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At the beginning of this section, God gives a stern warning:
“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” (Ex. 35:2)
God doesn’t care what work you want to do, even if it’s for Him. He says that on the Sabbath, we are not to work. No matter how important you think your work is, it’s not important enough to break the Sabbath to accomplish.
Yeshua told us that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). People who never rest get burned out; the quality of their work suffers. Workaholics are difficult people to be around.
God even told Israel to turn off their kilns and smelters on the Sabbath:
“You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.” (Ex. 35:3)
Moses was telling the people what God wants from them. He doesn’t accept just any kind of gift. He asked for specific items. The people of Israel already had many of the items God asked for the Tabernacle.
The covering of the top of the Tabernacle was made of goat hair. When it gets wet, it swells and is waterproof. When it’s dry, it allows air to escape to regulate the temperature in the Tabernacle.
Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Khur (Hur), of the tribe of Yehudah (Judah) and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan did not do this work all by themselves. They were given special knowledge to supervise and build the Tabernacle. This was a unique structure that would never be built again.
They didn’t start this work until after Moses received the law a second time.
“Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the LORD’s contribution; and every man who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.” (Ex. 35:24)
No gold was given at this point, just silver and bronze. They also called for acacia wood. I am not familiar with all the properties of acacia wood, but it seems to have been abundant in the area at the time.
Women did a lot of the work of making the Tabernacle, particularly in those elements to beautify the Tabernacle, including spinning yarn and linen thread.
The Tabernacle was a community effort. When the people passed the second test, by being patient while Moses was on the mountain for the second 40-day period, they were ready to start building the Tabernacle.
Everyone’s hearts were stirred and they went to work for these two men. He wanted them to be completely involved in building something for Him. God could have built it Himself since it was going to be His home. Why did He want them to do it? Because He wanted to be their God and He wanted them to be His people. They built Him a home so He could live with them.
It’s a beautiful thing for us to understand that God didn’t give up on them after the people of Israel failed the first test.
Whether you are skilled in many things like Bezalel and Oholiab or in small things, those skills come from God and they were of use in contributing to the beauty of God’s Tabernacle.
Reader: Jeff. Speaker: Richard. Summary: Tammy.