Exodus 35:1 - 9

In chapter 35 the prep work is done. All the directions have been given to Moses and it is time to put God’s plan into action. This chapter is divided into three distinct sections I am going to look at the first two sections in this devotion and the third section the next time. Verses 1 – 3 deals again with the rules about the Day of Worship. Verses 4 – 9 deals with the peoples contributions of their wealth. The third section deals with the craftsmen for the tent this section extends from verse 35:10 – 36:2.

We have in the first part of chapter 35 another emphasis on the rules of worship. At this point in our devotions you should have begun to see a theme when it comes to the Sabbath. It is a day set aside as holy. A day that is to be a day of rest. A precedence was set by God in the opening verses of Genesis when where we find that God rested on the seventh day. We have seen it mentioned a number of times in Exodus and we see it once again mentioned here. This will not be the last time we see the Sabbath emphasized. All of scripture is important and one thing should not be considered less important than another, but when something like this is mentioned so many times we must take note and see what is being said and understand why it is being emphasized. When you considered what our world is like we see that we are a 24/7 society. Society as a whole goes directly against God’s directive by not having a day that is set aside as rest. We then wonder why we are so warn out.

In the second section sets out the contribution of the Israelites for the making of the tent of meetings. This section corresponds with Exodus 25:1-7. Something I want you to notice here there is not set amount that the people are to give. It says in verse 4, “This is what the LORD has commanded: Choose something of your own to give as a special contribution to the LORD. Let everyone who is willing bring this kind of contribution to the LORD….” It then spells the items that God listed as the materials to be used for the building of the tent.

This is what I want you to notice in that section. This is free will. There is no manipulation no begging. God simply said to give something. No specifications just something. We also see the words who is willing. This means that God was not wanting someone to give grudgingly. He wanted it to come from a joyful and giving heart.

The Application

I have said this time and time again. Each time that the Sabbath is mentioned in scripture I will speak of the fact that you need to create a day that is a day of rest once a week. We are not better than God. God rested we need to do that. For some of us Sunday is not a day of rest because we are teaching and ministering on that day. Then set another day aside. Believe me I need to hear this as much as some of you.

When it comes to giving to the ministry. Whichever ministry it is you should be giving from a willing and joyful heart. Yes there is talk in scripture about tithe and we will talk about that when we come to it, but the first thing is to come and give willingly something. God is more interested in ones heart than the amount that they give.