Let your hand fall upon me

Let your hand fall upon me and my family

2 Sam 24

Key Verse 24:17 ¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family."

This last chapter of Samuel, a conclusion of David’s kinship, ends with God punishment for the sins of Israel. Here King David plays the central role in working out sin and mitigating God’s punishment for sin.

It is unique in few aspects: it was sin of Israel that God was angry with. As the result 70 k people died. But God incited David to do counting of people and David pleaded for the forgiveness of his sins.

1. The Lord’s anger burned against Israel.[1]

Last time that God was displeased with Israel was when God sent drought to Israel because of Saul’s killing of Gibeonites. It is recorded in ch 21. But most likely this happened in the beginning of David’s rule as the king of Israel.

Considering all the evidences, most likely the event that we are reading happened at the last years of David’s reign. So by making an association of these two events with the word, ‘again’, and by doing so, these two events of judgment are made to envelope David’s reign as the king of Israel. This means that the commonality of these two events and its functions are important in understanding of David’s kingship over God’s kingdom. Both deals with sins and its judgment. Both God brought judgment on Israel, one as famine, the other as plague. In both occasions, God’s wraths were mediated by David. The first one was at the beginning of David’s reign, dealing with sins of his predecessor Saul and his family, and the other is at the end of his reign, dealing with sin of Israel. His reign began with handling of the sins of Saul. He made the restitution for sin committed by giving away 7 lives of Saulites. At the end of his reign he dealt with sin of Israel, laid upon him by God’s inciting.

In addition, this event is linked to the building of the temple of God. The site was chosen to David and David sacrificed the burnt offering and fellowship offering at this site. By doing so, he prepared the site, he prepared the people of Israel so as to be acceptable to the Lord, and he gave full meaning and significance of coming temple. If we couple this with the fact that David prepared all the necessary materials to build the temple, we can say that David was the one who provided all meaning and significance of the coming temple. In other word, David did everything that was needed to build coming temple of God. This is in line with God’s promise to David [2 Sam 7:5-16]

God’s anger burned against Israel. This means that God decided to bring punishment on Israel because of her sin. Yet God did not revealed what was the exact nature of sin. The people of Israel did not know it and King David was not aware of it. But God was extremely unhappy because the thing in their heart was of unbelief and disrespect to the Lord. As we read here, it was sin of Israel as a whole that God was upset about it. It was not what David had done or had not done. So at the end 70k people of Israel died. Further death was prevented because of David’s plea for God’s mercy for the sake of the nation Israel. What is the exact nature of the sin of Israel then? It would be revealed through what God incited David to do. This was God’s purpose of inciting David to make census.

2. God incited David against Israel. [2-9]

V2 ² So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, "Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are."

King David told Joab and his commanders to do census on the entire land of Israel. Since Israel came to the land of promise, Israel had more control over many neighboring tribes and nations. Many parts were annexed to Israel. So the land was almost big as the land that God promised to give to Abraham. Simply it was not an easy task. It required much man power and time. Joab, the head of the army, made opposition to this idea.

³ But Joab replied to the king, "May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?"

Through Joab’s word, we can read the mind of David. David concerned about the number of army for the purpose of multiplying the troops. He wanted to enlarge the army troops for the purpose of building up. Apparently David believed that by building up the army the country could be strengthened for the lasting peace and would be positioned to conquer the rest of the Promised Land. But Joab’s thought that if Israel needed such large army, God would multiply the troops even hundred times over. Actually it was not just the thought of Joab but it was the belief of the whole army. Joab was just a spokes man for the army. This can be noted in v 2. David said to Joab and his commanders. In v4 King’s word overruled Joab and his commanders. In other word, the whole army thought that David’s order was not out of faith in the Lord. But David overruled and the whole army had no choice but to carry out the command.

Who were the army commanders? It is recorded in ch 23:8-39. Here their valiant fights against enemies were recorded. There is no question that they fought and won the victory because of their faith in the Lord. Simply they were men of faith, not just warriors in human power and physical strength. This finding is most prominent among the three body guards of David in 8-17. In their mind, they could destroy the enemy not because of their mighty strength but because they believed the Lord and the Lord was with them. Here David’s success could not be thought of without these men of faith. So, it is true that the nation won the victory because of the faith of David their chief commander and because of the faith of the many commanders under him. Faith was the essence of the foundation of the nation Israel.

But King David suddenly decided to do census. He wanted to count the numbers of fighting men from the whole territory of Israel. The nation has become so big that the kingdom could be the imposing power over the entire region. Here we can deduce that David believed that power of the nation was important and that power hinges on the number of troops. In other word, success and failure of the nation depends much on the power in the number of army. This has been proven to be true in all war fares in human history. During the Korean War, there were tens of thousands of soldiers in the joint forces in UN army. But when they went up to the border to China, they were faced with hundreds of thousands of Chinese army. Simply huge numbers of people overwhelmed the allied forces of the south. Like this, we see large numbers and we have confidence in numbers of people. This is the basic rule of the world and this is the rule of human mind. This is true even in our personal lives. I have only a few who would listen to me. But I feel more comfortable if I have hundreds of people working for me. How about money? Now, I have few hundreds of dollars in the bank. But I feel more comfortable if I have hundreds of thousands of dollars in my bank. Based on these numbers of people and the amount of money, I can extent my vision. We often boast in numbers, and we build our confidence in what I have, number of people, or the amount of money.

God chose Israel and Israel is God’s nation. As the nation gets bigger and bigger, the leaders and even individual people or citizens build their pride and confidence in what they have become. What does it mean to God? They are following the world. This means that they reject God as their Lord. They placed themselves above God.

As we noted in the recording in ch 23, they were men of faith. Actually the nation Israel was sustained by faith of David and faith of these commanders. The Whole nation was sustained by faith in the Lord. As they get big and built formidable forces, confidence in human power or strength creeps into the minds of people. This was the root of sin. It is hidden and could not be seen. Such unbelief was not revealed and not expressed. But through the census, what they pride in became known and visible.

As they were told, the whole army went out throughout the land and did the census. It came out to be 500k in Judah and 800k in Israel. It took more than 9 months. We can roughly guess how extensive it was.

3. I have sinned[10-15]

The whole army went out and counted the numbers. It was 1.3 million. Can you imagine an army of 1.3 million? Even now there are very few countries that have such large number of army. All the more in such ancient time, populous was so scares and the country was so small, the number 1.3 million was far too great to grasp. An army of 1.3 million was an immense and far too bigger number than David ever imagined. As soon as he heard the result, what happened?

¹⁰ David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."

David came to the keen understanding of the meaning of the number of people. It was so great that it overwhelmed his mind. The number was appealing to David so bigger than God! When he was small a man, when the country was struggling in fight against the Philistines, David could not but seek God and His help. But as soon as he saw this immense army, it seemed that army looks bigger than God.

As we read and heard many times through UBF history, the first missionary was to Jeju island. Dr. S. Lee was so happy to send few lay women missionaries to Germany. Since then all the staff struggled and became happy to raise even one man or woman as missionary. After 40years, suddenly we found ourselves to be big, enough to send missionaries to more than 80 nations over the worlds. We pride in what we have done and what we are and what we do. Also suddenly we found ourselves be praised of what we did. We also were much amused by what we did and what we were praised of. This is exactly what the nation Israel was and this was the sin that God was angry about. It says in v 1. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel. Anger is not an expression of mild emotional disturbance. It is a strong form of dislike and even hate. Jesus became angry at the leaders of Israel for their stubborn unbelief. In such anger, God even incited David so as to unveil and to expose sin in the depth of the nation Israel. Such unbelief must be exposed and eradicated in and among his people. If not, they cannot stand as a people of God.

David repented immediately of the sin that he found in himself as well as in the nation. God offered three choices for the punishment for that sin:

¹³ So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land?

How can we understand such demand of punishment for sin from God? It is God’s desire to be the Lord of Israel. No one else or even themselves cannot be the center of their lives. God must be! God wanted to purify them and make them and keep them in His blessings. Sin shall never be part of God’s chosen. Sin must be paid off for Israel to be God’s blessing!

¹⁴ David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

He wanted to fall into the hand of the Lord because God’s mercy is great. God was about to punish Israel for her sin. It is God of holiness and justice and righteousness that brings such judgment on Israel. But at the same time God is God of mercy in dealing with sins of men. This is the most proper understanding of God.

There are two extremes of belief about God; God as the ultimate judge and his judgment is so sharp edged and so thorough that he cannot have rest or find rest in his faith in the Lord. The other extreme is the faith that believes that God is so gracious that God would accept us despite of so many sins and wickedness. In some sense both of these are right and good. But David, in the midst of God’s judgment, he believed God’s mercy. We cannot blunt God’s judgment and we shall not ignore his grace and mercy. David personally experienced both so deeply. In his life these two are met together.

4. Enough! Withdraw your hand [16-25]

As David chose three days of plague, it came upon the land and tens of thousands of Israel died from Dan to Beersheba[the entire land of Israel]. Finally the angel of God stretched out his hand and was about to strike Jerusalem. David did not know what to do. He simply waited for God to finish his judgment. But when God saw the calamity on his people Israel, the Lord was so grieved and told the angel of death to stop and told Gad to tell David what to do. We do not know how many would die of the plague. God put it on hold and told David to sacrifice.

VV 19-24 describes the details of what David did to sacrifice at the threshing floor of Araunah.

First it was the threshing floor of Araunah that David was told to sacrifice. It was in the city of Jerusalem and Araunah was a Jebusite, not an Israelites. According to his name most likely he was the tribal leader or even he might have been a king of the Jebusite. One thing that we must be noted is that there were three things that we can identify in Jerusalem: the Palace, the Ark of God, and the Araunah’s land.

If we take that God was about to judge even Jerusalem because of this place, and people; Araunah, then we can say that David’s palace, Ark of God and this place could not exist together. This place and people must be redeemed for to be among Israel. Since Araunah was a gentile, and the census was inclusive of gentiles that were incorporated to Israel by their subjection, then ‘without true redeeming mechanism for these gentiles and yet David wanted to use them as the force for Israel power, or Israel army’ was the source of such trouble with the Lord.

We do not why at this place that David were to sacrifice to the Lord. As we read in 1 Chron 21: 15-16, the angel of the Lord was standing on the threshing floor of Araunah. When David saw the angel, he was standing between heaven and earth with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. This means that Araunah’s place was the locus of judgment. Here the angel of God was standing and was about strike down Jerusalem with his sword.

Jerusalem was where the place of David’s residence, palace, is located. It is also where the ark of God was. The angel of God was about to strike Jerusalem including David’s house. But God told angel to stop and David was told to offer sacrifice. God was willing to take sacrifices in exchange for God’s punishment on Jerusalem. It was God’s mercy for David as well as for the kingdom Israel. If Jerusalem was struck down, the very existence of David, king as well as the kingdom Israel as the nation of God would be threatened. But in His mercy God was willing to relinquish his judgment on David as well as the nation Israel. What would take to avert God’s wrath?

First, he offered the site as well as oxen with yokes that was needed for sacrifice. But David insisted to pay for everything; esp. pay for the land. This means that the threshing floor will be permanently David’s or David’s descendants.

Second, David will not sacrifice to the Lord the burnt offering that would cost him nothing. Here the emphasis has changed from the threshing floor to the burnt offering. He bought oxen and sacrificed to the Lord.

In this way, David bought the place and he bought the sacrifice. He himself offered the burnt offering to the Lord. Through Leviticus, we come to know that the Burnt Offering is solely for the forgiveness of sins. Furthermore, David, a king, not a descendant of Levites, offered sacrifice to the Lord. He took the position of the priest on behalf of the nation Israel. As we know, Saul sacrificed before Samuel arrived and he was rebuked for it. Also it was the beginning of his down fall. In addition, by the law it was clear that only the priest could handle such sacrifices. But why did God allow David to do such things?

1. Such thing happened in early of his life when he visited to Nob and asked for bread. The priest gave him consecrated bread from the altar. No one except priests should eat such bread from the altar. But David ate and was exempt from God’s judgment.

2. This can be explained in the fact that God chose David for the sake of His people Israel, and the ultimate purpose of this is to bring them to God, the essence of which is ‘forgiveness of sin and redemption.’ It was not just ‘righteous’ rule of his people but the rule must be inclusive of the ‘work of redemption’. Because without redemption, no matter how righteous rule David do for the nation, the nation still be ‘disconnected’ to God, their ultimate king.

3. Also David was the man after God’s own heart and God chose him in promise to be the father of the lasting dynasty for the nation Israel. This was further evidenced through God’s forgiveness as David repented of his sin. David was the first one redeemed and survived after sinning, and was accepted fully by the Lord [Jedidiah—Solomon: the token of God’s approval of his righteousness after sinning]

In this way David bought the place, bought the sacrifice for the burnt offering and he himself offered the sacrifice so as to redeem the nation Israel. In all these it was clear that David provided everything for the forgiveness of the sin of the nation Israel.

Here also said that the burnt offering was followed by fellowship offering. The fellowship offering is offering of having fellowship with the Lord. The offers were to eat the offered sacrifices at the temple after God’s portion was given to God. [fat portion] This means that God’s wrath has been fully propitiated and men could have peace with God and enter into fellowship with Him.

The three days of plague killed many, reaching to 70k. This was stopped by God’s grace and the fellowship with the Lord was reestablished by burnt offering and then fellowship offering. Like this David was the shadow of the coming Savior king for God’s chosen.

Jesus, the son of David, came and sacrificed himself on the mount Golgotha. Through this offering, Jesus pleaded on behalf of all sinners and brought us peace with God.

On behalf of the sacrifice offered, God was willing to stop bringing judgment and was willing to make peace with his people again. This will of God was revealed in David. This was revealed in Jesus. As Christ offered sacrifice of himself, God is willing to halt his judgment on people for their sins and is willing to make peace with men.