1st Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
For the purposes of this Bible study, a better devil is representative of the best choice you can make in a situation where you only have bad options on the table.
The provocation of David, the leader of the nation is now going to extend to those under his jurisdiction. In every nation there is a chain of command and the underlings that do the kings bidding are to be wary, lest they obey dictates that they know would violate the word and the will of God.
Whenever a person violates conscience, in order to please the head of a nation, they put themselves on the fast track to compromise themselves in greater and weightier matters, and if the downward spiral is not arrested, that person will inevitably become the slave of circumstance.
After Joab previously yielded to David’s demand for him to kill Uriah, Joab did violence to his conscience, and by so doing he set himself up to become a slave to leadership, whether the dear leader did wrong or right. The very worst thing that underlings can do is to repeat or promulgate evils they know of, when it comes from the dear leader.
The satanic thought was first infused into the mind of David, the one with the highest authority in the nation, and then from there it flowed downstream to any and every one who would not be guided by principle, truth, and duty. This is a very sorry state for any nation to be in. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people Go number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
3 And Joab answered, The Lord makes his people a hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then does my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
By describing it as a trespass, Joab is acknowledging the fact that he is fully aware that the king’s request is wrong, and thus, like Pilate, he’ll have a deliberate choice to make in the matter. Will he allow political pressure to cause him to do what he knows is wrong or will he speak truth to power, and refuse David’s request, even if it costs him his job, and retirement benefits?
It is at moments like these when the fate of a nation may hang in the balance, with deadly repercussions for the citizenry. One wrong action taken by those in authority, which they fully know to be wrong, could trigger a chain of circumstances, that could wreak havoc upon persons who may have not been privy, part or parcel to the decision thus made. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand, thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
That last sentence in the above passage is fraught with consequences both in the physical and spiritual realms, for if the action is “Abominable” to Joab and he still goes ahead and does it anyway, he is yielding his mind to satanic influences, and by so doing he is just about to open the floodgates of trouble upon a nation that hasn’t a clue as to what will soon unfold.
1st Chronicles 21:7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore, he smote Israel.
There are collateral blessings, and there are also the collateral curses, by which certain persons will suffer or benefit, either directly or indirectly from the acts of those in authority. When the leader of a nation is in error, by knowingly doing evil, it is often the case that persons under their jurisdiction will suffer as a result, some more, some less.
The leaders of Hamas and the fighters are not the only ones who are suffering; thousands of little children are taking a hit, with limbs being broken starvation, disease, trauma and a lot of women, and other elderly citizens have also been recipients of the collateral damage, as shrapnel from the bombs continue to take a toll.
In other words, the leaders made the decision and it is inevitable that those under their jurisdiction will suffer, some more, some less. This fact should serve as a deterrent or warning to leaders the world over, not to knowingly make decisions that could result in carnage and deep distress to those under their care. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:9 And the Lord spoke unto Gad, David's seer, saying, 10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
David is now faced with a dire predicament because of his decision to do evil, even after he was alerted to the fact by the spineless Joab. David went ahead with the suggestion infused into his mind by satan, and now he has to choose the better devil, meaning that out of the three very bad options on the table, he has to pick the best devil.
Whenever the you and me in the here and now are faced with only bad options on the table, like David, we may have to choose the better devil, so that the least amount of collateral damage may result. This is a sorry situation to be in, but sometimes because of decisions, and actions taken by leaders, persons are placed in such an unfortunate position. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee.
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtake thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
David now weighs the pros and cons, as he assesses the potential damage that will result either way, and in desperation, he gives voice to the seriousness of the predicament that could have been avoided. The first option, of three years of famine, would wreak havoc on the economy, and would most likely push the nation deep into a recession.
Starvation and death would result, many persons would lose their jobs, and as a result, would not be able to pay their mortgages, and as a result, they could lose their homes as a direct result of David’s ill-advised decision.
When the citizens of any nation become financially desperate, all kinds of dangers can unfold, because wherever resources are scarce, conflict is never far away. All of this potential turmoil could have been averted if Joab had stood his ground and refused to drink the Kool aid David gave him.
Then the recovery period might even be longer and the blame, and hand wringing that would dominate every news cycle could trigger a national revolt, and uprising to the point where some desperate persons in the military might plot a coup. So, David scratches this first option off, for he trembles at the thought of the ramifications that could ensue.
The next devil, or option is even worse, for the three months of devastation by David’s foes, could trigger slaughter on a national scale, and could weaken the military to the point where his soldiers might jump ship, for some might conclude if you can’t win them, then join them.
This particular second devil or option came with the guarantee that David would signally lose any battle with whosoever the invader might be. Even though the nations of the earth in our day may not know it, there are times when enemy nations are permitted to invade other countries, on account of cherished sin harbored by leaders and people alike. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 28: 49 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young.
And this does not only apply to God’s chosen people for it applies to nations who have nothing to do with God, but who are under His jurisdiction, even if they do not acknowledge this fact. When any nation does that which they know to be wrong, the gate is often opened for its enemies to wreak havoc. Let’s read:
Daniel 5: 17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another. yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18The most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty, and glory, and honor.
20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though you knew all this.
24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
If the “Putin” of David’s day was given the green light to invade and destroy, the nation might never recover, and worse yet, they could be subjugated or put to tribute for many years to come. This would potentially destroy national pride, and could break the will of the military to engage national foes in the future. So, David scratches off this 2nd devil too. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
Finally, David decides that the stakes are too great if he were to choose either number one or two devils, and thus, with his back against a wall, and with only bad options before his face, he decides to choose a better devil, meaning that the third option of falling into The Lord’s hands seemed to be the only viable path forward, since David believed it would produce the least amount of damage.
And even though the number of resulting casualties may seem high, the other two devils, or bad options would have resulted in significantly more fatalities, multiplied many times over, for if God is merciful as David claims, and indeed He is, yet 70,000 men fell dead, one can only imagine what the final death toll would have been if David had chosen differently. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
The reason why this Bible study is so grim is because it contains information that greatly disturbs persons, as they consider the fallout, in collateral damage to individuals, and families, who seem to have nothing to do with David’s executive order to Joab, and the decision by the army general to knowingly do that which he himself confessed was wrong.
Even to David who had sinned in his capacity as king it seemed unfathomable, that apparently innocent persons would have to suffer for his misdeeds, but that is what sin does, especially deliberate sin, when it is cheered on by the masses of people.
Many of the folks who perished that day were also partakers of David’s perspective and therefore, even though they were not directly involved in David’s decision, they inwardly agreed, and supported him in his endeavors, and as such were part and parcel of the whole scheme, as far as God was concerned.
Thus, there are some grave questions that must be answered before we move forward, so that we here in the land of the free and the home of the brave do not fall into that unfortunate situation, of having to choose a better devil. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17 And David said unto God, isn’t it me, who commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
Question: How is it that David and all his household were spared from the carnage while others who had no direct input suffered for David’s sin?
Question: Is it true that the citizenry of a nation may fall victims to the doings, and decisions of their dear leader, and the dear leader can get off scotch free?
Question: Can the citizenry of a nation participate in the spirit, ideologies, and philosophies of the leader without making a direct contribution to the decision -making processes?
Question: What are the implications of the answers to the above questions, to those who are currently drinking Kool aid which they acknowledge, is laced with Cyanide?
Question: Do the underlings in a government have a sacred duty to disobey orders and mandates coming from their superiors, if they know those commands will violate God’s revealed will directly?
We must now address some of these concerns, so that clarity might be brought to the situation. The reason why David’s entire household was spared from carnage, is because he was quick to confess his sins, after his conscience was pricked by the Holy Ghost.
Right after the evil deed was done, David went into prayer, as the gravity of his sin rose before his mind. Thus, in his capacity as head of his household, those family members downstream became beneficiaries of his intercession, which then resulted in collateral blessing to his entire family as they were spared the judgements that came upon the land.
Believe it or not, there was a time when even the pharaoh of Egypt acknowledged his sins, and asked for prayer, and forgiveness. And guess what, Christ, who is rich in mercy, and always eager to forgive us, immediately removed the scourge, and everyone in pharaoh’s family then became beneficiaries of the collateral blessing of removal. Let’s read:
Exodus 10: 16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.
17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.
19 And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
Thus, God who is true to His word, accepted David’s confession, just as God would have done with all of those persons who were participants either directly or indirectly. The problem is that most of them saw nothing wrong with what David did, and as such, it was not necessary to confess or repent of anything as far as they were concerned. Let’s read:
1st Chronicles 21:8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 747] The numbering was not finished when David was convicted of his sin. Self-condemned, he “said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech Thee, do away the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.”
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 746 &748] The prosperity of Israel under David had been due to the blessing of God rather than to the ability of her king or the strength of her armies. The taking of the census had caused disaffection among the people, yet they had themselves cherished the same sins that prompted David's action.
Another question of grave import is that which will pertain to underlings in any government, whether or not to obey commands coming from superiors, if and when they know that the instruction is wrong. Persons who work for governments have a sacred duty to disobey their superiors, when obedience to such will directly violate God’s law.
For instance, if a dear leader instructs his underlings to tell a blatant lie to cover his tracks, as took place when David instructed Joab to practice deception in the issue with Uriah, so as to cover David’s tracks, as the underling, Joab was to step up to the plate by standing up for right, even if his job as chief of staff, and his retirement could be jeopardized by so doing.
Persons are to render unto Caesar that which is his own, only so far as it would not violate God’s law in a direct manner. But if and when it comes down to the wire, when a choice has to be made either for Caesar, or in favor of God’s law, the underling is to humbly bow out, by deferring to God. Let’s read:
Daniel 3: 4 Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, that you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
In other words, they will obey God at all costs, and they will let the chips fall where they may, but under no circumstances were they going to allow political pressure from the “dear leader” to force them into drinking Kool aid. They would not knowingly violate conscience and for this reason they are described in the Bible as being “Certain Jews.”
In our day, some persons in the higher echelons of society have been deliberately drinking Kool aid, for like the infamous Joab, they have declared that they know it to be laced with Cyanide, and yet, in order to curry favor with some dear leader, some persons drink over, and over again.
Others, like Joab are greatly disturbed since the cool aid seems abominable unto them, and yet persons continue to drink and drink. Whenever the you and me in the here and now, know and declare with our own mouths that something is wrong and yet we go ahead and do it anyway, we open the floodgates of trouble upon ourselves, and in the process, we may cause collateral damage to others.
Perilous times are just upon us, the fate of nations, and individuals hang in the balance, as they are torn between two lovers, the dear leader on one hand, and the convicting voice of conscience on the other.
Like Joab, some of us would have to weigh the pros and cons of obedience, especially when careers and promotions are at stake. Taking a stand for the right in our day could catapult persons into the arena of ridicule and scorn, and the temptations to buckle under the heavy load could be really unnerving.
Yet God is calling on persons in high, and low places to stand your ground by sticking to principle instead of policy. In the process you may actually lose your job, or be excommunicated from the society of your former affiliates.
Yet, it would be much better to do the right thing, rather than the wrong, and thus, be forced into the most unfortunate situation of having to choose the better devil. If the heat of the furnace is too great, if like Joab the political pressure is overwhelming, you could always pray to God for grace, and strength in time of need.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture that will encourage one and all to be faithful to God, to truth and duty, even when tremendous pressure is being exerted to the contrary. Let’s read:
Acts 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
God Bless!