Done as the Lord Commanded

“According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.”                                                                                                             (Exodus 39:42-43)

What a rare thing: In Exodus 36-39 the children of Israel did everything as the Lord commanded! In constructing the Tabernacle they did exactly what they were told — nothing more — nothing less. God the Spirit constrained them to do exactly as they were instructed, that we might have in their obedience an example to follow. Blessed are they who follow the example.

The tabernacle was finished in all respects according to the divine pattern, and, therefore, it could be filled with the divine glory. There is a volume of instruction in this. We are too prone to regard the Word of God as insufficient for the minute details connected with his worship and service. This is a great mistake, a mistake which has proved the source of much evil and great error in the professing church. The Word of God alone is and must be our only rule of faith and practice. It is sufficient for everything (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We must bow to the Book of God alone; and we must never bow to any human creed.

Those who brought the gifts were all the congregation of the children of Israel: men, women and rulers, young and old, rich and poor, the well-known and the unknown.

Bezaleel and Aholiab were the men appointed by God to use the things the children of Israel brought for the service of God. While typical of the Lord Jesus, these two men also represent God’s servants, pastors and gospel preachers, appointed by the Lord to be overseers in his house. They were filled with the Spirit of God (Exodus 35:31). They were specifically gifted of God with wisdom and understanding to perform the work. God put it in their heart to do the work (Exodus 35:34). The Lord made it obvious to all Israel that they were the men he had chosen for the work. They were truly the servants of God. — They wanted nothing but to serve him as he had ordained. When they had all that they needed to do the work, they refused to take any more!

There is much to be learned from the gifts the children of Israel brought, the gifts God received and used for his glory. They varied greatly: Gold and Oil, Silver and Spices, Precious Stones and Wool, Brass and Goats’ Hair, Wool and Linen, Dyes for Blue and Purple and Scarlet, and Onyx Stones. The gifts all came from people with willing hearts, happy to give; from people who knew that what they brought to the Lord was not theirs, but his (Exodus 35:5, 21).

Because the children of Israel were stirred up in their hearts by the Spirit of God, stirred up by the knowledge of what was to be represented in the Tabernacle, the Priesthood, the Sacrifices and the Services of the Sanctuary, they devoted themselves to doing the work, giving whatever and all that was needed. — “The stuff they had was sufficient for the work” (Exodus 36:7). — “And the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:35).

Don Fortner

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