Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 30:12

“When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.”
‭‭(NIV‬‬)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 30:11-16

This is an odd section of Scripture so naturally we will dive right into it. Anytime the Israelites took a census, they were to collect a ransom for each person. God designated the ransom as one half shekel of silver for each person regardless of net worth. The funds would be used for the service of the Tent of Meeting.

Nothing about that seems exceptionally odd about any of that except for the reason God gives for this ransom. The ransom would save their lives from a plague due to the census. It seems that God would send a plague if the Israelites conducted a census without collecting the ransom. And this in fact happened when King David incorrectly conducted a census as recorded in 2 Samuel 24. God sent a three-day plague that killed 70,000 people.

There is no definitive answer as to why a census causes God to send a plague. Scholars speculate it’s because a census was often taken to measure the might of the people in order to wage war on lesser enemies thus relying on their own might instead of God. But God could have other justifications.

What we do know is that the half shekel of silver would save their lives from the plague so long as each person came up with the coin. This ransom couldn’t be borrowed or paid by another. Each person owed the same ransom and had to pay it themselves.

This was not a ransom for their sin. The sacrifice on the alter was the atonement for sin. This ransom was to save them from death – but only temporarily. A half shekel is symbolic of something incomplete. This was an incomplete atonement. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭19‬).

The atonement money was merely a coin. Much like the sacrifices of animals, they only offered a temporary ransom. “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭11‬).

Also like those sacrifices, the half shekel of silver is a type of Christ in that he is our Atonement Money. He is our ransom. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭6‬). The ransom Jesus paid was for all of eternity.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for paying my ransom.