Atonement Census

Atonement Census

Exodus 30: ¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³ This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. ¹⁶ And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”

 

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GOD told Moses to take an annual census and to collect a half a shekel for every adult.

 

My Observations:

• A half a shekel would equate to about five dollars for every adult.
• Children were excluded in the amount, so therefore there is a time in which innocence becomes a decision.
• The tabernacle was supposed to be used for the atonement of sins and needed to be kept up.

 

Once a year, a census would be taken to service the tabernacle. The same GOD that inspired Timothy to write “A workman is worth his wages,” is the same GOD who wanted the tabernacle cleaned and repaired. The money did not seem to be for the priests, rather the workers who would clean the curtains, and wash the altar.

 

It would take a lot of people to maintain the tabernacle when it was disassembled. Equal amounts would be given by the rich and the poor to maintain the tabernacle. The importance of this place was to atone for sins. Each year everyone needed to chip in to remember what GOD was doing in the forgiveness of sin.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the upkeep of the tabernacle?
• Is GOD opening your eyes to the importance of atonement to HIM?
• How do you remember and support what JESUS did for you?