Exodus Chapters 35-36

INTRODUCTION:

Last week you hung out with a “virtual me” and I want to let you know that getting away for those short few days recharged me in some areas.   I am saddled up and ready to go!  

I have shared this with a few folks, but I wanted to share this with you in person today.  God has asked me a question the past couple of months, in response to my questions to Him, of course.  He likes to ask questions you know, just look at how Jesus responds so often in the New Testament.  When I ask Him questions of “why did we walk through that” or “where did that come from”, I kind of feel like a toddler at times asking “Why”... He responded, “But did you see My glory?” I shake my head and say YES!  Now I do!... He says you are growing up more each day and you see it more often because you are looking for ME. That gave me Holy Spirit chills!

Our God is active right here, right now church.  I have no doubt about it and if you do, come talk to me and I can share story after story of spiritual growth, salvation, freedom and so on.

Which brings me back to last week when we talked about God’s Character in Exodus.  God is Powerful and In Charge. He Keeps His Promises. He is Compassionate. He is Holy.

He is Personal and Relational. He is the Provider. He is Jealous for Your Heart.  

This is the God that Moses met with so long ago, and He is the same God right now who wants to meet with you, today.  In John 14:1 Jesus says, “Let your hearts not be troubled.  Believe in God; Believe also in me.”  Hopefully this past week, you have made time to find a quiet place and take a few minutes, or hours and ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you.  If you haven’t, try it, you might just be surprised at what happens.  

Here is a thought as we move into Exodus 35 and 36…  God is the ultimate giver. He gave His Son, His Spirit, and His grace. When we give, just like the Israelites we are reading about, —whether time, talents, or treasure—we reflect God’s generous heart. 

Picture this story with me…

In a quiet village by a river, a group of people set out to rebuild their crumbling community hall. The storm had torn it down last year, but now they felt it was time to raise it again—a place where children could learn, neighbors could gather, and prayers could be spoken.

The village leader, Tomas, said gently, “Give as you feel led. We’ll need wood, nails, cloth for curtains, lights, and helping hands.”

At first, only a few came. A seamstress with bolts of bright fabric. A retired builder with tools in hand. A teen with nothing but time and energy.

But then something incredible happened.

As word spread, others joined in. One family donated lumber. Another brought tiles they'd been saving. Someone dropped off a whole jar of coins. Each day, a line formed at the old town well—people arriving to give what they could.

By the fourth day, the builders couldn’t keep up. Piles of supplies lined the road. Tools cluttered the storage shed. Meals were delivered faster than they could be eaten. The workers laughed and said, “We can’t carry any more!”

Tomas stood on a barrel and raised his voice: “Friends! Stop! We have all we need—and more!”

The people looked at one another—surprised, humbled, smiling. Their hearts had wanted to give, and now their gifts had overflowed.

Exodus 35 focuses on the preparations for constructing the Tabernacle, a sacred dwelling place for God among the Israelites. The chapter emphasizes obedience to God’s commands, communal participation, and the importance of Sabbath rest. Key points include:

• Sabbath Regulations (v. 1-3): Moses reiterates God’s command to observe the Sabbath as a day of complete rest, prohibiting even the lighting of fires in homes. This underscores the sanctity of the day dedicated to God.

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

• Call for Contributions (v. 4-10): Moses instructs the Israelites to offer materials for the Tabernacle, including gold, silver, bronze, fabrics, wood, oil, spices, and precious stones. These offerings are to be given willingly from the heart, as God desires cheerful contributions. 

Contributions for the Tabernacle

Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 

• Skilled Workers Called and the people respond (v. 20-29): The people respond generously, bringing their offerings. Those with skills, such as weaving, craftsmanship, and design, are called to contribute their talents. Bezalel and Oholiab, filled with God’s Spirit, are appointed to lead the construction, highlighting God’s empowerment of skilled workers.

Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So, they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. And everyone who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats' hair or tanned rams' skins or goatskins brought them. Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord's contribution. And everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats' hair. And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

Takeaways:

• Don't forget to rest- Growing up, a day off was still a thing. Kids didn’t have activities. Stores were closed. Our society has gotten so far away from this. If God rested on the 7th day or sabbath, how much more important is it for us as humans to do the same. It allows us to recover from the week prior and ready for the week ahead.

• God moved in the hearts of His people to generously supply what was needed (vv 5, 21, 22, 26, and 29)

• Our giving and service is to be willingly and generous (time, treasures and talents)

• Remember the golden calf? Those who gave up their gold for that lost it. But those who poured into the tabernacle, they would have the joy of seeing their wealth used for something that would transcend them.

Exodus 36 continues the Tabernacle’s construction, focusing on the Israelites’ overwhelming generosity and the skilled craftsmanship of Bezalel, Oholiab, and other workers.

• God-Given Skills - Divine Empowerment (v. 1-2): Bezalel and Oholiab, along with other skilled artisans, are empowered by God with wisdom and ability to execute the Tabernacle’s construction according to His design. Every worker with a willing heart is involved.

“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.” 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.

• Abundant Generosity (v. 3-7): The Israelites bring freewill offerings daily, contributing materials like gold, silver, fabrics, and wood. Their generosity is so abundant that Moses must restrain them from giving more, as the materials exceed what is needed for the Tabernacle.

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, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 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, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

• Construction Details (v. 8-38): We see the meticulous work of crafting the Tabernacle’s components, including the curtains, frames, bars, and veil. The artisans follow God’s precise instructions (as given in Exodus 26), showing obedience and attention to detail in sacred work.

And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. 

He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. 

And he made fifty clasps of gold and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So, the tabernacle was a single whole.

He also made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 

And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 

And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. 

And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins.

Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 

And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. 

He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. 

He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 

And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. And he overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. 

And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. 

• God put skill and intelligence into the leaders and each craftsman and stirred the hearts to accomplish the work He assigned them.

• Everyone had something to contribute.

• And so the work began.

Conclusion and Applications:  

We see Divine Empowerment throughout these chapters, God equipping individuals with skills for His purposes.  We also see overflowing generosity, the people’s willingness to give reflects their devotion and unity.  Paired with faithful obedience in the careful adherence to God’s instructions shows reverence for His holiness.  And finally the collective effort of the community…The Tabernacle was a community project, with diverse contributions. 

Our time, our talents and our treasures are not ours, they are a gift from God to be used for His glory and not our own. 

Let’s pull in a few other scriptures as we close and consider one of the main themes in today's verses: God is glorified when we willingly and generously give of our time, talents and treasures.

1 Timothy 6-18-19 tells us They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Three Things To Remember:

Giving Our Time 

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” — Ephesians 5:15–16

• Time is one of the most precious gifts we can offer others. Whether it’s sitting with a friend who’s grieving, serving within the Body, or simply being present with someone—these moments matter. 

Giving Our Talents 

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace…” — 1 Peter 4:10

• Our abilities—teaching, serving, organizing, encouraging, shepherding—are God-given. They're not just for personal advancement, but for the good of others and the glory of God. 

3. Giving Our Treasure 

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce…” — Proverbs 3:9

• Our resources can bless, heal, and support—when stewarded well. 

Personal Challenge:

Choose one area—time, talent, or treasure—to give generously this week. Ask God to show you where and how. Do it in secret, with joy, and to honor Him.