Exodus 35:4 - 36:38

We ALL Can Serve God
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Study #7:  Exodus 35:4 - 36:38  (1491 b.c.)
Bible Study: The Israelites Build the Tabernacle


REVIEW: (Chps. 33, 34)
·    God plagues the people who sinned with the golden-calf idol
·    Commanded to leave Sinai .. His Angel will go before them .. God cannot for he might kill them all
·    God promises that His presence will be with them
Moses goes back up the mountain for another 40-days
·    God gives Moses another set of tablets
·    God makes a new covenant with the people . . . He will show them his might by destroying all the enemy tribes in Canaan … but the people must destroy their false gods and obey all of the Commandments themselves.
·    the shining face of Moses

CHAP. 35   Orders Concerning the Tabernacle. (1491 b.c.)
Sabbath Regulations  ( vv   1 - 3 )
1 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
All the congregation . . Everyone heard about this
These laws came from God … Moses did not add, delete, or alter anything  (no falsifying) . . Like Christ coming to us from God does not make anything for Himself
Even during the building of the Tabernacle, the Sabbath must be respected


Offerings for the Tabernacle  ( vv   4 - 9 )
4 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.
All that were able should contribute …  A voluntary contribution . . Not a forced tax burden, but a judgment by the individual of what is heavy on his own heart .. Being drawn to God
No single individual could supply all that was needed for the building of the Lord’s house of worship any more than any Christian today can supply all that is necessary for building up the church.

Articles of the Tabernacle  ( vv  10 - 19 )
10 ‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; 13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; 14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’”
We each have our own, different gifts . . . every skilled man is going to participate in this
Some gave of hands, some of head, and some of wallet
1 Peter 4:10 --  As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The Tabernacle Offerings Presented ( vv  20 - 29 )
20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD. 23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. 24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the LORD’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 26 And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. 27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, 28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
No time like the present for giving to God’s Kingdom
Just reading these verses gave me a feeling of such great good will . . . All working together with a common love ..
Some stayed home and felt their gold was “worth too much” to part with
not only materials, but time and talent were given to the building of the Tabernacle and by women as well as men. The stress, as we read in vv. 22, 26, and 29, was on the willingness of the giver. Then as now, the Lord loved a cheerful giver
All giving from their hearts
Matt 26:13 -- Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

The Artisans Called by God ( vv  30 - 35 )
30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. 34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
More about gifts
Those with gifts need to share them in wise ways
God has given many special and different gifts . .  .all valuable to His Kingdom



CHAP. 36
The People Give More than Enough  ( vv   1 -  7 )
1 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.”  2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 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.
They continued to give . . . Every morning!
We must not hide our gifts
Having a gift must include being wise to use it with a full purpose of heart
How about us bringing our offerings, praise, and thanks to God by praying every morning ??
They brought MORE than was needed

Building the Tabernacle  ( vv   8 -  38 )
8 Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 12 Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle. 14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 19 Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of badger skins above that.20 For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two tenons for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 And they were coupled at the bottom and coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards. 31 And he made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 35 And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them. 37 He also made a screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.
Special protection of His church .. Of His people
The darkness and distance they were from God .. As compared to the New Testament (post Jesus) . . . The closeness we have through Christ
Worship is really important to God
The presence of God in our lives is really important
This is the climax to the exciting book of Exodus:
that God’s people would worship Him
that He would draw near to them
that they would commune with Him
and that He would dwell in their midst.
This is what all of the hard work was for … a peaceful life where they can worship God


The Tabernacle
It was approximately (depending upon the actual length of the ancient Biblical cubit) 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. The west end of the interior was sectioned off as a 15 foot square room, called the Most Holy Place, where The Ark of the Covenant was placed. The entry into the Tabernacle faced east. The interior had elaborately woven curtains, and the structure was covered by hides to make the tent that protected the interior from the elements. Various other articles were used by the priests in their duties - The Lampstand, the table of showbread, the great bowl for washings, the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering. The Tabernacle's exterior courtyard was enclosed by an outer wall of tent material.