1 Chronicles 21
1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are."
2 Samuel 24
1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."
2 So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, "Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are."
Satan has many names. He is called "The Devil." Many Christians identify him with Beelzebub,
Lucifer,
and the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
But there is one more name they may want to add:
"Lord."
According to 2nd Samuel Chapter 24, The Lord told David to take a census of Israel. But according to 1st Chronicles Chapter 21, it was Satan who told David to take the census. The two books recount the same story of the same census under the same king, but with two seemingly different characters inciting David. How can this be?
There are four options. First, Samuel could be wrong, or he could be blaspheming the Lord by ascribing to him Satan's work. His writings, therefore, should be thrown out.
Second, the Chronicler could be wrong, or he is blaspheming the Lord by calling him "Satan." His writings, therefore, should be discarded instead of Samuel's.
Third, they both could be partially correct. Perhaps both the Lord and Satan told David to take the census. Perhaps the Lord and Satan are a tag team, or a dynamic duo. This would mean that neither Samuel nor Chronicles is telling the whole truth.
The fourth possibility, and the only way to reconcile the two seemingly contradictory accounts while also affirming the absolute truth of God's word, the Holy Scriptures, is that the Lord and Satan are one and the same. Satan is Lord. If every word of the Bible is absolutely true and divinely inspired, this is the only logical conclusion.
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They are both right asshole. If it's not your religion stay the fuck out of it.
Sammo1300 9 months ago
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SeenAndNotSeen 9 months ago
why is steven hawking narrating this?
gwelsh123 1 year ago 14
@gwelsh123 Star power, dammit!
SeenAndNotSeen 1 year ago 3
Interesting discrepancy but I think your conclusion is based on the assumption that the OT sees Satan as the enemy of the deity YHWH. He is certainly not presented as an enemy in the Book of Job, where YHWH & he are gambling partners nor in Zechariah, where though rebuked, he stands to the right hand of YHWH´s angel as the prosecuting counsel against Joshua. I suspect that only after Judaism came into contact with Babylonian religions and perhaps Zoriastianism did they see Satan as evil.
zearro53 2 years ago
True.
SeenAndNotSeen 2 years ago