Exodus 30, January 30th

Prayer

Ruth

Diane, appt sooner

Patti, earl warren pancake breakfast, 8-10:30

Plane crash, DC

Jean, Linda surgery

Gordon, granddaughter wisdom

Jean, praise for comfort, contu grief

Nan, reconciliation son and daughter

English Standard Version Chapter 30

30 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations. 9 Y

We continue on with some specific instructions for the priests, now a further develops the work they are to do. A fragrant incense was to be made and burned twice a day on this small altar, it’s almost like a miniature altar. It was inside the tent, just outside of the holy of holies. We see it is adorned with gold and not bronze, indicating its proximity to the holy of holies. It seems as though it’s meant to be reflective of the bronze altar in the outer courtyard.

A link that is reinforced by the fact that the incense of this altar was probably burned with the charcoal from the bronze altar. The implication is a connection between the two altars, again, a reminder of the need for daily sacrifices and the vital function they provide for sinful people to move closer to a holy God.

These sacrifices, the animals outside the tent, the incense in the tent are all a constant reminder that atonement for sin through sacrifice is necessary. We ought to be reminded of this constantly as well. We’re reminded of this reality, I guess it’s highlight in v. 10. Exodus 30:10 “10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.””

We also get this allusion here to not using an unauthorized incense on this small altar. There is a precision and a particularity to the worship of YHWH in this tabernacle system.

We’ll see later that there are some who try to bring in unauthorized incense into the holy place .

Let’s move on to Exodus 30:11-16

Exodus 30:11–16 ESV

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.”

Whenever a census was taken, a census tax was imposed on the people. Notice this is different than other things we’ve seen, like the dedication of the firstborn.

Traditionally, the or dedication for the first-born was the sacrifice for an animal; here the price of redemption and ransom is not the sacrifice of an animal, rather it is the “half a shekel.” It’s about 5-6 grams, 2 oz. of silver. That’s primarily what’s in view with the offering of a shekel, a weight of silver. And this is not only for the firstborn, but for all who were counted in the census.

But it’s important to note that the purpose is, what we’ve been talking about off and on, their atonement. We see this repeated word throughout, “when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement…you shall take the atonement money from the people…so as to make atonement for your lives.”

Here atonement is related a ransom payment to ensure safety and salvation. It is said that they are paying a ransom “that there be no plague among them…” The idea is this: they owe God a debt and are in need of redemption.

That’s another connection to how we understand Christ’s death, that part of his atoning work is that he offered himself as a ransom to many. 1 Timothy 2:6 “6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

1 Peter 1:18–19 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.

We owe a debt we cannot pay ourselves, and a debt that no amount of perishable offering (like silver or gold) could pay, and instead we need the all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus.

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What’s the purpose of this one-time monetary offering: it’s contributing toward the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord. It’s for the sake of the continued worship of the tabernacle, that Israel would come into the tabernacle court and have the ability to make sacrifice to the Lord. It makes sense then that this money is said to be a ransom for atonement because it directly contributes to the atoning work in the tabernacle on behalf of the people.

We also see this amazing sense of justice God has around this offering. Elsewhere in scripture God makes accommodations for people of different socio-economic classes. Right for a whole burnt offering, depending on your economic status you could bring a cattle, a sheep, birds, or even simple flour. If you have more, you offer more, if you have less, you go to the flour jar.

But with the census tax, it’s all the same. Rich and poor, everyone pays the same. It makes this tax exceedingly personal—it’s also not very much, a day or two’s wage—for everyone must pay it. Everyone had to pay for the ransom on their own behalf: one could not offer to pool the money and send one person to pay for a few. Each had to account individually for his own atonement, and faith is not transferable. It’s this small, tangible reminder of our need for ransom and atonement.

How are the redeemed of the Lord called to live? We cannot be counted among the Lord’s people unless we pay a ransom. Yet though we have been redeemed it doesn’t mean we’re free to act as we please—redemption is a transfer to ownership to God. This emphasizes how we are not our own. When the people in the community are counted and pay their census tax, they are, in effect, saying we are not our own, we belong to YHWH.

Just as they’re system of worship was to remind them of their need for atonement, so is our worship.

We gather to proclaim one thing: Christ crucified. We can buy health and wealth and money, but not Christ’s sacrifice. This is why we return again and again to the gospel week-in, and week-out.

English Standard Version Chapter 30

The Bronze Basin

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.”

Another important piece of worship, the bronze basin that would be setup in the great courtyard, before the priests would enter into the tent, they would use it was and cleanse themselves. It would have had practical value—washing the mess of sacrifices off after the fact. But it was certainly a symbolic reminder, again and again, of what we’ve been talking about.

English Standard Version Chapter 30

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, ‘