Of Death and Taxes

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. --Exodus 30:12

With tax day in the United States coming up quickly, our minds are focused on what we get for our money.  Perhaps you got a tax refund from the IRS, and are happy with it.  A small windfall that will help you to pay bills, put away for a rainy day, or to use now to buy something you want or need.  On the other hand, if you are like me and had to pay in additional money besides what was withheld from each paycheck, then you might be grumbling about the size and scope of the government.

As I read through Exodus 30 today, I saw what the Israelites were promised in exchange for their Temple Tax, or "atonement money."  If they were faithful in paying this half shekel each year to the Temple treasury, then God would not strike them with plagues or diseases.  This money was to help atone for their sins.

Take a  look at verse 15 with me.  "The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives." (Exodus 30:15).  Each person age 20 and above was to be invested in this program, to have "skin in the game."  And it cost the same to atone for each person, whether rich or poor.

I'll confess I never understood the progressive income tax system ingrained in American culture.  If I make just $10,000 per year, and I am taxed at 10%, then I will give the government a sum that is less than the 10% that would be collected from a millionaire.  But somehow, in our culture, it is "unfair" for the poor to pay the same tax rate as the rich, because the rich might have more left over after the taxes are paid.  Like I said, it doesn't make sense.  But that is the mind-set of my people.

In the Jewish mind-set, it cost the same amount to atone for each person, whether rich or poor.  What is not stated, but I think is implied, is that the same half-shekel would be due from the worst sinner as would be paid by the most holy among them.  Therefore, it is not a huge jump to say that, like the Temple tax of the Old Testament, the same blood of the Lamb covers all people in the New Testament.  The same blood of Jesus was shed for my sins as was shed for yours.  You may be richer; I may be more sinful.  Regardless, it was the same act that saved us all.

Going back to our scriptural text, the beginning of Exodus 30 speaks of the Altar of Incense.  Twice a day the priests were to burn incense before God, in front of the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the place where they kept the Ark of the Testimony.  This Ark, also known as the Ark of the Covenant, had ornate carvings upon it, including two horns that were significant throughout the history of Israel.  I won't go into that here, but it would be a fascinating study if you have never looked at those passages before (you can start by reading 1 Kings 1:50-51, and 1 Kings 2:28).

"Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns.  This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come.  It is most holy to the Lord." (Exodus 30: 10).  The Temple Tax was paid to atone for the lives of every adult age 20 and over.  The annual blood atonement sacrifice was made "for the generations to come," or those too young to pay the half shekel Temple tax.

This blood sacrifice was made once a year, for all the people.  Similarly, the death of Jesus was made once for all (Hebrews 10:10).  There is no need for further sacrifice.  No more dabbing the blood of bulls and goats onto the horns of the Ark.

Speaking of the Ark, most of us remember the 1981 movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Harrison Ford played archaeology professor Indiana Jones, who was enticed back into the field from his pampered ivy-league lecture hall in pursuit of the holy grail.  They believed that the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant had been discovered in and ancient site, and was in danger of being stolen by a team of Nazi officers for use by Hitler in the war.  Very exciting stuff.

I want us to see the Ark with new eyes.  We know it as the Ark of the Covenant, because God made a covenant with Abraham, and renewed that covenant in the sight of Moses.  Inside the ark were evidences of that covenant.  One was the rod (or staff) used by Aaron that God allowed to produce buds and leaves (even though it had no root, and it had been cut off from the branch that had produced it).  Another was the stone tablets that God had given directly to Moses, containing the Ten Commandments.  A third was a jar of the manna God had sent to sustain the people in the wilderness for 40 years.

These pieces of evidence were kept safe in the Ark as a testimony to God's covenant relationship with His people.  That is why in Exodus chapters 26 and 30, the ark is referred to as the Ark of the Testimony.  (See Exodus 25:16, 22; Exodus 26:31; and Exodus 30:6).

What is the evidence of God's atonement in your life?  Is your life a testimony of the price Jesus paid for your sins?  Or are you dead in your sins?  In the Old Testament, the priests had to become ceremonially clean before God to offer atonement for the people.

Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet from it (the bronze basin).  Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.  Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die.  This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come. --Exodus 30:19-21

We who are under the New Covenant are washed by the blood of Jesus.  This is the testimony we have of His goodness and grace.  Friend, do not remain stained by sin, but rather be washed in the blood of the Lamb.  This is my testimony; my faith is the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).