Exodus 35:1-36:7
Introduction
I don't know about you, but when I first had contact with the Old Testament - the first times I really tried to read it - one of the things that impressed me was the amount of repetition.
There are texts that are almost identical, and I didn't understand why they were there twice. Are these two versions of the same text that have been taped together? - this is a hypothesis sometimes presented by skeptical intellectuals. But as Christians, who believe that the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach us and therefore, if there is repetition, there is a reason.
The reason I talk about this is because most of the content of today's text is present in the previous chapters of Exodus, and perhaps you were there a few weeks ago when we read these passages together.
For example:
This passage begins with an instruction for the Sabbath, very similar to what was said in chapter 31;
In chapter 31 we also see the designation of the two master craftsmen, Bezaleel and Oholiab, with a list of the skills they received from God;
And in chapter 25, we saw an instruction for the collection of offerings for the construction of the tabernacle, with a list of materials almost identical to what we see here.
Why is all this information repeated?
So that we can answer this question, we will look together at what is different in this text compared to the previous chapters because it is similar but not identical. And, by looking at the differences, we will be able to better understand repetition.
A Moment of Grace
The first difference from previous texts that gave instructions for the Tabernacle is that this is a different time in the history of the Hebrew people.
Because the same information presented in a different context has a different meaning.
So that we can clearly visualize, I will show here a small diagram of the book of Exodus:
I'll try to summarize very quickly:
God frees the people from slavery in Egypt, using great miracles
He guides them through the desert to Mount Sinai
At Mount Sinai he concluded a Covenant with the people, where these people were supposed to belong to him particularly among all the peoples of the earth.
Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive instructions, including very detailed instructions about the Tabernacle, God's dwelling place among the people, filled with symbols and images
And there, in a very anticlimactic way, this whole plan is interrupted by a great collective sin. In the absence of Moses, the people decide to do exactly what they should not do: build an idol. Make a god with your own hands.
Even more than before, it becomes evident that a holy and perfect God cannot dwell among sinful and imperfect people. It is a sin that has consequences, and perhaps the most serious is that the plan of the Tabernacle, of a habitation of God among the people, seems completely canceled.
But Moses intercedes with God, imploring his grace, and he asks that despite this sin, that God keeps his plan and that he comes and dwells among the people.
He said, “Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, let the Lord walk among us, even though it is a refractory people. Forgive our faults and our sins and take us as your possession.” (Ex 34:9)
And God chooses to be gracious! God chooses to renew the Covenant with his people.
What I'm trying to say with this summary is that what we had seen before, these are the passages we had seen before, were the instructions for the Tabernacle. Now, in chapter 35, we see the beginning of the execution. Between instruction and execution, we find rebellion and forgiveness.
The repetition of each material and element of the Tabernacle shows a restoration of the time before the rebellion. And it is no coincidence that the first thing mentioned here, the law of the Sabbath, is the last thing mentioned before the episode of the Golden Calf. It’s as if we were returning to the state before the Rebellion.
This repetition, even more in this order, shows that with Moses' intercession and God's forgiveness, the sin of the people did not change the original plan of the Tabernacle. And now it is carried out according to the instructions.
Expression of the Heart
And here we see the entire people participating in the making of the Tabernacle, either through offerings of materials or through their service.
This is another difference in this text compared to the previous chapters: there is a word repeated 14 times which can help us understand what mobilizes all the people to give and serve. The word is “heart”.
If you are having trouble finding the word heart 14 times (and, in fact, the 14th occurrence is in 36:8), it is because in this passage our translations use the word “skilled”, whereas the original text uses the expression “wise of heart”.
We can take 36:2 as an example:
And Moses called Bezaleel and Oholiab, and every wise man of heart, in the heart of whom the LORD had given wisdom to all those whom they heart brought him closer to the work, to do it; [Darby]
The repeated use of this word is voluntary: it is the generosity and service that come from the heart that allows them to participate in the work of the Lord.
Here we do not see simply a mechanical obedience of instructions. Their intelligence is involved, their emotions are involved, their will is involved. Because when we see “heart” written in a Hebrew text, it involves all that: intelligence, emotions, will.
Obviously, the people emerged from the episode of the Golden Calf, after sin and forgiveness, with a heart renewed. And it affected not just a few, but many people.
This can be seen by the presence of several people working, not just the two artisans designated at the beginning - they have also received in their hearts the ability to teach others. Men, women, who voluntarily put themselves at service in different ways.
We can also see this by the abundance of offerings, which is cited at the end of the text. The experience of grace deeply impacted the hearts of the people, God gave wisdom and mobilized their hearts so that they could participate, voluntarily, in his work.
The Present Work
We saw a few weeks ago that the Tabernacle, ultimately, is an image, a concrete but temporary manifestation of God's plan to dwell in communion with men.
It is an image of the work of Jesus, who comes to dwell among men, who gives his life to obtain forgiveness of sins, who acts as a perfect intercessor to reestablish communion with God.
And Jesus establishes his church - the body of believers, individually and corporately - as the new temple, the new tabernacle, of the presence of God.
There is this triple parallel, between the Tabernacle, the Body of Christ and the Church, as places where God dwells among men. And the Church here is not a place or an institution, but all the people reconciled with God through Jesus.
The work that is built today is the Church. It is the place where the presence of God dwells, and which continues to be built.
In the same way that the Hebrews are called to contribute to the construction of the Tabernacle, we are called to contribute to the construction of the new tabernacle, the Church - once again, we are talking about all believers.
It is he who gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as shepherds and teachers. He did this to train the saints for the tasks of service for the edification of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to the maturity of the adult, commensurate with the perfect stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
And when we talk here about “tasks of service for the edification of the body of Christ”, we talk about everything that makes the Church Church.
Growing as a follower of Jesus, learning from his character and behavior, and helping others to grow too;
Witnessing to the whole world the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, by our words and by our actions;
Loving and praising God, individually and together;
But all of these things have very practical, material, down-to-earth components.
If we want to grow as disciples, together as a community, usually this involves people working full time for the Church, and who must receive a salary.
If we want to praise God together and encourage each other, we need to have a place to gather. There is equipment that is used.
If we want to bear witness, through our words and actions, it will take up our time, and perhaps our resources too.
The fact that the current tabernacle is not a tent with well-defined equipment and supplies, but rather a group of people who live the Gospel together, does not mean that there are not very concrete needs. And we are invited to contribute to the building of this tabernacle by addressing these needs too.
And the two elements that we saw today can better guide us in our participation in this work.
A Moment of Grace
The first is that, just like the Hebrews in the desert, we must recognize that our service is only possible because we have been forgiven and welcomed by the grace of God. We were recruited neither by competition nor by application, but through the intercession of Jesus Christ.
This should speak to someone who feels incapable of serving God because you may think you have sinned too much in the past or that your faith is too small. Our participation in God's work is not an expression of superiority, but an expression of his grace towards us. It is his grace that leads us from instruction to execution, it is his grace that works in our hearts, it is his grace that we enable.
And if it’s true that there are certain life opportunities that will require us to let ourselves work rather than work. But I dare say that it is rather the exception in the life of a Christian that we are in a situation where we can neither serve with our time, nor serve with our material resources.
The New Testament leaves very little room for the possibility of someone in the church who has not received any gift. On the contrary, we see people who receive different gifts and resources and who express God's grace in different facets.
Each of you has received from God a particular gift of grace: may you exercise it in the service of others as a good steward of the infinitely varied grace of God. - 1 Peter 4:10 [Sower]
As managers of the resources he gave us. This should uplift the one who feels helpless - no, you have received a special gift of grace. And this should give humility to those who may possibly feel indispensable: let us not forget that we use in our service and in our generosity what we have received by grace.
Expression of the Heart
And secondly, we can also see that our service and generosity in God's work must be an expression of our renewed heart, not less, not more.
Yes, no less, no more.
No less: it is normal as an expression of welcome of God's grace leads us to generosity and service.
We see, in 2 Corinthians, the example of the churches of Macedonia:
we make known to you the grace that God has granted to the Churches of Macedonia: even in the midst of the great trial of their suffering, their overflowing joy and their deep poverty led them to demonstrate great generosity. I attest, they gave voluntarily according to their means, and even beyond their means, and it was with great insistence that they asked us for the grace to take part in this service in favor of the saints. They did more than we expected, for they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us, by the will of God. - 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
No more: generosity and service cannot be imposed by constraint.
As Paul later says, again in 2 Corinthians:
Let each one give as he has decided in his heart, without regret or constraint, for God loves those who give with joy. - 2 Corinthians 9:7
It would have been easier to solve the material needs of the church through contributions. A kind of tax, everyone needs to pay a certain amount and we don't talk about it anymore. Everyone needs to contribute a certain amount of service hours and we talk about it more. It might have been easier for the organization.
But that would not have been faithful to the model that we have in the Bible, to the model that we have in this text.
Constraint does not engage the heart. So we limit ourselves to trusting in the work that God will do in each person's heart. We limit ourselves to encouraging, in the same way that Paul does here in Corinthians. We limit ourselves to inviting everyone to give and contribute according to their heart, in the same way that God commands Moses to do.
And I want to invite us all, myself included, to continue to reflect on our service and contributions as an expression of our heart. And as an expression of the grace of God who saved us in Jesus. God will fulfill His plan - and by grace I have the opportunity and privilege to participate in it. When I welcome this grace in my heart, in my intelligence, in my feelings and in my will, in which direction am I led?