The Lord said to Moses, "When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall
give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you
number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them."
(Shemot / Exodus 30:11-12; ESV)
Some people
claim that the Bible has no contradictions. That claim seems to be essential
for them to have confidence in the Bible's validity. That there are supposed
contradictions even these people will accept, but this is usually followed by
saying that they are all easily explained. Where I disagree is that I don't
think all of them are that easy. Because the Bible isn't a technical manual or
textbook, but rather a collection of stories - some true, some fictional, songs,
prophecies, sayings, letters, and so on, it expresses itself from various
perspectives over long periods of time by a wide range of authors. As a result
how the Bible agrees with itself isn't always neat and tidy, but messy. Given
the Bible's disparate sources its unity is overwhelmingly profound. But at the
same time, the way it expresses itself can be perplexing. I have grown to love
the Bible's raw vivid reality, designed by God to powerfully and effectively
address every aspect of life in every culture. Truly understanding it can take
some work. While there is much in the Bible a child could understand, including
all we need to enter into a genuine relationship with the God of the Universe,
much of Scripture is intellectually challenging and requires a mature heart and
mind to grasp.
This week's
Torah portion contains some information that can help to understand an incident
near the end of the life of King David that is often used as an example of a
biblical contradiction. In the second book of Samuel, we read that God was
angry with Israel for some unstated reason and so incited David to take a
census (see 2 Samuel 24:1). The book of First Chronicles tells the same story,
but differently. There we are told that HaSatan (English: the Accuser) was the
one who incited David to do this (see Divrei HaYamim I / 1 Chronicles 21:1).
Before we
deal with the supposed contradiction, I want to look at what was so wrong about
David's numbering of the people. What seems to be happening here is that this
was not a God-directed census, but something that David decided to do on his
own (yet, not fully on his own, since he was incited by spiritual forces). The
Torah is clear that a special tax was to be levied upon taking a census.
Neither accounts in Second Samuel nor First Chronicles contain any reference to
the required tax. So what David initiated was outside of God's will and
therefore, as God foretold through Moses, a plague was the result.
But what
about the supposed contradiction? Who was it that incited David. Was it God or
was it HaSatan? We can resolve this by understanding the difference between
primary and secondary causes. Second Samuel rightly identifies God as the
primary cause behind what motivated David. First Chronicles, on the other hand,
rightly identifies HaSatan as the secondary cause. HaSatan is a tool in God's
hand. While God is ultimately responsible for David's actions, it was HaSatan
who provoked David to do what he did.
I find this
greatly comforting. For even the forces of evil that are at work in our lives
are under the control of God. This means that we don't have to worry about the
tools God uses to accomplish his purposes, we only need to worry about him! I
don't really mean "worry", of course. I mean that there is no need to
negotiate with layers upon layers of spiritual forces in order to live life the
way God wants. Instead we can simply go to God, because not only is he
ultimately responsible for all that happens, good and bad, he is more than able
- and willing - to deal with all that happens.
This brings
us back to the perplexing issues we might find in the Bible. Life, like the
Bible, can be very perplexing. But we don't need to complicate life even more
than it already is by creating man-made spiritual formulae to resolve our
problems. We can just go to God.
3 comments:
None of the stories told in the Bible, especially the Old Testament are fiction. To say so is blasphemy. All are true. They are their as a teaching tool, both historically and spiritually. Yes, Jesus did use parables (stories) to teach us and his followers. If it your intent to attack the validity and historical accuracy of the God's Holy Word, then I may have to reconsider whether or not I want to continue to subscribe to your weekly blog.
I wondered if I was going to get a reaction to using "fictional." But blasphemy? Really?
The Bible is not fiction. I believe the Hebrew Scriptures and New Covenant Writings are absolutely true, but the types of writing are varied, including the use of stories to teach true lessons. You mentioned Yeshua's parables, which are the best examples of using a certain kind of story to teach powerful truths. Any account that claims to be historical, I accept as historical. I guess some people might think that Song of Solomon is a poetical description of a historical event, but it isn't "blasphemy" to view it as otherwise. Either way takes nothing away from the truth it conveys.
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