Exodus 30:11–38
1. Taking a Census (30:11-16)
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”
Taking a census was numbering all the men in Israel 20 years old and older, men who could fight. They were preparing for war. The only people who were counted were fighting age men. Literally, the census was to muster for battle. This is one place where the Bible indicates that only men should be placed on the battle lines not women.
Numbers 1:2–3 (ESV)
2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.
The census was to be done the way God prescribed. The men lined up and then stepped forward showing they were ready to fight and then dropped half a shekel of silver into the coffer. Half-shekel was a very small amount of silver however all together added up to a lot. This was considered devoted to God and it was used to finish the Tabernacle.
This money was considered and literally called atonement offering.
16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”
Failing to pay the ransom money meant God would inflict on that person the plagues of Egypt.
If one thought that was an empty threat, look with me at 2 Samuel 24…
Here is a somewhat confusing text. David takes a census of Israel.
2 Samuel 24:1–4 (ESV)
24 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.
2 Samuel 24:9 (ESV)
9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
2 Samuel 24:15 (ESV)
15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.
God was angry with Israel and with David. We are not told why God was angry. He incited David against Israel. Then enter the adversary…Satan. David said to Joab, go and take a census.
1 Chronicles 21:1–2 (ESV)
21 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”
So, God was going to judge Israel. God was angry with David also. He uses Satan and David’s sinful desires to count Israel. There are many reasons why this is sinful. But the reason we should notice is that they count what belongs to God and they do not collect the half-shekel atonement contribution that also belonged to God. So as per God’s command and promise He sends a pestilence like one of Egypt’s plagues to strike down Israel.
Then, David realizes he has sinned by doing this evil deed.
The purpose was that God was going to discipline the Israelites.
This is one of those accounts where we must not accuse God of wrong doing. We must also admit that we do not fully understand this passage and also see that God is in complete control of His creation.
Only God has the right to take inventory over His possessions and it must be done God’s way. For David to take inventory also meant that there was some level in which David thought Israel belonged to him.
Perhaps David was not of the right attitude to number Israel. He did not do it for God’s glory but to say look at the size of my army!!
The atonement money did NOT atone for Israel’s sins. This was done through the sacrificial system. The atonement money made atonement for their lives by saving them from the plague God promised to send without it.
bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”
The half-shekel ransomed Israel from the plague.
We have a much greater salvation found in Jesus Christ. He has made the ransom payment for us as His people.
1 Peter 1:18–21 (ESV)
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Because the payment to ransom us was paid by God, then we belong to Him, He has purchased us.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (ESV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
2. Continual Washing (30:17-21)
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”
We are shown another OT picture of salvation. Here, those entering into service within God’s tabernacle had to be washed each time they entered into it. God said, wash or die.
The priest had his sins atoned for at his ordination when the sacrifice was made. Now, we see there still remained another purification rite. He had to wash his hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle. This was done in the bronze basin that was set in place outside the door.
So, why did they need to wash every time they entered to serve God? They had to be set apart each time and cleansed each time. This was symbolic of sanctification. This ritual cleansing was a picture of their continual washing away sin and becoming more holy. We too must set out on a journey to become more and more holy every day. Our ritual cleansing; our stopping to wash our hands and feet come from a daily encounter with the Word of God and prayer. Through these means, we too can be made holy and made ready to serve God.
We have had our sin and guilt removed by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. Yet there remains a daily defilement of living in this sinful world. Like the priest who washed daily, we too must wash off the defilement every day.
Ephesians 5:25–27 (ESV)
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
We must not think that because Christ has dealt with our sin that there does not remain indwelling sin and a corrupt nature. Our sin will not be judged by God through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus but that forgiven sin is still present and still active. We must take steps to kill it and to actually start living more like Jesus.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV)
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
3. Anointing Everything in the Tabernacle with Sacred Oil (30:22-34)
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, 24 and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), 35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. 37 And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”
The main point here is that the anointing oil was made with special ingredients as God prescribed. The oil could only be used as prescribed by God. No one was permitted to use it for common purposes.
Anyone who breaks God’s commands here was cut off from God’s people. Which means you are not among the covenant people nor will the sacrifice be for you any longer.
This special anointing oil was symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
So today, we are not authorized to anoint our church buildings or utensils with oil. It is not something God has commanded us to do because we have what the oil represented. We have the real thing, namely, the HS.
2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (ESV)
21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Anointing today comes not from a special blend of perfume and oil but from the Holy Spirit.
We as believers belong to God completely…
We were bought with a price…the half-shekel atonement is fulfilled in Christ.
The daily washing has been fulfilled as we are sanctified in Christ.
The anointing oil which represented the Holy Spirit is fulfilled as we have the Spirit dwelling within us.
Jesus Christ our holiness…
29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy.
During the days of Christ’s ministry on earth, these purification laws were still in effect. The washings and anointings were still in full operation. Because the world is sinful and polluted with the effects of sin the Israelites were forbidden to come in contact with certain things. You cannot touch a dead body, someone sick, a leper, gentiles, certain unclean animals etc.
Except for Jesus. He did not become unclean but made the unclean clean.
Matthew 8:1–3 (ESV)
8 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Mark 5:24–34 (ESV)
24 And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Leave a Reply