Exodus: A Group StudySample

What is this passage saying?

Yahweh gives the final instructions for the tabernacle: the altar of incense, the census tax, the bronze basin, and the anointing oil.

What is this passage teaching?

Yahweh required each Israelite male to pay “a ransom for his life” when they took a census. By giving the half-shekel, the Israelites recognized that Yahweh ultimately owns the life of His people and protected them from the plague (Exodus 30:12).

How do I respond?

When the Israelites offered their shekel, they were acknowledging that a price had to be paid in exchange for their life. This concept is seen in the New Testament as Jesus himself “gave his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). The author of Hebrews writes, “(Jesus) is the mediator of the new covenant…since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). By our sin, we stood condemned to death and hell. Unlike Israel, there is no amount of money or righteousness we could provide to pay the ransom. The only way to ransom our lives is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He paid the price we could not pay, absorbed the wrath we could not endure, and resurrected from the grave in power we could not produce. Although this is a glorious reality for all Christ-followers, you may sometimes try to “buy” favor with God through good works. Like a census tax, we get caught in paying our ransom through church attendance, bible reading, or serving others. Are you tempted to try to gain favor with God through good works? What “census tax” have you been paying to God out of obligation, guilt, or fear? The beauty of the gospel is that there is no longer a price to pay – the ransom has been offered and accepted. Trust in the sufficiency of what Jesus has done for you and serve Him out of love!