April 24, 2023

Using Skills to Build God's Kingdom

Exodus 36

Suzanne Silva
Monday's Devo

April 24, 2023

Monday's Devo

April 24, 2023

Big Idea

God reveals the way and His will through His Word.

Key Verse | Exodus 36:1

"Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded."

Exodus 36

Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, 1 36:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.

10 He 2 36:10 Probably Bezalel (compare 35:30; 37:1) coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

14 He also made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth 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 outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. 19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins.

20 Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 21 Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 22 Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23 The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side. 24 And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. 27 For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. 28 He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29 And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners. 30 There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.

31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 32 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. 34 And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. 36 And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. 37 He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze.

Footnotes

[1] 36:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
[2] 36:10 Probably Bezalel (compare 35:30; 37:1)

S2:076 Exodus 36

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Exodus 36

Who knew Exodus could provide such empowerment, direction, and provision from God in sanctuary building plans? My son who is studying engineering appreciates the specific order and design; and my daughter paints, so the colors and materials required entertain her creativity. I see God in His orderliness and purposefulness as He orchestrated the tabernacle that reflects His special covenant with us. I love the language of EVERY craftsman being given skill and intelligence to do ALL the work God commanded.

God equips us to do everything He desires of us, and we are not alone in this process. We have the Holy Spirit in us as believers in Jesus, and we are part of a body of believers working together to love and encourage. Today, the new covenant with God says when we put our faith in Jesus, we are promised eternal life with God when we die and the Holy Spirit now to guide and comfort us. 

The Israelites set a strong example of daily bringing their offerings with stirred hearts to build the sanctuary. God desires our willing obedience every day, not out of obligation or guilt, but offering ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). God's plan in Exodus for His holy sanctuary, where He resides and wants people to come and meet with Him, is reflective of the relationship He wants with us now.

Today, the church reminds us of the strength we have in being together. God wants us in community with people who know us and give truth and encouragement (Hebrews 10:24-25). Satan wants to convince us that we are alone and inept and that God is insufficient. Satan lies, saying we are not enough; and, in my own life, even using the grief of losing my son to make me feel incapable of serving and loving others well. We see in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 how God wants us to depend on Him. He will enable us. I am so grateful for faithful friends who say God is sufficient, loving, and trustworthy. Be encouraged by God working in us and His church to keep us moving closer to Him.

This month's memory verse

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

– Philippians 4:4-5

Discussion Questions

1. For fun, what role do you think you would have had in building the sanctuary? How has God gifted you today? Are you employing these gifts today for His kingdom? Here is a Spiritual Gift Assessment.

2. How are you feeling insecure or incompetent? How are you allowing Satan to question God's sufficiency to work in you? What Scriptures remind you of truth here?

3. Is there an area in your life that seems impossible to do? In what area do you need to ask others for help? How can you grow your view of God to believe in His power in you?

4. How do you think you are doing with generosity? What are you excited about today or in the past that you have had the privilege of investing in? There is a sweet history at Watermark with our "More Than Enough" campaign to purchase the land to build in 2003. Like the Israelites, Watermark has had good integrity in not gathering more than was needed and in stewarding well the resources given!

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

HS

Hugh Stephenson

GM Suzanne! What a joy it is to have all the Silva family with us. You all are a great blessing to all of us. Q1. This is such a great question. I have not shown any giftedness in working with my hands or in detailed work or in creativity. Perhaps counting and organizing the materials? I asked Amy what she thought for me, and she said, “Anything that entails the use of a spreadsheet or that requires searching Amazon.” She’s right about both. Q2. Many years ago a counselor helped me understand I was an introvert, not the extrovert I thought I was. Which explains any role that has me talking to anything more than a small group of people. There are times I think Satan does nothing else but whisper in my ear. Psalm 139 is always my go-to when I’m in doubt. Closely followed by Genesis 1:26-28. Q3. A few weeks ago we got six new chairs that had to be assembled. The detail required almost killed me. The lifetime record of frustration was putting together a gas grill with grossly insufficient directions. Growing my view of God is critical to having anything close to a flourishing life. As always, his Word, Spirit, and people are key. Worship music is a great help. I especially love Shane and Shane singing the Psalms. Q4. For me, generosity must come out of sacrificial giving. Giving money or time when I have lots of both is certainly a gift. But it does not feel sacrificial. I bear no inconvenience. I realize that there are flaws in this view. Even so, giving that entails a sacrifice feels more satisfying to me.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Part of me reads this section, Exodus 35-40, and is curious about the length and level of detail. Then I read this in the notes- “The length of the account of the work underlines its importance. The assembly of the tabernacle is the visible guarantee of God’s continuing presence with and care of Israel.” I get a similar read in the description of Solomon building the temple. The other big take-way is the sheer amount of gifting the people do; to such a level that Moses tells them to stop. As noted, prior, after losing the Covenant and seeing that God will not lead them but sends just an angel, it seems they see the gravity of their offense. As the old saying goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes”.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Like most people I have made huge mistakes and consequently suffered for it. By God’s grace there are also many times that I experienced His patience and a recall of His promises to me. Again like the Israelites, He did not take away all the consequences, although many were muted. Upon seeing these bear out I was overjoyed and hardly could grasp my blessing. Also like the Israelites, I made these types of mistakes more than once. “The earnest response of the people to the request for contributions (see Exodus 35:20–29), such that they had to be restrained from bringing any more (Exodus 36:6), is a fitting response to the Lord who has been gracious and merciful in renewing his covenant with them (Exodus 33:12–34:27). Repeating, I am taught this sequence- Sin-Confession-Repetnance-Forgivenes-Amends-Reconciliation-Restoration It did not take long for me to figure out that it was a lot easier in the long run to not sin. Moreover, in recent months I have become intensely away of my need for the presence of God in my life and for the need for a much deeper level of connection and intimacy. "The similarities of Exodus 25—31 and 35—40 may all be accounted for on the basis of their rootage in this all-encompassing theme: both sections, each in its own way, are preoccupied with Israel's need to experience the reality of Yahweh's Presence."
DJ

Dylan Jackson

Suzanne, your devo ministered to me this morning. Thank you friend.
CL

Chris Landry

Good morning, Suzanne! I'm grateful for the testimony of the Silva family. #LiveLikeAustin was a monumental thing for my small group guys that shared time with him growing up together. Thank YOU for reminding me this morning of God's immutable sovereignty AND goodness. Mutually inclusive attributes. Regarding the reading today, I'm still relishing in God's goodness of provision as he orchestrated much material for the Tabernacle to be supplied by the Egyptians during the Israelite's departure (Exodus 12:36). He's a Good Provider.
MS

Michael Scaman

Bezalel" means "in the shadow [protection] of God." Oholiab (Hebrew: אָהֳלִיאָב ʾĀholīʾāḇ, "father's tent"), (and he worked on 'the Father's tent ) Their skill from God. The people moved by God. There was a superabundance with more than enough. An amazing amount given since they carried all this from Egypt. Counting the metals alone, 1 ton gold, almost 4 tons silver, almost 3 tons bronze. The people willing to give even more which was provided by God. For those with a bend towards accounting, in 2012 prices 'everyday bible estimated 'http://www.everydaybibleblog.com/2012/03/62126-million-dollar-tabernacle.htmlThe $62.126 Million Dollar Tabernacle ( due to inflation, a dollar in 2012 is 1.31 today so the tabernacle used more like 100 million of metals alone) Exodus 37:1 - 38:31 In an earlier post I did some math to determine the cost of the lamp stand alone, and that price was $2,067,516 in gold. Well today I have some new numbers to work with. These appear to be the final numbers for the amount of metals used in the construction of the Tabernacle. Gold: 2,193 Pounds Silver: 7,545 Pounds Bronze: 5,310 Pounds
SB

Sue Bohlin

Thanks so much, Suzanne! This morning I am struck by the repetition of the details about the tabernacle. Why would Moses not write, "See also: a few scrolls back where God gave the details. That's what the people did"? Because God cares about details. They please Him. Because He knows what every person gave, what every person contributed to the construction of all the many moving parts of the tabernacle. Because He was going to reward people for their part in this incredibly important worship project. It all matters. Which means that the small things I do today matter to God as well. He notices every little thing. Details matter and they please Him.
TW

Tiffany Wilkins

Beautifully written Suzanne!!!! I love your devotional and I love you!
AL

Amy Lowther

1. I would have helped organize the workers and the work so it was completed accurately and efficiently. God has gifted me with heart and intelligence and guides me through using them every day. I use these gifts in Quality Assurance for Freshpoint and as a greeter for Watermark. 2. Currently, I am feeling good. If insecurity creeps in, I return to God for his guidance. Satan always looms, but I currently choosing God over Satan. Deuteronomy 31:6 and Isaiah 40:29 are excellent scriptures of truth. 3. All areas seem possible because God and Jesus are good helpers. It is always good to ask others for help with prayers. I can grow in my view of God and believe in His power in me by attending service, taking notes, and applying what I learn in daily life. 4.. I am currently generous to serve as a greeter at Watermark and to donate to Feeding America at the grocery store. When someone is generous to me, I say thank you. All investments are exciting because they help you think about what you have, what you don’t have, what you need, and what you can share with others.