Then the Lord said to Moses. The brief transition introduces the census tax instructions — the half-shekel contribution that will fund the tabernacle's operation. The divine speech formula introduces a new set of instructions that, unlike the preceding chapters of tabernacle design, addresses the community's ongoing financial relationship with the sanctuary. The census and the tax together create the mechanism by which the whole community participates in the tabernacle's life — not only the craftsmen who build it or the priests who serve in it, but every person counted in the census.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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