A portrait of David and the heart of God
2 Sam 24:18-25
During my time as a Bible college student, a classmate wrote down each of our names on a separate sheet of paper and suggested that we all anonymously wrote a sentence for each person about what we appreciated about them. Such an exercise can easily turn into something false and forced, but because of the genuinely good relationships in the group, it worked. I still have that sheet with my name on it and while some lines are light-hearted fun, others still move me with their perception. When a phase in life ends, a job finishes or we move on from a place, or even at the very end of life itself, what would we like others to remember about us?
The final portrait of David
The incident of the census and our final portrait of David in the book, is of a man susceptible to self-reliance like the rest of us, determined to get his way (2 Sam 24:4) but also troubled by sin and honest in repentance (2 Sam 24:10). His trust in God’s gracious character speaks of his intimate relationship with the Lord (2 Sam 24:14) and his distress over the effects of his sin on the people shows a shepherd’s heart (2 Sam 24:17). Responding to David’s concern for the people, the Lord graciously allows him to play a part in the atonement process (2 Sam 24:18) and his willingness to follow the prophet’s instructions shows his return to obedience (2 Sam 24:19).
Costly sacrifice
Moreover, he insists on buying from Araunah the land and the oxen for the sacrifice (2 Sam 24:21) even though he could have taken it as king, since the man was a local Canaanite without inalienable rights to the land, unlike Israelites (cf. 1 Kings 21:2-3). Araunah is even offering everything for free (2 Sam 24:22-23), whether out of genuine concern or because he knows his own weak position is hard to tell. Thus, the temptation is great when David is offered everything on a plate and he could easily have justified taking it by appealing to the common good (i.e. to end the plague, v.21). He certainly has the power to take what he wants. We are reminded of Samuel’s early warning about kings who will take, take, take (1 Sam 8:11, 13-17), but David understands that the king’s job is to use power for the service of others. Thus, he insists on and pays a fair price knowing that sacrifice must be one’s own and costly to be worthy of being offered to God (2 Sam 24:24).
Atonement and reconciliation
Burnt offerings were wholly burnt up on the altar, so it was indeed expensive, the ancient equivalent of burning one’s money. They represented the most basic of sacrifices with an atoning function (Lev 1:4; Gen 8:20-21) but also symbolised wholehearted devotion to God. In peace offerings, the fat was given to God (Lev 3:16) and the meat was shared between the officiating priest and the person offering the sacrifice (Lev 7:15-18, 28-34). Having meat to eat was an opportunity for a feast and since the same animal was shared symbolically with God, it represented reconciliation and fellowship with God (hence the name ‘peace offering’). Thus, David’s sacrifices and the prayer for the land give us an insight into the various aspects of reconciliation including atonement, commitment to God, fellowship and earnest entreaty for mercy (2 Sam 24:25).
The mercy of God
This last glimpse of David is of a king who is engaged in bringing his people back under God’s ultimate rule. The site where reconciliation happens is identified by Chronicles as the place of the later Temple (2 Chron 3:1) where sacrifices will regularly be offered in recognition of sin and for reconciliation. David’s figure also points us to the Son of David, the Messiah who will bring the ultimate sacrifice of Himself so that we might have peace with God forever. Finally, it is worth noting how we as readers are told in advance that God stopped the plague (2 Sam 24:16), while the narrative takes us back to when it is still raging (v. 17) to explain how it happened.[1] The connecting link is the threshing floor of Araunah, the site where God relents and sacrifices are offered. This structure points us to the truth that even before atonement can happen, the Lord has decided to show mercy.
[1] Hebrew narrative is not always sequential. Sometimes the outcome is related in advance as in our reading. At other times, there may be a flashback or parallel incidents are told one after the other allowing the writer to stress different aspects of an event. For example, in 2 Kings 20:1-7, Hezekiah is taken ill, pleads with God and is healed. The next verses (2 Kings 20:8-11) are a flashback to the time when the king was still ill and asked for a sign that he would be healed. Likewise, in Joshua 3:16 we are told about Israel crossing the Jordan. The details of what happened follow (the people crossed on dry ground, 12 stones were set up as a memorial on the other side and 12 stones were placed in the riverbed; Josh 3:17-4:9). We would think that the account is now complete, but the narrator returns to the people crossing and this time focuses on the tribes going across in battle array (Josh 4:10-13). The account is concluded with the priests leaving the riverbed and the water of the Jordan returning (Josh 4:15-18). In English we might indicate such transitions with words like ‘meanwhile’ for a parallel/simultaneous event or use the past perfect to indicate a flashback. Confusingly, Hebrew does not always mark these grammatically. For more examples, see Lenart J. de Regt, ‘Flashbacks and Other Forms of Non-Chronological Arrangement in Hebrew Narrative’ in Tulkojums – Kultūrvēsturisks Notikums: Bībeles tulkojumi: teorija, vēsture, mūsdienu prakse (Riga, Latvia: Zinātne, 2008), 131-142.
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