The sin of pretending to be counted as part of God’s own assembly, but without “paying your dues”
(your own “half shekel”)
God’s Law states the following: «The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “When you take the sum of the children
of Israel according to their numbers, let each one give to the Lord an atonement for his soul when they are
counted; then there will be no plague among them when they are counted. This they shall give, everyone who
goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half
of [such] a shekel shall be an offering to the Lord”»- Exodus 30:11-13.
Why was it a sin to count God’s people without each person paying his half shekel? In order to understand
the answer, we need to bear in mind that God speaks thru parables, whose purpose is to teach us an important
moral lesson. As is written: «… I will give parables through the prophets»- Hosea 12:10; «And when he
[Balaam] looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations; but his
latter end shall be that he perish for ever”»- Numbers 24:20; «Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, they are saying of
me, ‘Isn’t he just composing parables?’ ”»- Ezekiel 20:49).
Thus, the rite of paying the half shekel is a parable; one whose aim is to teach us that no individual will be
redeemed [and be therefore counted as belonging to God's own people] unless he gives at least a minimal
amount of his own money toward the Lord's cause (meaning toward those who, like the Levites, had no
means of earning a living). And the same truth is taught in the Christian gospels, were a man receives Jesus,
but the latter does not count him as saved until he stands up and decides to give a half of his own to the poor.
As is written: «And Zacchaeus stood forth, and said unto the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I
give to the poor”... Then Jesus said to him, “This day is salvation come unto this house”...»- Luke 19:8-9.
And the same truth is confirmed in the Hebrew Scripture, when it goes on to say: “Happy is one who is
considerate of the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity (the day of Judgment)”- Psalm 41:1.
In short, the half a shekel rite teaches us that there is no such think as “salvation without works”, as he who
refuses to have mercy of the needy cannot be counted as part of God’s assembly. In fact that was the very
reason why the Ammonites were not allowed to enter into the Lord's assembly. As is written: “An Ammonite
or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord…. [Why?] Because they met you not with bread
and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt...”- Deuteronomy 23:3-4
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