Throughout this
week we’ve seen God’s Glory and Love pouring out over His people, and today we
find another example of His unfailing love as they receive an amazing
invitation from to God for the construction of the Tabernacle: (35:4-19)
“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: …“ (35:4-5a)
AMP
“Let
every skilled and talented man among you come, and make
everything that the Lord has
commanded:” (35:10 AMP)
The Tabernacle
was to be dedicated to the honor of God, and used in his service; and
everything that the people were willing to bring was an offering to Him:
They offered
their: possessions (treasures), talents (gifts), and
their time. But there was ONE condition: It all had to be from a “willing heart”. Their love had to be poured out through these
offerings!!
1 Peter 4:10 (AMP)”Just as each
one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an
ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is
appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using
the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s
unmerited favor]. “
Those that were rich, should bring in materials to
work on; those that were skillful, they would serve with their skill. They were
in unity: they needed one another, to complete this task (1 Corinthians
12:7-21).
The people
continued to bring freely these offerings every morning (Vs. 35:21, 22,
29), until Moses gave the command to bring no more! (36:6) “Their contributions
were more than enough to complete the whole project” (36:7)
They lavished their love to God by these offerings! (1Corinth.
13:1-3)
- Lavish (Verb) = “To generously pour out; to give extravagantly; to
expend or bestow with passion”. Such was their zeal and passion for
the work in the Tabernacle, that it must have been contagious!
As we continue
reading these final chapters, we see how detailed our God is. He cared about every single aspect of the Tabernacle!
So let me ask you: how then could He not care about the minor details of our
lives? Consider: haven’t you seen His Hand of Mercy lately in a small miracle,
provision or turn of events?
Before we close,
let me remind you that even today, God is extending this same invitation to
each one of us His children, to take from His gifts (the ones we’ve received from Him) to offer them at His Service.
(35:35)
“Precious souls
are the materials of the gospel tabernacle; they are built up a spiritual
house, 1 Pt.
2:5. To this end they are to offer themselves a free-will
offering to the Lord, for his service (Rom.
15:16), and they are then committed to the care of his
ministers, as builders, to be framed and wrought upon by their edification and
increase in holiness, till they all come, like the curtains of the
tabernacle, in the unity of the faith, to be a holy temple (Eph.
2:21, 22; 4:12,
13).” (M. Henry)
What is your
spiritual gift? How have you nurtured and used (or not used) your gift in building
God’s kingdom as an offering of thanks and praise back at Him? Pray that God
would make clear to you what your gift is and how best to use it. (iWorship
Bible)
Blessings!
Mari
