Using What You’ve been Given


Exodus 35:1-29
1Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.” 4Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 5Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; 6blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, 7tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, 8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 10“Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; 17the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.” 20Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. 24Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

Honestly, here is where studying a book verse by verse gets a little tedious. My honest temptation is to skip over the last 6 chapters of Exodus because they are pretty much a repeat of the previous chapters. But, as we discussed a few days ago, clearly some repetition is very important for us humans because we tend to forget. As God reiterates the Covenant and instructions the importance of all of it is made clear. In today’s reading we find the people of God bringing offerings into God’s house to be used to beautify the Tabernacle and enhance the worship lives of the people. They are not asked to bring anything that they don’t already possess. Their offerings come from what God has already given them. And that which was true for God’s people 2,000 years ago is still true for us today.

The line that is repeated over and over in this passage is “whose hearts were stirred”. The people gave what they wanted to give because of all that God had done for them. Their hearts moved them to share with God and each other and that is true for us as well. When you find yourself serving another person, sharing your wealth, using your talents for the common good you are dwelling inside of God’s blessing in your life. It’s not tough or complicated, but we sometimes struggle or stumble over the concept. Selfishness strolls in and tries to convince us that we won’t have enough (time, money, resources . . .) but the well lived life is one that allows the heart to be stirred to give back what you have been given. It’s a simple concept and the Children of God were being taught to practice this way of life. Maybe we learn from them and accept God’s way too.

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