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I had a good discussion about one of my Bible questions here, so I figured I'd rush right into posting my second one.
Did God incite David to take a census of Israel because of his anger, and then did David come to think he had sinned because he was stricken by his heart? (2 Samuel 24, especially vv. 1, 10)
Or did Satan incite David to take the census, and then was God displeased with David, and then did David come to think he had sinned because God had stricken Israel? (1 Chronicles 21, especially vv. 1, 7-8
I know the common explanation is that God is sovereign over everything, even over the activity of Satan. I am not challenging that idea, but personally I think that doesn't really do full justice to what these different passages actually say, for at least two reasons:
(1) God's being sovereign over Satan's activity does not mean that when Satan incites somebody, God incites them too. That's sounds like determinism, where everything that happens is the direct result of God. But that would make God responsible for sin. (I've got my eye on Isaiah 45:7 for a future discussion.)
If it's true, as James says, that God never tempts anyone, then Satan's compelling someone to do something that is "displeasing" to God (1 Chron. 21:7) can't mean that God himself compelled them to do it.
(2) If we put the two passages together, then we have a bona fide case of God "inciting" someone to do something that is genuinely "displeasing" to himself. But that doesn't make sense. It makes sense if we (or Satan) do things that are displeasing to God; it doesn't make sense if God intervenes in human affairs to produce a result that is displeasing to himself.
Or is there a better way to look at this conundrum? I am eager for feedback.
Did God incite David to take a census of Israel because of his anger, and then did David come to think he had sinned because he was stricken by his heart? (2 Samuel 24, especially vv. 1, 10)
Or did Satan incite David to take the census, and then was God displeased with David, and then did David come to think he had sinned because God had stricken Israel? (1 Chronicles 21, especially vv. 1, 7-8
I know the common explanation is that God is sovereign over everything, even over the activity of Satan. I am not challenging that idea, but personally I think that doesn't really do full justice to what these different passages actually say, for at least two reasons:
(1) God's being sovereign over Satan's activity does not mean that when Satan incites somebody, God incites them too. That's sounds like determinism, where everything that happens is the direct result of God. But that would make God responsible for sin. (I've got my eye on Isaiah 45:7 for a future discussion.)
If it's true, as James says, that God never tempts anyone, then Satan's compelling someone to do something that is "displeasing" to God (1 Chron. 21:7) can't mean that God himself compelled them to do it.
(2) If we put the two passages together, then we have a bona fide case of God "inciting" someone to do something that is genuinely "displeasing" to himself. But that doesn't make sense. It makes sense if we (or Satan) do things that are displeasing to God; it doesn't make sense if God intervenes in human affairs to produce a result that is displeasing to himself.
Or is there a better way to look at this conundrum? I am eager for feedback.