Identical Admittance

“And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.” (Nu 7:11 AV)

There are portions of the word of God that may seem tedious to read, but they hold a great truth.  There are the descriptions of the temple in Ezekiel.  There are those few chapters of genealogy in Chronicles.  There are boundary descriptions in Joshua.  The above passage begins a lengthy chapter describing the offering each head of each tribe brought to the dedication of the altar.  Each offering was exactly the same.  There was absolutely no deviation.  One might ask why the LORD made a point of describing these offerings person by person.  Why not categorize the whole offering as one offering brought by twelve princes?  Other than being recognized for someone's good they have done, even if others have done the same, there is a greater truth here.  Entry into the presence of God was the same, regardless of size, condition, or position.  It didn’t make a difference.  Larger tribes like Judah brought the same as a smaller one like Benjamin.  The same is true of heaven.  It doesn’t matter who we are, what are our gifts or abilities might be, or the resources we possess.  Salvation is the same no matter the soul.  It is exactly the same.

In my own salvation experience, this truth was foundational.  I was raised in a religion that stressed works over faith.  Different rites were required.  Whether is was extra prayers, faithfulness to services, doing good deeds, etc.  It was not a terribly difficult and complicated belief system.  But compared to salvation only in Christ, it wasn’t all that simple either.  I remember struggling with this.  I remember heading down the road towards work and wondering why salvation was so simple.  Why weren’t there more rules?  After all, I was intelligent enough to follow the rules.  Why was salvation nothing more than responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit by trusting solely in Christ, calling upon Him for salvation?  After all, I was taught the greater the sinner, the greater the cost.  The more sin I did, the more penance was required.  The more wicked, the greater his or her obligations were to gain glory.

Just like the dedication of the altar, the cost is the same.  A silver charger filled with flour, a silver bowl filled with flour, a golden spoon filled with incense, a bullock, two oxen, six rams, six he-goats, and six lambs.  No matter the circumstances, that was the offering.  There was no bartering.  There were no negotiations.  Each brought for his tribe the exact same thing.  There is only one Christ!  He is sufficient for all.  There is no additional offering required.  No extra penance.  No extra sacraments.  No extra prayers.  No extra good deeds.  He is the end of all sacrifice for sin.  One Christ for all!