Year 7, Day 84: Exodus 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The Hebrew people reach into their supplies and give to their Lord so that the tabernacle may be built as desired by the Lord.  There are many people who look into these verses and see a predecessor to the tithe.  In fact, I count myself among them.  There is good precedent in these verses for us to give to the work of the Lord.

However, I want to take a step further back from the concept of the tithe.  I found it incredibly interesting to hear how the Bible talks about the response of the people.  First of all, it was a willing offering.  Second, the Bible says that everyone went home and found what they had.  As I read that, I thought that it was worded rather interesting.  Wouldn’t they know what they had?

I don’t know about you, but I typically know what I have.  This is even more true about wealth and valued possession.  But this passage reads as thought the people went home to explore what they had and then to give it to the Lord.

Naturally, I realized the reason for my gut feelings.  Remember that the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt.  They had nothing.  The wealth that they gained was taken from the Egyptians as they fled Egypt and followed God.  The wealth that they had gained was not earned and accumulated slowly over a lifetime but amassed all at once!  Some people had this.  Other people had that.  They needed to hear what was needed and then go home and investigate what they could offer.

I think that this really takes the passage to a deeper level of giving than just that of the tithe.  The wealth out of which these people give is only in their hands because God put it there in the first place!  When we give, we give back to God what He has placed into our possession.  We aren’t giving to God what we have earned in our own righteousness.  We give back to God what He deemed to put into our hands.

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