Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet

Dying For Another Man's Sins

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2023-02-02

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines 2 Samuel 24, where David's sinful census of Israel's fighting men leads to a plague that kills 70,000. He explores the tension between individual responsibility for sin (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18) and the reality that people often suffer consequences from others' sins. Weaver argues that all people die because of their own sin, yet God's sovereignty over life and death means He can use the sins of rulers to judge a nation. The sermon warns against pride, especially in old age, and calls believers to glory only in the Lord.

[John Weaver] Samuel chapter 24 2nd Samuel 24 And I want us to read at least the first 15 verses The title of the message is dying for another man's sins, dying for another man's sins." 2 Samuel 24, beginning with verse 1, and again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, go number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it. But why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.

[John Weaver] And they passed over Jordan and pitched in a roar, and on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad toward Jazar. And they came to Gilead into the land of Tatim-Hadshi, and they came to Danjan, and about to Zidan, and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and to the Canaanites. And they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days.

[John Weaver] And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king. And there were in Israel 800,000 valiant men that drew the sword. And the men of Judah were 500,000 men. And David's heart smote him after the number of the people. And David said, Lord, I have sinned greatly. In that I have done, and now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Or will thou flee three months before thine enemies while they pursue thee, or that there be three days pestilence in the land.

[John Weaver] Now advise and see what I shall answer and shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I'm in a great straight. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great. And let me not fall in the hand of men. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. from the morning even to the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men."

[John Weaver] Now, the title of the message, as I said, is Dying for Another Man's Sin. The title of this message is designed to get you to think and to make sure that you listen well and think with me through this provocative statement because we actually see this almost daily in many areas. So I could ask you, do you want to die for the sins of another man? And obviously the answer is no, of course not. But the truth is, however, often many people do die because of the sins of others.

[John Weaver] For example, you may take a man who is drunk and he's driving down the road and he veers out of his lane into the lane of an oncoming car and there's a head-on crash. and an entire family is killed. Obviously, in one sense of the word, that family died because of the sin of another man. He was obviously clearly drunk. And then think about the deranged murderers who murder just so that their name will go down in history as one of the leading mass murderers. And just consider the fact that These people were absolutely, totally, completely insane. And people died just simply because of the sin of such a maniac. But think also of the hundreds of people, husbands, wives, children, who die either accidentally or intentionally due to drug use and drug overdose on some people.

[John Weaver] I remember years ago, I had a good friend when I was in high school. After we got out of high school, I kind of lost track of him because he went into the military as well and came out. And then I heard many years later that he was dead. And the way he died was he and another friend went out and got drunk. And in a drunken stupor, his friend picked up a rifle and emptied the rifle into my friend's chest. And the man who shot him was so absolutely drunk, he did not even know he had done it. And so here is one man who was a sinner, very clearly, dying at the hand of another man because of his drunken stupor as well. Now, here's my question.

[John Weaver] How do we reconcile some of these illustrations that I just gave you, and how do we reconcile 2 Samuel 24 with a number of other leading scriptures. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 24 and verse 16. Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16. Then we'll go to the book of Ezekiel. But in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God says this, the father shall not be put to death for the children. Neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Now, if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel and look, if you would please, there at chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18, beginning there with verse 4. Ezekiel 18, verse 4. Notice what God says. Behold, all souls are mine as a soul of the father. So also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

[John Weaver] Now skip down to verse 20. God says the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. Neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." While it is certainly true that we normally think of such instances that I've mentioned to you in the introduction as tragedies, the truth of the matter is this, that each person that dies deserve to die.

[John Weaver] And that would include you and me as well. Now, I'm not trying to be unloving. I'm not trying to be unkind. I'm certainly not trying to be unsympathetic. I'm just simply speaking the truth. And here's the truth. Each of us die because of sins. Our sins. And that's why the Bible says, Romans 6 verse 23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So the drunk that caused the wreck was a sinner. The people who died because of the drunkard sin were also sinners. Now, their sin may not have been that of drunkenness, but they were sinners. And the truth of the matter is this, we die because of our sins. There was no death until there was sin. And so when you stop and think about this, it only takes one sin for an individual to be a sinner. It only takes one sin for an individual to deserve death. And moreover, it really does not even take one sin because the truth of the matter is we are born totally depraved. We're born sinners. And therefore we're born with enough sin that would kill us. That's why infants die.

[John Weaver] In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 58, you can read it for yourself, they go astray as soon as they be born speaking lies. And he goes on in talking about even infants. So the truth of the matter is, each of us die because of our sins. So you're going to see David sinning against God and the end result is 70,000 men dying.

[John Weaver] Now, there are many illustrations of the Bible concerning the brevity of our life. You can read Psalm 90 and Psalm 90 will give you a number of good illustrations, but let me give you one that's very plain and easily grasped. If you look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter four, and let's begin reading there in verse 13, Hebrews, James, look in James chapter four, beginning there with verse 13, look what God says.

[John Weaver] Go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. Now note, he says, Whereas you know what what your shall be on tomorrow. What is your life? It's even as a vapor That appeared the little time and then vanish of the way Each of us have watched Kettles boil and we see the vapor and once you take the kettle off the eye of the stove the vapor disappears You've been driving down the road highway and you look up ahead and there's water on the road. I And you get there and there's no water. It was a mirage. It was a vapor. It was something that appeared. And then it's gone by the time you get there.

[John Weaver] And so the word of God is telling us that our lives are like this. They're just vapors. They're here just for a little while. And then we are gone. Just stop and think how easily and how quickly a vapor disappears. Here's a truth. That we don't like to think about. But none of us really deserve to live. When you stop and think about the sins that each of us have committed against God, and each sin deserves death, this is why it is so absolutely astounding to me when I read Lamentations 3, 22 and 23, when the Bible says, it is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because thy compassions they fail not, They're new every morning. Great is our faithfulness. So really and truly, when we awaken each morning, the very first thing we should be doing is thanking God for those new compassions and allowing us to live through the night and just to see the new morning. And then ask him to protect us and carry us through the day so that we can see more new compassions on the next day as well.

[John Weaver] So the truth of the matter is none of us actually deserve to live. Now it's one thing for you and I to think about a drunk going down the road, swerving into another car head on and killing an entire family. It's one thing for you and I to think about a maniac murderer who shoots five or six people. It's quite another thing when you and I consider one act that causes 70,000 people to die.

[John Weaver] And that's exactly what happened in 2 Samuel chapter 24. We must remember another truth in light of this, and that is this, that God is the giver and the taker of life. The Bible tells us that He holds our souls in life. The Bible also tells us that our times are in his hands. And here's the truth. God has not only appointed the day of our birth. He's also appointed the day of our death. And here's something else you might not have considered. God has not only appointed the day of our birth. He also appointed where we were to be born, how we were to be born. And he's not only appointed the day of our death, he's also appointed where we are to die and how we are to die.

[John Weaver] So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 14, Job 14, right before the book of Psalms. And let's begin reading there with verse one, Job 14 and verse one. Look at this. Here's a statement that is so obviously clear and true at the very beginning. Man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. So no matter how long we live, it's still just a few days. Now, look at the illustrations.

[John Weaver] He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not. So there's two great illustrations of the brevity of life. And then he asked, and dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? In other words, I'm nothing, man is nothing. Verse four, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, not one?

[John Weaver] Now notice what the scripture says now in verse five. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou supporting his bounds that he cannot pass. So God has appointed our bounds. He knows exactly where we're going and how far we're going. And just like God said to the ocean, hitherto shalt thou come and no further here shall thou proud waves be stayed. Likewise, God tells us this, and none of us are going to live one second longer than God has ordained, and we will die exactly when and where and how God has ordained.

[John Weaver] Now, with that in mind, I want you to look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, because there are two truths that have to be pointed out actually before I get to expounding 2nd Samuel chapter 24 and the very first truth that I want to point out is found in verse 1 The Bible says and again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say go number Israel and Judah note if you would and again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and In other words, God's anger now is not necessarily against David per se.

[John Weaver] It is against the entire nation. The nation has done something that is sorely displeased God that has moved him and provoked him to anger.

[John Weaver] Now, John Trapp, the old Puritan said this, I want to read this paragraph to you. I want you to listen carefully. He said. Again, after the late three years' famine for Saul's sin, and the slaughter of 20,000 for rebelling with Absalom, the plague of pestilence is sent, as they seldom go sundered, for the injury to Uriah, who is named in the last verse of the former chapter.

[John Weaver] But more likely it was for some general sin of the whole land, whether it were their recently revolting from David, or they're putting too much confidence in their king and his worthies, or the abuse of the present peace and plenty, or whatever else. God was displeased, and David so far abandoned and left to himself that he yielded to the satanical suggestion which brought the people's Ruth and ruin. Now the word Ruth is an old word which means grief and sorrow. What trap is saying it could have been related to Uriah So if you will look in verse 39 of 2nd Samuel 23 Uriah the Hittite 30 and 7 and all so the last man named is Uriah Of course, that is the man who was the husband of Bathsheba whom David had killed with the sword of the children of Ammon now so Trap is saying it could have been for Uriah.

[John Weaver] It could have been a for a number of reasons and It could have been the fact that the people have just sinned somehow. Generally speaking, there is no way of knowing why God was angry with Israel because it is not specified in this particular chapter, but we can be assured of one thing, whatever. God was displeased with, God was absolutely righteous and holy in His displeasure, and God was absolutely righteous and holy in judging the people. So the sin then was not just on David's part, the main sin was, but God was angry already with the entire nation. Which should teach us something, that God does indeed get angry with nations.

[John Weaver] Stop and think about that. Hmm. The second truth that I want to emphasize is found in First Chronicles chapter 21. If you will turn there, you're going to find the same incident referred to. Look, if you would, First Chronicles chapter 21. And notice, if you would please, verse one. And I tell you what, before we read this, look back, just look back at 2 Samuel 24 and verse 1.

[John Weaver] The Bible says, and again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And he moved David against them to say, go and number Israel and Judah. Now, if you look in 1 Chronicles 21 and verse 1, and Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. So the very first question we have to ask, who was it that did the moving and the provoking? Was it God or was it Satan?

[John Weaver] And the truth of the matter is the answer is both. Because God in his sovereignty allowed Satan to provoke David and David in his pride allowed Satan to succeed because David sinned against God in doing exactly what he did you have to remember something that God is absolutely sovereign and Satan is not God Satan is a created being and And when you remember the book of Job, every time that God gave Satan permission to touch Job, there was always a limitation.

[John Weaver] In other words, he could go so far, but he could go no further. And do you realize Satan cannot do one thing apart from God's permission? In fact, Satan cannot even exist apart from God because God is sovereign and Satan is a created being And just like you and I are dependent upon God for life and breath and health for our entire existence So likewise he is also dependent upon God himself as well So he must have God's permission to even exist now Let me show you something about Temptation the Bible said that Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David He pushed David he tempted David now the Bible says that God moved David Well, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1 Hebrews James and I want you to hold this passage because we're going to be coming back to it just momentarily and We'll look in James chapter 1 verse 13. So now we're going to see about temptation to sin. Watch this. James 1 verse 13.

[John Weaver] Let no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Now, I want you to listen to carefully what I'm about to say. God is not the author of evil. God is not the infuser of evil. God is not the instigator of evil. God is not the agitator of evil. But God is indeed the controller of evil. I'll show you.

[John Weaver] But look in verse 13 again. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man. You want to know where sin comes from? Here it is. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

[John Weaver] Now, the Bible tells you in Psalm 76 and verse 10, listen carefully. Surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder of wrath shall he restrain. Surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord and the remainder of wrath shall he restrain So if you would like to know how much evil is going to come to pass in this world here it is There will be just enough evil that will come to pass in this world That's going to ultimately redound to God's honor and God's glory Now, most of you are going to ask, well, how in the world can evil redound to God's honor and God's glory?

[John Weaver] Have you ever stopped to think about this? Without sin, without evil, we would know nothing of God's justice. We would know nothing of God's love. We would know nothing of God's compassion. We would know nothing of God's holiness. We would know nothing of God's righteousness. In other words, everything about God is absolutely pitted against that which is evil. So only that which is going to ultimately her down to God's honor and glory will come to pass.

[John Weaver] The rest, he will restrain. He will not allow it to happen. Good illustration of that is found in Genesis 21. When Abimelech took Sarah, Abraham's wife, and God came to Abimelech and said, if you touch her, you're dead, man, because that's a man's wife. You give her back. And Abimelech said, Lord, in the integrity of my heart, in the innocence of my hands, have I done this?" And God said, I know that, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her. So God withheld him from sinning because he did not want the lineage of Jesus Christ messed up. So God restrained him, just like the Bible says.

[John Weaver] Now, what happened was this, God allowed Satan to tempt David, David yielded to that temptation and so therefore the sin was actually David's so if you look in 2nd Samuel 24 and verse 17 David admits that it is his sin he said and David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smoked the people and said lo I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done Let thine hand I pray thee be against me and against my father's house So David is saying the sin is mine. You see Satan may tempt us But it's when we yield to it that the sin becomes ours It's not a sin to be tempted our Lord was tempted read Matthew chapter 4 But he did not yield to the temptation now We must also acknowledge another truth.

[John Weaver] And here it is that God has the absolute right to test us, to try us and to prove us and attempt us in that sense of a word to show us what is in our hearts. Now, if you'll go back to James chapter one, I want to show you something. The word tempt. temptation or tempted the noun and the verb both may be used in a good sense and in a bad sense the Greek word the noun is Paris Moss okay Paris Moss let me show you the good sense of Paris Moss look in James chapter 1 and verse 12 God says Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. There's perosmos. The word temptation here means affliction, a test, or a trial. Watch if you would. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, that is tested, proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. So in verse 12, you have the Greek word perosmos, Which is used in a good sense now look in verse 13 Let no man say when he is tempted there it is in the verbal form the same word I'm tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempted to any

[John Weaver] man There's used in a bad sense talking about seduction to sin It's the same word But there is a good sense in a bad sense. And so God does indeed test us and God has an absolute right to test us because we're his creatures and he does test us. And it does indeed try us. You remember that passage in Genesis chapter 22 and verse one, where it says, now it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham. How did God tempt Abraham?

[John Weaver] He said, take thy son, thine only son, Isaac. Get up to that mountain offering him to offer him to me for sacrifice Wow God was testing his faithfulness and his faith and his love in fact Abram passed the test with flying colors, you know, of course, he did not slay Isaac but you remember before he ever went up to the mountain and He told his servants, tarry ye here while the child and I go yonder and worship and we will come back again. So Abram passed that test with flying colors. God has an absolute right to test us and to try us.

[John Weaver] But here's the other side of that coin. We have absolutely no right to test and to try God and to put him on trial Our Lord in the book of Matthew chapter 4 and verse 7 and in Luke chapter 4 and verse 12 said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God You're not to try to prove God. You're not to say Lord here I am on this high building if you really exist God I'm gonna jump off catch me before hit the ground That's not only insanity and stupidity. That is a provocation that is tempting God. God says, don't do that. We have no right to test God. We have no right to tempt God.

[John Weaver] We must believe him and we must submit to him. Now, let me show you what I'd like to do. I want us to consider just momentarily David's life for a short while we're reading. 2nd Samuel chapter 24. I want to show you something 2nd Samuel chapter 24 is the last chapter in the book of 2nd Samuel The next book is 1st Kings Chapter 1 and I want you to look at verse 1 Look at this 1st Kings chapter 1 verse 1 now King David was old and stricken in years and they covered him with clothes but he got no heat now note King David was old and stricken in years so when you read 2nd Samuel chapter 24 you have to understand that this incident took place when David was old at the culmination of his reign and David reigned for 40 years now You have to consider also the fact that David was a warrior. David was a valiant man and a valiant fighter. And David led his armies in and out many, many times.

[John Weaver] Now here is what happens. I want you to look in second Samuel 24, beginning there with verse two, watch this. And remember now, David is old, it's the end of his life, it's the end of his reign. Verse 2, for the king said to Joab, the captain of the host, which was with him, go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan, which would be the northernmost tribe, even to Beersheba, the southernmost town, and number ye the people that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it. But why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Now look at verse four. Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the host. There were other men opposing what David was suggesting and commanding as well. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.

[John Weaver] Now, you might ask, how could numbering the people be a sin? We number the people here in America. We have what is known as a census. And that census takes place once every 10 years. And the census is supposed to be for representation. By the way, let me just mention this. The only authority that Congress possesses, and the only authority that the Census Bureau has, is to enumerate the people. That is, they have the authority, constitutionally, to count the people. They have no authority to ask you how many bedrooms you have, how many bathrooms you have, how many square feet are in your house, how many times you go to the bathroom.

[John Weaver] That's none of their business. I'll read it to you. Here's Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, known as the Enumeration Clause or the Census Clause in the Constitution. Here it is. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States and within every subsequent term of ten years in such manner as they shall by law direct." Notice, the actual enumeration, the actual counting.

[John Weaver] All the census forms I've ever answered in my entire life I would just put the number of people that lived in the house and would send it back. I wouldn't put anything else. I was approached by one census taker, and she started asking me a question, and I said, two. She asked me another question. I said, two.

[John Weaver] Finally, she said, what are you saying? I said, well, Congress shall have the power to enumerate. That means to count. There are two people. That's all you need to know. Well, she said, I'll have to send a supervisor out here to see you. I said, send whomever you want. I can quote the Constitution to them as easily as I can quote it to you, too. And of course, no one ever came to see me. I'm saying that to say this, David was not taking a census. David was not interested at how many people were actually alive and living in the land You have to remember that David was a warrior David had developed a very wonderful and fine fighting machinery He had a fighting force. That was absolutely astounding David had been prosperous in everything that he touched economically militarily So when David gave the command to Joab and these other captains What David was wanting to do was to number the fighting men in Israel He wanted to know how many soldiers he had Please understand something now David

[John Weaver] is old. This is the end of his life and He's asking these men to go out and number the soldiers and Joab was a wicked man. Joab was a murderer. He murdered two people. One of them was his own cousin Abner and Amasa. He murdered both of those. Joab certainly would not be known as a spiritually minded individual. But when David wanted to do this, Joab said, whoa, whoa, wait, wait.

[John Weaver] May the Lord increase Israel a hundredfold, and may your eyes live to see it." But why would my Lord the King do this thing? Joab knew it was wrong. All the other captains knew it was wrong. They protested as well. Nevertheless, the Bible says that the King's word prevailed against them. Now, Joab understood That this was sinful, that David was grieving God and doing that, which was absolutely contrary to God. So here's the question. How could David's counting his fighting men, numbering and mustering the people be counted as a sin? You have to remember that sin is a transgression of God's law. First John three and verse four, whosoever committed sin transgresses also the law. For sin is a transgression of the law. So you cannot sin against God without violating his law. So how could David's numbering these men be counted as a sin and as a violation of God's law in three ways. First, you must understand that the army did not belong to David. The army was God's army.

[John Weaver] In fact, if you will hold 2 Samuel 24, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 12 and verse 41. It is in this passage that God is bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. But I want you to note what is said specifically. He's bringing them out of Egypt in Exodus 12 and verse 41. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, even the selfsame day, it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Now, you're going to find, as you read through the Bible, that one of the names of God is the Lord of Hosts, or the God of Hosts, or the Lord God of Hosts.

[John Weaver] The word host just refers to the word army or armies. When he's called the Lord God of Hosts, he's being called the Lord God of the armies. So in verse 41, the Bible says when God brought them out, the host, or the armies of the Lord, went out from the land of Egypt. In fact, God brought them out in military formation. They came out as an army. This was God's army From the beginning if you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Joshua just a few pages Joshua notice chapter 5 if you would Joshua and then judges Joshua chapter 5 and let's begin reading their verse 13 Joshua 5 verse 13 Look at this Joshua 5 verse 13 And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? Joshua had to be brave because here's a man with a sword already drawn.

[John Weaver] Joshua goes to him and said are you for us or for our adversaries verse 14 and he answered nay but as captain of the host of an army of the Lord am I now come and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him What saith my Lord unto his servant and the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua Loose thy shoe from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest is holy and Joshua did so This is a Christophany. This is a pre-incarnate appearing of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Notice, as captain of the Lord's host, am I now come. Wow. Let that sink in.

[John Weaver] Let me remind you, in 1 Samuel 15 and verse 2, God came to King Saul Told him to make war against the Amalekites listen to this thus saith the Lord of hosts the Lord of the armies I Remember that which Amalek did to Israel how he laid weight for him in the way when he came up out of Israel Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of the armies You remember in 1st Samuel chapter 17 where David was fighting Goliath and David said this then said David to the Philistines Thou comest to be with a sword and with a spear and with a shield but I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of hosts the God of the armies of Israel whom thou must divide the God of the armies of Israel Hmm and then in 2nd Samuel chapter 5 in verse 10 The Bible says and David went on and grew great and the Lord God of hosts was with him so When David now gives a command to go out and number the fighting men, he is assuming that the army is his.

[John Weaver] And he now is taking the captain's place as the head of the army. Now let me show you something. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to verse 9. Just to show you that this was not a census in 2nd Samuel chapter 24 verse 9 and Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people under the king and there were in Israel 800,000 valiant men that drew the sword and the men of Judah were 500,000 men So a million three hundred thousand in the army So he's not giving David the number of people in Israel. He's giving David the number of the fighting men. So David, in commanding them to number this, he's assuming that the army is his and that he is the true captain of it.

[John Weaver] He had no authority to do that. And to show you that he had no authority to do that, The second and third part of his sin occurs simultaneously. If you'll turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 30, because the army was not to be mustered or numbered except in a time of war. That was number two. And here's the third thing when they were numbered There had to be the half shekel of the atonement money taken for each soldier This was not done in 2nd Samuel 24 So notice Exodus chapter 30 beginning there with verse 11 the Bible says and the Lord spake unto Moses saying When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, after their number, they shall give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. When thou numbers them, watch that there be no plague among them. When thou numbers them, this, they shall give everyone that passes among them that are numbered half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary, a shekel is 20 years and a half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Everyone that passes among them that are numbered from 20 years old and above shall give an offering unto the Lord. That is a half shekel. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. When thou, when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls, and thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall have pointed for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord to make an atonement for your souls."

[John Weaver] So, number one, it was not David's army. Number two, it was not a time of war. And number three, when they were numbered or mustered, then of course, there was no half shekel taken. So the sin then that David committed was he had no orders from God to do what he did. There was no occasion to number the people because there was not a war and there was no atonement money that was being taken. And if you look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, I want you to see the time and the effort and the money that was wasted because the Bible says in 2 Samuel chapter 24 and verse 8, So when they had gone through all the land and came to Jerusalem, at

[John Weaver] the end of nine months and 20 days, it took them almost 10 months to count these fighting men. 10 months of wasted time.

[John Weaver] Now, look if you would at verse 10. When Joab gave the number to David, In verse nine, when he found out that he had 800,000 in Israel, 500,000 Judah, 1,300,000 fighting men, look in verse 10. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I've sinned greatly and that I have done. And now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I've done very foolishly. We are just like David. We recognize oftentimes the fact that we've sinned too late. And it's already done.

[John Weaver] God may forgive our sins, but we do not escape the consequences of our sins. I've used this before. But I'll show you what I mean. Let's suppose that Steve and I go into a bar and get drunk and we get into a fight and he knocks one of my teeth out and I knock his eye out. Now, here's my question. Will God forgive us for getting drunk? Yes. Would God forgive us for getting into a fight? Yes. Would that restore my tooth or his eye? No. I'm going to be toothless and he's going to be without an eye unless it can be reattached somehow. You see what I'm saying? Although we may be forgiven, we're still bearing the consequences of our sin. And here is what God said.

[John Weaver] You take this atonement money, lest there be a plague. That money was not taken by David whatsoever. His heart smote him.

[John Weaver] Now, look, if you would, beginning there with verse 12. So God then comes to Gad, who is a prophet or a seer. Seer is the same thing as a prophet. He says, Go and say to David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and told him and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in the land? Or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies? while they pursue thee, or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land.

[John Weaver] Now advise and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me." And here's the wisest thing that David did. And David said unto Gad, I'm in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, and let me not fall in the hand of men. David basically said, I'm not going to make the choice. Let God make the choice.

[John Weaver] Let him do whatever he pleases. Now, David did wisely and leaving the punishment to God. And so God then sent the plague. And in this plague, 70,000 men died. Now, I want you to look at verse 17 again, because David is assuming full responsibility. And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smoked the people and said, Lo, I have sinned. And I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done?

[John Weaver] Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me and against my father's house." Now, here's what I want to share with you. There are some valuable lessons that you and I need to learn from this. The first one is this. Pride is in each of our hearts. We have a tendency to be proud of our accomplishments. But it is a sin to allow pride to control our lives and our emotions and our decisions and our determinations. David very clearly was proud of his fighting machine.

[John Weaver] I mean, he had led these armies in and out to victory so many, many times. Remember now, David is old. This happens right before he starts literally dying. It's at the end of his reign. And what do old people normally do? Well, we think back. Well, I've raised a mighty good family. Well, I made a good fortune. Well, I've got a beautiful house. Well, I've got 400 acres of land.

[John Weaver] We begin to glory in everything that we have accomplished. And we never stop to think that if God had not allowed us to live, to have our being, To have our mind, to have our health, we could not have done one thing, not one. I usually jokingly tell people, especially when I see someone who has multiple skills, I usually jokingly say, well, the Lord's only allowed me to do two things.

[John Weaver] I can preach and I can shoot. But have you ever stopped to think about this? I can't preach without him. If he doesn't give me understanding, if he doesn't give me breath, if he doesn't give me health, there's no way in the world that I can preach or teach. So the very fact that I've preached for all these years doesn't mean one thing for me except for the fact that it is God who enabled me and empowered me to do that.

[John Weaver] You follow what I'm saying? And it doesn't take much to remove this finger. You see what I'm saying? It doesn't take much to remove the eyesight. We are absolutely helpless without God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians 1.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse 27. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 27. Hang on for this. I want you to listen. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 27. But God had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen ye, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are. Why has God chosen the foolish things, the despised things, the simple things? Here's why.

[John Weaver] That no flesh should glory in his presence. Wow. But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. Go back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. Look at verse 15. What was David doing? David was glorifying himself and assuming that he was captain of the Lord's host. And he was glorying in the fact that he had 1,300,000 fighting men.

[John Weaver] Now verse 15, So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed. And there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba 70,000. What? Men! Not women and children. The men were soldiers. They were warriors. So God said to David, David, you want to glory in your fighting machinery? You think you've got a lot? I can reduce it for you. Wow! You're a multi-millionaire, says God. You want a glory in that? I can reduce it for you. You want a glory in the fact that you've got a fine big family? Fine, says God, I can reduce it for you. Why? That no flesh should glory except in the Lord. Whatever we have, whatever we are, God gave us.

[John Weaver] In Him, we live and move and have our being. And without Him, we are nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing. Now, one last application. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 4. I just want to point this out. Jeremiah 15 verse 4. Listen to me carefully. Here's the second application we must learn. that when our rulers sin publicly and we do not stop them, we suffer the consequences with them for their sins. Let me show you.

[John Weaver] When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, David alone was judged. When David numbered the people, Even wicked Joab knew it was wrong The other captains knew it was wrong but nobody stopped him and 70,000 died Look what happens in Jeremiah 15 in verse 4 God says and I will cause them that is the people and I will cause them to be removed unto all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah for that which he did in Jerusalem. Did you see that? God said I'm gonna send the people into captivity for that which Manasseh did. What did Manasseh do? He did all kind of crazy, idolatrous, wicked, perverted things. Everyone knew it was wrong. Nobody lifted a finger to stop him. And God judged the people with the rulers.

[John Weaver] In one sense of the word, it is possible to die for the sins of another man, but yet another sense of the word, when we die, it's because we are sinners ourselves. And the older we get, the more we need to be aware of the pride of our hearts. It was pride that allowed David to be tempted. And let's see, I think it's Proverbs 16 that said, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Guard your hearts, especially as God allows you to age.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We pray, Lord, that you would indeed protect us, keep us safe, and, Lord, may we learn to glory only in thee. May we ascribe unto thee all honor, glory, and praise. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask these things. Amen. ♪ ♪ you

Dying For Another Man's Sins

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Z1yrFPXpwX4
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2023-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 079: Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover - Volume 2 — Chapter 36
Source Timed Segments	76

Formatted Transcript

Opening

2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel 24. And I want us to read at least the first 15 verses. The title of the message is "Dying for Another Man's Sins." Dying for another man's sins. 2 Samuel 24, beginning with verse 1:

Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 24:1-15

"And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel." "And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, toward Jazer. And they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days." "And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?" "Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men."

Introduction: The Provocative Title

Weaver introduces the title 'Dying for Another Man's Sins' and gives modern examples of people dying due to others' sins, such as drunk driving accidents and mass murders.

Now, the title of the message, as I said, is "Dying for Another Man's Sins." The title of this message is designed to get you to think and to make sure that you listen well and think with me through this provocative statement, because we actually see this almost daily in many areas. So I could ask you, do you want to die for the sins of another man? And obviously the answer is no, of course not. But the truth is, however, often many people do die because of the sins of others. For example, you may take a man who is drunk and he's driving down the road and he veers out of his lane into the lane of an oncoming car and there's a head-on crash and an entire family is killed. Obviously, in one sense of the word, that family died because of the sin of another man. He was obviously clearly drunk. And then think about the deranged murderers who murder just so that their name will go down in history as one of the leading mass murderers. And just consider the fact that these people were absolutely, totally, completely insane. And people died just simply because of the sin of such a maniac. But think also of the hundreds of people—husbands, wives, children—who die either accidentally or intentionally due to drug use and drug overdose on some people.

I remember years ago, I had a good friend when I was in high school. After we got out of high school, I kind of lost track of him because he went into the military as well and came out. And then I heard many years later that he was dead. And the way he died was he and another friend went out and got drunk. And in a drunken stupor, his friend picked up a rifle and emptied the rifle into my friend's chest. And the man who shot him was so absolutely drunk, he did not even know he had done it. And so here is one man who was a sinner, very clearly, dying at the hand of another man because of his drunken stupor as well. Now, here's my question.

How do we reconcile some of these illustrations that I just gave you, and how do we reconcile 2 Samuel 24 with a number of other leading scriptures? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 24 and verse 16. Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16. Then we'll go to the book of Ezekiel. But in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God says this:

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 24:16

"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Now, if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel and look, if you would please, there at chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18, beginning there with verse 4. Ezekiel 18, verse 4. Notice what God says: "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Biblical Tension: Individual Responsibility vs. Corporate Consequences

He contrasts Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:4,20 (each dies for his own sin) with the reality of 2 Samuel 24, where 70,000 die for David's sin.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 24:16

"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

Now skip down to verse 20. God says: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." While it is certainly true that we normally think of such instances that I've mentioned to you in the introduction as tragedies, the truth of the matter is this, that each person that dies deserves to die. And that would include you and me as well. Now, I'm not trying to be unloving. I'm not trying to be unkind. I'm certainly not trying to be unsympathetic. I'm just simply speaking the truth. And here's the truth. Each of us die because of sins. Our sins. And that's why the Bible says, Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So the drunk that caused the wreck was a sinner. The people who died because of the drunkard's sin were also sinners. Now, their sin may not have been that of drunkenness, but they were sinners. And the truth of the matter is this, we die because of our sins. There was no death until there was sin. And so when you stop and think about this, it only takes one sin for an individual to be a sinner. It only takes one sin for an individual to deserve death. And moreover, it really does not even take one sin because the truth of the matter is we are born totally depraved. We're born sinners. And therefore we're born with enough sin that would kill us. That's why infants die.

The Universality of Sin and Death

Weaver explains that all people are sinners from birth and deserve death; even infants die because of inherited sin. Life is brief, like a vapor (James 4:14).

In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 58, you can read it for yourself,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 58:3

"They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

And he goes on in talking about even infants. So the truth of the matter is, each of us die because of our sins. So you're going to see David sinning against God and the end result is 70,000 men dying. Now, there are many illustrations of the Bible concerning the brevity of our life. You can read Psalm 90 and Psalm 90 will give you a number of good illustrations, but let me give you one that's very plain and easily grasped. If you look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 4, and let's begin reading there in verse 13. Hebrews, James—look in James chapter 4, beginning there with verse 13, look what God says.

"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Now note, he says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? It is even as a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Each of us have watched kettles boil and we see the vapour, and once you take the kettle off the eye of the stove, the vapour disappears. You've been driving down the road, highway, and you look up ahead and there's water on the road. And you get there and there's no water. It was a mirage. It was a vapour. It was something that appeared. And then it's gone by the time you get there.

And so the word of God is telling us that our lives are like this. They're just vapours. They're here just for a little while. And then we are gone. Just stop and think how easily and how quickly a vapour disappears. Here's a truth that we don't like to think about. But none of us really deserve to live. When you stop and think about the sins that each of us have committed against God, and each sin deserves death, this is why it is so absolutely astounding to me when I read Lamentations 3:22-23, when the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

So really and truly, when we awaken each morning, the very first thing we should be doing is thanking God for those new compassions and allowing us to live through the night and just to see the new morning. And then ask him to protect us and carry us through the day so that we can see more new compassions on the next day as well.

God's Sovereignty Over Life and Death

God appoints the day, place, and manner of our death (Job 14:5). He is the giver and taker of life, and no one lives a second longer than God ordains.

So the truth of the matter is none of us actually deserve to live. Now it's one thing for you and I to think about a drunk going down the road, swerving into another car head on and killing an entire family. It's one thing for you and I to think about a maniac murderer who shoots five or six people. It's quite another thing when you and I consider one act that causes 70,000 people to die. And that's exactly what happened in 2 Samuel chapter 24. We must remember another truth in light of this, and that is this, that God is the giver and the taker of life. The Bible tells us that He holds our souls in life. The Bible also tells us that our times are in his hands. And here's the truth. God has not only appointed the day of our birth, He's also appointed the day of our death. And here's something else you might not have considered. God has not only appointed the day of our birth, He also appointed where we were to be born, how we were to be born. And he's not only appointed the day of our death, he's also appointed where we are to die and how we are to die.

So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 14, Job 14, right before the book of Psalms. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Job 14 and verse 1. Look at this. Here's a statement that is so obviously clear and true at the very beginning.

Scripture Reading — Job 14:1-5

"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble."

So no matter how long we live, it's still just a few days. Now, look at the illustrations.

"He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." So there's two great illustrations of the brevity of life. And then he asked, "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?" In other words, I'm nothing, man is nothing. Verse 4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." Now notice what the scripture says now in verse 5. "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." So God has appointed our bounds. He knows exactly where we're going and how far we're going. And just like God said to the ocean, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed," likewise, God tells us this, and none of us are going to live one second longer than God has ordained, and we will die exactly when and where and how God has ordained.

Now, with that in mind, I want you to look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, because there are two truths that have to be pointed out actually before I get to expounding 2 Samuel chapter 24. And the very first truth that I want to point out is found in verse 1. The Bible says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Note, if you would, "and again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel." In other words, God's anger now is not necessarily against David per se.

The Dual Cause of David's Sin: God's Anger and Satan's Provocation

2 Samuel 24:1 says God moved David; 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan provoked him. Weaver explains God sovereignly allowed Satan to tempt David, but David's own lust conceived sin (James 1:13-15).

Now, John Trapp, the old Puritan, said this. I want to read this paragraph to you. I want you to listen carefully. He said, "Again, after the late three years' famine for Saul's sin, and the slaughter of 20,000 for rebelling with Absalom, the plague of pestilence is sent, as they seldom go sundered, for the injury to Uriah, who is named in the last verse of the former chapter." "But more likely it was for some general sin of the whole land, whether it were their recently revolting from David, or their putting too much confidence in their king and his worthies, or the abuse of the present peace and plenty, or whatever else. God was displeased, and David so far abandoned and left to himself that he yielded to the satanical suggestion which brought the people's ruth and ruin." Now the word "ruth" is an old word which means grief and sorrow. What Trapp is saying is it could have been related to Uriah. So if you will look in verse 39 of 2 Samuel 23, "Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all." So the last man named is Uriah. Of course, that is the man who was the husband of Bathsheba whom David had killed with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now so Trapp is saying it could have been for Uriah.

It could have been for a number of reasons. And it could have been the fact that the people have just sinned somehow, generally speaking. There is no way of knowing why God was angry with Israel because it is not specified in this particular chapter, but we can be assured of one thing: whatever God was displeased with, God was absolutely righteous and holy in His displeasure, and God was absolutely righteous and holy in judging the people. So the sin then was not just on David's part—the main sin was—but God was angry already with the entire nation. Which should teach us something, that God does indeed get angry with nations. Stop and think about that. Hmm. The second truth that I want to emphasize is found in 1 Chronicles chapter 21. If you will turn there, you're going to find the same incident referred to. Look, if you would, 1 Chronicles chapter 21. And notice, if you would please, verse 1. And I tell you what, before we read this, look back, just look back at 2 Samuel 24 and verse 1.

The Bible says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Now, if you look in 1 Chronicles 21 and verse 1,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 21:1

"And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."

So the very first question we have to ask, who was it that did the moving and the provoking? Was it God or was it Satan? And the truth of the matter is the answer is both. Because God in his sovereignty allowed Satan to provoke David, and David in his pride allowed Satan to succeed because David sinned against God in doing exactly what he did. You have to remember something: that God is absolutely sovereign and Satan is not God. Satan is a created being. And when you remember the book of Job, every time that God gave Satan permission to touch Job, there was always a limitation.

In other words, he could go so far, but he could go no further. And do you realize Satan cannot do one thing apart from God's permission? In fact, Satan cannot even exist apart from God because God is sovereign and Satan is a created being. And just like you and I are dependent upon God for life and breath and health for our entire existence, so likewise he is also dependent upon God himself as well. So he must have God's permission to even exist. Now let me show you something about temptation. The Bible said that Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David. He pushed David, he tempted David. Now the Bible says that God moved David. Well, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1—Hebrews, James—and I want you to hold this passage because we're going to be coming back to it just momentarily. And we'll look in James chapter 1 verse 13. So now we're going to see about temptation to sin. Watch this. James 1 verse 13.

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. God is not the author of evil. God is not the infuser of evil. God is not the instigator of evil. God is not the agitator of evil. But God is indeed the controller of evil. I'll show you.

But look in verse 13 again. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." You want to know where sin comes from? Here it is. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

Now, the Bible tells you in Psalm 76 and verse 10, listen carefully. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. So if you would like to know how much evil is going to come to pass in this world, here it is. There will be just enough evil that will come to pass in this world that's going to ultimately redound to God's honor and God's glory. Now, most of you are going to ask, well, how in the world can evil redound to God's honor and God's glory? Have you ever stopped to think about this? Without sin, without evil, we would know nothing of God's justice. We would know nothing of God's love. We would know nothing of God's compassion. We would know nothing of God's holiness. We would know nothing of God's righteousness. In other words, everything about God is absolutely pitted against that which is evil. So only that which is going to ultimately redound to God's honor and glory will come to pass.

The rest, he will restrain. He will not allow it to happen. A good illustration of that is found in Genesis 20. When Abimelech took Sarah, Abraham's wife, and God came to Abimelech and said, "If you touch her, you're dead, man, because that's a man's wife. You give her back." And Abimelech said,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 20:6

"Lord, in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this."

And God said,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 20:6

"I know that, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her."

So God withheld him from sinning because he did not want the lineage of Jesus Christ messed up. So God restrained him, just like the Bible says.

Now, what happened was this: God allowed Satan to tempt David, David yielded to that temptation, and so therefore the sin was actually David's. So if you look in 2 Samuel 24 and verse 17, David admits that it is his sin. He said, "And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house." So David is saying the sin is mine. You see, Satan may tempt us, but it's when we yield to it that the sin becomes ours. It's not a sin to be tempted; our Lord was tempted—read Matthew chapter 4—but He did not yield to the temptation. Now, we must also acknowledge another truth.

The Nature of David's Sin

David's census was sinful because (1) the army belonged to God, not David; (2) it was not a time of war; (3) the required atonement money was not collected (Exodus 30:11-16). David was glorying in his military might.

And here it is: that God has the absolute right to test us, to try us and to prove us and attempt us in that sense of the word to show us what is in our hearts. Now, if you'll go back to James chapter 1, I want to show you something. The word "tempt," "temptation," or "tempted"—the noun and the verb both—may be used in a good sense and in a bad sense. The Greek word, the noun, is "peirasmos." Okay, "peirasmos." Let me show you the good sense of "peirasmos." Look in James chapter 1 and verse 12. God says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation"—there's "peirasmos." The word "temptation" here means affliction, a test, or a trial. Watch, if you would. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried"—that is tested, proved—"he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." So in verse 12, you have the Greek word "peirasmos," which is used in a good sense. Now look in verse 13. "Let no man say when he is tempted"—there it is in the verbal form, the same word—"I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

There it's used in a bad sense, talking about seduction to sin. It's the same word. But there is a good sense and a bad sense. And so God does indeed test us, and God has an absolute right to test us because we're his creatures, and he does test us. And it does indeed try us. You remember that passage in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 1, where it says, "Now it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham." How did God tempt Abraham? He said, "Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, get thee up to that mountain, and offer him to me for sacrifice." Wow. God was testing his faithfulness and his faith and his love. In fact, Abraham passed the test with flying colors. You know, of course, he did not slay Isaac, but you remember before he ever went up to the mountain, he told his servants, "Tarry ye here while the child and I go yonder and worship, and we will come back again." So Abraham passed that test with flying colors. God has an absolute right to test us and to try us.

But here's the other side of that coin. We have absolutely no right to test and to try God and to put him on trial. Our Lord in the book of Matthew chapter 4 and verse 7 and in Luke chapter 4 and verse 12 said, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." You're not to try to prove God. You're not to say, "Lord, here I am on this high building; if you really exist, God, I'm gonna jump off, catch me before I hit the ground." That's not only insanity and stupidity, that is a provocation; that is tempting God. God says, don't do that. We have no right to test God. We have no right to tempt God.

We must believe him and we must submit to him. Now, let me show you what I'd like to do. I want us to consider just momentarily David's life for a short while we're reading 2 Samuel chapter 24. I want to show you something. 2 Samuel chapter 24 is the last chapter in the book of 2 Samuel. The next book is 1 Kings chapter 1. And I want you to look at verse 1. Look at this. 1 Kings chapter 1 verse 1: "Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat." Now note, "King David was old and stricken in years." So when you read 2 Samuel chapter 24, you have to understand that this incident took place when David was old, at the culmination of his reign. And David reigned for 40 years. Now, you have to consider also the fact that David was a warrior. David was a valiant man and a valiant fighter. And David led his armies in and out many, many times.

Now here is what happens. I want you to look in 2 Samuel 24, beginning there with verse 2. Watch this. And remember now, David is old, it's the end of his life, it's the end of his reign. Verse 2: "For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan"—which would be the northernmost tribe—"even to Beersheba"—the southernmost town—"and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?" Now look at verse 4. "Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host." There were other men opposing what David was suggesting and commanding as well. "And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel."

Now, you might ask, how could numbering the people be a sin? We number the people here in America. We have what is known as a census. And that census takes place once every 10 years. And the census is supposed to be for representation. By the way, let me just mention this. The only authority that Congress possesses, and the only authority that the Census Bureau has, is to enumerate the people. That is, they have the authority, constitutionally, to count the people. They have no authority to ask you how many bedrooms you have, how many bathrooms you have, how many square feet are in your house, how many times you go to the bathroom.

That's none of their business. I'll read it to you. Here's Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, known as the Enumeration Clause or the Census Clause in the Constitution. Here it is: "The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct." Notice, "the actual Enumeration," the actual counting. All the census forms I've ever answered in my entire life, I would just put the number of people that lived in the house and would send it back. I wouldn't put anything else. I was approached by one census taker, and she started asking me a question, and I said, "Two." She asked me another question. I said, "Two."

Finally, she said, "What are you saying?" I said, "Well, Congress shall have the power to enumerate. That means to count. There are two people. That's all you need to know." Well, she said, "I'll have to send a supervisor out here to see you." I said, "Send whomever you want. I can quote the Constitution to them as easily as I can quote it to you, too." And of course, no one ever came to see me. I'm saying that to say this: David was not taking a census. David was not interested in how many people were actually alive and living in the land. You have to remember that David was a warrior. David had developed a very wonderful and fine fighting machinery. He had a fighting force that was absolutely astounding. David had been prosperous in everything that he touched—economically, militarily. So when David gave the command to Joab and these other captains, what David was wanting to do was to number the fighting men in Israel. He wanted to know how many soldiers he had. Please understand something now: David

is old. This is the end of his life, and he's asking these men to go out and number the soldiers. And Joab was a wicked man. Joab was a murderer. He murdered two people. One of them was his own cousin, Abner, and Amasa. He murdered both of those. Joab certainly would not be known as a spiritually minded individual. But when David wanted to do this, Joab said, "Whoa, whoa, wait, wait.

May the Lord increase Israel a hundredfold, and may your eyes live to see it. But why would my lord the king do this thing?" Joab knew it was wrong. All the other captains knew it was wrong. They protested as well. Nevertheless, the Bible says that the king's word prevailed against them. Now, Joab understood that this was sinful, that David was grieving God and doing that which was absolutely contrary to God. So here's the question. How could David's counting his fighting men, numbering and mustering the people, be counted as a sin? You have to remember that sin is a transgression of God's law. 1 John 3:4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." So you cannot sin against God without violating his law. So how could David's numbering these men be counted as a sin and as a violation of God's law? In three ways. First, you must understand that the army did not belong to David. The army was God's army.

In fact, if you will hold 2 Samuel 24, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 12 and verse 41. It is in this passage that God is bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. But I want you to note what is said specifically. He's bringing them out of Egypt in Exodus 12 and verse 41.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."

Now, you're going to find, as you read through the Bible, that one of the names of God is the Lord of Hosts, or the God of Hosts, or the Lord God of Hosts. The word "host" just refers to the word "army" or "armies." When he's called the Lord God of Hosts, he's being called the Lord God of the armies. So in verse 41, the Bible says when God brought them out, "the hosts"—or the armies—

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."

In fact, God brought them out in military formation. They came out as an army. This was God's army from the beginning. If you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, just a few pages. Joshua, notice chapter 5, if you would. Joshua and then Judges. Joshua chapter 5, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Joshua 5 verse 13. Look at this. Joshua 5 verse 13:

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?"

Joshua had to be brave because here's a man with a sword already drawn.

Joshua goes to him and said,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

Verse 14:

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."

This is a Christophany. This is a pre-incarnate appearing of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Notice,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"as captain of the Lord's host am I now come."

Wow. Let that sink in.

Let me remind you, in 1 Samuel 15 and verse 2, God came to King Saul, told him to make war against the Amalekites. Listen to this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 17:45

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts"

—the Lord of the armies—"I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt." Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies. You remember in 1 Samuel chapter 17 where David was fighting Goliath and David said this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 17:45

"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

The God of the armies of Israel. Hmm. And then in 2 Samuel chapter 5 in verse 10, the Bible says, "And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him." So when David now gives a command to go out and number the fighting men, he is assuming that the army is his.

And he now is taking the captain's place as the head of the army. Now let me show you something. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to verse 9. Just to show you that this was not a census. In 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 9: "And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men." So a million three hundred thousand in the army. So he's not giving David the number of people in Israel. He's giving David the number of the fighting men. So David, in commanding them to number this, he's assuming that the army is his and that he is the true captain of it.

He had no authority to do that. And to show you that he had no authority to do that, the second and third part of his sin occurs simultaneously. If you'll turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 30, because the army was not to be mustered or numbered except in a time of war. That was number two. And here's the third thing: when they were numbered, there had to be the half shekel of the atonement money taken for each soldier. This was not done in 2 Samuel 24. So notice Exodus chapter 30, beginning there with verse 11. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 30:11-16

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord."

"Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls." So, number one, it was not David's army. Number two, it was not a time of war. And number three, when they were numbered or mustered, then of course, there was no half shekel taken. So the sin then that David committed was he had no orders from God to do what he did. There was no occasion to number the people because there was not a war, and there was no atonement money that was being taken. And if you look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, I want you to see the time and the effort and the money that was wasted because the Bible says in 2 Samuel chapter 24 and verse 8, "So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at

David's Repentance and the Consequences

David's heart smote him after the census; he confessed his sin. God offered three punishments; David chose to fall into God's hands. A plague killed 70,000 men.

the end of nine months and twenty days." It took them almost 10 months to count these fighting men. 10 months of wasted time. Now, look if you would at verse 10. When Joab gave the number to David in verse 9, when he found out that he had 800,000 in Israel, 500,000 in Judah, 1,300,000 fighting men, look in verse 10. "And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly." We are just like David. We recognize oftentimes the fact that we've sinned too late. And it's already done.

God may forgive our sins, but we do not escape the consequences of our sins. I've used this before, but I'll show you what I mean. Let's suppose that Steve and I go into a bar and get drunk and we get into a fight and he knocks one of my teeth out and I knock his eye out. Now, here's my question. Will God forgive us for getting drunk? Yes. Would God forgive us for getting into a fight? Yes. Would that restore my tooth or his eye? No. I'm going to be toothless and he's going to be without an eye unless it can be reattached somehow. You see what I'm saying? Although we may be forgiven, we're still bearing the consequences of our sin. And here is what God said.

"You take this atonement money, lest there be a plague." That money was not taken by David whatsoever. His heart smote him. Now, look, if you would, beginning there with verse 12. So God then comes to Gad, who is a prophet or a seer. Seer is the same thing as a prophet. He says, "Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?"

"Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me." And here's the wisest thing that David did. "And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man." David basically said, "I'm not going to make the choice. Let God make the choice." Let him do whatever he pleases. Now, David did wisely in leaving the punishment to God. And so God then sent the plague. And in this plague, 70,000 men died. Now, I want you to look at verse 17 again, because David is assuming full responsibility. "And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done?"

Lessons: Pride and Corporate Responsibility

Pride led David to sin; God humbled him by reducing his army. Also, when rulers sin publicly and are not stopped, the people suffer (Jeremiah 15:4). Believers must guard against pride and glory only in the Lord.

"Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house." Now, here's what I want to share with you. There are some valuable lessons that you and I need to learn from this. The first one is this: pride is in each of our hearts. We have a tendency to be proud of our accomplishments. But it is a sin to allow pride to control our lives and our emotions and our decisions and our determinations. David very clearly was proud of his fighting machine. I mean, he had led these armies in and out to victory so many, many times. Remember now, David is old. This happens right before he starts literally dying. It's at the end of his reign. And what do old people normally do? Well, we think back. "Well, I've raised a mighty good family." "Well, I made a good fortune." "Well, I've got a beautiful house." "Well, I've got 400 acres of land."

We begin to glory in everything that we have accomplished. And we never stop to think that if God had not allowed us to live, to have our being, to have our mind, to have our health, we could not have done one thing, not one. I usually jokingly tell people, especially when I see someone who has multiple skills, I usually jokingly say, "Well, the Lord's only allowed me to do two things. I can preach and I can shoot." But have you ever stopped to think about this? I can't preach without him. If he doesn't give me understanding, if he doesn't give me breath, if he doesn't give me health, there's no way in the world that I can preach or teach. So the very fact that I've preached for all these years doesn't mean one thing for me except for the fact that it is God who enabled me and empowered me to do that.

You follow what I'm saying? And it doesn't take much to remove this finger. You see what I'm saying? It doesn't take much to remove the eyesight. We are absolutely helpless without God.

Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians 1.

And let's begin reading there with verse 27. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27. Hang on for this. I want you to listen. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27:

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are."

Why has God chosen the foolish things, the despised things, the simple things? Here's why.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"That no flesh should glory in his presence."

Wow.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Now, I want to show you something. Go back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. Look at verse 15. What was David doing? David was glorifying himself and assuming that he was captain of the Lord's host. And he was glorying in the fact that he had 1,300,000 fighting men.

Now verse 15: "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand." What? Men! Not women and children. The men were soldiers. They were warriors. So God said to David, "David, you want to glory in your fighting machinery? You think you've got a lot? I can reduce it for you." Wow! You're a multi-millionaire, says God. You want to glory in that? I can reduce it for you. You want to glory in the fact that you've got a fine big family? Fine, says God, I can reduce it for you. Why? That no flesh should glory except in the Lord. Whatever we have, whatever we are, God gave us.

In Him, we live and move and have our being. And without Him, we are nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing. Now, one last application. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 4. I just want to point this out. Jeremiah 15 verse 4. Listen to me carefully. Here's the second application we must learn: that when our rulers sin publicly and we do not stop them, we suffer the consequences with them for their sins. Let me show you.

When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, David alone was judged. When David numbered the people, even wicked Joab knew it was wrong. The other captains knew it was wrong, but nobody stopped him, and 70,000 died. Look what happens in Jeremiah 15 in verse 4. God says,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 15:4

"And I will cause them"

—that is the people—

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 15:4

"and I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem."

Did you see that? God said, "I'm gonna send the people into captivity for that which Manasseh did." What did Manasseh do? He did all kind of crazy, idolatrous, wicked, perverted things. Everyone knew it was wrong. Nobody lifted a finger to stop him. And God judged the people with the rulers.

In one sense of the word, it is possible to die for the sins of another man, but yet another sense of the word, when we die, it's because we are sinners ourselves. And the older we get, the more we need to be aware of the pride of our hearts. It was pride that allowed David to be tempted. And let's see, I think it's Proverbs 16 that said, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Guard your hearts, especially as God allows you to age.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Individual Responsibility for Sin

Summary: Each person dies for their own sin, not for another's, as stated in Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18.

Evidence: Weaver reads Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:4,20 to establish that God holds each soul accountable for its own sin.

The Universality of Sin and Death

Summary: All humans are born sinners and deserve death; even infants die because of inherited depravity.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'we are born totally depraved... born with enough sin that would kill us. That's why infants die.'

God's Sovereignty in Life and Death

Summary: God has appointed the day, place, and manner of our death; our times are in His hands.

Evidence: Citing Job 14:5, Weaver says, 'God has appointed our bounds... none of us are going to live one second longer than God has ordained.'

The Danger of Pride

Summary: David's sin was rooted in pride over his military strength; God humbled him by reducing his army.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'David was glorying himself and assuming that he was captain of the Lord's host... God said... I can reduce it for you.'

Corporate Consequences of Rulers' Sins

Summary: When leaders sin publicly and are not opposed, the people suffer the consequences with them.

Evidence: Weaver cites Jeremiah 15:4, where God judged the people for Manasseh's sins, and notes that no one stopped David.

God's Righteous Control of Evil

Summary: God is not the author of evil but controls it; He allows Satan to tempt but restrains evil to what ultimately glorifies Him.

Evidence: Weaver explains from James 1:13 and Psalm 76:10 that God restrains evil and uses it to display His attributes.

Key Arguments

People die for their own sins, not others'

Summary: Though tragedies involve others' sins, each person who dies is a sinner deserving death.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The drunk that caused the wreck was a sinner. The people who died because of the drunkard's sin were also sinners.'

David's census was sinful because it usurped God's ownership of the army

Summary: The army was the Lord's host; David had no authority to number it without God's command and the atonement money.

Evidence: Weaver cites Exodus 12:41, Joshua 5:13-15, and Exodus 30:11-16 to show the army belonged to God and required a ransom.

God sovereignly uses Satan's temptations to accomplish His purposes

Summary: God moved David by permitting Satan to tempt him; David's own lust conceived sin.

Evidence: Weaver harmonizes 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 with James 1:13-15, stating God is not the author of evil but controls it.

Pride leads to destruction

Summary: David's pride in his military accomplishments led to his sinful census and the death of 70,000.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It was pride that allowed David to be tempted... Pride goeth before destruction.'

Forgiveness does not remove earthly consequences

Summary: David was forgiven, but the plague still came; sin has temporal consequences even when forgiven.

Evidence: Weaver illustrates with the bar fight analogy: 'Will God forgive us for getting drunk? Yes... Would that restore my tooth or his eye? No.'

Scripture References

2 Samuel 24:1-15

Context: The primary text: David's sinful census and the resulting plague.

Deuteronomy 24:16

Context: Establishes individual responsibility: each dies for his own sin.

Ezekiel 18:4, 20

Context: Reinforces that the soul that sins shall die, not bearing another's iniquity.

Romans 6:23

Context: The wages of sin is death; all die because of sin.

Psalm 58:3

Context: Infants go astray from birth, speaking lies; all are born sinners.

James 4:13-14

Context: Life is a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes; illustrates brevity of life.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Context: God's mercies are new every morning; we are not consumed because of His compassion.

Job 14:1-5

Context: Man's days are determined; God has appointed his bounds.

1 Chronicles 21:1

Context: Satan provoked David to number Israel, showing the dual agency.

James 1:12-15

Context: Temptation comes from one's own lust; God does not tempt to evil.

Psalm 76:10

Context: God restrains the wrath of man; evil is limited to what praises Him.

Genesis 20:6

Context: God restrained Abimelech from sinning; illustrates divine restraint of evil.

Exodus 12:41

Context: The hosts of the Lord went out of Egypt; the army belonged to God.

Joshua 5:13-15

Context: The captain of the Lord's host appears to Joshua; a Christophany showing God as army commander.

1 Samuel 17:45

Context: David fought Goliath in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.

Exodus 30:11-16

Context: The law requiring atonement money when numbering the people; David failed to do this.

1 Corinthians 1:27-31

Context: God chooses the weak and foolish so that no flesh may glory in His presence.

Jeremiah 15:4

Context: God judged the people for the sins of King Manasseh; corporate consequences of rulers' sins.

Proverbs 16:18

Context: Pride goes before destruction; referenced in closing application.

Historical References

John Trapp, Puritan commentator

Context: Weaver quotes Trapp's commentary on 2 Samuel 24, suggesting the plague may have been for the injury to Uriah or general national sin.

U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 (Enumeration Clause)

Context: Weaver contrasts the constitutional census (limited to counting) with David's sinful military census.

Important Quotes

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Significance: Establishes the biblical principle of individual responsibility for sin, which creates tension with the narrative of 70,000 dying for David's sin.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Significance: Reinforces individual accountability and is used to frame the theological problem of corporate judgment.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Significance: Summarizes the universal consequence of sin and the gospel hope, applied to all who die.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Significance: Highlights God's mercy in allowing sinners to live, despite deserving death.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.

Significance: Affirms God's absolute sovereignty over the timing and circumstances of each person's death.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

Significance: Clarifies that God is not the author of sin, even when He sovereignly permits temptation.

That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Significance: The ultimate reason God humbles human pride: so that all glory goes to Him alone.

Discussion Questions

How do we reconcile the biblical teaching that each person dies for their own sin with passages like 2 Samuel 24 where many die because of one man's sin?

Context: Weaver raises this tension at the beginning and throughout the sermon.

In what ways does pride manifest itself in our lives, especially as we age and reflect on our accomplishments?

Context: Weaver applies David's sin of pride to the tendency of older people to glory in their achievements.

What does it mean that God 'moved' David (2 Samuel 24:1) if God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13)?

Context: Weaver explains the dual agency of God's sovereignty and Satan's provocation.

How should the truth that God has appointed the day of our death affect the way we live?

Context: Weaver emphasizes God's sovereignty over life and death from Job 14:5.

What responsibility do citizens have when their leaders sin publicly?

Context: Weaver uses the example of David's census and Manasseh's sins to show that people suffer when they do not oppose wicked rulers.

Applications

Guard against pride, especially in old age

Summary: Believers must recognize that all accomplishments are by God's grace and give glory to Him alone, not boasting in personal achievements.

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'We begin to glory in everything that we have accomplished... if God had not allowed us to live... we could not have done one thing.'

Thank God daily for His mercies

Summary: Since we deserve death for our sins, each new day is a gift of God's compassion; we should begin each morning with thanksgiving.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When we awaken each morning, the very first thing we should be doing is thanking God for those new compassions.'

Oppose public sin by rulers

Summary: When leaders sin openly, believers have a responsibility to speak out; failure to do so may bring corporate judgment.

Evidence: Weaver notes that even wicked Joab knew David's census was wrong, but no one stopped him, and 70,000 died.

Trust God's sovereignty in suffering

Summary: Even when we suffer from others' sins, we can trust that God is in control and has appointed our times.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God has not only appointed the day of our birth, He's also appointed the day of our death.'

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:24:31Z

Clean Transcript

Dying For Another Man's Sins

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel 24. And I want us to read at least the first 15 verses. The title of the message is "Dying for Another Man's Sins." Dying for another man's sins. 2 Samuel 24, beginning with verse 1: "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel."
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"And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, toward Jazer. And they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days."
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"And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?"
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"Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men."
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Now, the title of the message, as I said, is "Dying for Another Man's Sins." The title of this message is designed to get you to think and to make sure that you listen well and think with me through this provocative statement, because we actually see this almost daily in many areas. So I could ask you, do you want to die for the sins of another man? And obviously the answer is no, of course not. But the truth is, however, often many people do die because of the sins of others.
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For example, you may take a man who is drunk and he's driving down the road and he veers out of his lane into the lane of an oncoming car and there's a head-on crash and an entire family is killed. Obviously, in one sense of the word, that family died because of the sin of another man. He was obviously clearly drunk. And then think about the deranged murderers who murder just so that their name will go down in history as one of the leading mass murderers. And just consider the fact that these people were absolutely, totally, completely insane. And people died just simply because of the sin of such a maniac. But think also of the hundreds of people—husbands, wives, children—who die either accidentally or intentionally due to drug use and drug overdose on some people.
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I remember years ago, I had a good friend when I was in high school. After we got out of high school, I kind of lost track of him because he went into the military as well and came out. And then I heard many years later that he was dead. And the way he died was he and another friend went out and got drunk. And in a drunken stupor, his friend picked up a rifle and emptied the rifle into my friend's chest. And the man who shot him was so absolutely drunk, he did not even know he had done it. And so here is one man who was a sinner, very clearly, dying at the hand of another man because of his drunken stupor as well. Now, here's my question.
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How do we reconcile some of these illustrations that I just gave you, and how do we reconcile 2 Samuel 24 with a number of other leading scriptures? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 24 and verse 16. Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16. Then we'll go to the book of Ezekiel. But in Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God says this: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Now, if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel and look, if you would please, there at chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18, beginning there with verse 4. Ezekiel 18, verse 4. Notice what God says: "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
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Now skip down to verse 20. God says: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." While it is certainly true that we normally think of such instances that I've mentioned to you in the introduction as tragedies, the truth of the matter is this, that each person that dies deserves to die.
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And that would include you and me as well. Now, I'm not trying to be unloving. I'm not trying to be unkind. I'm certainly not trying to be unsympathetic. I'm just simply speaking the truth. And here's the truth. Each of us die because of sins. Our sins. And that's why the Bible says, Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
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So the drunk that caused the wreck was a sinner. The people who died because of the drunkard's sin were also sinners. Now, their sin may not have been that of drunkenness, but they were sinners. And the truth of the matter is this, we die because of our sins. There was no death until there was sin. And so when you stop and think about this, it only takes one sin for an individual to be a sinner. It only takes one sin for an individual to deserve death. And moreover, it really does not even take one sin because the truth of the matter is we are born totally depraved. We're born sinners. And therefore we're born with enough sin that would kill us. That's why infants die.
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In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 58, you can read it for yourself, "They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." And he goes on in talking about even infants. So the truth of the matter is, each of us die because of our sins. So you're going to see David sinning against God and the end result is 70,000 men dying.
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Now, there are many illustrations of the Bible concerning the brevity of our life. You can read Psalm 90 and Psalm 90 will give you a number of good illustrations, but let me give you one that's very plain and easily grasped. If you look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 4, and let's begin reading there in verse 13. Hebrews, James—look in James chapter 4, beginning there with verse 13, look what God says.
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"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Now note, he says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? It is even as a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Each of us have watched kettles boil and we see the vapour, and once you take the kettle off the eye of the stove, the vapour disappears. You've been driving down the road, highway, and you look up ahead and there's water on the road. And you get there and there's no water. It was a mirage. It was a vapour. It was something that appeared. And then it's gone by the time you get there.
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And so the word of God is telling us that our lives are like this. They're just vapours. They're here just for a little while. And then we are gone. Just stop and think how easily and how quickly a vapour disappears. Here's a truth that we don't like to think about. But none of us really deserve to live. When you stop and think about the sins that each of us have committed against God, and each sin deserves death, this is why it is so absolutely astounding to me when I read Lamentations 3:22-23, when the Bible says, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." So really and truly, when we awaken each morning, the very first thing we should be doing is thanking God for those new compassions and allowing us to live through the night and just to see the new morning. And then ask him to protect us and carry us through the day so that we can see more new compassions on the next day as well.
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So the truth of the matter is none of us actually deserve to live. Now it's one thing for you and I to think about a drunk going down the road, swerving into another car head on and killing an entire family. It's one thing for you and I to think about a maniac murderer who shoots five or six people. It's quite another thing when you and I consider one act that causes 70,000 people to die.
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And that's exactly what happened in 2 Samuel chapter 24. We must remember another truth in light of this, and that is this, that God is the giver and the taker of life. The Bible tells us that He holds our souls in life. The Bible also tells us that our times are in his hands. And here's the truth. God has not only appointed the day of our birth, He's also appointed the day of our death. And here's something else you might not have considered. God has not only appointed the day of our birth, He also appointed where we were to be born, how we were to be born. And he's not only appointed the day of our death, he's also appointed where we are to die and how we are to die.
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So if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 14, Job 14, right before the book of Psalms. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Job 14 and verse 1. Look at this. Here's a statement that is so obviously clear and true at the very beginning. "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." So no matter how long we live, it's still just a few days. Now, look at the illustrations.
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"He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." So there's two great illustrations of the brevity of life. And then he asked, "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?" In other words, I'm nothing, man is nothing. Verse 4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one."
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Now notice what the scripture says now in verse 5. "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." So God has appointed our bounds. He knows exactly where we're going and how far we're going. And just like God said to the ocean, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed," likewise, God tells us this, and none of us are going to live one second longer than God has ordained, and we will die exactly when and where and how God has ordained.
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Now, with that in mind, I want you to look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, because there are two truths that have to be pointed out actually before I get to expounding 2 Samuel chapter 24. And the very first truth that I want to point out is found in verse 1. The Bible says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Note, if you would, "and again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel." In other words, God's anger now is not necessarily against David per se.
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It is against the entire nation. The nation has done something that is sorely displeased God that has moved him and provoked him to anger.
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Now, John Trapp, the old Puritan, said this. I want to read this paragraph to you. I want you to listen carefully. He said, "Again, after the late three years' famine for Saul's sin, and the slaughter of 20,000 for rebelling with Absalom, the plague of pestilence is sent, as they seldom go sundered, for the injury to Uriah, who is named in the last verse of the former chapter."
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"But more likely it was for some general sin of the whole land, whether it were their recently revolting from David, or their putting too much confidence in their king and his worthies, or the abuse of the present peace and plenty, or whatever else. God was displeased, and David so far abandoned and left to himself that he yielded to the satanical suggestion which brought the people's ruth and ruin." Now the word "ruth" is an old word which means grief and sorrow. What Trapp is saying is it could have been related to Uriah. So if you will look in verse 39 of 2 Samuel 23, "Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all." So the last man named is Uriah. Of course, that is the man who was the husband of Bathsheba whom David had killed with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now so Trapp is saying it could have been for Uriah.
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It could have been for a number of reasons. And it could have been the fact that the people have just sinned somehow, generally speaking. There is no way of knowing why God was angry with Israel because it is not specified in this particular chapter, but we can be assured of one thing: whatever God was displeased with, God was absolutely righteous and holy in His displeasure, and God was absolutely righteous and holy in judging the people. So the sin then was not just on David's part—the main sin was—but God was angry already with the entire nation. Which should teach us something, that God does indeed get angry with nations.
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Stop and think about that. Hmm. The second truth that I want to emphasize is found in 1 Chronicles chapter 21. If you will turn there, you're going to find the same incident referred to. Look, if you would, 1 Chronicles chapter 21. And notice, if you would please, verse 1. And I tell you what, before we read this, look back, just look back at 2 Samuel 24 and verse 1.
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The Bible says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Now, if you look in 1 Chronicles 21 and verse 1, "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." So the very first question we have to ask, who was it that did the moving and the provoking? Was it God or was it Satan?
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And the truth of the matter is the answer is both. Because God in his sovereignty allowed Satan to provoke David, and David in his pride allowed Satan to succeed because David sinned against God in doing exactly what he did. You have to remember something: that God is absolutely sovereign and Satan is not God. Satan is a created being. And when you remember the book of Job, every time that God gave Satan permission to touch Job, there was always a limitation.
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In other words, he could go so far, but he could go no further. And do you realize Satan cannot do one thing apart from God's permission? In fact, Satan cannot even exist apart from God because God is sovereign and Satan is a created being. And just like you and I are dependent upon God for life and breath and health for our entire existence, so likewise he is also dependent upon God himself as well. So he must have God's permission to even exist. Now let me show you something about temptation. The Bible said that Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David. He pushed David, he tempted David. Now the Bible says that God moved David. Well, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1—Hebrews, James—and I want you to hold this passage because we're going to be coming back to it just momentarily. And we'll look in James chapter 1 verse 13. So now we're going to see about temptation to sin. Watch this. James 1 verse 13.
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"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. God is not the author of evil. God is not the infuser of evil. God is not the instigator of evil. God is not the agitator of evil. But God is indeed the controller of evil. I'll show you.
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But look in verse 13 again. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." You want to know where sin comes from? Here it is. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
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Now, the Bible tells you in Psalm 76 and verse 10, listen carefully. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. So if you would like to know how much evil is going to come to pass in this world, here it is. There will be just enough evil that will come to pass in this world that's going to ultimately redound to God's honor and God's glory. Now, most of you are going to ask, well, how in the world can evil redound to God's honor and God's glory?
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Have you ever stopped to think about this? Without sin, without evil, we would know nothing of God's justice. We would know nothing of God's love. We would know nothing of God's compassion. We would know nothing of God's holiness. We would know nothing of God's righteousness. In other words, everything about God is absolutely pitted against that which is evil. So only that which is going to ultimately redound to God's honor and glory will come to pass.
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The rest, he will restrain. He will not allow it to happen. A good illustration of that is found in Genesis 20. When Abimelech took Sarah, Abraham's wife, and God came to Abimelech and said, "If you touch her, you're dead, man, because that's a man's wife. You give her back." And Abimelech said, "Lord, in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this." And God said, "I know that, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her." So God withheld him from sinning because he did not want the lineage of Jesus Christ messed up. So God restrained him, just like the Bible says.
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Now, what happened was this: God allowed Satan to tempt David, David yielded to that temptation, and so therefore the sin was actually David's. So if you look in 2 Samuel 24 and verse 17, David admits that it is his sin. He said, "And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house." So David is saying the sin is mine. You see, Satan may tempt us, but it's when we yield to it that the sin becomes ours. It's not a sin to be tempted; our Lord was tempted—read Matthew chapter 4—but He did not yield to the temptation. Now, we must also acknowledge another truth.
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And here it is: that God has the absolute right to test us, to try us and to prove us and attempt us in that sense of the word to show us what is in our hearts. Now, if you'll go back to James chapter 1, I want to show you something. The word "tempt," "temptation," or "tempted"—the noun and the verb both—may be used in a good sense and in a bad sense. The Greek word, the noun, is "peirasmos." Okay, "peirasmos." Let me show you the good sense of "peirasmos." Look in James chapter 1 and verse 12. God says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation"—there's "peirasmos." The word "temptation" here means affliction, a test, or a trial. Watch, if you would. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried"—that is tested, proved—"he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." So in verse 12, you have the Greek word "peirasmos," which is used in a good sense. Now look in verse 13. "Let no man say when he is tempted"—there it is in the verbal form, the same word—"I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."
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There it's used in a bad sense, talking about seduction to sin. It's the same word. But there is a good sense and a bad sense. And so God does indeed test us, and God has an absolute right to test us because we're his creatures, and he does test us. And it does indeed try us. You remember that passage in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 1, where it says, "Now it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham." How did God tempt Abraham?
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He said, "Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, get thee up to that mountain, and offer him to me for sacrifice." Wow. God was testing his faithfulness and his faith and his love. In fact, Abraham passed the test with flying colors. You know, of course, he did not slay Isaac, but you remember before he ever went up to the mountain, he told his servants, "Tarry ye here while the child and I go yonder and worship, and we will come back again." So Abraham passed that test with flying colors. God has an absolute right to test us and to try us.
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But here's the other side of that coin. We have absolutely no right to test and to try God and to put him on trial. Our Lord in the book of Matthew chapter 4 and verse 7 and in Luke chapter 4 and verse 12 said, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." You're not to try to prove God. You're not to say, "Lord, here I am on this high building; if you really exist, God, I'm gonna jump off, catch me before I hit the ground." That's not only insanity and stupidity, that is a provocation; that is tempting God. God says, don't do that. We have no right to test God. We have no right to tempt God.
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We must believe him and we must submit to him. Now, let me show you what I'd like to do. I want us to consider just momentarily David's life for a short while we're reading 2 Samuel chapter 24. I want to show you something. 2 Samuel chapter 24 is the last chapter in the book of 2 Samuel. The next book is 1 Kings chapter 1. And I want you to look at verse 1. Look at this. 1 Kings chapter 1 verse 1: "Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat." Now note, "King David was old and stricken in years." So when you read 2 Samuel chapter 24, you have to understand that this incident took place when David was old, at the culmination of his reign. And David reigned for 40 years. Now, you have to consider also the fact that David was a warrior. David was a valiant man and a valiant fighter. And David led his armies in and out many, many times.
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Now here is what happens. I want you to look in 2 Samuel 24, beginning there with verse 2. Watch this. And remember now, David is old, it's the end of his life, it's the end of his reign. Verse 2: "For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan"—which would be the northernmost tribe—"even to Beersheba"—the southernmost town—"and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?" Now look at verse 4. "Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host." There were other men opposing what David was suggesting and commanding as well. "And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel."
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Now, you might ask, how could numbering the people be a sin? We number the people here in America. We have what is known as a census. And that census takes place once every 10 years. And the census is supposed to be for representation. By the way, let me just mention this. The only authority that Congress possesses, and the only authority that the Census Bureau has, is to enumerate the people. That is, they have the authority, constitutionally, to count the people. They have no authority to ask you how many bedrooms you have, how many bathrooms you have, how many square feet are in your house, how many times you go to the bathroom.
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That's none of their business. I'll read it to you. Here's Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, known as the Enumeration Clause or the Census Clause in the Constitution. Here it is: "The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct." Notice, "the actual Enumeration," the actual counting.
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All the census forms I've ever answered in my entire life, I would just put the number of people that lived in the house and would send it back. I wouldn't put anything else. I was approached by one census taker, and she started asking me a question, and I said, "Two." She asked me another question. I said, "Two."
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Finally, she said, "What are you saying?" I said, "Well, Congress shall have the power to enumerate. That means to count. There are two people. That's all you need to know." Well, she said, "I'll have to send a supervisor out here to see you." I said, "Send whomever you want. I can quote the Constitution to them as easily as I can quote it to you, too." And of course, no one ever came to see me. I'm saying that to say this: David was not taking a census. David was not interested in how many people were actually alive and living in the land. You have to remember that David was a warrior. David had developed a very wonderful and fine fighting machinery. He had a fighting force that was absolutely astounding. David had been prosperous in everything that he touched—economically, militarily. So when David gave the command to Joab and these other captains, what David was wanting to do was to number the fighting men in Israel. He wanted to know how many soldiers he had. Please understand something now: David
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is old. This is the end of his life, and he's asking these men to go out and number the soldiers. And Joab was a wicked man. Joab was a murderer. He murdered two people. One of them was his own cousin, Abner, and Amasa. He murdered both of those. Joab certainly would not be known as a spiritually minded individual. But when David wanted to do this, Joab said, "Whoa, whoa, wait, wait.
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May the Lord increase Israel a hundredfold, and may your eyes live to see it. But why would my lord the king do this thing?" Joab knew it was wrong. All the other captains knew it was wrong. They protested as well. Nevertheless, the Bible says that the king's word prevailed against them. Now, Joab understood that this was sinful, that David was grieving God and doing that which was absolutely contrary to God. So here's the question. How could David's counting his fighting men, numbering and mustering the people, be counted as a sin? You have to remember that sin is a transgression of God's law. 1 John 3:4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." So you cannot sin against God without violating his law. So how could David's numbering these men be counted as a sin and as a violation of God's law? In three ways. First, you must understand that the army did not belong to David. The army was God's army.
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In fact, if you will hold 2 Samuel 24, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 12 and verse 41. It is in this passage that God is bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. But I want you to note what is said specifically. He's bringing them out of Egypt in Exodus 12 and verse 41. "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Now, you're going to find, as you read through the Bible, that one of the names of God is the Lord of Hosts, or the God of Hosts, or the Lord God of Hosts.
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The word "host" just refers to the word "army" or "armies." When he's called the Lord God of Hosts, he's being called the Lord God of the armies. So in verse 41, the Bible says when God brought them out, "the hosts"—or the armies—"of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." In fact, God brought them out in military formation. They came out as an army. This was God's army from the beginning. If you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, just a few pages. Joshua, notice chapter 5, if you would. Joshua and then Judges. Joshua chapter 5, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Joshua 5 verse 13. Look at this. Joshua 5 verse 13: "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" Joshua had to be brave because here's a man with a sword already drawn.
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Joshua goes to him and said, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" Verse 14: "And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." This is a Christophany. This is a pre-incarnate appearing of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Notice, "as captain of the Lord's host am I now come." Wow. Let that sink in.
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Let me remind you, in 1 Samuel 15 and verse 2, God came to King Saul, told him to make war against the Amalekites. Listen to this: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts"—the Lord of the armies—"I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt." Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies. You remember in 1 Samuel chapter 17 where David was fighting Goliath and David said this: "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." The God of the armies of Israel. Hmm. And then in 2 Samuel chapter 5 in verse 10, the Bible says, "And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him." So when David now gives a command to go out and number the fighting men, he is assuming that the army is his.
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And he now is taking the captain's place as the head of the army. Now let me show you something. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to verse 9. Just to show you that this was not a census. In 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 9: "And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men." So a million three hundred thousand in the army. So he's not giving David the number of people in Israel. He's giving David the number of the fighting men. So David, in commanding them to number this, he's assuming that the army is his and that he is the true captain of it.
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He had no authority to do that. And to show you that he had no authority to do that, the second and third part of his sin occurs simultaneously. If you'll turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 30, because the army was not to be mustered or numbered except in a time of war. That was number two. And here's the third thing: when they were numbered, there had to be the half shekel of the atonement money taken for each soldier. This was not done in 2 Samuel 24. So notice Exodus chapter 30, beginning there with verse 11. The Bible says, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord."
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"Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls."
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So, number one, it was not David's army. Number two, it was not a time of war. And number three, when they were numbered or mustered, then of course, there was no half shekel taken. So the sin then that David committed was he had no orders from God to do what he did. There was no occasion to number the people because there was not a war, and there was no atonement money that was being taken. And if you look back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24, I want you to see the time and the effort and the money that was wasted because the Bible says in 2 Samuel chapter 24 and verse 8, "So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at
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the end of nine months and twenty days." It took them almost 10 months to count these fighting men. 10 months of wasted time.
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Now, look if you would at verse 10. When Joab gave the number to David in verse 9, when he found out that he had 800,000 in Israel, 500,000 in Judah, 1,300,000 fighting men, look in verse 10. "And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly." We are just like David. We recognize oftentimes the fact that we've sinned too late. And it's already done.
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God may forgive our sins, but we do not escape the consequences of our sins. I've used this before, but I'll show you what I mean. Let's suppose that Steve and I go into a bar and get drunk and we get into a fight and he knocks one of my teeth out and I knock his eye out. Now, here's my question. Will God forgive us for getting drunk? Yes. Would God forgive us for getting into a fight? Yes. Would that restore my tooth or his eye? No. I'm going to be toothless and he's going to be without an eye unless it can be reattached somehow. You see what I'm saying? Although we may be forgiven, we're still bearing the consequences of our sin. And here is what God said.
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"You take this atonement money, lest there be a plague." That money was not taken by David whatsoever. His heart smote him.
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Now, look, if you would, beginning there with verse 12. So God then comes to Gad, who is a prophet or a seer. Seer is the same thing as a prophet. He says, "Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?"
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"Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me." And here's the wisest thing that David did. "And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man." David basically said, "I'm not going to make the choice. Let God make the choice."
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Let him do whatever he pleases. Now, David did wisely in leaving the punishment to God. And so God then sent the plague. And in this plague, 70,000 men died. Now, I want you to look at verse 17 again, because David is assuming full responsibility. "And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done?"
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"Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house." Now, here's what I want to share with you. There are some valuable lessons that you and I need to learn from this. The first one is this: pride is in each of our hearts. We have a tendency to be proud of our accomplishments. But it is a sin to allow pride to control our lives and our emotions and our decisions and our determinations. David very clearly was proud of his fighting machine.
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I mean, he had led these armies in and out to victory so many, many times. Remember now, David is old. This happens right before he starts literally dying. It's at the end of his reign. And what do old people normally do? Well, we think back. "Well, I've raised a mighty good family." "Well, I made a good fortune." "Well, I've got a beautiful house." "Well, I've got 400 acres of land."
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We begin to glory in everything that we have accomplished. And we never stop to think that if God had not allowed us to live, to have our being, to have our mind, to have our health, we could not have done one thing, not one. I usually jokingly tell people, especially when I see someone who has multiple skills, I usually jokingly say, "Well, the Lord's only allowed me to do two things.
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I can preach and I can shoot." But have you ever stopped to think about this? I can't preach without him. If he doesn't give me understanding, if he doesn't give me breath, if he doesn't give me health, there's no way in the world that I can preach or teach. So the very fact that I've preached for all these years doesn't mean one thing for me except for the fact that it is God who enabled me and empowered me to do that.
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You follow what I'm saying? And it doesn't take much to remove this finger. You see what I'm saying? It doesn't take much to remove the eyesight. We are absolutely helpless without God.
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Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians 1.
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And let's begin reading there with verse 27. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27. Hang on for this. I want you to listen. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." Why has God chosen the foolish things, the despised things, the simple things? Here's why.
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"That no flesh should glory in his presence." Wow. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
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Now, I want to show you something. Go back in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. Look at verse 15. What was David doing? David was glorifying himself and assuming that he was captain of the Lord's host. And he was glorying in the fact that he had 1,300,000 fighting men.
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Now verse 15: "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand." What? Men! Not women and children. The men were soldiers. They were warriors. So God said to David, "David, you want to glory in your fighting machinery? You think you've got a lot? I can reduce it for you." Wow! You're a multi-millionaire, says God. You want to glory in that? I can reduce it for you. You want to glory in the fact that you've got a fine big family? Fine, says God, I can reduce it for you. Why? That no flesh should glory except in the Lord. Whatever we have, whatever we are, God gave us.
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In Him, we live and move and have our being. And without Him, we are nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing. Now, one last application. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 4. I just want to point this out. Jeremiah 15 verse 4. Listen to me carefully. Here's the second application we must learn: that when our rulers sin publicly and we do not stop them, we suffer the consequences with them for their sins. Let me show you.
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When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, David alone was judged. When David numbered the people, even wicked Joab knew it was wrong. The other captains knew it was wrong, but nobody stopped him, and 70,000 died. Look what happens in Jeremiah 15 in verse 4. God says, "And I will cause them"—that is the people—"and I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem." Did you see that? God said, "I'm gonna send the people into captivity for that which Manasseh did." What did Manasseh do? He did all kind of crazy, idolatrous, wicked, perverted things. Everyone knew it was wrong. Nobody lifted a finger to stop him. And God judged the people with the rulers.
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In one sense of the word, it is possible to die for the sins of another man, but yet another sense of the word, when we die, it's because we are sinners ourselves. And the older we get, the more we need to be aware of the pride of our hearts. It was pride that allowed David to be tempted. And let's see, I think it's Proverbs 16 that said, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Guard your hearts, especially as God allows you to age.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We pray, Lord, that you would indeed protect us, keep us safe, and, Lord, may we learn to glory only in thee. May we ascribe unto thee all honor, glory, and praise. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask these things. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:23:58Z

Dying For Another Man's Sins

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines 2 Samuel 24, where David's sinful census of Israel's fighting men leads to a plague that kills 70,000. He explores the tension between individual responsibility for sin (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18) and the reality that people often suffer consequences from others' sins. Weaver argues that all people die because of their own sin, yet God's sovereignty over life and death means He can use the sins of rulers to judge a nation. The sermon warns against pride, especially in old age, and calls believers to glory only in the Lord.

Opening

Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 24:1-15

"And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel." "And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, toward Jazer. And they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days." "And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land?" "Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men."

Introduction: The Provocative Title

Weaver introduces the title 'Dying for Another Man's Sins' and gives modern examples of people dying due to others' sins, such as drunk driving accidents and mass murders.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 24:16

"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

Biblical Tension: Individual Responsibility vs. Corporate Consequences

He contrasts Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:4,20 (each dies for his own sin) with the reality of 2 Samuel 24, where 70,000 die for David's sin.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 24:16

"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

The Universality of Sin and Death

Weaver explains that all people are sinners from birth and deserve death; even infants die because of inherited sin. Life is brief, like a vapor (James 4:14).

In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 58, you can read it for yourself,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 58:3

"They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

God's Sovereignty Over Life and Death

God appoints the day, place, and manner of our death (Job 14:5). He is the giver and taker of life, and no one lives a second longer than God ordains.

Scripture Reading — Job 14:1-5

"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble."

So no matter how long we live, it's still just a few days. Now, look at the illustrations.

The Dual Cause of David's Sin: God's Anger and Satan's Provocation

2 Samuel 24:1 says God moved David; 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan provoked him. Weaver explains God sovereignly allowed Satan to tempt David, but David's own lust conceived sin (James 1:13-15).

The Bible says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Now, if you look in 1 Chronicles 21 and verse 1,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 21:1

"And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 20:6

"Lord, in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this."

And God said,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 20:6

"I know that, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her."

So God withheld him from sinning because he did not want the lineage of Jesus Christ messed up. So God restrained him, just like the Bible says.

The Nature of David's Sin

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 12:41

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?"

Joshua had to be brave because here's a man with a sword already drawn.

Joshua goes to him and said,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

Verse 14:

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."

This is a Christophany. This is a pre-incarnate appearing of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Notice,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 5:13-15

"as captain of the Lord's host am I now come."

Wow. Let that sink in.

Let me remind you, in 1 Samuel 15 and verse 2, God came to King Saul, told him to make war against the Amalekites. Listen to this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 17:45

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts"

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 17:45

"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 30:11-16

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord."

David's Repentance and the Consequences

David's heart smote him after the census; he confessed his sin. God offered three punishments; David chose to fall into God's hands. A plague killed 70,000 men.

Lessons: Pride and Corporate Responsibility

You follow what I'm saying? And it doesn't take much to remove this finger. You see what I'm saying? It doesn't take much to remove the eyesight. We are absolutely helpless without God.

Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. I want you to see this. 1 Corinthians 1.

And let's begin reading there with verse 27. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27. Hang on for this. I want you to listen. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 27:

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are."

Why has God chosen the foolish things, the despised things, the simple things? Here's why.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"That no flesh should glory in his presence."

Wow.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 15:4

"And I will cause them"

—that is the people—

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 15:4

"and I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem."

Dying For Another Man's Sins

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Z1yrFPXpwX4
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: As Yet
Genre	Sermon
Date	2023-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 079: Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover - Volume 2 — Chapter 36
Source Timed Segments	76

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Provocative Title: Weaver introduces the title 'Dying for Another Man's Sins' and gives modern examples of people dying due to others' sins, such as drunk driving accidents and mass murders.
Biblical Tension: Individual Responsibility vs. Corporate Consequences: He contrasts Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:4,20 (each dies for his own sin) with the reality of 2 Samuel 24, where 70,000 die for David's sin.
The Universality of Sin and Death: Weaver explains that all people are sinners from birth and deserve death; even infants die because of inherited sin. Life is brief, like a vapor (James 4:14).
God's Sovereignty Over Life and Death: God appoints the day, place, and manner of our death (Job 14:5). He is the giver and taker of life, and no one lives a second longer than God ordains.
The Dual Cause of David's Sin: God's Anger and Satan's Provocation: 2 Samuel 24:1 says God moved David; 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan provoked him. Weaver explains God sovereignly allowed Satan to tempt David, but David's own lust conceived sin (James 1:13-15).
The Nature of David's Sin: David's census was sinful because (1) the army belonged to God, not David; (2) it was not a time of war; (3) the required atonement money was not collected (Exodus 30:11-16). David was glorying in his military might.
David's Repentance and the Consequences: David's heart smote him after the census; he confessed his sin. God offered three punishments; David chose to fall into God's hands. A plague killed 70,000 men.
Lessons: Pride and Corporate Responsibility: Pride led David to sin; God humbled him by reducing his army. Also, when rulers sin publicly and are not stopped, the people suffer (Jeremiah 15:4). Believers must guard against pride and glory only in the Lord.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

People die for their own sins, not others'

Though tragedies involve others' sins, each person who dies is a sinner deserving death.

Weaver says, 'The drunk that caused the wreck was a sinner. The people who died because of the drunkard's sin were also sinners.'

David's census was sinful because it usurped God's ownership of the army

The army was the Lord's host; David had no authority to number it without God's command and the atonement money.

Weaver cites Exodus 12:41, Joshua 5:13-15, and Exodus 30:11-16 to show the army belonged to God and required a ransom.

God sovereignly uses Satan's temptations to accomplish His purposes

God moved David by permitting Satan to tempt him; David's own lust conceived sin.

Weaver harmonizes 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 with James 1:13-15, stating God is not the author of evil but controls it.

Pride leads to destruction

David's pride in his military accomplishments led to his sinful census and the death of 70,000.

Weaver says, 'It was pride that allowed David to be tempted... Pride goeth before destruction.'

Forgiveness does not remove earthly consequences

David was forgiven, but the plague still came; sin has temporal consequences even when forgiven.

Weaver illustrates with the bar fight analogy: 'Will God forgive us for getting drunk? Yes... Would that restore my tooth or his eye? No.'

Scripture References

2 Samuel 24:1-15: The primary text: David's sinful census and the resulting plague.
Deuteronomy 24:16: Establishes individual responsibility: each dies for his own sin.
Ezekiel 18:4, 20: Reinforces that the soul that sins shall die, not bearing another's iniquity.
Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death; all die because of sin.
Psalm 58:3: Infants go astray from birth, speaking lies; all are born sinners.
James 4:13-14: Life is a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes; illustrates brevity of life.
Lamentations 3:22-23: God's mercies are new every morning; we are not consumed because of His compassion.
Job 14:1-5: Man's days are determined; God has appointed his bounds.
1 Chronicles 21:1: Satan provoked David to number Israel, showing the dual agency.
James 1:12-15: Temptation comes from one's own lust; God does not tempt to evil.
Psalm 76:10: God restrains the wrath of man; evil is limited to what praises Him.
Genesis 20:6: God restrained Abimelech from sinning; illustrates divine restraint of evil.
Exodus 12:41: The hosts of the Lord went out of Egypt; the army belonged to God.
Joshua 5:13-15: The captain of the Lord's host appears to Joshua; a Christophany showing God as army commander.
1 Samuel 17:45: David fought Goliath in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.
Exodus 30:11-16: The law requiring atonement money when numbering the people; David failed to do this.
1 Corinthians 1:27-31: God chooses the weak and foolish so that no flesh may glory in His presence.
Jeremiah 15:4: God judged the people for the sins of King Manasseh; corporate consequences of rulers' sins.
Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction; referenced in closing application.

Historical References

John Trapp, Puritan commentator: Weaver quotes Trapp's commentary on 2 Samuel 24, suggesting the plague may have been for the injury to Uriah or general national sin.
U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 (Enumeration Clause): Weaver contrasts the constitutional census (limited to counting) with David's sinful military census.

Important Quotes

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Establishes the biblical principle of individual responsibility for sin, which creates tension with the narrative of 70,000 dying for David's sin.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Reinforces individual accountability and is used to frame the theological problem of corporate judgment.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Summarizes the universal consequence of sin and the gospel hope, applied to all who die.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Highlights God's mercy in allowing sinners to live, despite deserving death.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.

Affirms God's absolute sovereignty over the timing and circumstances of each person's death.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

Clarifies that God is not the author of sin, even when He sovereignly permits temptation.

That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The ultimate reason God humbles human pride: so that all glory goes to Him alone.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How do we reconcile the biblical teaching that each person dies for their own sin with passages like 2 Samuel 24 where many die because of one man's sin?

[Context]

Weaver raises this tension at the beginning and throughout the sermon.

[Question]

In what ways does pride manifest itself in our lives, especially as we age and reflect on our accomplishments?

[Context]

Weaver applies David's sin of pride to the tendency of older people to glory in their achievements.

[Question]

What does it mean that God 'moved' David (2 Samuel 24:1) if God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13)?

[Context]

Weaver explains the dual agency of God's sovereignty and Satan's provocation.

[Question]

How should the truth that God has appointed the day of our death affect the way we live?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes God's sovereignty over life and death from Job 14:5.

[Question]

What responsibility do citizens have when their leaders sin publicly?

[Context]

Weaver uses the example of David's census and Manasseh's sins to show that people suffer when they do not oppose wicked rulers.

Applications

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