THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 , 2023

Thursday, February 23, 2023

The Tabernacle: Built from the Gifts of the People

    The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to bring me their sacred offerings. Accept the contributions from all whose hearts are moved to offer them.                                                                                 Exodus 25: 1 & 2 (NLT)

1.     Building the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place was clearly an important part to God’s unfolding story. We might think that God would command His people to give Him gifts or use his authority to levy a tax in order to have the resources needed for the task. Instead, God asked for voluntary offerings. READ:  Exodus 30: 11 – 16

a.     Why do you think God did this, especially since he assessed a

payment to be used for maintaining the tabernacle late?

b.    What do you think the opportunity, rather than obligation, to give to the Lord said to the Israelites about the kind of relationship God desired to have with them?

c.     What do you think it said about the kind of people he wanted them to be?

2.     Read Exodus 25: 3 – 7 to see the list of specific items God asked the people to bring as an offering.

a.     Which items, and how large a quantity of them, do you think these former slaves would or would not have had?  

b.    READ:  Exodus 3: 21 & 22;  11: 2 & 3;  12: 33 – 36

How had the Israelites obtained their more valuable possessions?

c.     READ:  Genesis 15: 12 - 14

What indicates that these possessions were a gift from God?

3.     READ: Exodus 35: 20 – 29;  36: 2 - 7 When Moses finished telling the people what God had said about offerings to build the tabernacle, how did the people respond?