Exodus 35:1–19
THE HIGH HONOR GOD PUTS UPON HIS PEOPLE. I want to show you from the Word of God what a great privilege and honor it is for God to allow such things as we are (fallen, depraved, fickle, unstable, sinful men and women) to perform his work in this world.
Today in Exodus, I’d like us to notice from the text some important points.
One is this: the building of the tabernacle was to be a project of all the people because worship and God’s presence is for all God’s people.
Two, the building of the tabernacle does not displace the creational ordinance of Sabbath rest; that’s going to be emphasized in this passage.
Three, the people’s giving is expected, commanded, and voluntary. How do those go together? Expected, commanded, and voluntary — you’ll see in this passage.
Four, the tabernacle construction is to proceed strictly by the Lord’s command, unlike the worship of the golden calf. We’re going to see each of those in this passage.
1. Sabbath Rest (35:1-3)
35 Moses 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. 2 Six 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. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
We see here Moses assembling the people together and speaking to them about the importance of keeping God’s Sabbath. We should see that this is where they were before the Golden Calf event.
Exodus 31:12–18 (ESV)
12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
I want us to remember that because of the work of Christ our Mediator we too can be set back in the place where our sin had removed us.
Because in Israel’s case Moses pleaded for their forgiveness as their mediator, God reinstates them to their former position. He picks up where He left off.
Moses calls on the people to keep the Sabbath just as the Lord commanded and that point is very significant for at least a couple of reasons. For one, he’s telling them that they are now, in God’s mercy, going to be able to engage in this task which they have been waiting for for some time now: the task of building the tabernacle. But he says even as you begin to go into that task of building the tabernacle, remember this: don’t work on the Sabbath day. Don’t you build that tabernacle on the Sabbath day. You work six days, and when the Sabbath comes, don’t build the tabernacle.
For the Israelite, keeping the Sabbath was the sign that they are in covenant with God. The Sabbath Day was the day for rest and for worship. Their consistent observation of the Sabbath was vital to show that they were, in fact, in the covenant relationship with God.
God is so committed to their need for rest and for their need for spiritual communion and resting in Him on His Day, that He says, “Even my tabernacle, the place which visibly represents My presence on earth, even it is second, it takes a second place to the importance of your observing the Sabbath.”
So, the first thing evident in this chapter is the fact that service begins with rest. We cannot do anything for God until we quit trying to do something to appease God. We cannot serve the Lord until we rest in Christ, our blessed Sabbath Rest. We cannot bring anything to God until we find rest in Christ.
Before we are fit to serve the holy Lord God, we must rest in Christ. Before we can bring anything to him, we must receive grace from him.
Israel’s formal starting point in being in a covenant relation with God is to keep His weekly Sabbath.
God is very serious about keeping this day holy. Either the Israelite rested on the Sabbath or God made him rest…He gave him permanent rest.
Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
Even starting a fire, as small a task as that is, shall not be done on the Sabbath. Here, the thrust is a fire for cooking a meal. This was to stop all work and even the women who often prepared a meal were given a day of rest. You ate food prepared the day before.
This is in keeping with the principle of the manna. It was fine to eat it on the Sabbath, just not gather it on the Sabbath.
We too are commanded to rest and worship. As New Covenant people we see that Christ is our eternal rest. He is the fulfillment of the OT Sabbath. We worship and rest on the Lord’s Day.
2. God Commands a Contribution (35:4-9)
4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 5 Take 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; 6 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
Here we see this command from Moses, really it’s the Lord’s command that Moses delivers to the people, to make a willing contribution, just as the Lord had commanded: “Give,” Moses says. The people are to manifest their real desire for God’s presence by free contributions given toward the tabernacle. Again, in verse 4 it’s reiterated that Moses speaks to everyone and that the command he speaks is the command of the Lord. And then, lo and behold, what does he do? In verse 5, we have heard a command to give freely. A command to give freely. We have a contribution that is both voluntary and obligatory. It’s free and commanded. But you know, that’s how all Old Testament and New Testament giving is: it’s commanded and voluntary. God commands giving, but He doesn’t want unwilling givers.
God bestowing a great honor upon the children of Israel. He so highly honored them that he allowed every man and woman in the nation of Israel to have a hand in making the Tabernacle.
· Without question, God did not need Israel’s assistance!
· Everything the children of Israel brought to him, he had given them.
· Yet the Lord condescended to use the people he brought out of Egypt to establish his place of worship and all the things connected with his worship, while they were in the wilderness.
Here we must understand that the Israelites had gotten their material wealth from the Egyptians. They had sinfully given a contribution to fashion the Golden Calf. Here they are called to contribute some of their wealth for the building of the Tabernacle and everything that went along with it.
In this way, all were able to participate in the building of the Tabernacle in order to worship God.
God commanded giving and the people also gave voluntarily. There is a wonderful truth and that is Christians are giving people. God’s people obey in this realm. They give abundantly and joyfully.
Exodus 36:4–7 (ESV)
4 so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, 5 and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
Everything offered to God must proceed from hearts made willing by His Spirit. It must be spontaneous and free, not the result of persuasion or of external pressure, but from the heart. It must be given, not taken.
Nothing is more certain to ruin any work, any missionary enterprise, any ministry, any church than the employment of carnal, fleshly, worldly schemes to raise money. Nothing more dishonors God and his people than the many ways churches, preachers and religious organizations try to get their money!
Moses simply told the people that the Lord God almighty, who brought them out of Egypt and destroyed all their enemies, God their Savior and Redeemer, was willing to receive a gift from them. He did not tell them what to bring, how much to bring, or even command them to bring. He simply said, God is willing to receive your gifts.
· Each one brought what he had in his possession (blue, silver, gold, shittim wood, etc.).
· Each one brought only as much as he wanted to bring, no more and no less than his own heart dictated.
· And there was more than sufficient, “much more than enough,” to finish the work (Exodus 36:5-7). —
They had more than enough.
Here’s a wonderful example from Scripture about Christians giving to aid the saints.
2 Corinthians 8:1–5 (ESV)
8 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
3. God Calls for Skilled Workers 35:10-19)
Exodus 35:10–19 (ESV)
10 “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 and 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; 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, 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 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.”
God had called all men who had God-given skill to help build the Tabernacle.
Exodus 31:1–6 (ESV)
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
these are the guys that God put in charge. But the emphasis, you see, of Moses here in Exodus 35:10, I mean it was obvious that more than Bezalel and Oholiab were going to have to be involved doing all the stuff that was going to have to be done for the building of the tabernacle. So it was obvious that more than just those men were going to be involved in the construction. Those men had been chosen as God’s chief engineers for the plan. But Moses’ emphasis, you see, in Exodus 35:10 is that every skilled man is going to participate in this.
The point is that God in His mercy is emphasizing that He is allowing rebellious sinners to participate in the declaration of His glory and in the building of the place of His presence.
I want to stop and consider just what we can be involved in when it comes to the Kingdom of God. We in the NT time can be part of building as well.
The New Testament application of that is not so much building church buildings. It’s not just about bricks and mortar. It’s talking about our total involvement in the building up of the people of God. And it’s a mercy that God would involve us in that.
1 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV)
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Resources Used:
Exodus by Rykin
Exodus by Stuart
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