If we take a bird’s-eye view of this item according to these five questions, we shall see that the propitiation silver was not the redemption for all the children of Israel; it was not a ransom for all the common people. Unlike the Passover lamb, it was not the ransom paid for everyone. We have emphasized the fact that in Egypt all the children of Israel, from the youngest to the oldest, both male and female, were redeemed. But concerning the propitiation silver in chapter thirty, many were excluded. First, all the females were excluded. Furthermore, all the males under the age of twenty were excluded. The propitiation silver, therefore, was only for males twenty and above; that is, it was only for those who were able to go to war.
Exodus 30:12 says, “When you take the sum of the sons of Israel according to those that are numbered of them, then every man shall give a ransom for his soul to Jehovah when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.” The Hebrew word translated “sum” can also be rendered “census.” But the census here is not general or ordinary. Rather, it is a census needed to count the number of those who can be formed into an army. Numbers 1:45 and 46 speak of those who were able to go to war, but Numbers 2:32 speaks of camps or hosts: “These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.” The word “hosts” signifies armies. Those who were numbered in chapter thirty not only were able to go to war; they were those who could be formed into hosts, camps, armies. First it was necessary to have those who were able to go to war. Second, the ones able to go to war had to be formed into armies. The ransom in Exodus 30 was not for the common people; it was a ransom for the army. Hence, the census here is not common or general; it is a military census, a census related to the drafting of men into the army.
As we think of the tabernacle with the table, the lampstand, the ark, the incense altar, and the outer court with the altar and the laver, we may wonder what all this is for. It is correct to say that the tabernacle, the outer court, and all the items related to them are for the purpose that God may come to us so that we may contact Him and enter into Him. It is also true that all this is for Christ to be our enjoyment so that we may experience Him and enter into God through Him in order to be a people who are in God and who have God in them. However, this is actually an initial understanding. For what purpose are we in God and is God in us? Perhaps you would say that the purpose is the expression of God. Yes, we are in God and God is in us so that we may be His expression. Nevertheless, in this statement there is still something missing, and we need to understand what this is.
The book of Ephesians is a book on the church as the fullness of the Triune God. For the church to be the fullness of the Triune God means that the church is the expression of God. What is the last point in Ephesians concerning the church as God’s expression? This point, revealed in chapter six, is spiritual warfare. According to Ephesians 6, the church must be a warrior fighting against God’s enemy.
Recently we have given a number of messages on the church meetings. Why do we meet? Some would say that we meet to express God. However, there are many enemies— “Canaanites” and “Amalekites”—that seek to keep us from expressing the Lord. God commanded the children of Israel to enter into the good land and slaughter all the Canaanites. This indicates that in order to express the Lord, we need to fight against His enemy. Because of the frustrating tactics of the enemy, it is difficult for us to meet together to express God. The “Canaanites” are not willing for us to express Him. They will try to frustrate us from entering into the good land. Therefore, we need to declare, “Canaanites, this land is not yours. This is the Lord’s land. God has given this land to His people.” It is necessary for the church to fight against all the evil powers in the air.
As God’s people, we have been chosen by God to be His possession. First Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” How can God’s chosen people express Him? The children of Israel were chosen by God to be His particular possession on earth to express Him. But how could those Israelites, who had been redeemed by the Passover lamb, express God? In order to become God’s expression, it was necessary for them to be brought to Mount Sinai to receive a particular education from the Lord. At Mount Sinai the children of Israel were trained by God to become His expression.