I was reading in Exodus 35 and 36 when I found these striking passages:
Exodus 35:4-9: And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: 5 'Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. (NKJV)
Exodus 36:3-7: And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do." 6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done--indeed too much. (NKJV)
In this passage, God commanded His people to give of their resources in order to build and beautify His tabernacle--God's dwelling place among His people. The command was specific to a certain class of people: those with willing hearts. Notice that God didn't ask everyone to bring the same thing. Everyone brought an offering to benefit the tabernacle using what God had blessed them with.
Not only did every willing heart bring of what they had, but the craftsmen told Moses that the people brought too much! Can you imagine the offerings of wealth? Is there a lesson we can learn?
The Apostle Peter teaches that the Church (the people; not a building or institution) are a temple where God dwells, and each member is a living stone. He also teaches that we are to offer spiritual sacrifices:
1 Peter 2:5: ...You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
The Lord isn't necessarily asking us for gold or badgers' skins today (although I'd like to see some elder try to figure out what to do with a bundle of them!). What Christ does ask of us is that we use our lives to build and improve the New Temple, the Church of Christ:
Ephesians 4:11-12: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ... (NKJV)
Paul teaches us here that the offices of the Church are given to equip the saints (that's you and me) for the work of building up the Church. Often, we think it's the elders' or preachers' job to build the Church, but that's not what Paul teaches here. They help each member to join in this great work.
In closing, wouldn't it be great if the leadership of the Church had to restrain us from working in God's Kingdom? If they issued an announcement next Lord's Day morning, telling people to stop giving so much money, to quit volunteering for stuff, to slow down conversions so that we have enough room and mentors for new Christians. What a great problem to have!
Exodus 35:4-9: And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: 5 'Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. (NKJV)
Exodus 36:3-7: And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do." 6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done--indeed too much. (NKJV)
In this passage, God commanded His people to give of their resources in order to build and beautify His tabernacle--God's dwelling place among His people. The command was specific to a certain class of people: those with willing hearts. Notice that God didn't ask everyone to bring the same thing. Everyone brought an offering to benefit the tabernacle using what God had blessed them with.
Not only did every willing heart bring of what they had, but the craftsmen told Moses that the people brought too much! Can you imagine the offerings of wealth? Is there a lesson we can learn?
The Apostle Peter teaches that the Church (the people; not a building or institution) are a temple where God dwells, and each member is a living stone. He also teaches that we are to offer spiritual sacrifices:
1 Peter 2:5: ...You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
The Lord isn't necessarily asking us for gold or badgers' skins today (although I'd like to see some elder try to figure out what to do with a bundle of them!). What Christ does ask of us is that we use our lives to build and improve the New Temple, the Church of Christ:
Ephesians 4:11-12: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ... (NKJV)
Paul teaches us here that the offices of the Church are given to equip the saints (that's you and me) for the work of building up the Church. Often, we think it's the elders' or preachers' job to build the Church, but that's not what Paul teaches here. They help each member to join in this great work.
In closing, wouldn't it be great if the leadership of the Church had to restrain us from working in God's Kingdom? If they issued an announcement next Lord's Day morning, telling people to stop giving so much money, to quit volunteering for stuff, to slow down conversions so that we have enough room and mentors for new Christians. What a great problem to have!
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