January 16, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year:   Genesis 31:43-33:17; Matthew 11:1-24

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 Peter 3:18

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

Exodus 35 (NASB95)
¹ Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: ² “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ³ “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.” ⁴ Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying, ⁵ ‘Take from among you a contribution to the Lord; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁶ and blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷ and rams’ skins dyed red, and porpoise skins, and acacia wood, ⁸ and oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, ⁹ and onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. ¹⁰ ‘Let every skillful man among you come, and make all that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ¹² the ark and its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain of the screen; ¹³ the table and its poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ¹⁴ the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ and the altar of incense and its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; ¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; ¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords; ¹⁹ the woven garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’ ” ²⁰ Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence. ²¹ Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments. ²² Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did every man who presented an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ Every man, who had in his possession blue and purple and scarlet material and fine linen and goats’ hair and rams’ skins dyed red and porpoise skins, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the Lord’s contribution; and every man who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought it. ²⁵ All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. ²⁶ All the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece; ²⁸ and the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ The Israelites, all the men and women, whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work, which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill offering to the Lord. ³⁰ Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³¹ “And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship; ³² to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, ³³ and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. ³⁴ “He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ “He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.

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We are caught up today!  As we look at this passage today, consider the tremendous truths that we are studying here.  Moses started the chapter out with a call to worship, a call to set the Sabbath aside for the Lord.  The penalty for failing to keep the Sabbath was death.  It is thought that the building of a fire is referring to building a fire to cook on the Sabbath.  That meant that the week prior to the Sabbath the people prepared for it, and anticipated a day of rest.  I realize that most of us do not keep the Sabbath, and opt for Sunday instead.  Perhaps it is time that we follow suit and prepare for the day of worship all through the week.  Then on Sunday, our attention is focused upon the Lord, and not upon other things because the other things were taken care of already. 

The majority of the chapter deals with the gathering of the materials for the Tabernacle.  Remember the circumstances that they were under at this point.  They were homeless travelers carrying all of their possessions with their hands, carts or beasts of burden.  By this time everything that was not serving a purpose in their lives was already thrown away, or given to someone else.  They had time to trim the fat from their possessions and were standing streamlined with just the essential items needed for life.  Since they had left the land of Egypt, they did not have very much opportunity to acquire new stuff, everything, including their food was provided by God. 

Moses asked the people to give freely, with a willing heart (v.5), because he knew how important that the possessions that they carried with them were.  This offering was a freewill offering, and not required to be participated in (21, 26, 29).  The offering was given as the Lord stirred the hearts of the people.  That meant that the people were in a state where they were willing to listen to the promptings of the Lord.  Forty days earlier, a large number of their congregation had been involved in worshipping the golden calf.  Now the people realized that without drawing close to God, they were in danger of returning to a life where He was not close to them.  They were in danger of entering the Promised Land unprotected.  Moses had interceded for them after the golden calf, God was very angry with Israel, and the covenant had once again been agreed to. 

The people gave their stuff to enable the building of the Tabernacle, not because they had extra stuff to spare.  They did not give of their stuff because it caused them to be built up by their neighbors.  They didn't do it to pump their own self worth.  The people gave to the Tabernacle cause because they realized that they were nothing.  That without God, they were dead men.  Without God they would return to slavery by the mighty warriors that inhabited the land around.  Without God they were absolutely helpless.  Life was worth much more than possessions.

As an illustration of this, I would like to refer to California history.  When the settlers were coming across the great desert and plains to get to California, they went through many stretches where there was hardly any water.  The wagon trains that they had built up were loaded to the hilt with every possession that the people felt they needed to start a new life in California.  As the days progressed, they realized that life was worth more than possessions, prized possessions were thrown off the wagons to lighten the load because life is worth more than possessions.  The same is true of some of the great back-packing trails across America.  People start out loaded, and realize that the extra stuff is not really necessary, so it is cast off on the side of the trail. 

The point of all this is simple, God asked the people to give up their possessions that they had culled down to the minimum.  They realized that nothing that they had was worth anything without God.  Therefore they gave, and they gave heartily, because it was not about them, it was about God.  They didn't just give their stuff either, they also gave their time and their abilities to build and construct the Tabernacle.  It was a joint effort that all the people became involved in. 

We don't know what it is like to give like this.  When our churches have the building programs, people will give, and some more than normal.  But very few will give to the point that they can't go to Denny's for breakfast, neither will they take a chance of jeaphordize the precious Starbucks visit.  Nope, we give out of our abundance, and set out giving so that it will not affect our lifestyles or our bottom line.  The difference is that when we give it is not about God, it is about us!  We are what is important in our lives, God takes second seat.  The bumper sticker, "God is my co-pilot" irritates me to no end because it accurately reflects the backward thinking that we as Americans have become accustomed to.  Israel gave out of their trimmed down possessions, everything that they had was important to them.  They didn't have a great abundance of things, neither did they have a standing supply to replenish the gift they had given.  It was not about them, it was about God. 

When everything is set aside, and a crisis hits, think about what is important in life.  In California, we have recently had great mudslides that destroyed and demolished people’s homes.  The Tsunami stripped the land and people of lives, and of earthly possessions, nothing was left.  The only thing that lasted of value was life.  In all the newscasts that I have heard, I haven't heard anyone complaining about their junk, they are worried about families, and people.  When everything else is taken away, only God remains because He cannot be taken away.  The reality of life is that nothing else is truly important, it is all about God.  Our lives are lived out on this earth to determine our eternal relationship with God, nothing else will go with us beyond the grave.  Israel realized this, they gave freely of the stuff that they had because they were God's chosen people.  We are God's chosen people let's follow suit.  Listen to God in your life and follow His leading. 

I have the privilege of writing to an audience that cannot claim that I preach for money.  Take what you have observed today and when you go to the tithe box in your local church, and observe the needs that exist in the family of God, consider what is truly important in your life.  It's not about us, it's about God and His work, everything else will be gone when we die. 

I realize that I went off the text and ran on a major tangent today.  I apologize for the deviation.  The message hit me like a ton of bricks, and I couldn't resist writing what was on my mind.  If you would like to add to the study, or possibly correct the historical side, please feel free to write in, I will post all comments.

Father, as we consider the value of life today, speak to each of our hearts and build into us a giving spirit.  Build into each one of us a spirit of compassion toward our fellow man and generosity.  Show each one of us how that we can be involved in building Your ministries throughout the world.

In Him,

Joe Turner.