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Good Sunday morning dear friends.
Have you ever stood under a waterfall and just let the water cascade down upon you? Incredibly refreshing isn’t it?
Have you ever experienced what you felt was a Spiritual water-fall? An outpouring of God’s blessing upon you that was nearly overwhelming?
This is what is happening in these Exodus chapters. Today let’s look especially at the first few verses of Exodus chapter 36.
Moses had brought to the people, a unique opportunity, an unbelievable invitation from God. As slaves, they were accustomed to the whip and shouted demands of their slave-masters, but Moses brought them an invitation, to participate with God, in constructing something never before seen by human eyes. God called it the “Tent of Meeting”! He had said “There I will meet with you and speak to you…and the place will be consecrated by My Glory!” (Ex. 29:43) And if that wasn’t stunning enough, God had added “They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them.“ (Ex. 29:46)
This amazing invitation from God hinged on one thing… the condition of their hearts. Did they want God among them? Did they want a place, in the midst of their tent city, where God would meet with them and their leaders? Or, would they prefer God keep a safe distance away? It’s a fair question for us today isn’t it…no matter where we live across North America or the world!
It would be “those who were willing, whose hearts moved them”, who would bring from their Egyptian bounty, offerings of gold, silver, precious gems and many other things, which could be used to fabricate and construct this God designed “Tent of Meeting”. It was time for every person to check their heart. That Egyptian booty in the corner of their tents… how did it get there? Who did it belong to? Why did God move in the hearts of Egyptians, so they willingly gave their bounty to the fleeing slaves that Passover night?
Each of us can put ourselves into the picture, can’t we. Those cars in our drive-ways, the houses in which we live, the clothes in our closets, the technologies in our pocket and on our shelves, the furniture and appliances in our houses, the money in our bank accounts and retirement savings… how have each of us been able to gather it all over the years? Why would God bless us with more than the absolute essentials for our survival? What is it’s ultimate purpose?
May I give you three powerful Scriptures I urge us to ponder in response to these questions?
First… 1 Timothy 6:6-10 “But GODLINESS with CONTENTMENT is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it, but if we have food and clothing, we will be content…for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…”
Oh my, there’s lots of profound truth in that statement isn’t there?!
Second… Matt. 6:8.21,24 “…your heavenly Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him… where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… No one can serve two masters… you cannot serve both God and money.”
Those are the words Jesus spoke in His ‘sermon on the mount’ and they call us to consider fundamental life priorities, don’t they. Do we really believe God knows our need better than we do?
Thirdly…Deuteronomy 8 “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God… Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God…“ (8:10-14).
Look around my friends, and let’s look deeply into our own hearts. We live in a time of remarkable prosperity in America and many parts of the world. GDP is up, return on investments are up, interest rates are down, unemployment rates are down. Those are not political statements, they are truthful economic statements, as compared to other times in our history. And in every nation of the world, this fundamental life principal is true… in good times, people’s hearts are drawn away from God and toward the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of that which wealth can buy. Do you see it in the region of our country where you live? Do you see it in your own family, and maybe in yourself?
So it should not be difficult for each of us to place ourselves in Exodus chapter 36 and look deeply in our hearts, to ask ourselves, ‘what would I have done’? ‘What have I done thus far in my lifetime in response to God’s invitations’?
Look closely…in Exodus 36 the response of some of the people…those with willing hearts…was amazing!
“…and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him, came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the ‘Tent of Meeting’…” (Ex. 35:21)
Have you ever been part of an in-gathering of resources for a work of God like this?
In Haiti, where I grew up with my parents, as a son of missionaries, and where, a generation later, my wife Dawn and I and our daughter April served as missionaries…, the Haitian churches, each year would hold a First Fruits Festival. Usually a weekend of special thanksgiving to God services, in which the Christians would each bring something as a ‘first fruits offering’, intended to be used in some special kingdom advancing project, for God’s glory.
Poor Haitian people would bring a goat, or a chicken or stalk of bananas or coffee beans or whatever they grew as farmers, as their ‘first fruits’ thanks to God. They were acknowledging God’s direct involvement in His supply of their need, and His blessing of them.
Some would bring a dress or men’s suit, if they were a tailor; or a chair or table if they were a carpenter. Do you get the idea? Can you imagine what both the inside and outside of the little church building looked like on that ‘First Fruits’ Sunday each year? In French or Creole it was called the “Fete Moison”…harvest festival, and it was a remarkable experience, that profoundly shaped me as a boy, and later as an adult missionary. Now remember, Haiti is the poorest per capita country in Latin America! It was from their mud-walled, grass roofed shacks these dear people would walk, bringing their ‘first fruits offering‘ to the LORD God! And they brought it with sacrificial joy!! Can you see it my friends… in fact can you HEAR it? All the noise of those animals tied up all around the church, as worship was lifted up before God that day!
That gives you a little picture of what happened in Exodus 36:1-7. As the skilled workmen began their careful craftsmanship of the things God had described to Moses up on the mountain, other people kept bringing their offerings, until something unbelievable happened. Do you see it in verse 7? “So the skilled craftsmen…left their work and said to Moses, ‘the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.’ Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to bring anything else as an offering…and so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they had brought was more than enough…” (Ex. 36:4-7).
What???? Did you hear that? So I have a question. . .
Have you ever experienced standing under such a waterfall of the outpouring of God’s people, in response to God’s majesty and goodness? Some years ago I sensed God stir a financial principal in my spirit…see if you agree with it: “God’s work, done God’s way, in God’s time, will have God’s provided resources.” Now ponder that carefully and see if it is evidenced in God’s Word multiple times? Here in Exodus 36 is certainly one of those times!
Has that been your Christian journey experience, both personally and in the churches you’ve been part of? Is that part of the story of your family? Isn’t it exhilarating to watch God provide what HE knows is needed, for His people to accomplish His plan & purpose with His resources…in His perfect time?
Does God know the need…your need, my need, your church’s need… better than you and I and even better than your Pastor or church leaders? Does God have the perfect timing in mind of WHEN, and does God know HOW He wants certain things to happen, which will require His resources to accomplish? YES!!! Can we trust Him…YES!!!
Does God have MORE than enough resources to accomplish His global purposes? If YES is the answer to all these than what’s the potential problem… it’s the human heart isn’t it? It’s the almost irresistible attraction of money and what it can buy. And what’s the antidote to the cancer? Seeing it ALL as His… every penny, that HE has the authority to use for HIS glory at all times! Is that right friends?
Now what do you think was the experience of those people who refused, either to bring offerings from their Egyptian booty, or use their talents to help build the Tent of Meeting? Do you suppose resentment and bitterness began to grow in their hearts? In a couple of weeks I’m going to show you how the roots of bitterness which started here, bear very harmful fruit, only a short while after Exodus 36. It’s an important lesson friends and once again calls us to ask the question “how’s my heart today”?
The remainder of Exodus 36 is the description of HOW Holy Spirit anointed Bezalel, Oholiab and the skilled workers, both men and women, began transforming the offerings of gold and jewelry into the various God designed aspects of the “Tent of Meeting”. Can you put yourself there, alongside some of those workers and imagine what a remarkable sense of privilege it was to be working on the Ark of the Covenant or the Veil or the Lampstands or the Priestly garments? Can you imagine the work was carried on with a hush of holiness and a profound sense of awe?
Now let your mind consider what gifts and talents God has entrusted to you, and how He has led you to use those talents, for His glory in your lifetime? And what about the resources He has entrusted to you and how God has led you to use those resources, for the accomplishment of His purposes around the world? And what about right now…wherever you are across North America?
What is God doing NOW, this week, in your life, your family, your church, for His glory and how is He involving you and me, strategically?
Can you imagine the sense of anticipate Mr. Bezalel and Oholiab and all the other skilled workers awakened with each morning, as they went to their work? Can you imagine the sense of joy with which the people brought their offerings? As we head to worship this Sunday, oh may this same joy, this same sense of participating with God in what HE wants to accomplish in our world, fill us with a sense of great anticipation and excitement!
Oh God, thank you. . .
Click to read today’s chapter: Exodus 36. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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