"Moses reminds the Israelites of the Sabbath day of rest. Afterward, the Israelites bring a freewill offering to the Lord, and craftsmen come to do all the work that the Lord had commanded to be done. The people of Israel brought more than enough materials to do all the work that was required to build the sanctuary. God appoints Bezalel and Oholiab to lead the construction of the sanctuary."
Moses gathered all the congregation of the sons of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the things which the Lord has commanded you to do:
2 “For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any kind of work on that day shall be put to death. 3 You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
4 And Moses said to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 5 ‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever has a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze, 6 blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7 and [a]rams’ skins dyed red, and skins of [b]porpoises, and acacia wood, 8 and [olive] oil for the lighting, and balsam for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, 9 and [c]onyx stones and other stones to be set for the ephod and the breastpiece.
Footnotes: Exodus 35:7 Similar to morocco leather.
Exodus 35:7 Hebrew uncertain.
Exodus 35:9 See note 25:7.
Gifts for the Tabernacle https://www.goodsalt.com/details/prcas2638.html
- THE SABBATH EMPHASIZED. After some time, when the 2 Tablets were replaced by God, and the Israelites have witnessed how Moses' face shone because of God's glory-- the work of Moses to gather the Israelites to deliver all of God's messages and commandments with them from being at Mt. Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights (twice), has started. But first, Sabbath! Before Moses and all the people start all the 'works', they needed to be reminded of God's command to keep the Sabbath, or 7th day rest. Or everything will be all in vain, I think. Their work should be aligned and centered to God and all His commandments, after all, everything that they will set to do is for God's glory and honor. God is the best worker! He created everything from nothing! With His word, and He made man with His own hands according to His own image and likeness. But on the seventh day, when everything was complete, God rested, enjoyed and appreciated His creation, and it was very good. We should be like the same with God-- after all our labor for six days, we devote time for resting, relaxation, and remembrance and appreciation of God on the seventh day.
- GIVE FROM A WILLING HEART. God is a generous, gracious GIVER. And He does it willingly and wholeheartedly. That's why He commanded the Israelites-- He commands us-- to give cheerfully, and out of the willingness and overflow of our hearts. If we do that, God knows it, and if we don't do that (we give reluctantly), God will still know it, so let's always pray that God will help us give with the willing heart. In fact, what more can God give us? When He has already given us the greatest gift, the greatest miracle, the greatest treasure that is His Son Jesus, who redeemed us from all sin and death.
10 ‘Let every skilled and talented man among you come, and make everything that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle (sacred dwelling of God), its tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark [of the covenant] and its carrying poles, with the [d]mercy seat and the veil (partition curtain) of the screen [to hang between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies]; 13 the table and its carrying poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the [divine] Presence (showbread); 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 carrying poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, the screen (curtain) for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its carrying poles, and all its utensils, the wash basin and its base (stand); 17 the court’s curtains, its support poles and their sockets, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords; 19 the finely-woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests.’”
Footnotes: Exodus 35:12 See note 25:17.
- SKILLS AND TALENTS COMES FROM GOD. God gifts the skills and talent, but it's the people who will come and volunteer. Again, God is inviting His people to partake in His great plans and purposes. Help, give, work, from a willing heart! Because it glorifies God. Like Jesus, God's Son, who willingly gave up His life so that all of humanity, all who receive Him, shall be saved and forgiven.
Footnotes: Exodus 35:23 Similar to morocco leather.
Exodus 35:23 Hebrew uncertain.
- GOD'S SPIRIT EMPOWERS PEOPLE AND STIRS UP HEARTS. Wow, Israel's response and obedience was overwhelming! It was not because the people were good, great, strong, and awesome (they were stubborn, rebellious), it's because their God was awesome! Indeed God will use anyone mightily despite their weaknesses, or failures, just as long as they were willing, available and obedient to God :)
- THE SELFLESS SPIRIT OF GOD. God is the most selfless-- Lord Jesus, God's only Son selflessly gave up and sacrificed His life for us all, so I'm not surprised how the Spirit of God worked in the artists' hearts, giving them the willingness to teach others with the gifts that God has gifted them. Again, it was all for God's glory! How awesome.
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
a. 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: In the coming chapters, there was a lot of work for Israel to do. They had to build a complex and exact tabernacle of meeting. Yet before they did anything, they should be reminded to enter into God’s rest and to respect the Sabbath.
i. The same principle holds true for our walk with God. Anything we do for the Lord must grow out of our rest in Him, and rest in His finished work on our behalf.
b. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death: This was a strict call to obedience. Before they did the work of building the tabernacle, God first called Israel to the work of simple obedience. Basic obedience is a pre-requisite for doing work for the Lord.
ii. The Hebrew language has two words for work: avodah and melachah. Avodah is a general term meaning work, while melachah is a word more related to business and things specifically forbidden on the Sabbath. One might say that here, God allowed some work (avodah) to be done on the Sabbath, but did not allow certain things on the Sabbath, especially business-related things (melachah).
b. 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: This offering came from God’s command, not from Moses’ clever fund-raising techniques. This shows God’s normal way of channeling resources to His work – by the gifts given from His people with a willing heart.
i. God could cause the money and materials to appear by a miracle. Yet He chose to fund His work through the willing gifts of His people. He works this way because we need to be a giving people.
ii. This idea is echoed in 2 Corinthians 9:7: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
a. All the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses: After Moses asked them to give, he sent them home to decide what they would give. This shows that Moses did not use manipulative techniques, such as asking people to make quick, public decisions about their giving. There was no manipulation at in Moses’ request.
i. Moses didn’t have a contests pitting one tribe against another, to see which tribe could raise the most money, or any other such nonsense. God did the work in the hearts of the people.
ii. Though their hearts were willing, they didn’t know what to give, when to give, or how to give until Moses led them. Willing hearts still need to be told when there is a need and how they can meet that need.
ii. The people gave what they could. Not all could give gold or precious gems, but they could give some goat’s hair. Certainly, a gift of goat’s hair could be just as welcome in God’s sight as a gift of gold, if it was given with the right heart.
b. Those who do every work and those who design artistic works: The leaders of the work of building the tabernacle had a unique inspiration of the Holy Spirit to do this important and practical work. Since God wanted the work done according to a certain pattern (Exodus 25:9), it made sense that He specially inspired some to do the work.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Exd/Exd-35.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
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