God Provides the Materials (Ex. 25:1-9; 30:11-16; 35:4-29)

7/12/2008 10:56 PM

My Worship Time           Focus:  God provides the materials

Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  Exodus 25:1-9; 30:11-16; 35:4-29

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2  "Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.  3  "This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, 4  blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, 5  rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, 6  oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7  onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece.  8  "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.  9  "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.”

            11 ¶  The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, 12  "When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.  13  "This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD.  14  "Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD.

15  "The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves.

16  "You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves.’”

            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.”

This is probably the greatest number of verses that I have even done in one SD, but they all have to do with the Lord, through the children of Israel, providing the materials that were needed to build the tabernacle.  This was done through the donations of the children of Israel, and also a tax that was charged to all males twenty years of age and older.

I want to point out one thing that I learned from the reading of the historical fiction books that I have been reading.  The word acacia is used in the NAS95 version of the Bible, where the KJV translates the word shittim, and this refers to the wood that was used in the building of the tabernacle, and the article of furniture that I am referring to is the Arc of the Covenant.  According to these historical fictional books that word can mean carpenter, which of course is what Jesus was, and this also refers to His humanity, however the Arc of the Covenant was covered with gold, and gold represents His Deity. 

God created all things and we are stewards of these things that God created, and therefore God owns all things, so the things that the children of Israel were giving to God were actually His anyway.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The same holds true for me as a believer in Jesus Christ today, for I am a steward of the things that are His, and therefore He owns it all, but I am to have a cheerful heart in giving back to the Lord what is truly His in the first place.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.  Be a cheerful giver to the Lord.