The Lord is going to have the Israelites construct a portable structure known as the "tabernacle" or "the tent of meeting". The Israelites are living in tents while they travel through the wilderness and their house of worship needs to be a movable edifice. Moses is on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and forty nights while the Lord inscribes the ten commandments in stone, but providing these tablets is not all the Lord is doing while Moses is meeting with him. The Lord is giving him the instructions and blueprints for the tabernacle and for the objects that will be placed in its interior.
Whenever a congregation comes together and decides to build a church, funds have to be made available before any construction can begin. The Lord hasn't yet revealed to Moses and the Israelites that a tabernacle will be built, but He goes ahead in today's passage and tells Moses to ask the Israelites to make funds available. He could have gone about this in the opposite way: announcing the coming tabernacle and then asking for the funds to build it. But that wouldn't allow Moses to exercise his faith here in Chapter 25. Before He tells Moses what the offerings will be used for, He tells Moses these offerings will be needed. And, interestingly enough, we don't find Moses asking Him why. It's not til the last verse of today's passage that the Lord tells him what these offerings will be used for, but until then we don't see Moses interrupting to ask any questions. Moses simply believes the Lord is asking for these offerings for a good reason. He doesn't say, "But why, Lord? What do you plan to do with them? How much are You going to need? How will these funds be allocated? I'll ask the Israelites to do what You've said, but only if You write up a detailed proposal outlining how every penny is going to be spent. If You'll give me that, then I will have the confidence to stand up before the people and tell them to be generous with their giving."
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites to bring Me an offering. You are to receive the offering for Me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.'" (Exodus 25:1-2) When we make offerings to our place of worship or to other religious organizations whose work we admire and appreciate, we are actually making offerings to the Lord Himself. This is why in verse 1 He says the people are to "bring Me an offering". I think we'd find that our hearts prompt us to give far more often and far more generously if we'd think of our giving as an offering made directly to the Lord. Churches and other religious organizations are doing the Lord's work. They are the Lord's voice in this world, proclaiming His word to people who desperately need to hear it. They are the hands and feet of the Lord in this world, reaching out to those who are hungry or poor or sick. They are the heart of the Lord, displaying His love for human beings. The Lord Jesus said, when speaking of the compassion and good works that we are to bestow upon our fellow man, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me." (Matthew 25:40)
My church's website has a button you can click to find out how offerings are being used. But I've never clicked the button because I know my church leadership well enough to trust that the funds are being used responsibly. I know the offerings are being used in the ways the Lord would want them used. My church leadership consults the Lord on every decision and they will use the offerings exactly how He directs them to use them. In verses 1 and 2 Moses has no idea why God is asking for offerings but he doesn't question the Lord. He knows the Lord will direct the use of these offerings exactly how they need to be used. There is a plan and a purpose behind the Lord's request and Moses knows that this plan and purpose is good because the Lord is good. That's really all Moses needs to know!
A second thing I want us to take away from verses 1 and 2 is that the Lord is not making these offerings a requirement. They are a freewill offering. Each person is to give as his or her heart prompts them to give. If a person doesn't want to give anything at all, the Lord names no penalty to be imposed upon them, although I believe they'll be missing out on a spiritual blessing if they don't give. They may also miss out on material blessings as well, as time goes on, for the Bible has much to say about cheerful giving. King Solomon, whom the Lord made the wealthiest man in the world and whose wealth was so great he'd still be in the top five of the Forbes 500 today, pointed out the connection between cheerful giving and the receiving of bounty from the Lord. "One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." (Proverbs 11:24-25) The Apostle Paul, who could arguably be called the wisest man of the New Testament with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, compared generous financial giving to the sowing of crops, saying, "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." (2 Corinthians 9:6) King David, the father of Solomon and a person whom the Lord said was a man with a heart like His, firmly believed that blessings fall upon those who care about others and who give to the Lord's work: "Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely...They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever." (Psalm 112:5a,9a) The Lord isn't promising to make us all millionaires and He's not saying our lives will be problem-free all the time, but He does promise to provide for us and to bring good things into our lives.
Before we move on I'd like to add a word of caution: be certain when giving to an organization that it is actually serving and honoring the Lord. I can give to my own church without a care in the world because I know they are consulting the Lord about every decision they make with the money. But anytime you give to a new organization it's smart to do some investigation first and to prayerfully be led by the Lord regarding whether this is where He wants you to make your offering. Beware of any pastor or leader who says things like, "If you'll commit $1,000 a month to my ministry I promise the Lord is going to make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams," or, "The Lord is asking you to give your all. He'll heal your illness if only you'll take your life savings out of the bank and send it to me." Many a person has been scammed out of vast amounts of money by falling for scams like this, so your giving should always be done prayerfully and under the guidance of the Lord. Even when asking the Israelites to give to Him the Lord tells them to do it prayerfully and thoughtfully and to offer only the amount they feel in their hearts they should give. If you attend a church or are benefiting somehow from the work that church does, then certainly you should contribute to it, but when giving to other religious organizations and charities it's best to investigate them and to prayerfully ask the Lord if these places are where your funds can be put to their best use. He knows where the money is actually going. He knows whether it's being used in the right ways or whether someone is sneakily lining their own pockets. He will tell you whether it's safe to send your money to that particular organization or whether you should send it someplace else.
What is the Lord asking the Israelites to consider giving? He says to Moses: "These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece." (Exodus 25:1-7) The purpose for each of these specific items will be made clear as we continue on through Exodus.
Now the Lord finally tells Moses why these items will be needed. "Then have them make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." (Exodus 25:8-9) This tabernacle is to be constructed so the Lord can "dwell among them". He is going to use it to "meet with the Israelites". (Exodus 29:43) The Lord doesn't need a house because He is present everywhere, but human beings are weak and frail and need to feel like there's a special, sacred space where they can meet with the Lord. They need a visible reminder of His presence in their lives and He is going to provide that in the tabernacle when His "glory" (which we'll get into detail about later on) appears visibly at this meeting house for them to see. The Lord needs nothing from man, but man needs everything from God, and the tabernacle is going to be constructed for their benefit, not for His. In that sense, when they give to the Lord, they're giving to themselves as well. As the saying goes, "You can't outgive God". Generous, cheerful giving to the Lord's always ends up benefiting the giver.
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