Giving Our Time, Talent, and Treasure with a Joyful Spirit (Context)
Giving Our Time, Talent, and Treasure with a Joyful Spirit (Context)
a commentary on Exodus 35
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome back to this week’s Biblit!
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There are two types of people in this world.
Those that read the instructions fully, and those who wing it and assume they know what they are doing.
We all know someone that fits in one of those categories, yourself included!
In this week’s passage, we learn a little bit about what kind of people the Israelites are.
So without further ado, let’s jump into this commentary on Exodus 35!
Context
Let me set the scene first. So if we go way back, in Exodus chapters 25-31 we saw God give Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle.
All so that God can once again dwell with His people.
Then we took a detour with Israel’s sinfulness with the golden calf and their redemption.
Now we pick back up with chapter 35 and we begin to see Israel actually following God’s instructions given in chapters 25-31.
Chapter 35 is really neat and sets the stage well, however, 36-39 are pretty much a repeat (almost a copy/paste) from chapters 25-31. As such, we are actually going to do chapter 35 this week, and then follow up with the end of Exodus next week with chapter 40.
I highly suggest reading 36-39 on your own, but from a content perspective, it’s pretty much the same as before.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s jump in!
The Sabbath
The first thing that happens in this scene is the Lord is talking with Moses.
He first reminds Moses that Israel is to honor the Sabbath. That they must work for 6 days and then rest on the 7th.
God even says if anyone is caught working on the Sabbath they must be put to death! Not even a fire is allowed to be lit on the Sabbath.
That may seem extreme, but sometimes the Israelites needed something extreme to get the message of how important something truly was. Like the Sabbath rest.
Gathering the Supplies
After this, we see Moses go and ask Israel for an offering so they would have the supplies necessary to build the Tabernacle.
Remember, they need a ton of gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins, leather, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx, fragrant incense, and gemstones.
They needed a lot.
Moses also reads off the list of everything that needs to be built.
The tabernacle, tent coverings, clasps, crossbars, pillars, bases, the ark, the mercy seat, the curtain, the table, the utensils, the Bread of the Presence, the lampstand and lamps, the altar of incense, the altar for burnt offerings, the bronze gate, the basin, and of course all the fancy garments for the priests.
And so after Moses reads all the instructions to Israel and requests offerings from those willing, something remarkable happens.
They all leave and everyone whose heart was moved brought back an offering with a willing and joyful spirit.
Women spun yarn and fine linen, leaders brought onyx, gemstones, spices, and oils. Many others brought the gold, silver, and bronze they received in Egypt!
But God was very clear with Moses. None of these offerings were to be forced.
And not a single one was.
Every single offering was out of their own free will!
Gathering the Craftsmen
Finally, Moses appoints the two head craftsmen: Bezalel and Oholiab. He declares that Bezalel has been gifted by God to be able to design and create every fine-tuned work that God instructed.
Remember, everything was very specific and detailed.
He said that Oholiab, while also having the ability to make crafts, was an incredible teacher.
They were not the only ones working; many would come and learn and grow in the skills necessary to serve the Lord.
And that’s it for Exodus 35! I think it’s a cool scene. Israel is given instructions from God, and they enthusiastically serve and donate all they have in order to make it happen.
Such an exciting scene compared to the golden calf. That’s for sure!
Tomorrow we will dive in a bit more and break down some of the meaning and interpretation of this passage. And then Friday we’ll end with some application points. Talk to y’all then!