As you read through the design plans in Exodus for the Ark
of the Covenant, the furniture of the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself have
you ever notice all the gold God asked them to use.
Think for a moment about all that gold…
The Children of Israel are former slaves. Slavery is all they know. Now God frees them from Egypt and on the way
out the front gates, God has the Egyptians pay them to leave. They give them gold, silver, bronze, linen
etc. Imagine being a slave your whole life and now
your rich.
The Israelites are now free.
They have crossed the Red Sea, the Egyptians are dead and no longer in
pursuit, manna is falling from heaven, water is coming from rocks and now God
comes to give His plan for worshipping Him.
The way this worship gets accomplished is if the people give.
Think with me a moment.
You have been a slave. Now you
have all this stuff from the Egyptians. And
God now ask for it to be used to for the items that you and other generations
will have for worship. Your reaction could be one of several.
- I just got this gold, why do I have to give it up now.
- I would like to keep my gold so when we get to the promise land I can build a nice house.
- I am still not sure about Moses so I will keep my gold in case I find a better way to use it, for instance, what if someone wants to build a golden calf.
But do the Children of Israel really need all this
gold? They live in the wilderness. God
provides all their food, clothes, shoes everything. So why did He give them the gold? Did He give them gold for them to give back
to Him for worship? I think so. They do not need the gold for
themselves. So God asked them to give it
to Him.
The gold of the Children of Israel is no different than the
incomes we earn today. God is our provider. He gets me my food, clothes shoes etc. Your
income and my income are from God. So
when God asked for it back, no problem.
He gave it in the first place.
And when I give it to God it is for the same purpose of the giving in
Exodus…it is for HIS use. If he wants to
cover a lampstand with it fine. The
Children of Israel’s gold was for God’s use.
The same is true of your gold and mine.
What we have is for HIS use.
