Scripture: 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. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
Exodus 25:1-9 ESV [Click here to read the entire chapter.]
Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, Yahweh commands Moses to take Aaron and his two eldest sons (Nadab and Abihu) and seventy of the elders and worship from afar, after which Yahweh tells Moses to alone come near him for instruction. Moses obeys and recounts all of Yahweh’s words to the people, who agree to submit to the Lord’s precepts. The following day, Moses erects at the foot of Mount Sinai an altar and twelve pillars representing Israel’s tribes. He then consecrates the blood covenant between God and Israel by presenting a burnt offering of oxen to the Lord and sprinkling their blood on the people.
Moses next takes Aaron, his sons, and the seventy elders up Mount Sinai, where they sup in the presence of a form of the Lord. Afterward, Yahweh calls Moses to draw near him, but this time to receive the Ten Commandments. After six days, accompanied by Joshua, Yahweh again calls for Moses alone from the cloud of his divine presence, where Moses will stay in close communion with the Lord for forty more days. All the while, the nation witnesses from afar the Lord’s glory presented like a devouring fire at the top of the mountain.
Today’s reading is the first of a series of pericopes detailing the Lord’s instructions to Moses regarding constructing the tabernacle (with its accoutrements), making the priestly garments, and consecrating Aaron and his sons (Chapters 25-31). In this passage, Yahweh first commands Moses to speak to the people and ask them to offer a heartfelt contribution to the Lord for all the materials needed to complete the tabernacle and its sanctuary (the latter of which will serve as a dwelling place for the Lord). Secondly, the Lord cautions Moses to follow the exact pattern he will show Moses for its construction.
Takeaway: The precious metals, colored yarns, and fine linens would have come from the booty Israel obtained from the Egyptians, spurred by God’s ten plagues, which created a sense of dread and good riddance in them (12:35-36). Yet, here, Yahweh graciously appeals to the Israelite men to give as their hearts move them rather than command them to rightfully give back to Yahweh a portion of what he has gifted them.
Looking through the lens of the New Covenant, we see the climax of this gift exchange when God offers the priceless gift of his Son with the invitation to all humankind to respond as their hearts move them to receive Christ, the final tabernacle, and give back to the Father a life no longer conformed to the patterns of this world but surrendered to his good, pleasing, and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
Indeed, as John the Gospeler proclaims, the incarnate Christ (the embodied Word) expresses the fullness and perfection of the tabernacle: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 ESV). And when Christ returns, the saints will freely dwell with him and the Father in the consummate tabernacle of the new eternal creation: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3 ESV).
Our takeaway? We, the people of God, are also tabernacles in which the Holy Spirit (John 14:7; 1 Corinthians 13:6) and Christ dwell in us (Galatians 2:20). And like the men of Israel, God calls us to express our gratitude to him and his Son through the freewill offering of our gifts (time, talent, and treasures) to grow his kingdom that he might expand his dwelling place to welcome the least, the last, and the lost into his kingdom to the glory of his name.
Our part? First, we must give without compunction but with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7). Second, as Paul adds to his point that Christ lives in us, we must live by faith in Christ in all aspects of life, for our works will not save us. Still, they evidence a living faith (James 2:17) founded in love and gratitude for the One who gave his all for us. Third, just as the tabernacle would serve as a place of worship, so must our bodies as the tabernacles of Christ. Thus, Paul appeals to the Roman church to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God as their spiritual worship (Romans 12:1).
In sum, the suffering servant who laid down his life to bring us new and eternal life calls us to gratitude, generosity, and sacrificial service to benefit others. When we do, the Word who dwelled among us in truth and grace (John 1:14) will shine through our tabernacles, drawing others to him for his glory.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, the incarnated and final tabernacle, who laid down his life so that we might multiply his dwelling place to provide shalom rest to a weary world marred by sin. And we thank you for the Holy Spirit, who transforms us into your Son’s tabernacles through spiritual worship as living sacrifices. Still, we sometimes struggle to persevere in this sanctification process. So please help us submit to your Holy Spirit to mature in our love for you, expressed by gratitude, generosity, and sacrificial service to the least, the last, and the lost. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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