The first 7 verses in chapter 36 reminded me that God has a plan and He has also equipped people with specific talents and gifts to have His plan fulfilled.
"So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” (verse 1)
Not only were these people skilled at what they did, but they did they work just as the Lord commanded. They may have had different ideas for the outcome, or maybe thought that their way might be better, but they were able put their own desires to the side in order to execute and complete the task as commanded. Not always easy to do when we are skilled at something!
The remaining passage pretty much goes into detail as to how everything was made. I will be honest, I found this to be a difficult read, but then I realized that not only did God prepare the people with the ability to perform the task, but He also provided the finest details within the task. When we want to do God's will, we just need to be willing to do so. He will equip us and also provide for us the finer details when the time is necessary. We just need to trust in Him!
Another thing that I took from today's reading is that not only will God provide, but He will provide more than what we need. Moses had to even command the Hebrews to stop bringing their offerings as they had received more than enough for constructing the sanctuary. (Maybe they wanted to show God their thankfulness for His forgiveness after that calf incident)
A side note in my Bible said this about the ark which I found to be a good point:
"The Ark of the Testimony was a special chest made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold; on top was the atonement cover. It was placed in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle and later in the Most Holy Place of the temple. The ark's position in the centre of the tabernacle symbolized God's presence in the middle of the people. Blood sprinkled on the atonement cover symbolized God's forgiveness for the sins of his people through sacrificial blood. Jesus, the perfect high priest, offered himself as the perfect and final sacrifice to atone for all sins of all time, thus replacing the sprinkling that could not deal effectively with sin."
God should be in the centre of our lives just as the ark was in the centre of the tabernacle. God was with the Hebrews then just as He is with us today. I thank Jesus for taking my place on the cross by offering himself as the perfect and unblemished final sacrifice. May my life reflect that appreciation!
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36:6&7
Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
How often do we here this in church today? "Stop giving, you've given too much already and we have more than enough to do the job"
We often think of the Israelites as complainers and people who keep turning away from God after being blessed, but here they came through with flying colours.
After hearing do much about the Israelites failures and faithlessness, it was a nice change to hear about their generosity - they gave so much they were told to stop! Have we've given to that extent?
Much of this was a repeat of what we've already read by with one change. The first time it was God's instructions for what to do, the second time was revealing the fact that the Israelites followed those instructions to the letter.
One of the things that stood out for me was that all of these amazing things were already available to them. It's not like they could just run to the mall to buy them. God caused the Egyptians to be generous with the Israelites as they were leaving but it's hard to imagine all of the wealth being brought with them. I guess it's also an illustration that God already has provided us with everything we need, we just need to obey Him to have it fit together in the best way.
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