Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

Too Much Giving!

 

 

Exodus 36:5-7  and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do."  So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." And the people were restrained from bringing,  for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done–indeed too much.

 

Moses and His Proclamation

Today, Christians do all kinds of fund raising for their projects.  You can give over the internet, you can send money by mail, you can give through the Sunday morning offerings of the church; but, however people give, it never seems to be enough.  I get fund raising letters all of the time and they always seem to imply that there is an acute need that is not being met.  I have never gotten a fund raising letter that said, “Please don’t send us any more money, we wouldn’t know how to use it properly for the Lord.  All of our needs have been met.”  Moses had that privilege.  While he didn’t send letters, he did make a proclamation that the people had given generously and they had given more than enough  He told them to QUIT giving.

 

The Source of this Bounty

After Joseph died, a ruler that didn’t know Joseph took the leadership in Egypt.  While Egypt had been a place of refuge for the children of Israel under Joseph, it ultimately became a place of slavery.  As we know, the Lord had told Abraham that his descendants would be in a land that was not theirs for 400 years (See Genesis 15:13-14).  He also told Abraham that he would bring his descendants back to the promised land.  In order to do that, He performed miracles through Moses that destroyed Egypt.  Apparently, this was a war between Jehovah represented by Moses and the pagan gods of Egypt.  The last miracle was the killing of the firstborn in Egypt that were not in a home protected by the blood of a lamb.  When the children of Israel left Egypt (actually the Egyptians thrust them out) they asked the Egyptians for their silver, gold and clothing.  By doing this, they were paid for their years of slavery and the Bible says that they “plundered” the Egyptians.  This, then, was the source of the material for the tabernacle.

 

Plundered by Idolatry

After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel finally reached Mt. Sinai where Moses went up into the mountain to get instructions from God as to how He wanted to be worshiped by His special redeemed people.  Moses was in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.  It was long enough for the children of Israel to wonder what had happened to Moses and to make a golden calf that supposedly represented the God who had brought them out of Egypt.  The worship of the golden calf, something that the people had made, allowed for partying and it required a lot of the gold that had been brought out of Egypt.  God of course was incensed and very angry.  The golden calf was ground to powder and sprinkled on water.  The people than were forced to drink it.   But those who contributed their wealth to the golden calf could not contribute that wealth to the building of the tabernacle.  The people that had plundered the Egyptians had now been plundered by idolatry. 

 

The Privilege of Contributing to the Tabernacle

While Satan tried to provide a counterfeit worship during the time Moses was in the Mount, the real worship of the Lord was never in question.  Moses had to intercede for the people because of their sin and there were consequences associated with their rebellion.  But the Lord had his faithful people who had more than enough wealth to build this tabernacle and to worship right.

 

Practical Lessons

Moses in the mountain is a picture of Christ in heaven today.  He has gone into heaven with the promise that He will return. Just as the forty days and forty nights was a testing time for Israel, we too are being tested by 2000 years of waiting.  It didn’t take long for the children of Israel to forget Moses and all the miracles they had just experienced including passing through the Red Sea.  Their path to safety had been a path of destruction for the Egyptian army.  Are we like that today?  Corrupting ourselves while we wait for the Lord to return from the mountain?  Do we turn to our way of worship or are we remaining faithful to the mandates of the Lord given through the apostles and prophets of the New Testament?  Do we still believe that there is only one way of salvation? Do we believe that salvation is not something we do for God but something He has done for us?  Do we still believe that there needs to be a time in our lives when we turn from the way we thought was right and turned to the Lord and trusted Him? 

 

If we turn aside to “our way of worshiping the Lord” we will be robbed.  If we faithfully wait for His return we will be blessed and His work will prosper.  There will be more than enough resources to do what He asks us to do.

 

Bruce Collins

 

Meditation for the week of February 7, 2016

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