Exodus 35: 1 – 35
Great, they’re going to take a collection
35 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” 4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: 5 ‘Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. 10 ‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; 13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; 14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’” 20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD. 23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. 24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the LORD’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 26 And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. 27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, 28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done. 30 And Moses said to the children 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 and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. 34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
Everyone feels anxious or uneasy from time to time. Your palms sweat, you feel shaky, your heart pounds. Some anxiety helps to keep you focused on the issue at hand. However, when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with your life you may be suffering from a form of the most common type of mental disorder, an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are not just a case of "nerves." You can’t overcome an anxiety disorder just through willpower, nor can the symptoms be ignored or wished away. These disorders cause you to feel anxious most of the time, making some everyday situations so uncomfortable that you may avoid them entirely. Or, you may experience occasional instances of anxiety that are so terrifying and intense that you may be immobilized with fear.
Although these conditions can be very frightening and disabling, they are also very treatable. It is important to recognize the symptoms and seek help.
There are three main groups of phobias which include:
1, Specific (simple) phobias. They are the most common and focus on specific objects. Specific Or Simple Phobias produce intense fear of a particular object or situation that is, in fact, relatively safe. People who suffer from specific phobias are aware that their fear is irrational, but the thought of facing the object or situation often brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.
2. Social phobia. This condition causes extreme anxiety in social or public situations. Social Phobia can produce fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in front of other people. This problem may also be related to feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem, and can drive a person to drop out of school, avoid making friends, and remain unemployed.
3. Agoraphobia is that problem which is the fear of being alone in public places from which there is no easy escape. Agoraphobia causes people to suffer anxiety about being in places or situations from which it might be difficult or embarrassing to escape--such as being in a room full of people or in an elevator. In some cases, panic attacks can become so debilitating that the person may develop agoraphobia because they fear another panic attack. In extreme cases, a person with agoraphobia may be afraid to leave their house.
Over the years I have witnessed all three types of Phobias affecting people within the same church service. If you look around you would too. Being thrown together with strangers all around them for many is very uncomfortable. Then when it is time for the offering or saying hello to those around them in truth many feel intimated. If they do not have very much to give in an offering or if they are afraid they will be ignored this can be an extremely dangerous situation for them. Lastly if the church you wind up attending has long pews, you can feel very uncomfortable if you feel trapped and you might want to get out.
So a question I want to go over is the scary term ‘tithe’. As believers should we tithe? Well first of all let me say this, ‘It’s up to you to give what your conscience is telling you to.’
Another point is a tithe 10%. Are we talking 10% of your gross income or should it be from your net income? Lastly, where did the 10% come from anyway?
Principally it originates from Abraham. If you remember Lot and his family were taken as slaves when Sodom and Gomorrah were conquered. Abraham went and rescued them. On the way back to where he had temporarily settled he ran into a guy by the name of Melchizedek. Let’s see what happened with the giving this man 10%.
In chapter 14 of the book of Genesis we read this, “18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
So we learn about the word ‘tithe’ here. Then we need to jump to a descendent of Abraham by the name of Jacob who was fleeing from his brother Esau. In chapter 28 we find out, “10 now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I Am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
You are probably now saying, ‘there you go. Scripture teaches us to tithe. Hold on a little my friend. If you notice Abraham giving a tithe you have to know a little more information.
If you look back at the tithe Abraham gave Melchizedek, it did not come out of his own pocket. He had just conquered Chedorlaomer king of Elam and three other kings to win back Lot. As part of this victory Abraham also took spoils. Out of all the loot he gave a tithe to Melchizedek. As you know from the previous chapters Abraham moved around with his livestock to provide grazing area. It is very likely that he was allowed to craze his animals on Melchizedek’s land. Therefore, there was probably an arrangement made for his privilege of doing this. If you look at a map Melchizedek went to see Abraham who was not returning anywhere near Melchizedek’s land.
Also if you take a look at Jacob we see that he as his name says, is a schemer. If our Holy God will bless him then he promises to give Him a tenth of the blessings. The only thing wrong with this, do you read anywhere where he actually did fulfill his vow to give our Holy Ruler a tenth? Stop and think about this point, if Jacob wanted to give our Holy God a tenth of all his substance, exactly where would he go and how would he be able to do that?
So, what is the answer? Well like the Israelites which we will study in this chapter, the offer went forth for them to contribute towards the Lord’s house. There response was quite interesting. In fact they gave so much the word was sent forth to stop giving. The answer lies in the New Testament book of 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 7 we are told, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Our Holy God Is interested in our heart. He Is not broke. He does not need your money. The reality is that bills need to be paid for the continuance of any church so the end result is for you to search your heart and think realistically what you want to give to the support of your church or other ministries and then give.
The Israelites were now firmly back as Yahweh’s people and in His favor, and they would show their gratitude accordingly. But they first needed to be reminded that with all their enthusiasm, and with all the sacredness of what they were about to do, the Sabbath rest must be maintained. No work was to be done on the Sabbath even that of constructing the Tabernacle, and no fire was to be kindled, even for the purpose of forging sacred things. The Sabbath must be kept sacrosanct.
35 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
The importance of the Sabbath day is again highlighted. Men should work for six days, but the Sabbath was a day of solemn rest. Whoever worked on it would be put to death, and this even included the making of a fire. Making a fire actually involved considerable labor, for unless some means of lighting it was to hand, such as a lighted torch, or burning coals. This would include fires for cooking, for the food could be prepared the day before. Thus work on the Tabernacle must also not take place on the Sabbath.
The preparations for the Tabernacle and its furniture include gathering all the necessary materials, sewing material together, skilful workmanship and planning in order to make use of the available personnel, with the most skilful work being done by the experts.
It may be asked, why was it necessary for the details of the Tabernacle and its contents to be repeated twice, firstly in the giving of the instructions back in chapter 25 and then in its actual construction? There was a great emphasis on the need for all to be constructed exactly in accordance with the pattern shown to Moses in the Mount by our Great God Yahweh. Thus it was necessary to demonstrate first, that the pattern was given by God, and then second that it was followed.
The double stress on the construction of the Tabernacle was evidence of the importance of the lessons that could be drawn from it. It was a twofold witness. And there were two complementary reasons why the pattern was important, one was so as to ensure that no taint of false ideas entered into the Tabernacle lest it fail to portray the truth about God as precisely as possible and thus lead Israel astray (how easily they were led astray at every opportunity), and second because it revealed heavenly truths that could be revealed in no other way.
To sum up but some of those truths; it revealed that they worshipped the invisible God; it revealed that He was their merciful King; it revealed that His light was constantly shed on them; it revealed that they were His people and that He would constantly feed them; it revealed that He could be approached and would offer mercy; it warned that He was holy and must not be approached lightly; it made clear that although He was there among them there was a huge difference between man and God, and between creation and its Creator; and it revealed that constantly sinful man needed constant atonement.
These are equally lessons that we need to recognize today when many approach God too lightly and overlook His holiness. It is true that Christ has made for us a way into God’s presence more wonderful than the Tabernacle, and that through Him we can approach Heaven itself, but let us not forget that that is because of the greatness of Who He is, the greatness of the sacrifice He offered, and the wonder of His intercession for us. It is not because we are less sinful, but because of Who He Is and What He has done for us. And as we thus study the details of the Tabernacle let us learn that we approach a holy God, which we can only do without fear because of the wonder of what Christ has done for us. Without Him we would shrivel up in God’s presence.
4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: 5 ‘Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
The list of requirements for constructing the Tabernacle is given, and the people told to make their offering to Yahweh from a willing heart. God wants nothing that is not willingly given. But he who gives to God will not lose by it. It included the precious metals, the different dyed cloth and skins, the acacia wood, the oil and spices, and the jewels required for the ephod and breast pouch.
10 ‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; 13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; 14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’”
The skilled craftsmen were to bring their skills freely and make the different furniture and components of the Tabernacle which Yahweh had commanded. Our Precious Holy Spirit has inspired Moses to list the order in which they proceed from the Holy of Holies to the outer court depending on the level of holiness.. We should note that in making this furniture they were not following their own likes and dislikes, but only concerned to do His will.
20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.
When they heard Moses’ words the people went away, and stirred in heart and spirit, as many as were made willing brought their offerings to Yahweh of jewels, and ornaments and gold. None of the people were left out and we may be sure that Yahweh God noticed each contribution as He did the contribution of the widow woman in the Temple in the time of our Lord Jesus (Mark 12.42-43).
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. 24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the LORD’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 26 And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair.
Both men and women brought what they could, the men providing dyed cloth, fine linen, and so on, including acacia wood that was available in the area they were presently dwelling. And the enthusiastic women did the skilled work of spinning in their tents at home and then brought it to Moses’ workers. Clearly goats’ hair was seen as requiring special expertise.
27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, 28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
The wealthier leaders brought the more valuable jewels, especially those which were required for the ephod and the breast pouch, and spice and oil for the anointing oil and for the incense.
29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
So all who were willing brought their gifts freely so as to complete the work which Yahweh Father God had shown Moses as requiring to be done.
30 And Moses said to the children 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 and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. 34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
The work is seen as so important that Bezalel is ‘called by name’ and filled with the Spirit of God. He is a chosen one of Yahweh and in overall charge of the skilled work, and is expert in engraving, metalwork, jewelry and carpentry. Oholiab is especially the expert in embroidery. Both are gifted by Yahweh for the work. With them will work every trained man whom Yahweh has gifted.
Moses informed the people that these two men had differing skills, and filled with the Spirit, would contribute their expertise and would teach others also. The embroiderers did the complicated work, the weavers the straight weaving. All had a part to play in this work of God. It is noteworthy that Moses brings the people in on everything. He wanted them to feel a part of what was done.
