Today, we move into a very interesting, informative, picturesque portion of God’s Word. In chapters 25 through 30 we’ll see God give us the blueprint for the tabernacle including all of the worship pieces within it as well as the garments the priests shall wear. The details we will find here regarding each are astounding. God is definitely a God of details. A few years ago I saw a group that recreated everything exactly as it is described here and recreated the entire tabernacle. To the inch. It was fascinating to see it in real life, to perfect scale, and exactly how it would have looked like when God gave Moses these instructions over 3600 years ago.
In chapter 25 today we will see the specific instructions for building three things, the ark of the covenant, the golden lampstand and the table of showbread. You could spend an entire day on each of these and the beautiful correlation they hold to God and King Jesus. The Ark of the Covenant is the throne of God. It is where God will meet His people. It was the first to be made and was made out of acacia wood covered in gold and was basically a box with a lid (mercy seat). God commanded three things to be placed in the Ark, the ten commandment tablets, Aaron’s staff that budded and the golden pot that contained manna. Again, there is beautiful symbolism to each and every detail God gives for the Ark, but we’ll have to save that for another day.
The next piece mentioned to be in the tabernacle is the table of showbread. Basically, an acacia wood table with gold trim that would hold 12 loaves of bread. The table represents Christ and the bread His body, the 12 loaves represent each tribe of Israel. The bread would be changed each Sabbath and the bread that was removed would be eaten with wine by the priestly family in the Holy place. Sounds very similar to the observance of the Lord’s supper, yes?
The golden lampstand basically looked like a menorah but very tall. The lampstand represents Christ and that He is the light of the World. The lamp fuel (the oil) represents the Holy Spirit. When you and I study the Word of God, we meet around the person of Christ and it is the Holy Spirit that who takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. The lamps reveal the beauty of the lampstand. You'll see the lampstand again in Revelation in the throne room of Heaven. (Rev 1)
But what God spoke to me this morning was not about these Holy symbolic pieces but His instructions on how they should come into existence. How in the world would this poor slave nation that is roaming around out in the middle of the desert get gold, silver, bronze, fine linen and rare stones? And beyond that, how would the people be moved to give them even if they had them? Let’s observe.
“The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” Ex 25:1-8
Now God is very specific in asking for these materials, but where would the Israelites get such amazing treasures? To answer this, you must only go back 13 chapters in Exodus and recall the specifics of the night of the 10th and final plague, the Passover.
“The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” Ex 12:35-36
Backpay for 430 years of harsh and brutal slavery. God instructs the Israelites to simply ask their neighbors for their family heirlooms and God then prompts the Egyptians to mindlessly give away their most valuable possessions. Gold, silver, jewels, fine fabric, rare spices and oils, tanned leathers and exotic woods. Merely handed over at the behest of God.
So, the Israelites at this moment probably thought, “score! we’re rich! we just got tons of pirate treasure!” But God in His wisdom knew that the gifts He was giving them in this moment were to be used in the near future. To be used to construct the portable temple they would use to worship Him for the next 40 years as they wandered the desert. But the crux of our lesson today is the one sentence from our passage; specifically how God asks for it back. “From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”
How curious. God didn’t take it back. He didn’t issue a command for them to give it back. He didn’t send a TV preacher to con it out of them. He merely asked. Huh, how like God, right? He freely gives to us in abundance, providing for all of our daily needs and wants and then He simply asks us to give back out of what He has already given us. And folks, don’t miss the point that He already has plans for what we will give back to Him. But especially notice this part, how do the people know to give back to God? Their hearts tell them.
Last Friday night Margie and I were blessed to attend the annual Starlight Ball hosted by the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center. It’s a very nice fund-raising dinner held at the beautiful Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Margie and I are both extremely passionate about the ministry of offering our world a Christian perspective on unplanned pregnancies. The world today is spewing lies to women and their families, telling them that abortion and killing their babies is somehow a viable option to “fix their problem.” Today abortion is being given the politically correct treatment in our culture and I’m hearing terminology like “pregnancy reversal” and “population control.” So cold. Whether you want to be pregnant or not does not change the fact that God gives life and no one has the authority to take it away. The Fort Worth Pregnancy Center works with moms that are dealing with the stresses of an unwanted pregnancy. They counsel them, pray for them, share God’s Word with them and show them an ultrasound of their baby. A baby that is so real it has hands, feet and even their own little tiny heartbeat, completely separate from mom’s. A person. A life. They give them an option besides death, an option for life. The center is of course a non-profit so how do they pay for things like electricity, insurance, nurses, facebook ads and their mobile ultrasound truck that serves the community? It’s simple, God first gives gold, silver and treasures to the people and then He moves their hearts to give it back where and when He instructs them.
Folks, the pattern has not changed since Exodus chapter 25 in the Old Testament of God’s Word. God first gives to us. What He gives to us He has a purpose for. But instead of demanding it back or commanding us to give, He simply asks us to listen to our hearts. If you’re a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you, tied directly to your innermost heart. He speaks directly into your heart and you can hear Him. He makes requests and then He simply sits back to see your response. You see, He leaves the response up to us just as He did as He asked for the Egyptian treasure back from Israelites. And you might be wondering, “so just how did the Israelites respond to God’s request?” They did good.
“All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.” “all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 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, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.” Ex 35:29, 36:5-7
I love the last two words….and more. God first gives, and then He asks for a portion back to do His work on this planet. To share the life saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. To ensure that lives that have no hope, no joy and no purpose can find it through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. He makes the request to your heart just like He did to the Israelites. And they responded by giving more than could be used.
I pray today that God moves your heart and speaks into it. And as He does, no matter what His request may be, that you give back to Him generously from what He has already generously given to you. And more.
Be blessed my brothers and sisters.
Comments