1 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”
2 And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. ……
8 And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.
10 He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.
14 He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth 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 outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. 19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.
REFLECTION
Read the passage slowly. To get a broader picture, quickly read the whole chapter.
The central symbolic meaning of the tabernacle was as a visible sign of God’s presence with His people. Note here the use of only the best and most expensive materials in its construction. God deserves – and requires – the best we can provide.
PRAYER
Take this old hymn “I gave my life for thee” as God speaking to you. Substituting thee for your own name. Listen and respond to God. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TjUsi7X28U
I gave my life for thee (insert your name), My precious blood I shed,
That thou might ransomed be, And quicken from the dead;
I gave, I gave My life for thee, What hast thou given for Me?
My Father’s house of light, My glory circled throne,
I left for earthly night, For wanderings sad and lone;
I left, I left it all for thee, Hast thou left aught for Me?
I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitterest agony, to rescue thee from hell;
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, What hast thou borne for Me?
4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 5 Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breast piece. ……
10 “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: ……
20 Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. 24 Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25 And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26 All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart 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.
Construction of the Tabernacle
30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.
REFLECTION
Read the passage slowly.
Bezalel is filled with the Holy Spirit to work on the tabernacle. The people contribute to its construction out of their own free will (vv21, 22, 26). A community builds the tabernacle, not an elite handful; a community creates a house for God. All the people contribute, not just the leaders. Everyone who has a heart for it is part of it. It is a spirituality of the many, not the few, that makes it possible for God to have a home among his people.
PRAYER
Would your heart be “stirred” and your spirit “willing” to give your gold jewelry and silver flatware to your place of worship (the church) to be melted down to make a Communion set or altar pieces? When you were considering this possibility, how much unwillingness did you feel? Ask God to speak to you how He is at work within you, and who He is calling you to be.
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
REFLECTION
To get a broader feel for what’s happening, you may start reading from 33:12.
God directed Moses to restore the covenant revelation by recopying the Ten Commandments on two new stone tablets. God both provided and wrote on the first tablets, but Moses provided and God wrote on the second set of tablets.
God also revealed His character to Moses. Moses experienced the character of God in a dramatic way. This was summed up in one of the Old Testament’s most famous confessions:
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.(vv6-7)
God’s compassion and love must be seen against the background of His obligation to punish sin. The God who “will by no means clear the guilty” is first of all the God who displays overwhelming compassion and grace. His loving, gracious, and giving character do not “cancel out” His righteousness. Because of the work of Jesus, the righteousness of God is satisfied and the grace and mercy of God are righteously given.
Moses’ first, and primary reaction was simply worship. When we come to know who God is and all His great love for us, the most practical thing it makes us do is worship Him more than ever.
How well do you know and appreciate who God is? How compelled are you to worship and obey God? Read vv6-7 slowly a few times, ponder deeply what His character mean to you. Have a conversation with God for clarification, correction or acknowledgement and thanksgiving.
