“The Ransom Payment and The Census Plague” is part of the “Paying Ransoms and Making Deals” sermon series. This message focuses on the instruction given to Moses in Exodus 30 regarding the census and the ransom payment required for each person. Through a deep dive into key Biblical passages, the sermon emphasizes that God owns the lives of His people and establishes the need for atonement. It highlights the equal ransom price for all, rich and poor, symbolizing that everyone stands equally before God and needs redemption. The message connects the Old Testament concept of ransom to the ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s sacrificial death, shedding light on the significance of atonement, repentance, and God’s divine ownership.
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Exodus 30:11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Exodus 30:12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number,
then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number
them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.
Exodus 30:13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give:
half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs).
The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord.
Exodus 30:14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty
years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord.
Exodus 30:15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than
half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for
yourselves.
Exodus 30:16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel,
and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a
memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for
yourselves.”
I. THE CENSUS COMMAND.
Exodus 30:11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Exodus 30:12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number,
1. God Owns The Lives Of His People.
A.W. Pink comments:
When God numbers or orders anything to be numbered, taking the sum of them
denotes that they belong to Him, and that He has the sovereign right to do with
them as He pleases. The action itself says of the things numbered. ‘These are
Mine, and I assign them their place as I will.”
Isaiah 40:26 “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.”
Job 14:5 “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.”
Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom
II) THE WAR PREPARATION.
Exodus 30:14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty
years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord.
Numbers 1:2 Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their
families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male
individually,
Numbers 1:3 from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel.
You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
This is one place where the Scripture indicates that ONLY MEN should serve as
military combatants.
1 Chronicles 21:1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number
Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number
Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”
1 Chronicles 21:3 And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred
times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants?
Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”
1 Chronicles 21:4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore
Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 21:5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David.
All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and
Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
Zechariah 4:6 …’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
Ephesians 6:10 … be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
1 Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men
of Israel fell.
1 Chronicles 21:17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people
to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep,
what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my
father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
A prisoner in the DC correctional facility said, “I am living among the biggest
crybabies in the world. Everybody here blames somebody else for putting him in jail.
One says, ‘I had a mean father; he put me here.’ Another says, ‘I went to a tough
school, the other kids put me here.’ Somebody else says, ‘Rich people put me
here, prejudiced police put me here, the establishment put me here.’”
They are all crybabies. I know who put me here. I put me here.”
Ezekiel 18:20 (NLT) “… The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the
parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded
for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own
wickedness.
III. THE RANSOM PRICE.
Exodus 30:12 “… then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, …”
Matthew 20:28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life a ransom for many.”
1. The Ransom Must Be Given For Their Life To Avoid Death.
Exodus 30:12 “… when you number them, that there may be no plague among them
when you number them.
Exodus 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods
of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
Exodus 12:13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you
to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
2. The Ransom Price Was Divinely Fixed.
Exodus 30:13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give:
half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs).
The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord.
3. The Ransom Is The Same For All, Whether Rich Or Poor.
Exodus 30:15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than
half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for
yourselves.
Alexander MacLaren states –
Thus there is but one Sacrifice for all; and the poorest can exercise faith and the
richest can do no more.”
Psalm 49:6 Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches
Psalm 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God
a ransom for him—
Psalm 49:8 For the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever—
Psalm 49:9 That he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit.
Hebrews 9:21 Then likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels
of the ministry with the blood.
Hebrews 9:22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed
with blood …
Hebrews 9:21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the
vessels of the ministry.
Hebrews 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood,
and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on
the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life
that makes atonement”
In its rejection of Christ, the plagues in the book of Revelation will come upon the world.
Revelation 15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven
angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
Revelation 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed
the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and
give Him glory.
4. The Ransom Money Pictures Christ.
1 Peter 1:18 Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver
or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Scripture References:
- Exodus 30:11-16
- Isaiah 40:26
- Job 14:5
- Psalm 90:12
- Numbers 1:2-3
- 1 Chronicles 21:1-5, 21:14, 21:17
- Zechariah 4:6
- Ephesians 6:10
- Ezekiel 18:20
- Matthew 20:28
- Exodus 12:12-13
- Psalm 49:6-9
- Hebrews 9:21-22
- Leviticus 17:11
- Revelation 15:1, 16:9
- 1 Peter 1:18-19
