YouVersion

Here in this passage we see that it says, "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census." BUT in 2 Sam. 24:1 it reads, "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.'" The obvious question is, "How can one passage say one thing and the other passage seem to say the exact opposite."

The easy thing to do here is to quickly jump to the obvious conclusion that since they 2 passages seem to contradict each other that the Bible must be false. However, we shouldn't jump to such a judgment so quickly.

I like to think that both true statements are true. Was God angry at the people and so He incited David? Sure, He's God, he can do what he ever it is He wants, but that doesn't make this passage in 1 Chron. 21:1 false. The 2 Samuel passage says nothing about the means in which God incited David. Satan may have been the tool that God used to accomplish His desires.

At the same time, from what I recall in Seminary, we must also realize that it is during this period of time that the Jewish theology on Satan was being formed. Personally, I like to believe that God used Satan to punish the people through David.

Now did God cause David to sin? NO! The Hebrew word here is that he "picked", "stimulated", or even "stirred up" this desire in David, but did God cause David to sin? No. We must also realize that Satan had something to do with David's sin. I like to think that God allowed Satan to tempt David to count the people, which he did, and through that God was able to incite his justice on that people as a result.

Ultimately, this is not an easy or fun passage, but it is one that must be thoroughly examined before judgment is made. In all, we can take away from this that God's will was done. He was angry with the people because of their sin and God took this opportunity to apply his judgment accordingly. God is just which is a hard lesson to learn in this day and time.