03/28/21 – Beauty and Bounty

30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭35:30-35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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.” 2 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. 3 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, 4 so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, 5 and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 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, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭36:1-7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I. The Blessing of Bezalel (35:30-34)
A. Bezalel is not gifted by the Spirit with something new but to share what he already knew with others.

II. The Beauty of the Building (35:35-36:2)
A. God deserves something beautiful, so He calls craftsmen not contractors to do the work.
B. God is not just worthy of beauty in His building but is committed to building His people into a beautiful building. (1 Corinthians 6:17-19, Ephesians 5:25-27, 1 Peter 2:4-5)

III. The Bounty Brought (36:3-7)
A. The money was collected & distributed by the leaders, which remains the practice into the church of today.
B. They were more than faithful to do the minimum, but were generous, giving much more than the minimum.
C. Their generosity was contagious and became a competition. (Romans 12:9, Hebrews 10:24-25)

IV. Next Steps
A. If we want our money to do more and accomplish more, we must give more of it to God.
B. We give in response to what we have received from God, who always makes the first move. (1 John 4:19)
C. Jesus is our ransom and redemption and if we can trust Him to take care of us in eternity, we can trust Him to take care of us now.

Next Week: Finishing Exodus 36:8-40:33