2 Samuel 24:1–8

Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”

And Joab said to the king, “Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

This final chapter in Second Samuel teaches a tough lesson. Part of what makes it tough is the parallel report in First Chronicles.

Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”— 1 Chronicles 21:1–2

So, was it the LORD or was it Satan?

It has to be both. The only way to reconcile these two accounts is to see this as similar to the beginning of the book of Job. The LORD is letting Satan off his leash a bit.

The LORD is the first cause of all things. In this case, as in Job, Satan is the second cause.

This teaching is hard to accept, but it’s all over Scripture. In addition to today’s passages and the ones in Job, there’s the account of the Egyptian plagues in Exodus. Sometimes the text says that Pharoah hardened his own heart; other times God hardened it.

And then there’s this:

“And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail;” — Luke 22:31–32a

Jesus implies that Satan has to ask for permission to sift Simon as wheat. More importantly, He says that He prayed for Simon to pass the trial, not for him to be spared it. The implications are huge.

Everything that happens—everything—is under the LORD’s authority.