Exodus 30:15

Exodus 30:15 "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."

The shekel was the most common coin in Israel. The gold shekel was worth about $9.60 and the silver about 64 cents. So this offering was less than ten dollars and probabally around five dollars.

This says several things about the rich and poor. Number one, they were equal in the sight of God. Number two, the rich person could not get more redemption for more money. Finally, the poor person was required to locate this amount of money. It was not a huge amount, but it was the equivalent of a meal or two. God did require the poor to do something, and did not just let them off or lower the bar. While this may seem callous to some, I think that this requirement contributes to a feeling of dignity among the poor, of being taken seriously, on equal standing with the richest in the community. The requirement stands, no more or no less.

What is so difficult about studying this subject is how different the Eastern viewpoint of the poor is to the Western, mainly protestant based viewpoint all of us are under. Many people in the rest of the world see poverty as a fact of life, as one of many stations that people live under, and not as a sign of failure.

AC