Whataburger
One Year Bible (June 5, 2022)
2 Samuel 23:24-24:25
“Whataburger”
Perhaps you have heard the saying, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”.
Well, that describes exactly what David has on the menu for today at the Courthouse Cafe...
I think that David’s Courthouse Cafe needs a house special like the “Whataburger”. Now, I picked this title for a couple of reasons. First, I know that this is the Courthouse Cafe because God is getting ready to serve up a ‘heaping helping’ of judgment to David’s plate.
Secondly, I think the cafe needs a special like “Whataburger” because I have NEVER been there. Have you? In other words, I know absolutely nothing about this cafe… Nothing!
Since my taste buds know nothing about his experience, I let my fingers do the walking (through Google). Do you have any idea why they chose this name for the “Whataburger” restaurant?
The owners (Dobson and Burton) were looking to open a burger joint and they wanted to “make a better burger that took two hands to hold and tasted so good that when you took a bit you would say, ‘What a Burger’!” I love this so much that I might even have to try it out for myself!
Have you ever tried to wrap your brain around something that you know nothing about? Well, it is like eating a double-double animal style! (Sorry, Whataburger!) It is messy, but so is this story.
That is squarely where I have been sitting as I have been pondering today’s story. I am in “Whataburger Land”. What?????
I know what David has done is a BIG SIN with a big punishment. I get that David was “in the frying pan and is now in the fire”. I see that it is “hot in the kitchen”, but somehow the fact that I did not live in that time (and the Bible doesn’t exactly explain “the menu” ) has left me perplexed…
What is the big deal with the census? (Okay, I just said it. No more hem-hawing around.)
Perhaps, we should just start with three things that we can know about the census.
Even “Jabbing Joab” knows that this is a BIG NO-NO!
“...But why, my Lord the king, would you want to do such a thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3)
Oh, this can’t be good. Joab is the first guy ready to go to battle. Now he has got his foot on the breaks, and his rearview lights are definitely on. Even Joab knows this is NOT a good thing for the king to do!
2. David’s conscience also knows that this isn’t right… but it’s too late!
(But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned GREATLY by taking this census, Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing such a foolish thing’.” (2 Samuel 23: 10)
Kings took a census to prepare for war, but they were in a time of peace. To take a census at this time was like counting for the sake of ego. So, why is he doing this against advice? See what I mean about “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”?
3. Here comes the “Whataburger”... Are you ready?
“Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and HE (God) caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.
WHAT????? I am chewing and chewing on this burger and have no idea what this is about? Let me get this straight. God told him, and he is in trouble?
See why this is the WHATABURGER story?
It sure seems like we are missing something in translation! Hebrew translations can get a tad bit interesting at times. (It has to do with their use of articles and nouns.)
Perhaps we should look at a parallel account to better understand what is going on here.
I Chronicles 21 says, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” (Now, we are getting warmer. Very Warm!)
The other translation left us hanging there for a bit. God’s anger has to do with man’s sin, and God can not be associated with sin. When He pulls away, guess who moves right on in?
This is probably the most confusing thing for us to understand about the sovereignty of God. His righteous anger is different than our anger. Holiness and evil can not dwell together. Sovereign God removed his protection from David because of his wrong intentions, and Satan moved right in.
Why? The enemy of God does NOT want the Kingdom to be established. This is not JUST a physical war. We need to take note of this important part. David, himself is the target and has been since the beginning.
Next, let’s look at the context and the meaning of “a census”. The record of this in I Chronicles 21 is right after David comes home after a great victory over the Philistines. The purpose of a census had to do with drafting soldiers and levying taxes. David seemed to be “riding pretty high” and making his own plans without consulting God first. (This was how he got in the frying pan, to begin with!)
So, now back to “The Fire”. Pagan kings did this kind of thing all the time. David, however, was to follow the direction of God, as he was in a covenant with him. Israel was God’s holy, chosen nation, but David stepped out on his own. He was not walking in humility as God’s chosen leader. Even Joab tried to give him “the jab”. David proceeded and he got burnt and “turnt” ( I love this new word!)
This, my friends, is “The Whataburger”! Sometimes you’ve got to search between the two buns and it is more than you can hold in two hands.
To fully understand what has happened, we only need to read David’s response when given three options of punishments to choose from. Here is what David says about the people suffering because of his sin.
“When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, ‘I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. “What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.” (2 Samuel 24:17)
Did you just catch that? If you think back to the “Frying Pan Episode” with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet had to spell this out for David. She was described as the “one little ewe lamb”. The rich man had stolen the poor man’s only lamb.
This time David got the lesson right off the bat. “They are but sheep”. Then in the next breath, he says, “ I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” I don’t think David wants to be the rich man stealing from the poor anymore. David has FINALLY learned about sheep, the cost of being a shepherd, and listening to the Good Shepherd.
“David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.” (2 Samuel 24:25)
Out of the “Frying Pan” and “Into the Fire”... finally sacrificing a burnt offering that truly costs David what God was wanting all along… a contrite, seeking, humble heart.
All of that took two hands to hold… Whataburger!
