1st Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. 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.
Now, the same issue also occurs at times when God brings judgment upon certain persons. He may not always give us an explanation, but persons can rest assured that there must be something in the heart that caused Him to do as He did. Case in point was the numbering of the people by David. In that instance, the scripture says that satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to count the people.
But not long after, the displeasure of the Lord was made manifest, and He made David three offers of judgment, to recompence the deed. David chose the better of the three bad options and no sooner had he done so than an angel was sent to destroy many persons in Jerusalem. Then, as David saw the carnage taking place, He questioned God’s judgement, in inflicting hurt on persons who had no part in issuing the order to number the people.
And some persons reading that incident may balk at what they perceive as a travesty of justice, where the apparently innocent were shaken down, while those who did the dirty work seemed to have gotten away scotch free. Numbers 1:18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
1st Chronicles 21:7 And God was displeased with “this thing;” therefore he smote Israel.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!