1. While Moses was in the mount, what did God tell him to say to the children of Israel? "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering; Of every man that gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering." (Exodus 25:1-2)
2. Of what was their offering to consist? "And this is the offering which you shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate." (Exodus 25:3-7)
3. What were these offerings for? "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8)
4. Who only were to bring an offering? "Take 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. ... 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.(Exodus 35:5,21; See Exodus 25:2)
5. What sort of things did they bring? "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. 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. Every one that offered 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." (Exodus 35:22-24)
6. How did they come to have so many valuable things? "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:35-36)
7. What did the women do? "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. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair." (Exodus 35:25-26)
8. What kind of service was all this? "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." (Exodus 35:29)
9. How are we exhorted to give? "Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity." (2 Corinthians 9:7)
10. What kind of a giver does God love? "For God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)
11. Cite another instance where the people offered willingly to the cause of God? "And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly, And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite." (1 Chronicles 29:5-8)
12. How was it that the people were enabled to give so willingly? "Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy." (1 Chronicles 29:9)
13. Is there danger of coming to poverty through generous giving to the cause of God? "The desire of the righteous is only good; but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. There is that scatters, and yet increases; and there is that withholds more than is meet, but it tends to poverty." (Proverbs 11:24-25)
14. What is God able to do? "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. ... Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:8,11)
15. How is this? "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." (Psalm 24:1) "For every beast of the forest is my, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are my. If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is my, and the fullness thereof." (Psalm 50:10-12) "The silver is my, and the gold is my, says the Lord of hosts." (Haggai 2:8)
16. Then when people make offerings to God, whose property do they give? "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of You, and of your own have we given You. For we are strangers before You, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build You a house for your holy name comes of your hand, and is all your own." (1 Chronicles 29:14-16)
17. What was the result when the people gave with a willing heart? "And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; And they spoke unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make." (Exodus 36:4-5)
18. What proclamation had to be made? "And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much." (Exodus 36:6-7)
19. How many have known of such an instance in the history of the cause?
20. Is there in this record any lesson for us?
Notes:
After the covenant with Israel had been made and ratified, the Lord called Moses up into the mount, where he remained forty days and nights in the presence of Divinity. "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. ... And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them. ... And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:8,12,18)
It was during this time that God gave him the instructions concerning the sanctuary, which are recorded in Exodus chapters 25 to 31. The beginning of this instruction pertained to the sanctuary to be built, showing how particular God was in that which pertained to His worship; and He concluded His holy interview by giving the law, written on two tables of stone, graven there by the finger of God. "And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18) "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." (Exodus 32:15-16)
The object of all worship, all services, all remedies, is to bring men into harmony with the holy law of God.
When Moses was absent, Aaron and Hur acted as his deputies, even as they were his chief assistants at the time of the battle with Amalek, recorded in Exodus 17:8-15. It was very fitting that these men should thus act. Aaron was of the tribe of Levi, in which was vested the priesthood. This tribe belonged to God. "These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spoke with Moses in mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that comes nigh shall be put to death. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that opens the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be my; Because all the firstborn are my; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: my shall they be: I am the Lord." (Numbers 3:1-13)
Hur was probably the chief prince of the tribe of Judah. An eminent and good man evidently, as the Lord chose from his descendants a skillful man to build the most sacred vessels. "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship." (Exodus 31:1-5)
Judah was the tribe from which was to come the royal line and our Saviour. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Genesis 49:10)
Thus the supporters of Moses were the chief priest and the chief prince.
Of the offerings brought, there is some difference of opinion among scholars in regard to the meaning of some of the original terms. The brass of the Bible was doubtless copper, which was abundant in Palestine, or an alloy of copper and tin, forming bronze. As these materials were brought from Egypt, the brass here mentioned was doubtless bronze, which was common in Egypt.
The blue, purple, and scarlet were materials which could be spun and woven into cloth, (Exodus 35:25; 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) the color being put for the material. This material was doubtless cotton or wool. "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people." (Hebrews 9:19)
Rams' skins dyed red are supposed by some to mean leather, colored and dressed like morocco. By others it is supposed to mean skins dressed with the wool on, either of a red color, or dyed red. "Badgers' skins" does not have reference to the skins of those animals. The Bible Commentary, edited by Canon Cook, says:
The [original] word bears a new resemblance to the Arabic tuchash, which appears to be a general name given to the seals, dugongs, and dolphins found in the Red Sea (Tristram), and according to some authorities, to the sharks and dog fish (Fürst). The substance spoken of would thus appear to have been leather from the skins of marine animals, which was well adapted as a protection against the weather. ... The skins of the dolphin and the dugong are cut into sandals by the Modern Arabs, and this may explain Ezekiel 16:10.
"Shittim wood" was a kind of acacia, very hard and strong, and also light. The LXX. called it "wood that will not rot."
The gold and silver were largely in the shape of jewels, (Exodus 35:22; 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) which the Egyptians had given them on that memorable morning after the slaying of Egypt's first-born. Israel, in asking for these valuable things, only demanded their just wages. Consequently when they gave them to God to build a sanctuary for Him, they gave that which had cost them years of toil and sufferings. It was a willing sacrifice on their part. They felt as did David when he refused the gift of Araunah's threshing-floor, "Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of that which costs me nothing." (2 Samuel 24:24)
It is willing-heartedness that God loves. In fact, no other offering but that given with the whole heart is acceptable to God. First, He demands that the individual yield himself. "Son, give me your heart," (Proverbs 23:26) is the request which God makes. Those who do this, realizing that they are not their own, but "are bought with a price," (1 Corinthians 6:20) will not give grudgingly. They will only regret that they could not give more. They will first give themselves: "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)
And in giving themselves, they give all.
What a contrast this is to the popular ways of raising means in vogue at the present time. What efforts are many times put forth to induce professed Christians and worldlings to give. What artifices are used to make them believe that they are getting in some way the worth of their money here, in fun or in suppers, in prizes won and bazaars, or in some other way.
All these ways are contrary to the spirit of divine benevolence. The people gave and gave willingly of their very best. So God gave His only begotten Son. That which is bestowed grudgingly upon the cause of God is not a gift. The Lord does not need it, and it is of no advantage to the one who thus bestows it.
In his second epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul makes the grace of Christ the grand spring of all Christian giving. Giving that is prompted by anything else is not Christian giving. As an incentive for them to give liberally, the apostle said: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
The plan of salvation begins and ends with a gift. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) "[Christ] gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:14)
And when the work of redemption shall have been completed, the saints will share a glorious immortality as the free gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This consideration should incite to prompt and cheerful giving. Indeed, it will lead to such giving on the part of every soul who feels the worth of the Saviour's love.
Surely it is a slight thing to give the temporal riches which come from God in the first place, and belong to Him, when He so freely gives to us eternal riches. "The riches of His grace, (Ephesians 1:7; 2:7) is an expression often used by the apostle Paul. But the grace of God is a gift, and consists wholly in giving; we are exhorted to be "good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Peter 4:10)
The Spirit of willingness to give is a grace, and a manifestation of the grace of God. (See 2 Corinthians 8:1-5) A converted church must be a liberal church. A revival that does not increase the contributions of a church is not the right kind of a revival; for those who, like the brethren in Macedonia, first give themselves to the Lord, will, like them, abound in liberality, even in deep poverty. (See 2 Corinthians 8:1-5) This is further proved by the experience of the people in the time of Hezekiah. (See 2 Chronicles 30 and 31, comparing especially chapter 30:18-20 and 31:4-11)
The great lesson which God would teach men, and which man needs to learn, is that all belongs to God. From Him all came, to Him all belongs. He created them by His mighty power; they were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus. He who recognizes this, and truly yields himself to God through Christ, has learned a great lesson.
All service for God will then be willing service; all our offerings will be willing offerings. Selfishness will be swallowed up in love. He will be happy, not because he thinks of self, but because he has forgotten self in his love for God and for souls for whom Christ died. He will not ask: "How little can I do and be accepted?" but: "How can I render back to God the least of all His mercies?"--Signs of the Times, March 25, 1889--Exodus 25, 35, 36
E.J. Waggoner