Giving Your Treasure - April 20

Read Exodus 25:1-8

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take from a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

Reflect

What was the purpose of the special offering that Moses was to take up?

The book of Exodus tells how God delivered His people from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. It contains the many of the most exciting stories we all remember hearing in Sunday School: the burning bush, the ten plagues, the Passover, and the parting of the Red Sea.

But the book of Exodus also tells us how God began to form these former slaves into a nation that would serve Him instead of pharaoh. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He told Moses that He was sending him to speak to Pharaoh to demand that he let God’s people go. As He was telling Moses what to expect, He made this promise: “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

In today’s passage, we see that God commanded Moses to take up an offering to build a sanctuary for Him in their midst. Much of the rest of the book of Exodus details the instructions for building this tabernacle and explains how the Israelites obediently fashioned this mobile sanctuary just as He had commanded them to.

The word “tabernacle” means “tent” but we can tell just from reading the supply list that this was no ordinary tent. God was asking for precious metals, expensive stones, and specific colors of yarn. These days, we take colored yarns and fabrics for granted. But in ancient times, dyeing was a time-consuming and expensive process. Everything that God asked them to contribute was costly. Given that the Israelites had been slaves for 400 years, we can assume that the likely source of all this treasure was from plundering the Egyptians. God had provided for the Israelites all the treasure that He wanted them to give back to Him.

God asked those “whose heart moves him” to willingly provide the building materials for His holy tabernacle. But God didn’t actually need them to give Him treasures. Psalm 24:1 tells us that the whole earth is the LORD’s and everything on it.

You see, giving our treasures to God is more for us than it is for Him. In his Enduring Word online commentary, David Guzik pointed out: “God is a rich God and can use any method of providing He wants. Yet He usually uses the willing hearts of His people as the way to support His work. This is because God wants to develop giving hearts within us. When we become givers, we become more like God, who is the greatest giver: For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16).”

In Exodus 36:5-7, we read that the Israelites' hearts were so generous towards God’s building process that they were giving too much! Moses had to tell them to stop giving because they had enough to fulfill the work God told them to do.

Believers today are not being asked to contribute to building a physical tabernacle for God. But we are being asked to contribute to building God’s kingdom. God doesn’t need our treasures and He isn’t forcing us to give. Rather, God is inviting us to join in and be a part of His great work. Remember, giving our treasures to God is more for us than it is for Him. May we be like the Israelites and freely give above and beyond what is expected all for the glory of God.

Respond

Lord, the whole earth is Yours! I know that You don’t need my contributions in order for You to build Your kingdom and do Your work in hearts and lives. And yet, You have asked me to participate because You want to work in my heart and in my life. Please continue to make me more like You so that I will freely give the treasure that You’ve given me, back to You. Amen.

Reveal

What does your giving tell others about your heart? Take some time this week talking with a spouse or a trusted friend about how you can continue, or begin to give back to God.