EXODUS – GOD’s MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE of ISRAEL FROM EGYPT – Chapter THIRTY FIVE & THIRTY SIX

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire  

Complete Study of Exodus by pastor Chuck Smith 

EXODUS 35 & 36: “ARE YOU BUILDING FOR THE LORD?” – by Albert Lopez, Facebook video. 

EXODUS 35 ~ ~ 

EXODUS 35:1-3
Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 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. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: These are words that always point back to whom we have to give account to, the One who’s eyes matter the most and whose opinion is above anyone else’s.

Notice that Moses did not lash out at them although he could have because:
While he was in fellowship with the LORD, and I’m sure listening and writing attentively every word that God spoke; meanwhile the people probably with too much time on their hands and not looking for fellowship with the true God, made up a god (little g) in their hearts, their minds and hands (Aaron’s) and so they materialized it and brought it to life in a sense through the golden calf.

Moses however had been with God and was radiant and this kind of light scared the people because they had been in darkness and their eye as well as the rest of them was dark. But here comes the light! A picture of Christ who is the light of the world coming down to shed light to this darkness.

Moses was confident in speaking to the people because God had reassured him earlier, as we read, by giving him more revelation of who God is. The fact that God was willing to have mercy instead of bringing total destruction I’m sure motivated Moses to do the same with his fellow man.

When you spend time with God as He did with Moses, he sheds light on things that are going on around us.
God also gives us instructions on how to react, what to do and what not to do. Other’s will be able to know that you have been with God. 

After Peter and John were arrested, we read in: 

ACTS 4:13

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

Just as these two had been with Jesus; Israel could see that Moses too had been with God; contrary to what they believed which was that God might have destroyed and killed Moses; they were wrong.

No, Moses had a level of intimacy with God that they themselves could have had too but they were too busy with their Golden Calf to notice that there was something great happening up on Mount Sinai. If only they were to look up to God and not to themselves for fulfillment.
We as the church sometimes make this same mistake and we need to repent if this is the case, and look to God who as we learned in EXODUS 34 where it says that He is the Lord who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Why because He is the source of all these things.

We also, along with world of unbelievers, need to listen to the warning that went along with this revelation; God says he forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. There is forgiveness but that is only found by believing and trusting your life in our Lord Jesus.
You are to have a holy day, a Sabbath: This section of Scripture that deals with worship begins with a reminder of the law of the Sabbath. This was the sign of the covenant, the most visible and regular indication that one was committed to the covenant.

For us as the church, we are committed to the Lord of the Sabbath. We are to find our rest in Him and be strengthened by Him, ready to face what may come.

EXODUS 35:4-9
4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying: 5 ‘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: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

This is what the Lord commanded: Notice that Moses always points to what the Lord wants. He is the leader, and he could have pointed to what he wanted, but many times with different leaders, it will not match up with what God wants. We read later on that it was what the Lord commanded to be done through Moses:
Moses understood in his heart and so should we church. Speaking of Jesus in:

COLOSSIANS 1:16-17
for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Notice Moses didn’t say, “Well God I hear Your perfect plan, I know it’s impeccable and lacks nothing, but You know Lord, things have changed. Culture has changed, the thinking of people has changed. We need to be not so archaic and old fashioned”.
No Moses stood on the Word of God; knowing that that as it says in:

PSALM 138:2b
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

He remembered that God said to Him that He was the Great I am not the Whoever you want me to be God. As the Golden Calf gives us the example.
Bring these as the Lord’s offering: gold, silver and bronze along with all the other costly materials. One thing to note here is that the people who brought the prized and costly material contributed them willingly. Not only did they bring them willingly, but they also worked willingly as we will read later on.

EXODUS 35:10-19
10 ‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; 13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; 14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’ 

Make all that the Lord commanded: I mentioned they worked willingly but they also worked according to the God-given skills in design, execution, and teaching. They had both the will and the skills needed for the work that the Lord commanded.

Just like God gave these men these skills to be able to carry out the work that needed to be done, He has given the church – his people, gifts to carry out the work that needs to be done.
The question is: Are you using those gifts for Him or are you using those gifts for you? Are you building for God or are you building for self? Are you interested in His Kingdom reigning or You reigning in your own kingdom?

EPHESIANS 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (See also EPH 3:10-12).

Remember it’s His grace alone that carries out all the work. But the good works are only accomplished in Jesus through the fruit of the Holy Spirit; so, this means we must submit to God and resist the temptation to rely on our own works.

EXODUS 20-22
20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord.

The congregation departed: You might say, So they left because he finished speaking, right? Well yes, but they also left with clear instructions and as a result the ones who were “stirred up in the hearts” and in the Spirit, acted on what they heard. Remember the Bible calls us to “be doers of the words and not just hearers” (JAMES 1:21). The question is if you are only a hearer could it be that your heart is not stirred up and if it is stirred up it’s for the wrong reason or towards the wrong object?

If it is, go wrestle with God in prayer asking him to give you the right attitude and right motivation/motives to be a builder for Him and His kingdom.
I’m sure some of these people were not sure how they could contribute but in prayer and willingness of heart to be a part of God’s plan. God revealed to them what or where it was where they were needed.

We can see that the result is a positive result as everyone who had this heart for God and His work brought an offering or contribution to the Lord for the work of the tent meeting, the services and for the holy garments. So, we can see it didn’t have to be for all three aspects or for one specific one but it was some sort of heart-felt contribution

EXODUS 35:23-29
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. 24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the Lord’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 26 And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. 27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, 28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the Lord, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.

“…every man…” Just like no one is excluded from receiving the free gift of salvation, no one was excluded from contributing to the building of the structure for God’s glory. Now the Israelites could willingly participate in building this structure for which God had provided the necessary materials and even skills for the workers. This is God’s goodness and provision at work, church!

Who had in his possession, who could make, who can spin with their hands (women), leaders bringing stones - All of this of their own free will. God has not made us robots, but he has made us new creations with new hearts and new desires. If He hasn’t done this work in you, you need to be made new to be a builder for God!

One other point to make here is that the things offered to God by the individuals were valuable to them. Some offered possessions, some offered skills, some offered hands. With this they were saying (and we should also be saying): God my money, my energy my time, my sleep, my sacrifice, any inconvenience is worth it for You because You are worth it! We should also recognize that all these things we just listed out are all God’s to do His good pleasure.
Let’s talk about the worship team here at SHINE BRIGHT Church and the sacrifices they make:

They sacrifice their time, even when it’s not convenient; they offer up their skills and cultivate them, they work together for the purpose of GOD’s glory – they lead the fellowship in the worship of the Living GOD!
Here is a passage to help us understand that if we have the right foundation which is Christ, then our works will endure because they endure through Him.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:12-13
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.

With what motives and with what heart are we working or building for the Lord?

EXODUS 35:30-35
30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. 34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.

“The Lord has called…” He has filled him with the Spirit: Because the Lord had called Bezalel and filled him with God’s Spirit, he would be able to do with excellence what the Lord had commanded.
We to can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do whatever He has called us to do with excellence for His Glory!

EXODUS 36 ~ ~ 

EXODUS 36:1-2
And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.

The People Give More than Enough:

“Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work.”
Every skillful person: So it wasn’t just about Bezalel and Oholiab, even though those are the names that we read here. God has made all his children skillful people. Even if you think you are not, God says you are! Be encouraged to contribute and bring your best to God.
Paul puts it this way speaking to the Corinth church about the body of Christ of which Christ is the Head!

1 CORINTHIANS 12:22-26
On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.

Remember saint, in PSALM 139:14 we are encouraged to give thanks to the Lord because we recognize that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

EXODUS 36:3-4
3 And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing,

Bringing freewill offerings every morning: This speaks of a continual action. I think the Spirit stirred up these people’s hearts so much that they were not going to stop until God told them to stop. Such was their grateful heart and so it should be with us. God’s mercies are new every morning shouldn’t our gratitude be new every morning? God doesn’t take a day of with his mercy otherwise we would be consumed. Should you and I stop being grateful to the one who provides grace to us?

EXODUS 36:5-7
5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.
There is a saying: Teamwork makes the dream work!

The only thing is that this was not a dream that someone envisioned, this wasn’t even our dream. This was God’s purpose and vison that He carried out in a work through the people for their good and His glory!

The people are bringing much more than enough: That is much better to hear than there isn’t enough to go around or to meet all the needs, right?
God doesn’t want one or two people to be doing all the work. He wanted everyone to enjoy the Sabbath, but He also wanted everyone to work with one another which ultimately was working for God with God’s heart.

The result: Thus, the people were restrained from bringing any more:
That word, ‘restrained’ in Hebrew is kala, meaning “to hold them back, refuse, withhold”.
I can see Moses or whoever was in charge of collecting these contributions, saying I appreciate it and I’m thankful for your heart but as you can see the Lord has provided graciously and there is no need for more; but if there is a need in the future you can be the first to sign up to meet that need!

EXODUS 36:8-38
8 Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 12 Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.

14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 19 Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of badger skins above that.
20 For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 

21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two tenons for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 

27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 And they were coupled at the bottom and [e]coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards. 31 And he made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. 

33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 35 And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them. 37 He also made a screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.

All the skillful men…made the tabernacle: So, the people have the material and now the work is needed so let’s get to work!

Even though we again see the name Bezalel and read He made them this was a team effort. It says All the skillful men. Please remember brother and sister saint you are part of the church and part of the body. You are valued but you also need to be willing! God will enable you; as you have heard before He doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. He equips you and enables you!

There is so much detail that went into building the tabernacle and also the furniture; but we serve a God that is perfect up to the last minimal part that we might overlook because we tend to overlook things; but He in his Omniscient eyes does not. Ask the Lord to make you willing if you are not. If you are willing but you are unsure whether you should be spinning linen or helping with the curtains or the loops or the clasps or the covering for the tent in a matter of speaking. Ask the Lord where am I needed what have you giving me that I can give back to you by building for you Lord and bringing glory to your name!