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Exodus Chapter 35
- Exodus 35:1 And Moses
gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel
together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD
hath commanded, that ye should do them.
- 2 Six days shall
work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a
holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work
therein shall be put to death.
It was very serious to take God at His word
and not break any part of it. The law is holy, just and good and to
disobey in one point would be sin. The Sabbath was for them. They
needed rest. It also shows we need God, they needed God and they
needed a day in which to set aside only for rest and worship.
The
Holy Spirit that is given to believers in Jesus Christ is a kind of
rest. He refreshes the soul and spirit of the one who receives Him.
It is the living water that Jesus spoke about that bubbles up within
us similar to a fountain of fresh water flowing down a stream when
we are tired and thirsty. The Sabbath was supposed to be a day of
rest and refreshing. If they would have ignored the Sabbath law,
servants, slaves and those that had to do hard labor would never get
relief and never be able to seek out God.
Even today when we get so busy with our jobs,
our sports, and our interests, we may tend to forget that we need a
day of rest. More than that, we need a special day to seek God with
all our hearts. Through the Holy Spirit that we receive from God, we can
worship any time and any where but it is still wonderful to set
aside one day a week to give special attention to the refreshing of our
soul and spirit in seeking out and worshipping God.
In the days before electricity and the life
style we have today, every day work was hard. They probably needed a
rest more than the average person today as far as a rest from
physical labor. There is no difference however, in the spiritual
realm. We all need God both great and small. We need the refreshing
He brings through His Holy Spirit which is given to all who believe
in Jesus Christ.
- Exodus 35:4 And Moses spoke
unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying,
This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,
- 5 Take ye from
among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing
heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and
silver, and brass,
- 6 And blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
- 7 And rams' skins
dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
- 8 And oil for the
light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
- 9 And onyx stones,
and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
- 10 And every wise
hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath
commanded;
- 11 The tabernacle,
his tent, and his covering, his tacks, and his boards, his bars,
his pillars, and his sockets,
- 12 The ark, and the
staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the
covering,
- 13 The table, and
his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
- 14 The candlestick
also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the
oil for the light,
- 15 And the incense
altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet
incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the
tabernacle,
- 16 The altar of
burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his
vessels, the laver and his foot,
- 17 The hangings of
the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for
the door of the court,
- 18 The pins of the
tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
- 19 The cloths of
service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for
Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in
the priest's office.
Actually all giving should be done from the
heart. It is much more fun to give willingly and with joy than just
to give because it is a duty or is required in some way. God loves a
cheerful giver.
- Exodus 35:20 And all the
congregation of the children of Israel departed from the
presence of Moses.
- 21 And they came,
every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his
spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the
work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his
service, and for the holy garments.
- 22 And they came,
both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought
bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of
gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold
unto the LORD.
- 23 And every man,
with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers'
skins, brought them.
- 24 Every one that
did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD's
offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for
any work of the service, brought it.
- 25 And all the
women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and
brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple,
and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
Some women even today are gifted in sewing,
weaving, quilting, knitting, crochet and other things.
- Exodus 35:26 And all the
women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.
- 27 And the rulers
brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and
for the breastplate;
- 28 And spice, and
oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet
incense.
- 29 The children of
Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and
woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of
work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of
Moses.
This seemed a time of revival and refreshing
as people repented of idol worship and started to give unto the Lord
in work and offerings in order to built the tabernacle for the
presence of God to dwell among them.
- Exodus 35:30 And Moses said
unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name
Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
- 31 And he hath
filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding,
and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
- 32 And to devise
curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
- 33 And in the
cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make
any manner of cunning work.
They were quick to give God the glory and not
man for the ability to work with gold and silver and carve wood for
the tabernacle.
- Exodus 35:34 And he hath put
in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of
Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
- 35 Them hath he
filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the
engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in
blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the
weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise
cunning work.
If we wonder at the talent some people
possess to built, engrave, weave, etc. it originally came from God
and was handed down throughout generations. We do not realize the
half of God's greatness. He is glorious and might in works. If we
are faithful, one day we will see God's glory and realize how
magnificent He really is. Everything was done for a purpose. It was
to show them a way to live and point the way to live with God
eternally. God was going to send His own Son to point the eternal
way, until then these ordinances, and laws in the Old Testament
served as a school master to point to the perfect way to come.
Notice too that things were arranged that
many were able to partake of the preparations, and use their talents
to put together a place of worship and to show God was in their
midst. We see the act of worship in working, giving and when it was
finished worship and rejoicing that God was to go with them on their
journey to the promise land. They were never alone unless they
allowed themselves to sin and depart from God.
God has so much to give us in the spiritual
realm and one day if we are faithful we will dwell in His house
forever. DC
Exodus 36
Exodus Index
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