April 16

Read 2 Samuel 21,24 1 Chronicles 22 Psalm 30

2 issues to wrestle with today.

The death of the Gibeonites poses an ethical issue for us. The Bible does not record Saul’s act of genocide on the Gibeonites but apparently it was racially motivated. This act had the consequence of God withdrawing his blessing from the entire land. But was the resulting death of 7 of Saul’s descendents fair? The Bible is clear that sons should not be put to death for the sins of their fathers so we must assume that these 7 sons had a part in committing the genocide. Otherwise the second act would have been just as wrong as the first and God would have continued to withdraw his hand of blessing from the land.

The second issue has to do with counting people. God had commanded the counting of people in the desert so why all this fuss about counting the army? The answer has to do with the motivation of David.

1 Chron. 21:1-7 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are."

Perhaps it was selfish ambition, pride, insecurity or perhaps David was influenced by the seduction of power. Whatever the reason the humble little shepherd boy from Bethlehem goes out and has his general Joab number the army. Satan was part of this equation and took advantage of the weakness of David. As a result 70,000 people died. What a terrible price to pay for the sins of a leader. This census did not include counting the women and children; this was the counting of David’s strength. David was switching his trust in God’s invisible hand to the number of hands on swords in his army. Beware, leaders, of the seduction of power and especially the battle with have with our enemy Satan. He is always looking for ways to take advantage of us. It is easy in times of prosperity to think we are the big cheese and forget about trusting in our God.

“WHY” is a very important question to ask yourself as you make major decisions. Is it for the glory of God’s name or the glory of my name?