"When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered. When you take a censusThe Hebrew word for "census" is "פְּקֻדִים" (pequdim), which implies an act of counting or numbering. In ancient Israel, a census was not merely a statistical exercise but a significant event that often had spiritual implications. The act of counting the people was a reminder of God's ownership over Israel. It was a way to acknowledge that the people belonged to God, and He was their ultimate protector and provider. This census was a divine command, emphasizing the importance of obedience to God's instructions. of the Israelites
The term "Israelites" refers to the descendants of Jacob, also known as Israel. This designation highlights their identity as God's chosen people, set apart for His purposes. The Israelites were a covenant community, bound by the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This identity carried with it both privileges and responsibilities, including adherence to God's laws and commands. to number them
The act of numbering, or "מִסְפָּר" (mispar), in Hebrew, was a way to organize and prepare the community for various purposes, such as military service or religious duties. In the biblical context, numbering the people was not just about logistics but also about recognizing each individual's value and role within the community. It was a reminder that every person mattered to God and had a place in His divine plan. each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life
The concept of "ransom" is rooted in the Hebrew word "כֹּפֶר" (kopher), which means a covering or atonement. This payment was a symbolic act of redemption, acknowledging that life is a gift from God and that each person is indebted to Him. The ransom served as a reminder of the cost of sin and the need for atonement. It pointed forward to the ultimate ransom paid by Christ, who redeemed humanity through His sacrificial death. when he is counted
Being counted in the census was not just a matter of being included in a list; it was an acknowledgment of one's place in the community and relationship with God. It was a moment of reflection on one's identity and purpose as part of God's people. This counting was a sacred act, underscoring the importance of each individual's contribution to the collective mission of Israel. Then no plague will come upon them
The mention of a "plague" serves as a warning of the consequences of disobedience and the seriousness of God's commands. In the ancient world, plagues were often seen as divine judgments. By following God's instructions regarding the census and ransom, the Israelites were assured of His protection. This promise of safety was contingent upon their faithfulness and obedience, highlighting the covenant relationship between God and His people. when you number them
The repetition of the act of numbering emphasizes its significance. It was not a mundane task but a spiritual exercise with profound implications. The process of numbering was a way to ensure that the community remained aligned with God's will and purpose. It was a reminder of the need for order, accountability, and reliance on God's provision and protection. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, who received the law from God on Mount Sinai, including the instructions for the census. 2. IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, who were to be counted in the census and required to pay a ransom. 3. God (Yahweh)The one true God who commanded the census and the ransom payment to prevent a plague. 4. CensusThe act of counting the Israelites, which was to be accompanied by a ransom payment to avoid divine judgment. 5. Ransom PaymentA half-shekel offering required from each Israelite as a means of atonement and protection from a plague. Teaching Points The Importance of ObedienceGod's instructions are precise and must be followed to avoid consequences. The ransom payment was a specific command to prevent a plague. Atonement and RedemptionThe ransom symbolizes the need for atonement, pointing to the ultimate redemption through Christ's sacrifice. Communal ResponsibilityEach individual had to contribute to the ransom, highlighting the collective responsibility of the community in worship and obedience. God's Sovereignty and JusticeThe requirement of a ransom underscores God's sovereignty and the seriousness of sin, which demands justice and atonement. Spiritual ReflectionThe census and ransom invite believers to reflect on their spiritual state and the cost of redemption, encouraging gratitude for Christ's sacrifice. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the requirement of a ransom payment during the census teach us about God's view of sin and atonement? 2. How does the concept of a ransom in Exodus 30:12 connect to the New Testament understanding of Christ's sacrifice? 3. In what ways can we apply the principle of communal responsibility in our church or community today? 4. How does the account of David's census in 2 Samuel 24 illustrate the consequences of disobedience to God's commands? 5. Reflect on the significance of God's sovereignty in your life. How can acknowledging His authority influence your daily decisions and actions? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 38:25-26This passage details the collection of the ransom money, emphasizing its use for the service of the Tabernacle, highlighting the communal responsibility and worship. Numbers 1:1-3Provides another instance of a census, showing the importance of order and organization among God's people. 2 Samuel 24:1-25Describes a later census taken by King David, which resulted in a plague due to the lack of a ransom, underscoring the importance of obedience to God's commands. 1 Peter 1:18-19Speaks of the ultimate ransom paid by Christ, connecting the concept of ransom in Exodus to the New Testament understanding of redemption through Jesus. People Aaron, Israelites, MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Atonement, Census, Count, Counted, Disease, Israelites, Numbered, Numberest, Numbers, Pay, Plague, Price, Ransom, Sons, Soul, Sum, Takest, TakingDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 30:12 5249 census
7912 collections Exodus 30:11-16 5415 money, uses of Exodus 30:12-16 6721 redemption, in life Library The Altar of Incense
'Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.' --EXODUS xxx. 1. Ceremonies are embodied thoughts. Religious ceremonies are moulded by, and seek to express, the worshipper's conception of his God, and his own relation to Him; his aspirations and his need. Of late years scholars have been busy studying the religions of the more backward races, and explaining rude and repulsive rites by pointing to the often profound and sometimes beautiful ideas underlying them. When that process is applied to Australian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureRansom for Souls --I.
Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul.' --EXODUS xxx. 12. This remarkable provision had a religious intention. Connect it with the tax-money which Peter found in the fish's mouth. I. Its meaning. Try to realise an Israelite's thoughts at the census. 'I am enrolled among the people and army of God: am I worthy? What am I, to serve so holy a God?' The payment was meant-- (a) To excite the sense of sin. This should be present in all approach to God, in all service; accompanying the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ransom for Souls --ii.
'The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel....'--EXODUS xxx. 15. This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very small amount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in its significance. Notice-- I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God. Contrast the reign of caste and class in heathendom with the democracy of Judaism and of Christianity. II. The universal sinfulness. Payment of the tax was a confession that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture "Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"Whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinners, such as, to make them the sons of God who were the children of the devil, and heirs of a kingdom who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lord's allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life. For though the love be wonderful, that we should be called the sons of God; yet, as that apostle speaks, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Jesus Pays the Tribute Money.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29) ^A Matt. XVII. 24-27. ^a 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel? [The law of Moses required from every male of twenty years and upward the payment of a tax of half a shekel for the support of the temple (Ex. xxx. 12-16; II. Chron. xxiv. 5, 6). This tax was collected annually. We are told that a dispute existed between the Pharisees and Sadducees as to whether the payment …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel How a Private Man must Begin the Morning with Piety.
As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning, keep the door of thy heart fast shut, that no earthly thought may enter, before that God come in first; and let him, before all others, have the first place there. So all evil thoughts either will not dare to come in, or shall the easier be kept out; and the heart will more savour of piety and godliness all the day after; but if thy heart be not, at thy first waking, filled with some meditations of God and his word, and dressed, like the lamp in the tabernacle …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Copies of Things in the Heavens
'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Last Events in Galilee - the Tribute-Money, the Dispute by the Way, the Forbidding of Him who could not Follow with the Disciples, and The
Now that the Lord's retreat in the utmost borders of the land, at Cæsarea Philippi, was known to the Scribes, and that He was again surrounded and followed by the multitude, there could be no further object in His retirement. Indeed, the time was coming that He should meet that for which He had been, and was still, preparing the minds of His disciples - His Decease at Jerusalem. Accordingly, we find Him once more with His disciples in Galilee - not to abide there, [3743] nor to traverse it …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 30:12 NIVExodus 30:12 NLTExodus 30:12 ESVExodus 30:12 NASBExodus 30:12 KJV
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