Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. The tabernacle is funded by voluntary offering — everyone whose heart prompts them. The compulsion is internal, not external. No tax is levied, no quota established, no social pressure described. The offering comes from those who want to give. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The principle of the freewill offering as the proper basis for funding sacred work was established at the tabernacle and runs through the New Testament's instructions on giving. The tabernacle built on willing hearts is the model for every subsequent community of worship.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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