Exodus 35: 20-29, “And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD’S offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.”
The Lord didn’t force the Israelis, at that time, to give anything to Him, He relied on their gratitude. They had been delivered from slavery in Egypt, then the Lord saved them from Pharaoh’s desire to bring them back into slavery when they crossed the Red Sea. In spite of this they had complained about a shortage of water and a shortage of food but the Lord provided both food and water. When Moses went up to the mountain they sinned against the Lord by worshipping the golden calf. The Lord was merciful to them at that time and didn’t destroy them. Now they were ready to establish their ceremonial religion and the Lord relied on them to voluntarily give Him from the riches He had given them. They were all willing and filled with gratitude so they gave the Lord everything that was needed for the Tabernacle and all the priests clothing as well as the raw materials for the incense and the anointing oil. It is remarkable what a little bit of gratitude will do in our hearts.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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