David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. – 1 Chronicles 27:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 28, 2013): 1 Chronicles 27

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has declared that his country is not a threat to the world. This assertion comes while Iran continues to make progress with its atomic energy program. But Iran assertion is that it has as much of a right to the pursuit of peaceful atomic energy as the United States does. And there lies the problem. For the developing world, it appears that the economic powers have in their possession the goose that laid the golden egg – they have access to atomic power and those trying to develop that power are sure that once they also possess it, that the life and prosperity of their nations will be changed forever.

Reality tells a much different story. From the perspective of the west, atomic energy can be used for good and for bad. But beyond even that, the potential for things to go wrong has to be considered. And the less a nation is prepared for that potential, the more dangerous the program itself becomes. But there is another problem hiding in the background. Whether or not Atomic Energy is used for the good of a nation, or for evil and destructive purposes depends on the integrity of the nation and leaders themselves. Again, from the perspective of the west, the integrity of the Middle Eastern countries is lacking. What is really being said is that we do not trust the character of the leadership of Iran to be able to do what is right with their energy program. Rouhani is making a justification, but he is skirting around the most important facts. Specifically, the West is asserting that we do not trust Iran to honor the boundaries of the nations closest to her – and specifically that means Israel. But that knife cuts both ways. We are also justifying our own ability to do the same thing. The problem with Iran failing the integrity test, is that the nations that make up the West could not pass the same test. Politically and nationally it would seem that we all have an integrity problem.

The author of Chronicles recognizes that God had given to Israel a great asset. It was found in the people – a people that God said would become so vast that they could not be numbered. And the prophets and priests that ministered before God strongly believed that this also meant that they should not be numbered. The problem was that in the numbering of the nation, the king was assessing the military strength of the nation. People can be used for good and for bad. But ultimately, the military fortunes of the nation have never been dependant on the number of soldiers the nation could muster. God has always jealously guarded that area as his own.

But David decides to count. Chronicles says that he only counted those over the age of twenty, and most likely this is the justification for his action – he was not counting the entire nation, just a subset of it. But David’s actions really just a simple integrity problem – and he failed the test. God was not amused and Israel would bear the price for the mistake of the king. And this is also part of our reality. Rouhani complains that the sanctions against Iran are a violence against the people, but the people have always paid the price for the lack of integrity of a leader. Eventually David would plead with God that the penalty should be borne by him and not by Israel. But as leaders we need to understand that when we act without integrity it is those who follow us that pay the price. It was true for Israel in the days of David, and it continues to be true for the nations and leaders of the 21^st century.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 28