THE COST OF ATONEMENT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives."

Exodus 30:11-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After giving a long list of commandments to His people regarding the way He expected them to live, God gave Moses specific instructions regarding the instruction of the tabernacle, the portable structure that would be used to worship Him, and the adorning and installation of priests to represent the people in regard to spiritual matters. In regard to the tabernacle construction, we know that God had tasked the people with providing the proper materials but as we see in today’s passage, He asked for more than just that. Look again at His words here:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives." Exodus 30:11-16

Here we find the Lord commanding that a census be taken of the Israelites but this counting of people involved more than just number crunching. For we read where each person accounted for was to “pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted." This expectation was placed to those who were age "twenty years old or more" and the amount paid was to be “a half shekel" which serve as "an offering to the Lord."

This offering, called the atonement money" by God, was to be used for "the service of the Tent of Meeting" and as a "memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement." With this, we need to take note that this monetary payment was required for the Israelite to secure atonement from their sins.

In other words, animal sacrifices wouldn’t be enough for the Lord made it clear that there was a cost attached to sin atonement.

Of interest, the scriptures tell us that the half shekel wasn’t just payment for atonement. It was also a "ransom" for the life of each giver so no plague would come upon them. The payment would guarantee the protection of the offerer.

In sum, God makes it clear that the payment by the Israelite would provide income for the tabernacle, provide protection from plagues, and lead to atonement from sins. All that for a half shekel, something that could be considered the Lord’s first three-in-one deal.

Before I move onto provide a present day practical application for this passage today, I didn’t want to overlook one other important point. For the scriptures tell us that the half shekel levy was to be paid by all. Here’s what God had to say regarding this:

"The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives."

Here we see that there was no economic qualifier or disqualifier. Whether rich or poor, the half shekel was to be paid.

So what does this all mean for us today?

This isn’t relevant today because it’s just an Old Testament account of the life of the early Israelites and the beginnings of their relationship with God as they established worship traditions, right?

And why should we be concerned about half shekel payments for atonement or ransom from plagues?

Indeed, these questions could lead us to easily dismiss this passage, seeing no relevance in it but we need to remember that our Lord wouldn’t have included it in His holy Word if it wasn’t important in some way. Yes, we don’t have to pay a half shekel every time we are given a census. We’re not even required to specifically give a half shekel or any other mandated amount at church every week, although we are expected to give an offering and tithe. For just as the tabernacle needed funds for keeping it maintained, so too does the church.

But what about payment for the protection of plagues or the purchasing of atonement? This isn’t in play, right?

It’s true that these benefits aren’t set forth by the Word of God regarding our present day giving in regard to the matter of atonement, we aren’t required to pay for it because it has already been purchased for us and at a price that no one could ever pay. For Jesus, the Savior of the world and Lamb who was sacrificed to take away our sin (John 1:29), offered up His sinless self on the cross of Calvary as the final sin atonement that would ever be needed. Indeed, He bled and died so we might live and live abundantly, both now and forever.

Friends, atonement did not come without a cost in the days of the Israelite Exodus and it doesn’t come to anyone today without a cost either. Let all Christian believers give thanks to Jesus for paying the sin debt we owed and couldn’t pay to bring us a salvation we haven’t earned and don’t deserve. When it comes to the matter of giving, may we give our all freely in His name just as He so freely gave up everything for us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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