Using Our Gifts (Exodus 35:10-19)

“All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded” (Ex. 35:10).

Moses began his instructions to the people on the building of the tabernacle by telling them, “All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all the LORD has commanded.” Each person had been endowed with different gifts, some with wealth for the purchasing of supplies, and some with artistic ability for the construction of the tabernacle itself. Some specialized in working with metals, others with engraving, others with fabrics, others with woods. They were all different, but integral to the whole. Their gifts were not for self-glory, but for God’s glory, to be used according to His commands.

Jesus taught that those who waste the gifts God has given them, the abilities with which they have been endowed and talents they possess, will be judged for their laziness. Our talents are not to be hidden away, but are to be submitted to God for His use. Our Lord made this point clear in His parable of the talents. Those who had put their gifts to good use were blessed, but the one who hid his away was cursed: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:29–30).

Every person in the church has been gifted in a special way by the Lord and is expected to submit that gift to Christ. Not everyone is gifted in the same way or to the same capacity, but we all have something to contribute to the body. If you are learned, and you never use your learning for the benefit of others, then you are hiding your single talent away and dishonoring the Lord. If you have been blessed with wealth, and you refuse to use that wealth for the good of others and to give with a generous spirit, then you are hiding that talent and inviting discipline upon yourself.

Your gifts are not your own; they are given to you by the Father to be used faithfully in your family and in your church, as well as in the work place and the community. Paul teaches us in Romans 12 that we have different gifts according to the grace given us, and that we are to use those gifts in proportion to the faith we have. Whatever your capacity, use your gift faithfully for the edification of the body and for the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Take out a pen and paper. Make a list of your talents and abilities. Write down how you are currently using them in the body of Christ and in your family. If you are not using your gifts in some way, ask yourself why that is.

A Generous Heart (Exodus 35:4-9)

“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” (Ex. 35:5a).

Moses repeated the commands concerning the offerings that were to be brought to the Lord. He emphasized that those who brought offerings were to come with a willing heart. God did not impose taxes for the purpose of building the tabernacle. The offerings were to be given freely and with a “cheerful heart.” This is a point that is often lost to us today. Sometimes we give to the church with a reluctant spirit, as if we were being ask to pay a heavy tax. Too often, we look at giving tithes and offerings as a duty instead of a privilege, and our attitude reflects that perspective. This brings dishonor to the Lord, and it brings shame upon the church because it is treated like a worldly institution that needs finances to keep it going.

The offerings that are most acceptable to the Lord are the ones that come from a generous heart. The psalmist says the Lord’s people will be “volunteers in the day of Your power,” willing soldiers in God’s war. Each person should give in proportion “to the way the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deut. 16:17). God does not ask any more of you than you are able to give. Paul, when writing about the “freewill” offerings of his day, wrote, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7 NIV). Again he wrote of this same situation, “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Cor. 8:12 NIV).

This principle can be applied not only to the giving of financial gifts, but in the service we render to the church. We are not all given the same abilities, but we are called to use them for God’s glory and for the edification of His people. We should exercise our gifts with joy in our hearts and with a willingness to give back to the Lord some small portion of what He has given to us. In doing this, we should not envy the abilities of others, but we should be satisfied with what we can do, using our own gifts freely and with an eye to excellence. We should never look down on those with “lesser” gifts, but we should honor everyone, whether poor or wealthy. Our ability to give does not matter. What does matter is that we give with a willing and cheerful heart in service to the Lord.

Are you a cheerful giver? Do you give to the Lord with a willing heart, not just financially, but in the exercising of your gifts among the body of believers? Meditate on the verses below. Ask God to give you a willing heart, full of generosity and free from covetousness and pride. Make plans to give back a portion of what God has given you.

Veiling the Glory (Exodus 35:1-3)

“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” (Ex. 35:2).

When Adam and Eve walked in the garden with the Lord, they rested in Him and enjoyed sweet communion with Him. But when sin shattered that relationship, man’s soul became restless. He now roams the earth, looking to pleasure, to work, and to false religion for the peace and rest that can only come from God Himself. It is this rest that is restored when a person is renewed by the power of the Spirit. Peace is brought to a disquieted soul, and rest is given to the weary. The burden that once weighed heavily upon his back is taken away by Christ, and is replaced by a robe of righteousness that allows him to dwell in the presence of the Almighty, to walk with Him, and to rest in Him. The hope of every redeemed heart as it passes through the waters of this world, through its struggle and its strife, is the hope of eternal rest in the glorious presence of our Creator.

It is significant that here, at the renewal of the covenant before the building of the tabernacle, Moses reiterates the command to keep the seventh day holy. This is the fourth time this law has been mentioned in Exodus, and it is the most quoted law of all the Ten Commandments. This is because it, probably more than any other law, points to the end of our religion: rest in the Lord Almighty. The building of the tabernacle looked forward to the redemption the church would have in Jesus Christ, and the Sabbath day pointed forward to the rest the church would have in Him. This rest begins at the moment of conversion, and will be consummated in heaven when all who are called according to His name enter that eternal rest.

Those who refused to keep the Sabbath day holy were liable unto death. This was the first time a penal sanction was attached to the Sabbath law. It stressed the importance of Israel’s making every seventh day a celebration of the rest God has for His people. To refuse to keep the Sabbath day would have been to dishonor the Lord. Those who had no interest in resting in the Lord could face death. The same could be said for us today, but in a different manner. Many people disagree on the manner in which the Sabbath law should be kept in modern times. But all agree that those who do not know what it means to rest in the Lord, and who have no interest in resting in the Lord, reveal the deadness of their hearts and their unabated hostility toward God.

Do you desire to rest in the Lord? Or do you look to your job, your family, or your recreation for rest? If you find that your heart is anxious, set aside time to rest in the Lord, and enjoy the Christian Sabbath weekly by using that time to worship, to pray, to meditate on His Word, to fellowship with Christians, or to minister to the sick.

Veiling the Glory (Exodus 34:29-35)

"And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face." (Ex. 34:33).

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after spending forty days and nights in the presence of the Lord, his face shined with the reflected glory of his heavenly Father. He was not aware of how his face shined until he came into the midst of the people and they reacted in fear. Realizing what was happening, Moses comforted the people and called them to him so that he could give them the commandments of the Lord. After he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Some think that Moses put the veil on so the people would not be afraid of the glory of God. But this was not the case, for he kept the veil off while he talked to them. It was only when he was finished that he put the veil on. We learn from the apostle Paul why Moses covered his face. He writes in 2 Corinthians 3 that Moses put a veil over his face “so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.” The Mosaic covenant had a temporary character because it was only a shadow of what was to come. The ceremonial laws, the theocracy of Israel, the externalities of their religion would one day pass away, and a mediator, greater and better than Moses, would establish a new covenant. This new covenant would never fade and would never pass away; it would be the fulfillment of everything that the old covenant foreshadowed.

Paul taught the Corinthians that Moses put a veil over his face so the Israelites would not see the glory passing away. But those who will one day look on the face of Christ, who put their faith in the Gospel, will behold an unfading glory. Now, if that light is veiled to those who hear the Gospel today, it is because they do not believe, and some still put their hope in the old covenant, in its externals and ceremonies. Those whose minds doggedly rebel against the truth of God’s existence and glory revealed through general revelation do not see the “light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The Israelites saw the reflected glory of God in the face of Moses, a glory that did not last. But those who have faith in Jesus Christ, who live under the new covenant, no longer live in darkness, but a light has dawned in our hearts—“the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

The glory of the new covenant is that Jesus Christ is its mediator. In Him, we have a better and greater Mediator because His sacrifice is sufficient once and for all. It does not need to be repeated daily as in the old covenant. Because of this finality, the new covenant is a better covenant. Praise God today for revealing the Gospel to you.

Not By Bread Alone (Exodus 34:27-28)

"So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water" (Ex. 34:28a).

Like Elijah and Christ after him, Moses spent forty days and nights in intimate communion with God. During that time, he did not eat or drink, being sustained only by the power of Jehovah. Matthew Henry observes, “When we are weary of an hour or two spent in attendance upon God and adoration of Him, we should think how many days and nights Moses spent with Him, and of the eternal day we hope to spend in praising Him.” Moses knew for a fact that man does not live by bread alone.

This truth is often lost on us today because we are so dependent on worldly comforts. We forget that we live and move and have our being through the Lord God, and that our lives are sustained by His power. If He chose, our lives (and the whole universe!) could end in a moment. We should regularly thank the Lord for sustaining us, for giving us life, and for keeping us alive for His purposes in this world.

When Moses refrained from food and drink on the mountain, God supported him by His power. The one who made the body can nourish it without ordinary means. And while we might think this was difficult for Moses, and maybe it was, he was sustained by communion with God. Like Jesus, he had meat to eat that the world knew nothing about, for it was his meat and drink to hear the Word of God, to pray, and to dwell in His glorious presence. The abundant satisfaction he had in the Word of God and in the presence of the Almighty made him forget his body, and its needs and desires. God fed Moses with things that are greater than food and drink: He fed him with His light, law, and love, with the knowledge of Himself and His will.

Though we are not called to fast for forty days, we are reminded by this extraordinary account that the kingdom of God is not composed of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The less dependent we become on the delights of this world, the better prepared we will be for the pleasures of heaven. This does not mean that we become ascetics and forsake the bounties of God’s creation, but it does mean that we keep them in the right perspective. Feasting on the righteousness, grace, and love of the Lord is of greater worth than feasting on the delicacies of this world. We should, therefore, never allow the latter to stand in the way of the former.

Are you more concerned about meeting your physical needs than your spiritual needs? If you have children, are you feeding them spiritually by teaching them the Word, praying with them, and worshiping with them, or are you mainly focusing on meeting their physical and developmental needs? Meditate on Matthew 4:1–11.