Time and Money, Sabbath and Offerings-Exodus 35

Exodus, Old Testament, Sermons

  • Video recording, Sep 4, 2022.
  • How do you spend your time and your money every day? What do you do with it? How can you tell how well you are using your time and your money?

The Sabbath commandment is repeated…again [6th time] (Exo 35:1-3; 34:21; 31:12-17; 23:10-12; 20:8-11; 16:23-26). Why? [Live Well: Keep the Sabbath Day Holy (Exo 20:8-11)].

The Sabbath is one of the most important commandments and a significant theme in Exodus. Today, however, keeping the Sabbath is generally regarded as one of the least important commandments, if it is considered a commandment at all. But studying Exodus from beginning to end reminds us again and again to receive God’s rest.

How can you tell how you are using your time and money? Your life will most closely resemble the 5 people–5 friends or families you are closest to.

Why does the tabernacle construction begin with a repeat of the Sabbath law? What does this teach us?

  • The primacy of Sabbath rest.
  • The 1st order of business is the business of Sabbath keeping.
  • At the risk of their lives, they must keep the Sabbath.
  • It is their internal devotion to His Sacred time.
  • It honors the rhythm of Creation.
  • The original and enduring presence of holiness in the world is the Sabbath, set apart by God as the crown of His Creation (Gen 2:3).
  • It must become the framework for their very lives.
  1. The Sabbath is the sign of the covenant, a ritual, the visible weekly proof—their rhythm of life–that the people were keeping their part of the covenant through which came their protection and blessings (Exo 20:8-11; 31:13, 17). The 4th word / commandment was their formal starting point for keeping God’s covenant, not because it was more important than the 1st 3 commandments, but because it was the most obviously measurable—keep or disobey. Israelites [Christians] showed without ambiguity whether or not they were committed to keeping the covenant. Keeping the Sabbath didn’t confer righteousness if other commandments were violated, but it was an openly visible essential–a sine qua non–of covenant loyalty. Not keeping it is to say publicly to the world “I am not in a covenant relationship with the Lord of the Sabbath.”
  2. It links Exo 25-31 with Exo 35-40, both of which are dedicated to the topic of worship. It functions like a hinge to connect the command and fulfilment sections.
  3. To keep Israelites from violating the Sabbath in the construction of the tabernacle. It might be assumed by people / priests that building the holy tabernacle trumps breaking the Sabbath. But the sign of the covenant–keeping the Sabbath–can never be denigrated even for a purpose so holy. [In helping an animal (Mt 12:10-14), watering animals on the Sabbath (Lk 13:13-17) and eating uncooked food (Mt 12:1-8), Jesus was not loosening the rules for covenant keeping–they’re allowed by the original Mosaic covenant Sabbath regulation–but clarifying them. Jesus demonstrated the inconsistency of legalistic teaching about doing good on the Sabbath to the legalists, not a new, weaker standard.]

Exodus repeats the Sabbath commandment/theme/law 6 times!

  1. Exodus 16:23-26: He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
  2. Exodus 20:8-11:  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
  3. Exodus 23:10-12:  “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.”
  4. Exodus 31:12-17:  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
  5. Exodus 34:21:  “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.”
  6. Exodus 35:1-3:  Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Fulfilment of the Laws on the Means of Worship: Moses and all Israel perform all of Yahweh’s instructions and complete the project: the tabernacle and the priesthood (35:1-40:38).

  • Exodus 35-40 realizes God‘s presence among his people (Exo 25:8; 29:45-46) after their rebellion / idolatry prevent God’s presence among them and delay the construction of the tabernacle, as God separates from his people because of sin/idolatry, a theme in Gen 3.
  • In Exodus 25-31 God told them how to build the tabernacle; in Exodus 35-39 they built it exactly the way God told them. Why this seemingly tedious repeatition in Exodus 35-39?
    1. Bible repetition underline Bible priorities. Important things are said twice.
    2. Repetition, common in ancient literature, was the accepted way to tell a good story.
    3. Repetition builds suspense. Will God come down and dwell with his people?
    4. Repetition reinforces the memory–to learn the layout of the tabernacle and thus the structure of our salvation–by reading it > once. When God/the Bible repeats something, he wants us to pay more attention, not less and certainly not to skip it!
    5. Repetition shows Israel’s repentance/obedience–after they did t heir own thing by building the golden calf. This time, per God’s commands, they
      1. brought their costly offerings willingly,
      2. built the tabernacle,
      3. made the furnishings and
      4. dressed the priests.
    6. Repetition shows how faithful God is AFTER they fell into serious sin. They stress 2 important truths for those who have sinned:
      1. God did not revoke his promise to still love them (Jer 31:3), be fully present to live with/among them and be their God. The tabernacle was precisely the sign of God’s divine presence.
      2. God has not in any way revoked the calling and mission given to the people before the fall. The tabernacle shows that God has indeed reinstated them in every respect and mended all that was broken.
  • Exodus 35-40 contains much of Exodus 25-31, but not in the same order, portraying the objects constructed in order, while 25-31 describe the objects in the order of their importance and holiness, from the most sacred [the ark, a direct representation of Yahweh and the place of his contact with his people] to the least sacred [the courtyard perimeter]. Analogy: a church building committee describing the sanctuary, interior rooms, external appearance cf. the church builder starting with clearing the site, fouring a foundation, etc.
  • The authority of Moses now continues undiminished and is even augmented (Exo 34:34-35; 40:16, 18, 35).
  • The repetition of the Sabbath commandment (Exo 35:1-3) ties the section to the charge to keep the Sabbath recorded at the end of 25-31 (Exo 31:12-17).
  • “as Yahweh commanded Moses” [or Moses implied]: 18x in Exo 39:1-40:32, 7x in 35:1-38:22 = 25x in 35:1-40:32. [3x in 25-31 (Exo 31:6, 11, 29)–total 28x [4×7]. This stresses that everything was done according to the heavenly blueprint shown to Moses (Exo 25:9; 26:30).

Death penalty for violating the Sabbath (Exo 35:2; 31:14-15). The command against lighting a fire (Exo 35:3) is, by principle of synecdoche, a command to eat cold food on the Sabbath, that which has been prepared [cooked or not] the previous day, so the women and/or servants of the household could have their day of rest. The prohibition is only those in private homes since those on the tabernacle altar were entirely appropriate for the Sabbath offerings (Num 28:9). Even so much as gathering firewood, when not a matter of emergency, was considered work which merited the death penalty (Num 15:32-36).

Willingly give what you have (Exo 35:4-9, 21, 22, 26, 29) and give what you do (35:10-19) as tabernacle offerings (34:4-29). “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Prov 3:9-10).

Exodus 35-40

  1. The importance of the Sabbath (Exo 35:1-3) [Fulfilment of Exo 31:12-18].
  2. Offerings of Tabernacle Materials (35:4-29) [Fulfilment of 25:1-7].
    1. God’s call for materials (35:4-9).
    2. God’s call for skilled workers (35:10-19).
    3. The people respond to the call for materials (35:20-29).
  3. The work of Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen (35:30-36:7).
    1. Moses appoints and endorses the craftsmen and designers (35:30-36:1).
    2. The people;s oversubscription to the call for donations (36:2-7).
  4. Construction of the tabernacle proper (36:8-38). [Fulfilment of 26:1-27].
  5. Construction of the ark (37:1-9) [Fulfilment of 25:10-20].
  6. Construction of the tabernacle table (37:10-16) [Fulfilment of 25:23-29].
  7. Construction of the lampstand (37:17-24) [Fulfilment of 25:31-39].
  8. Construction of the incense altar (37:25-28) [Fulfilment of 30:1-5].
  9. Composition of the anointing oil and the incense (Exo 37:29) [Fulfilment of 30:22-25, 34-36].
  10. Construction of the main altar (38:1-7) [Fulfilment of 27:1-8a].
  11. Construction of the bronze basin and stand (Exo 38:8) [Fulfilment of 30:17-21].
  12. Construction of the courtyard (38:9-20) [Fulfilment of 27:9-19].
  13. Amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle and its furnishings (38:21-31) [General fulfilment of Exo 25:1-3a].
  14. Construction of the priestly garments (39:1-31) [Fulfilment of 28:2-43].
    1. Overview (Exo 39:1) [Fulfilment of Exo 28:2-5].
    2. Construction of the ephod (39:2-7) [Fulfilment of 28:6-14].
    3. Construction of the breastpiece (38:8-21) [Fulfilment of 28:15-28].
    4. Construction of the robe (39:22-26) [Fulfilment of 28:31-35].
    5. Construction of the tunics and turban (39:27-31) [Fulfilment of 28:36-43].
  15. Moses’ inspection finds all materials made as commanded by God (39:32-43) [Fulfilment of 35:10-19].
  16. Moses sets up the tabernacle (40:1-33).
    1. God’s command to set up the tabernacle (40:1-16).
    2. Moses sets up the tabernacle (40:17-33).
    3. The cloud of Yahweh’s glory covering the tabernacle (Exo 40:34-38).

Reference:

  1. Douglas K. Stuart. Exodus. The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. 2006.
  2. Philip Graham Ryken. Exodus. Saved for God’s Glory. Preaching the Word. 2015.
  3. Leon R. Kass. Founding God’s Nation. Reading Exodus. 2021.
  4. James K. Bruckner. Exodus. New International Bible Commentary. 2008.
  5. John Goldingay. Exodus & Leviticus for Everyone. 2010.
  6. Robert Alter. The Hebrew Bible. A translation with commentary. The Five Books of Moses. 2019.
  7. Dennis Prager. Exodus. God, Slavery, and Freedom. The Rational Bible. 2018.

3 words to encompass all manner of depravity:

  1. iniquity, meaning twisted or perverse;
  2. transgression, which is willful rebellion, violating the clear mandates and commands of the Lord; and
  3. sin, which is falling short of the glory of God.
  • How important is God to you and your life? To keep your relationship with God, are you willing to lose your job, your family, or even your life?
  • Man’s disposition and inclination is to claim the blessing and privilege of salvation without the serious cost and responsibility of it.
  • Aquinas taught that beautiful things possess 3 qualities: integritas [completeness/wholeness], consonantia [proportion/harmony], and claritas [radiance]. Something that is truly beautiful has all of its constituent elements (integrates), is proportional to its ultimate purpose (consonantia), and manifests its essential reality (clarets).
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