Introduction

Good day to all! Let us delve into the final chapter of Second Samuel. Identifying a central theme for this chapter proves challenging. While my interpretation may not be definitive, I believe it is reasonably grounded. Thus, I title this chapter, Arousing God's Wrath and Appeasing It.

God's Intention to Unleash Wrath Upon the People

Why did God intend to unleash His wrath upon the people? We are left entirely in the dark, as the Scriptures offer no explanation. However, we can speculate on one matter: God stirred David to number the people. While this might seem malicious on God's part, it is not entirely so. Why did God incite David? David was constantly hailed with praises like, Long live David! and Long live the Davidic Dynasty! In reality, he was nearing his end, being an old man at this point. The people were caught up in worldly practices, exclaiming, I am a mighty warrior of David! We have thirty mighty warriors, thirty marshals, thirty generals! We are invincible!

Although the reasons for God stirring David to number the people remain unknown, this act ultimately led to a plague. The Israelites boasted, Are we truly as numerous as the sand by the sea, as the stars in the sky? Let us count the stars and then count the people of Israel to see which is more! Can this even be counted? Is my speculation reasonable? A sentiment had taken root among the Israelites, with each individual feeling that the Davidic Dynasty and its territories were immensely vast. They believed they were the most powerful dynasty in history, with all other nations bowing before them. This feeling, this sentiment, made them feel incredibly superior!

I urge you to remember these words: That sentiment that makes people feel extraordinary. Was David truly extraordinary? In truth, David did not consider himself extraordinary. This sense of superiority is what we call national pride or regional pride. I am from Shanghai, he is a hick. I am American, he is a hick from Australia. Such sentiments are prevalent. Is this not arrogance?

There are several things in this world: wisdom, foolishness, and then arrogance coupled with blind regional pride. I can still relate to this feeling. We Northeasterners refer to eating meat as eating meat (you). When you go to Beijing and tell them you want to eat meat (you), Beijingers laugh uproariously. Is it wrong for Northeasterners to say eating meat (you)? Northeasterners say, That's how we say it in our neck of the woods. Guo Bao meat (you), twice-cooked pork (you). You can subtly sense the pride of Beijingers. During my era of purchasing meat, Beijingers could buy meat freely, while we had to rely on ration coupons. Being a Beijinger back then was a source of pride, leading to regional pride.

In reality, they were merely born into the Davidic Dynasty, still being their ordinary selves. Can that be changed? People often assume these things are praiseworthy, resulting in Israelites in the Davidic Dynasty walking with their noses in the air. Do you truly have the right to be so arrogant? I often encounter such individuals during the process of establishing a church. It makes me feel like I am walking on thin ice. Everyone thinks, I want to stay in Chinese Mingding Destiny. Even if you want to drive me away, I will not leave. I want to be in this victorious church. I sense an unpleasant undertone to this.

The issue is not whether you are in the Davidic Dynasty or the Jeroboam Dynasty. The problem lies in the fact that people have a natural system of logic called the worldly system of logic. That's how it is! When you go to the bathhouse, everyone looks the same. When you don't go to the bathhouse, everyone still looks the same! Don't misunderstand me, I am merely telling a joke. Arrogant and conceited Israelites thought they were truly powerful and looked down upon the surrounding nations. Thus, God thought, What makes you so arrogant?

David before Me is just David. What are you small fries being arrogant about? Many people's after-dinner conversations revolve around the Three Mighty Warriors, Asahel, Abishai, and the like. Why do I know this? Because we Chinese do the same. When gathered together, you hear people say, I know so-and-so mayor. You know him? I know him too. He is my comrade, my classmate, he is your teacher, he is also my teacher. We have the same mentor. They also like to talk about aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and drones, alluding to a inexplicable arrogance. This is my speculation as to why God was angry with the Israelites.

It is because they constantly talked about these things: I am that mighty warrior, David's mighty warrior, in such-and-such unit, such-and-such number. Another person says, I am too. What God hates most is this, because people's hearts do not turn to God, not knowing that these achievements were not earned by mighty warriors but bestowed by God. Gradually, you will comprehend why God struck down a group of Israelites. God said, I will let you be arrogant. Let a plague strike and see if you can still be arrogant. In the face of a plague, everyone is equal. Even doctors and mentors cannot stop it. Those who die from the plague include men and women, young and old, high-ranking and low-ranking officials, those with high and low levels of education. The plague does not discriminate. It hits you directly!

Know that the most important thing for people to learn while living in this world is humility, to learn to keep a low profile. Someone asks, Aren't you teaching us to be great princes? Even a great prince must keep a low profile, because we are human. Thankfully, God did not create a tail when He created humans. If He had created a tail, we would have to tuck it in. Since we do not have a tail, we still have to tuck it in. Why? What can you control? Do not be arrogant or presumptuous. If you are so arrogant that your nostrils are pointing upwards, wouldn't water get into your nostrils? We must realize that we are human, and even among people, we are not someone great, so we should be even more humble.

Our brothers and sisters, we must learn to be humble. What is humility? It is knowing that there is a God, knowing that we are human, not being arrogant. Know that no one can withstand the passage of time, the butcher's knife. Do not think it only slaughters pigs; it also slaughters humans. Without God, you are nothing! What is humility? It is trusting in God, no longer trusting in oneself. Many people mistake trusting in their own abilities as faith, but that is a very absurd kind of faith.

Numbering the People Arouses God's Wrath

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.” (2 Samuel 24:1-2)

This chapter is quite interesting. God stirred David, yet David, as intelligent as he was, became confused for a moment and numbered the people. Why did David number the people? Because David and his entourage frequently left the palace and ate ge da tang at street stalls. When some people saw King David, they excitedly shouted, This is King David! Upon hearing that it was King David, everyone surrounded him, and he couldn't even finish his soup. This scene is quite amusing, not like the luxurious and imposing outings of a king, but more like my own outings. As a result, David constantly heard how many people were around him. Everyone looked at each other, truly not knowing how many people there were. David impulsively wanted to count how many people there were.

After a few days, another group of people came, and people from his hometown also came. David excitedly spoke, Then quickly count how many people there are now! He made a mistake due to momentary confusion. Did he not know that numbering the people aroused God's wrath? He did know, but he forgot as he spoke. Why did David forget? Because when people saw David, they shouted, Long live King David! When David constantly heard such voices, something inside him began to swell with pride and arrogance, and he walked with a swagger. After hearing such voices for too long, David felt that all the success was due to the merits of those three warriors and their thirty warriors. Everyone felt that they had made great contributions, arousing God's wrath.

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?” (2 Samuel 24:3)

In reality, when people are swelling with arrogance, they cannot listen to anything. At this critical moment, Joab, with some spiritual insight, wanted to stop David. Joab was not capable of this before. Who taught him this time? Suddenly, he became spiritual, and as a result, Joab said to King David, 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. Why did Joab act spiritually here? Because God suddenly stirred Joab to stop David to see if he would change. However, King David's decision was set, and no one could change it, so he sent people to count the people.

Do you think numbering the people is a fun thing? It is not. Numbering the people is actually the beginning of pride and arrogance in people's hearts. As the saying goes, people do not know their place. Hearing King David every day, they think their last name is King. The hidden motive behind numbering the people, if it is intended as a means to boast, is troublesome!

Our brothers and sisters must know that counting money is a fatal thing. Do you have the habit of counting money? Going to the bank to check how much money is in your account, checking it again after a while, and it is still the same amount. Why do people always go to the bank to check money? People are very interesting; they feel that money is important. I always hear someone tell me, Teacher, I think the money in my account is less than I thought.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Those who do not often look at their money, when they occasionally look at their account, find that there is more than they imagined. There are people who do not care about money, but their money is always more than they thought. This is a very marvelous thing. There are also people who always feel that the numbers in their account are less than they imagined. They thought it should be 100,000, but it turned out to be 70,000. After a few days, they check again, and without spending much, it has become 40,000. There are people who always see more money in their account; this is a very strange and interesting thing.

In fact, counting money and counting people, the counting behind these things is a worldly operation. Why don't people count God's grace? I rarely see people experiencing God's grace and then writing it down in a notebook. Rarely! People forget it in a few years, forgetting the state of their health when they first came to church. Some people often leaked urine when they first came to church, and some people often leaked feces. Their speech was rough, and they wet the bed constantly, but after a few years, they forgot. In fact, the things in people's hearts are very evil. Memory is a very evil thing! If someone has wronged them, they will remember it for the rest of their lives, even into the coffin. If someone has given them grace, they can remember it for ten days or half a month, which is already considered a person of virtue.

I think this world is very interesting. Among us, are there many who have experienced God's grace? Yes! Are there many who forget it in the blink of an eye? Too many. Sometimes, I am almost worried to death. You have forgotten God's grace. I do not hold it against you. I give you grace, and you forget it. I do not hold it against you either, but this thing is terrible. Numbering the people arouses God's wrath, but if you count God's grace, you are arousing God's grace, so our brothers and sisters must never forget!

There was a sister who coughed every day, coughing very hard at night. Actually, before she coughed, I reminded her to often reflect on herself. Did she reflect? She did not reflect. She did not have time to reflect, because her work was too busy. She felt that work was more important than life and more important than God. As a result, she coughed, counted God's grace, and began to reflect on her problems.

I encourage everyone to often reflect on God's grace and reflect on your own shortcomings. Shortcomings towards whom? Not shortcomings towards God, but shortcomings towards myself. Having experienced so much of God's grace, why do you still cling tightly to the worldly system of logic? Listen to what she said to me: Teacher, I am just a lukewarm, neither cold nor hot person. Know that God hates such people. Why are you not afraid? I asked her again, Why are you lukewarm? She said, I am naturally a lukewarm person. I said, Stop it! I see you are enthusiastic about your work. You went on a business trip before your cold had even healed.

People are interesting. If another plague strikes, no one can say who will be next! I often reflect on where I might have provoked God's anger, otherwise, how did I contract COVID and nearly die? But people are fearless. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must rethink where we have provoked God's anger. In reality, a person's life is not determined by what demons do, but by the fact that they have provoked God's anger.

When this plague came, was your prayer effective? No, because the plague was sent by God, so your prayer was useless. Therefore, there is only one thing to do: seriously reflect and repent, learning from David to appease God's anger. David's act of numbering the people seemed like a small matter, but it was not insignificant. It was lukewarm and indifferent, yet it provoked God's anger. In fact, the underlying logic and values were worldly, inciting God's wrath.

David Realized His Foolishness

But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the troops. So Joab and the commanders of the troops went out from the presence of the king to muster Israel. After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the city in the gorge of Gad, and then went on to Jazer. They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. Then they went to the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. And Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand. (2 Samuel 24:4-9)

After David sent people out to number the people, Joab returned and said: There are 800,000 warriors in Israel who can wield a sword, and 500,000 in Judah, totaling 1.3 million troops. For a small country with only 18 million people, having 1.3 million troops is quite impressive! According to this calculation, it is a strong military power. Looking at this, there are horses, weapons, guns, swords, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and guided missile frigates—so many names of worldly weapons, sounding quite grand! After David heard this, he felt a surge of pride inside. He, David, actually had 800,000 sword-wielding warriors and an army of 1.3 million. He began to feel excited: This is amazing! Suddenly, he realized that this was a worldly logical system.

David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant, for I have done a very foolish thing.” (2 Samuel 24:10)

At that moment, David suddenly realized his foolishness and quickly repented to God, saying, God! I have sinned greatly in what I have done! Please take away the guilt of your servant because I have done a very foolish thing. You see, when pride grows in people's hearts, they may rely on money, which provokes God's anger. When a team becomes a little large, taking pride in the team provokes God's anger. When a church grows and the number of people increases, they think they have built the largest church in Singapore! Someone like me, who has built the smallest church in Singapore, still worries about being proud and walks on thin ice every day. People live by that bit of pride, which is where many people get the courage to live, from their recognition of their pride. You see how powerful this is! Always feeling good about oneself.

Brothers and sisters, we must be careful. Many people feel self-righteous and think they are very spiritual. There is a saying: When the tide goes out, everyone who isn't wearing pants will be exposed. We must reflect carefully. What qualifications do we have to feel good about ourselves? If you think you are good, you will be ruined! This thing is too powerful. Every morning, I tell myself that I am nothing, just a pile of rubbish.

People must know where they are still lacking and not be self-satisfied. If you feel good about yourself before reaching David's level, what will happen when you reach David's level? Will the plague have to come several times? One plague lasting three years can bring both developed and underdeveloped countries to their knees. Aren't all the various plagues, SARS, COVID, etc., judgments from God? People really have no right to be arrogant. We must slowly adjust ourselves. Have you recognized your own foolishness? If David has realized it and you have not, you may be a very confident person. I often ask everyone to reflect on how well they are doing, but it seems like the reflection isn't very good. We must begin to gradually realize from the heart that feeling good about oneself is a very foolish thing.

The Multiple-Choice Question God Gave David

David realized his own foolishness, and God gave David a multiple-choice question to see if he was up to it.

Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options; choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’” So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there be seven years of famine in your land? Or will you flee from your enemies for three months, as they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.” (2 Samuel 24:11-13)

This question is too difficult!

David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” (2 Samuel 24:14)

David answered very well. I have offended God and provoked His anger. I want to appease God's anger and hand myself over to God again because God has abundant grace and mercy. David felt that handing himself over to God would not lead to death and would not be wrong. Therefore, only David could say these words. Putting oneself in the hands of the Lord God is the beginning of trusting God.

If God were to bring disaster upon you, and you had to choose one of three options, what would you choose? If it were me, I might talk to God and say, God! Please don't bring disaster. Can you remove this calamity? But David felt he was not qualified to negotiate. He felt foolish and had provoked God's anger, so he had to appease God's anger. Therefore, he chose to put himself in God's hands, and David made the right choice. Why did David choose three days of plague? First, the time was short. Second, it came from God. Everyone must remember that all plagues come from God because the arrogance and conceit within people have reached a certain level, and God sends a plague to deal with people. Therefore, we must know how to appease God's anger.

David Knows How to Appease God's Anger

Because David did not want to fall into human hands,

So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. (2 Samuel 24:15)

Initially, God sent the spirit of plague, but when the designated time arrived, the plague had not completely stopped. Why? Because the plague itself could not be contained and continued to spread.

When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.” (2 Samuel 24:16-17)

So everyone must know that this kind of plea is powerful! Was this sin committed by David? Yes. Was it because the voices of the people in Israel were too loud, leading David to commit this foolish sin? It definitely cannot be separated from the common people. But David offered himself and his family, saying, I have sinned and done wrong, and these people have nothing to do with it. Please let your hand attack me and my family. Does this matter have anything to do with the people? Yes, it does. Why didn't David say, God! Kill these people! I was harmed by these people. They praise me every day, 'Long live King David.' All this is because of these people. Please send another three days of plague to let them taste the taste of the plague. If he had pleaded in that way, it would have been ruined and would not have been an attitude of appeasing God's anger.

We must look carefully. A pastor or leader must have responsibility and bear their own transgressions. David sinned, and he said, I have offended God and done wrong. If you want to attack, attack me! David said this because he believed that God has abundant mercy and grace. Would God still attack him? No. Therefore, only by asking God to deal with you are you appeasing God's anger. Don't get it backward and don't say it's all his fault and I'm not wrong. If you do that, it will be bad. The servants whom God delights in are like this, offering themselves and bearing our sins, just like our Lord Jesus!

That day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” (2 Samuel 24:18)

After David heard this, he went to find Araunah.

So David went up, as the Lord had directed through Gad. When Araunah saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” (2 Samuel 24:19-23)

David said one sentence,

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (2 Samuel 24:24)

Is it okay to offer something obtained for free to God? No, it is not. David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver, appeasing the anger of the Lord God. What do you use to appease God's anger? First, you must recognize your own foolishness. Second, you must tell God that this is the sin I have committed, and you should deal with me. This is how you appease God's anger, but you can't play games with God. When God deals with you, don't complain to God. God is dealing with some of us. You must repent properly, realize your own foolishness, and turn to God from your foolishness. You must tell God: God, this is all my own fault, and I deserve it. May your abundant mercy come upon me, and then pay the price and offer a burnt offering.

Are there many self-righteous people among us? Too many. What should you do when God deals with you? Quickly recognize your own foolishness, turn back to God, offer your body as a living sacrifice, and pay the price of a burnt offering. Do you all know what a burnt offering is? A burnt offering is completely dedicated to God. David appeased God's anger, which was not easy! The history of the Israelites is a reflection of God's actions. The Israelites often provoked God's anger, and how much more so are Christians? Many Christians provoke God's anger and think it is the devil attacking them.

This passage of Scripture that we shared must have stimulated some brothers and sisters. If it stimulated you, you should know what to do. If you haven't seen God's anger, you won't be stimulated. We must all begin to be priests, children, faithful, and good servants who are pleasing to God.

God has abundant grace and mercy. May God bless everyone!