to endure hardship because of David's sin. We discussed the theory of many Bible scholars that the Lord allowed troubles to come upon a large number of the people because they rebelled against Him by deserting David in favor of Absalom and because they rebelled against Him again after Absalom's death by deserting David at the Jordan River when a man named Sheba stirred up dissent against David.
We can't come to any firm conclusion as to why the census was wrong or why people other than David suffered following the taking of the census. The only thing we know for certain is that God is holy and just and righteous. He would not send any form of discipline that was not necessary. We simply don't have enough information to understand the whole situation we're studying in Chapter 24.
Let's pick up with our text now. "So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died." (2 Samuel 24:15) You'll recall that the term "from Dan to Beersheba" is often used in the Old Testament as a way of saying "from one end of the nation to the other". When David ordered Joab and his men to go out and number those eligible for the army, he told them to count the men "from Dan to Beersheba". Upon Joab's return he reported that he counted 1,300,000 men able to handle a sword.
The plague kills 70,000 people. Were these 70,000 from among the 1,300,000 fighting men? We don't know but if so this means David lost a little over 5.7% of the men he'd so recently counted. Were these 70,000 only from among the people who had rebelled against the Lord's will in turning against His chosen king? We don't know the answer to that either but I think we find ourselves hoping that only those who disrespected the Lord's sovereign right to choose the king were affected by the plague. At least then we could comfort ourselves by believing no innocent people lost their lives. However, at the same time we are all aware that when anyone sins there is usually some type of "collateral damage" on those around them. Have you ever suffered because of something sinful a member of your household did? Have you ever been caused hardship by a poor decision made by the management at your job? You may have been completely innocent in those situations but someone else's wrong actions caused you a lot of grief. The same type of thing may have happened in Israel in David's day. His wrong actions may have caused grief to people who were not living a sinful lifestyle.
We don't know what form the plague took. It may have been a viral illness. It may have been something bacterial that suddenly affected part of the food or water supply. The word "plague" may not even indicate an illness in the way we typically think of an illness; the 70,000 who succumbed could have simply fallen dead with no symptoms preceding their deaths. I think there's a good possibility the latter was the case, for we are about to learn that an angel was sent to deliver the plague to the cities of Israel.
"When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, 'Enough! Withdraw your hand.' The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." (2 Samuel 24:16) The person who penned the words of 1 Chronicles 21:15 provides us with this same information. I can't help wondering whether the angel of 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 is the same "angel of death" who struck down the firstborn males of Egypt in the book of Exodus. Those who died in Egypt died suddenly, in one night, and I tend to think the plague of 2 Samuel 24 occurred in a similar fashion. I think as the angel of death moved throughout the nation, the deaths occurred suddenly as the angel arrived at each city. I do not think these casualties began with symptoms of illness that gradually progressed to fatalities. My opinion is that these 70,000 deaths were likely instantaneous.
David actually sees the angel of death and prays to the Lord to put a halt to the casualties. The author of 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 places his prayer after the Lord tells the angel to stop but I wouldn't be surprised if David prayed this prayer before the Lord stayed the angel's hand. The Lord's stopping of the plague may have occurred partially in response to David's prayer, although I think it occurred primarily due to the Lord's mercy. "When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, 'I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let Your hand fall on me and my family.'" (2 Samuel 24:17) 1 Chronicles 21:17 phrases his prayer like this, "David said to God, 'Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let Your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on Your people."
The angel of death has been moving through the nation and people have been falling dead. David sees him standing at a threshing floor stretching out his hand toward Jerusalem. Threshing floors were located in wide open spaces on hilltops where the wind could blow the dusty chaff away while the wheat was being threshed. I picture David lifting his eyes up to the heavens as he prays and in doing so he spots the angel on the high ground of the threshing floor. Since angels in the Scriptures typically look like human males, we don't know how David recognizes him as an angel. This is perhaps revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps he just automatically assumes it when he sees this lone figure on the hilltop with his hand stretched out toward the city.
It sounds as if Jerusalem was left for last as the angel moved through the nation. The text is worded in such a way as to make us think no one in Jerusalem died of the plague. That could be so. Some scholars believe the angel may have intended to kill more people in Jerusalem than in any other city of Israel since the Bible says the angel stretched out his hand "to destroy Jerusalem". If it's true that more people would have fallen in Jerusalem than anywhere else, I think it's because the people of that city would have had less excuse than anyone else for rebelling against the Lord by betraying David in favor of Absalom when he attempted to usurp the throne. David lived among the people of Jerusalem. They knew him better than anyone else knew him. They knew that he truly loved the Lord. They also knew Absalom better than anyone else knew him and this means they could not have observed evidence of godly character in him.
Another reason why the people of Jerusalem would have had less of an excuse for their rebellion is because the center of worship was located there. The people were exposed every day to the sight of the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant. Every day they saw their fellow citizens going to and from the house of God with their sacrifices and offerings. Every day they saw the priests in their midst. The people of Jerusalem were blessed by having the house of the Lord located there but with much blessing comes great responsibility. The sin of those who rejected the Lord's will by rejecting His chosen king is less excusable in Jerusalem than in any other city of the nation. So when David looks up and sees the angel of death outside the city with his hand stretched out, I think David knew he was there to decimate the population of Jerusalem so badly that the city would have been left nearly (or even completely) deserted. He cries out in desperation, "Take me, Lord! Don't wipe out these people! Take me and take all of my family if You must but don't destroy this city's population. It's no one's fault but mine. Let me die instead of anyone else!"
The way our verses are phrased makes us think the destruction would have been far worse if the Lord had not been merciful. The phrasing makes us wonder whether David's plea to destroy him and no one else played a part in the halting of the plague. Tomorrow we'll study something else David did at this time that had an influence on or commemorated the stopping of the plague.
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