May the mumbling commence!
Before I begin, I would like to wish all the mothers out there Happy Mothers’ Day. Unfortunately, today’s readings from the chronological Bible do not lend themselves well to reflections on mothers. I will be looking at 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. Sinfulness in leaders is costly. These chapters from these witnesses record slightly differently the census of the army that David took.
I’ve been doing some reflecting this past week and taking a census of a sort. I have been a little sickened and disturbed by the jubilation that followed the death of Osama Bin Laden. Is this really sweet revenge for the deaths on September 11, 2001? What have we really accomplished with this death? Is it a significant step to “winning the war on terror”? Or has the United States only added more fuel to the fire of the extremist camp of Al Qaida? I cannot help believe that the latter is closer to the truth.
These celebrations have seemed to be testosterone-laden flexing of our military muscle, might, and power. Might did not equal right for Amnon so many years ago. Have things really changed? Are our celebrations any different than David wanting to number his troops? Do we trust in the special forces of our navy or do we trust in God to exact justice and to protect us?
Many people in leadership have rejoiced in this “victory”. Perhaps it will be a feather in their caps when they seek reelection. But beware – leaders who fall into sin prove costly to many people. I think about this every time I step into leadership in the church body, and I tremble with fear – like David from the sword of the angel of the Lord (1 Chron. 21:30). I wonder if our political leaders think about this potential harm.
When David fell from grace in his census taking, Joab, his commander, warned him of the error of his way. The witness in 1 Chronicles even reports that Joab refused to count the tribes of Levi or Benjamin in the census. Historically, the men of Levi did not fight – that makes perfect sense. Why did Joab not count Benjamin? Benjamin was the tribe of Saul. Hmm…
Once the census was taken hindsight kicked in. David realized that he did wrong. God gave David three choices through the prophet Gad. None of the choices were good – three years of famine, three months at the mercy of your enemies, or three days of God’s sword through plague. David chose the latter because the Lord’s mercy is great. Incidentally, it is also the shortest time of the three choices. You know, get it over quick.
When David saw the suffering of the people, we prayed for mercy on the people. They had done nothing wrong; yet they suffered. They suffered for David’s sin. When someone as insignificant as Achan sinned and caused the death of many men in Judges, so would David cause the death and suffering of many as the leader of Israel. And God relented and asked David to build an altar at the place the angel of the Lord stopped and to sacrifice to the Lord.
When David went to that threshing floor, its owner, Araunah, offered to give David the threshing floor, the oxen for sacrifice, and the wood for the fire. But David refused to make a sacrifice that cost him nothing. David insisted on paying Araunah for these things, and he did. The difference in the details is interesting between 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. In the witness of 2 Samuel, David offered about one-and-a-quarter pounds of silver. In the 1 Chronicles witness, David offered about fifteen pounds of gold. That’s twelve times the amount of weight, and it was in gold rather than silver – a more precious and valuable commodity. And the chronicler added some more detail to the offering. When David called upon the Lord, the Lord answered by bringing fire from heaven onto the offering. Again, we note the better view of David in the 2 Chronicles’ witness.
And the Lord’s wrath was turned away – after the death of 70,000 men (but not even a tithe of the men counted in the census). May we take care when we lead to trust in God – not the size of our army or the size of our armory or the skill of our soldiers.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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