HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 666
2 S A MU EL 2 4
3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord
your God let you live to see a hundred times as
many people as there are now! But why, my lord
the king, do you want to do this?”
4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army
went out to count the people of Israel. 5 First
they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer,
south of the town in the valley, in the direction
of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer, 6 then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi* and to Danjaan and around to Sidon. 7 Then they came to
the fortress of Tyre, and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south
to Judah* as far as Beersheba.
8 Having gone through the entire land for nine
• Justice
2 SAMU E L 2 4 :1 4
David knew he had acted wrongly and
deserved punishment. David recognized
that if God gave him justice, he would be
wiped out by God’s wrath. But he chose
God’s hand of punishment because he
knew that God is merciful as well as
just. In God’s kindness, he is willing to
forgive us instead of giving us what we
deserve.
• Giving
2 SAMU E L 2 4 :2 4
How can I know how much money
I should give to God? The Bible
provides various perspectives on this
question. They are not contradictory,
but complementary, like facets of the
same diamond. For instance, Scripture
instructs us to give ten percent of our
income (Malachi 3:8-12), to give until
money is no longer our god (Luke
18:18-30), and to give an amount that
demonstrates genuine love for Christ and
other people (2 Corinthians 8:1-15). This
verse in 2 Samuel presents yet another
perspective: Give until your giving represents a genuine sacrifice. Is the amount
you give trivial compared to your car
payments or entertainment budget?
Do you give only what is left over at the
end of the month? Does your giving fail
to make an appreciable difference to
your lifestyle? If so, it’s time to change.
Will you, like David, refuse to offer God
a gift that—essentially—costs you
nothing?
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months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem. 9 Joab reported the number of people
to the king. There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and
500,000 in Judah.
Judgment for David’s Sin
10 But after he had taken the census, David’s
conscience began to bother him. And he said to
the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this
census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing
this foolish thing.”
11 The next morning the word of the Lord
came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer.
This was the message: 12 “Go and say to David,
‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three
choices. Choose one of these punishments, and
I will inflict it on you.’”
13 So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will
you choose three* years of famine throughout
your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what
answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”
14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of
the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me
fall into human hands.”
15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that
morning, and it lasted for three days.* A total
of 70,000 people died throughout the nation,
from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.
16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death
angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment
the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor
of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 When David saw the angel, he said to the
Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done
wrong! But these people are as innocent as
sheep—what have they done? Let your anger
fall against me and my family.”
David Builds an Altar
18 That day Gad came to David and said to him,
“Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 So David went up to do what the Lord had
commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the
king and his men coming toward him, he came
and bowed before the king with his face to the
ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the
king?” Araunah asked.
David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so
that he will stop the plague.”
22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as
you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are
24:6 Greek version reads to Gilead and to Kadesh in the land
of the Hittites. 24:7 Or they went to the Negev of Judah.
24:13 As in Greek version (see also 1 Chr 21:12); Hebrew reads
seven. 24:15 Hebrew for the designated time.