What's Half a Shekel Worth?

- 10 Gerahs Lev 27:25
- About 1/30th of a prostitute Hosea 3:2
- 1/40th of a Joseph Gen 37:28
- 1/60th of a slave goring Ex 21:32
- 1/160th of a Donkey's head during a siege 2 Kings 6:25
- 1/300th of a horse
- 1/1200 of a chariot 2 Chron 1:17


According to Rabbi Eliezer Posner, about $17 US.

I was having an interesting conversation with Adam Ellis the other day on our way back from Nashville. Ever since the conversation I've been having this idea bouncing around in my head. It taken me a few days on how to get it out and explain it.

Value. According to HumanForSale.com I am worth $2,521,562. I can't believe they took off points for hair color and height. I've been thinking the last couple of days about how we value ourselves. Not just ourselves but what we value in other people. For a long time I've been self-righteous about value. It's easy to scoff at people who value the wrong things about themselves (and others). There are so many women who believe their value is in how attractive they are. Good thing men don't have a problem like this. Our value is in something more reasonable like how good of providers we can be. Hopefully we value other things besides just height, weight, hair color, income, balding, and how much people exercise. I think we should really look deeper and see the other things in people that we value. We should value sense of humor, intelligence, the volunteer work they do, and things about there personality. Because that's how God values them.

Value. One of my favorite verses is the basis for the title. It's kind of weird and comes out of Exodus. 30:11-16

11 Then the LORD said to Moses, 12 "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, [b] according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD. 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. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives."

2 Observations

#1 Our value to God isn't in how attractive we are, how well we can provide, our height, our weight, our intelligence, shoe size, drug usage, sense of humor, or any thing else that we obtain, are born with, or develop. Our value to God is solely that he made us. And he would give whatever it took for us to be with him.

#2 God values us all the same. Whether we choose to follow him or not. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. If you're a Saint or sinner. If you're on posters or in the projects. Which means that God loves the abusive husband, the junkie, the alcoholic, the murderer, the molester, and me all the same.

Your value isn't a sum of the parts. Your value was determined before time began.

Paul "=" Murphy