Series: Exodus
Title:
A Memorial of Atonement
Text: Ex 30: 11-16
Date: May 31, 2020
Place: SGBC,NJ
Exodus 30: 11: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 12: When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the
LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou
numberest them. 13: This they shall give, every one that passeth among them
that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is
twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14: Every
one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above,
shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15: The rich shall not give more, and the
poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering
unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16: And thou shalt take the
atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service
of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the
children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
Subject: A Memorial of Atonement
Notice, the purpose was “for
a memorial”—to put them in remembrance.
The silver was used for the foundation in the tabernacle. It constantly reminded each one personally
that he was in bondage in Egypt with no way to free himself. Reminded him that God alone had ransomed him
from the bondage of Egypt through the blood of the Passover Lamb. Reminded him that he was not his own but he belonged
to God.
Today, we have the preaching of the gospel of Christ
and the Lord’s table to keep us in remembrance.
1 Timothy
4:6 If thou put the brethren in
remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,…
The gospel continually reminds God’s child that God
chose me by grace, I did not choose him.
The gospel reminds me that God provided his Son to ransom me, personally,
justifying me freely by his grace. God’s
gospel reminds me that I am not my own I am bought with a price—the price of
Christ’s precious blood.
Therefore, as we hear what God declares in this
passage, let us each hear it for ourselves personally. Remember what sinners we are, personally. Remember that it is by free, unmerited grace
to each of his people personally that Christ ransomed us. Remember that for Christ’s sake God
continually forgives us our sins.
Proposition:
It is by the gospel continually reminding the believer that we are ransomed
from the fall by the blood of Christ, freely by God’s grace, by which God
creates and continually renews the spirit of meekness in each of his people.
THE AUTHORITY AND THE WAY
Exodus 30: 11: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 12: When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number…
God is the Authority and the way of salvation is of
God. God
purposed and ordained everything taking place in this passage showing them the
one way they could come to God. Likewise
everything concerning the salvation of sinners is of God. As we see this beautiful picture of Christ’s
accomplished redemption for a particular people we must remember, it is all of
God: God purposed it, God provided it, God performed it. The
need—sin entering in is of God. The Savior—God chose. The price required—God
demanded. The people saved—God chose.
All is of God—Salvation is of the Lord
God is THE Authority. Salvation begins by God giving us “a fear of
God.” We have to be made to bow to God
from the heart. We have to be made to bowing
to God’s way of salvation from the heart.
God is the Authority. He made his
messenger Moses the authority over Israel. But when God has given us a heart to bow to
God we won’t have a problem bowing to God’s word delivered through his
messenger. We won’t have a problem
bowing to those God has put in authority.
We have this civil unrest in America right now. I heard two reporters quoting scripture last
night. One read from Ecclesiastes. The other said, “This is a spiritual
issue. If I have a problem with a man
God made then I have a problem with God who made him. This is a spiritual issue.” He is right.
God made Moses the leader in Israel.
They did not have a king. It was
not until they rejected God’s prophet Samuel that God gave a king. But do you remember what God said, “They have
not rejected thee, Samuel, they have rejected me.”
When God has made us bow to him, to his way of salvation, then we
will bow to those God has put in authority.
We don’t have to agree with everything those in authority do or say but
we trust God who put them in authority and we bow to God and trust God to rule
their hearts. Sinners hear us declare
the gospel and say, “I don’t like that!”
Then take it up with God. But
salvation is all of God! Our first need
is to be given a heart humble and contrite to bow to the Authority—and God is
the Authority.
RANSOM OF A PARTICULAR PEOPLE
Exodus 30: 11: And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 12: When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number,…
God provided
a ransom only for the people he chose. The
ransom God provided was for “the sum of the children of Israel after their
number.” There were many nations
outside of Israel but God did not ransom any of them. God ransomed only the children of Israel from
the bondage of Egypt, none else. And God
provided a ransom for the total sum of the children of Israel after their
number—meaning for each and every one that God chose.
The
bible teaches throughout: particular redemption. God told Moses that it is God’s glory to “have
mercy on whom he will have mercy and compassion on whom he will.”—that is
the glory of God. He will not share his
glory with another. It is God’s
prerogative alone to choose who God will save.
That puts vile, rebels like you and me at the mercy of God. We have to be made to see salvation is “not
of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that showeth mercy.”
Christ
went to the cross and redeemed each of God’s particular people. His name is “Jesus for he shall save his
people from our sins.” He said,
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep….15: As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Why do we preach particular
redemption? One, it is the word of God
our Savior. But also it is Christ’s
glory by Christ successfully ransoming all for whom he died our Savior is
glorified. It is Christ’s glory that he
did not fail but accomplished ransoming each chosen child God sent him to save.
John 17: 1: These
words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour
is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2: As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him…9 I pray for them: I
pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are
thine. 10: And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in
them.
Salvation is for the glory of God the Father and his
Son, Christ Jesus. Christ is glorified in
that Christ successful ransomed, made atonement for, made reconciliation for each
of God’s elect. Christ is glorified in
that he successfully put away the sin of his people by the sacrifice of himself. Christ is glorified in that he successfully made
us the righteousness of God in him.
Now, believer, hear this as what God the Father and
Christ his Son did for you personally. God
chose you, not based on anything in you, but by his own free and sovereign
grace. Nothing in you made God choose
you, therefore, nothing in you will cause God to reject you. Christ ransomed you by his own precious
blood! By God’s effectual grace that make
us gracious toward one another. If God will
not reject me because of nothing in me, then let me do not reject my brethren
because of something in their flesh.
2 Corinthians
5: 16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
What is it to know our brethren after the spirit
rather than after the flesh. To know a
brother after the spirit is to remember,
2 Corinthians
2: 17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
If a brother is overtaken in a fault then we
can do one of three things. One, we can say
guilty as charged and condemn him and treat him like a sinner; but later we may
find out that he is not guilty; later we may discover the witness had a motive
for charging the brother—that is knowing our brother after the flesh. Two, we can say he is innocent and exalt our
brother and condemn those who charge him; but later we may find out he is
guilty—that is knowing a brother after the flesh. Three, we can treat our brother like a sinner
saved by grace, who in his flesh will sin like any other sinner, yet in Christ
is a new creation righteous and holy before God; therefore we restore him in
the spirit of meekness, being merciful, forgiving and loving—that is knowing a brother
after the Spirit.
If we know a brother after the flesh then
when our brother is charged we will stand in the tent door with Ham crying to
everyone who will listen saying, “Look, look, he is a sinner!” But if we know our brother after the Spirit
then we will do as the other two sons of Noah by turning our back on his sin
while we walk backwards to cover our brother’s nakedness. Hearing this continual reminder of the gospel
which reminds us that we are vile sinners in ourselves, yet for Christ’s sake,
God continues to show us mercy, grace, forgiveness, longsuffering and loves us
as his new creations, righteous in Christ, then how can we know our brethren
after the flesh rather than after the Spirit?
But at times we all are overtaken by our
sinful flesh so that we know our brethren after the flesh. But when that happens the apostle Paul said
to those not overtaken, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which
are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear
ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think
himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” (Ga 6:2-3)
A CONFESSION of FAITH AND SIN
Exodus 30: 12…then shall they give every
man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there
be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13: This they shall
give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after
the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel
shall be the offering of the LORD. 14: Every one that passeth among them
that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto
the LORD.
Notice, God required this of every man
personally. Over and over God says “every
man” must give a ransom, “every one” that is numbered must come to God with this
ransom money. They had to do so that “there
be no plague among them”—that God not kill them. It is the “offering unto the LORD” which
means it is what God requires.
Therefore, in this we see a confession of faith in Christ accompanied
with a confession of our personal unworthiness.
This was to acknowledge something that God
had already accomplished for them. God
had already paid the ransom in the Passover Lamb when God brought them out of
Egypt. So here God declares what he required. God will have each one acknowledge that they
are God’s. He will have them acknowledge
personally that God ransomed them through the blood of the Passover lamb.
Be sure to get this. God required each and every ransomed child of
Israel that was numbered, to personally bring the ransom price which God
required—that there be no plague (death) among them. God requires his elect must come to him
acknowledging God has saved us, not we ourselves. God has ransomed us with the blood of his Son,
not we ourselves. We belong to God, we
are not our own.
Remember, years later David numbered
Israel but he did not require they bring the ransom price. By doing so, David took the glory rather than
giving it to God. David counted them his
people rather than acknowledged it was God who ransomed them. It would be like me numbering each of you and
boasting that this is the work of my hand.
God sent pestilence and killed 70,000 Israelites because of David’s sin.
Then what must we bring? God declared the offering they must bring—“a
half shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary…the offering of the LORD.” It could not be a half shekel in
circulation between men—it had to be the exact weight and measure that God
demanded. The Lord Jesus
Christ—his precious blood—is the exact price God required. God’s holy justice demanded the exact price
be paid for each of his elect to be justified.
God required the blood—the life—of his Son in place of each of his elect
to ransom his elect from the demands of holy justice which was death. Be
sure to get this. Christ is the half Shekel;
he redeemed his people by paying the exact ransom price.
Matthew
20: 28 …the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
1 Peter 1:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Like as God sent Moses with his word, God
sends his preacher and declares to us through the gospel that Christ has
ransomed his people from the fall through his own blood. God declares the ransom he will receive is
Christ alone. God requires we come
confessing that by his blood Christ ransomed all God’s elect, me personally. It is finished! “For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2
Cor 5:21). God declares he will receive those
Christ redeemed ONLY as we bring to God the ransom he requires—his own Son! So God gives us faith and we come to God with
his Son alone.
When the child of Israel came he did so acknowledging he was a
sinner—that there be no plague (death) among them. Coming to God in Christ we come confessing
that we are sinners with no good thing in us; we eat, sleep and breathe sin Thomas Brooks said, “Till men have faith in
Christ their best services are but glorious sins.” God says,
Micah 6: 11: Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances,
and with the bag of deceitful weights?
Brethren, all our so called
righteousnesses are deceitful weights. It is only by Christ’s precious blood that we are spared
the condemnation we deserve. Now, have
you come to God with the one offering of the Lord which he requires—have
you come through faith in his Son alone?
God gets the glory for drawing us.
Therefore, we come acknowledging we are not our own, we are bought with
a price; we are Christ’s purchased possession; purchased by his own blood. Therefore, let us glorify God in our body and
in our spirit. We do so by showing mercy
and grace and forgiveness to one another for Christ’s sake.
NO MORE, NO LESS THAN CHRIST
Exodus 30: 15: The rich shall not give
more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they
give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
Sinners are burning down cities in America
right now over inequality. There is one
place sinners are equal—in Christ. The
rich shall not add to Christ, the poor shall not give less. It declares that every child of God, rich or poor, has been PURCHASED with
the same exact price. Christ’s precious
blood and each are equally ransomed and equally
righteous
Galatians 3: 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus. (Ga 3:28)
Colossians 3:11:
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Teaching sinners that they are justified
by Christ but they sanctify themselves is to add to Christ. Teaching sinners that if they do a good
enough job they get a better reward in heaven is to add to the work of Christ
and to teach the sinner that he by his works puts a difference between he and
another.
The foundation of the tabernacle was made
of silver sockets from this ransom silver.
Everything the priests did in the
service of God in the tabernacle was upon the foundation already complete. Every work we do as Christ’s priests in
Christ’s church is not to add to Christ nor to diminish but is on the footing
of the complete, finished foundation of redemption accomplished by the blood of
Christ! It is done. Each of God’s saints
are equally righteous and equally holy in Christ our Righteousness, in Christ
our Sanctification.
Now again, the purpose of this offering
was to make that foundation to be a memorial unto the children of Israel
before the LORD, This gospel is to
constantly remind each believer,
personally, that in ourselves, we are sinners with no way of saving ourselves. We are vile sinners. Through the gospel we are reminded, personally,
that God saved us by his grace, mercy, longsuffering—and continues to forgive
us rather than giving us the condemnation we deserve.
Lamentations 3:
19: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20: My
soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21: This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22: It is of the LORD’S mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new
every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The continual remembrance of my personal sin and
unworthiness and of God’s free grace and forgiveness in Christ is how God creates
and continually renews “the spirit of meekness” in his child. It is how we are continually constrained by
the love of Christ to know no brother after the flesh (to not find fault and be
hardhearted toward our brethren) but to know our brethren after the spirit (remember
he is righteous in Christ) so that we are gracious and merciful and forgiving
to one another.
If we take our eye off Christ, we cease to remember “I
am the chief of sinners” then we cease esteeming our brethren better
than ourselves.” We become fruit
inspectors, finding faults in others, and overtaken with a hard, condemning
heart, and we will attempt to justify it using the sin of others. But the issue is we have ceased remembering
what sinners we personally are and ceased to recall that God has freely,
undeservingly, continually shown us grace and mercy and forgiveness in Christ. (Ga 6:1-3 AV).
Therefore, through the gospel God continually reminds us of his grace in
the face of our sins and that is how God makes
merciful saints.
Amen!