Bible Study on Exodus 25, verses 1 to 9, a voluntary offering

 

Exodus 25:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3  And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4  And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, 5  And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, 6  Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7  Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8  And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9  According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Here is an important point about an offering. It was to be given willingly. Voluntary giving is the basis for God’s approval of an offering.

2Corinthians 9:7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Giving because you have been guilted into it or because it is your “Christian duty” does not meet with God’s approval although it does satisfy man’s need for a sense of ritual and obligation.

2Corinthians 8:7 ¶  Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8  I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 10  And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 11  Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. 12  For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 13  For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14  But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: 15  As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

Almsgiving, charitable giving, degenerated into a show and a display as it often does today as big companies have pictures taken of their executives giving oversized checks to some charity as an act of “goodwill”. Wealthy individuals do the same.

Matthew 6:1 ¶  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

All giving to the Lord must be of a willing heart and not determined by another person who wants to guilt you into something.

What we are about to witness is remarkable in its detail. As Matthew Henry pointed out we are not given any dimensions for the earth or the universe but this tabernacle is described in much detail using quite a few words and verses. Certainly, this must mean something that we are overlooking.