The Lord said to Moses, “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. 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. Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. 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. 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.”
We are all in need of atonement for our sins, that means someone pays the price. In the Old Testament there were all kinds of rites and rituals which pictured this. The “Temple Tax” was one such symbol. It didn’t change based on how much money you had, and it was required of every adult. So too it is with us. You don’t need extra special saving if you’re “really bad” nor do we need any less help from Jesus if you’re already a “good person.” We all need the same atonement for our sins. That price was paid by Jesus on the cross. Praise the Lord!
