Funding the Church

“The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When someone makes a special vow to the Lord that involves the assessment of people, if the assessment concerns a male from 20 to 60 years old, your assessment is 50 silver shekels measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. If the person is a female, your assessment is 30 shekels. If the person is from five to 20 years old, your assessment for a male is 20 shekels and for a female 10 shekels. If the person is from one month to five years old, your assessment for a male is five silver shekels, and for a female your assessment is three shekels of silver. If the person is 60 years or more, your assessment is 15 shekels for a male and 10 shekels for a female. But if one is too poor to pay the assessment, he must present the person before the priest and the priest will set a value for him. The priest will set a value for him according to what the one making the vow can afford.” (Leviticus 27:1–8, HCSB)

In this passage in Leviticus, we see that God’s people were assessed based upon the value of each person in the community. God, the tax assessor, assesses value and charges an assessment. This “tax” funds the Levites and God’s work in the nation of Israel.

If we were to follow how God told Moses to fund the church, people would be shocked. Thank God that He allows us to bring our gifts to the altar on our own free will. This instruction also teaches us how important it is to keep a vow. If one says that they plan to give money to God, they better keep the vow. Jesus later said: “It is better to say only yes or no and make no vow.” God wants us to come to Him and give to Him because we want to give to Him. 

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash