Giving Up Control

When Moses saw a vision of God and began to really know him personally, he became much more humble or meek, as we saw in the previous post.  When they first came out of Egypt, Moses was trying to deal with every problem himself, as we saw in Exodus 18.   He felt like he was responsible for every detail.  His father in law advised him to delegate some of that responsibility and quit micro managing, warning that continuing would so consume his time and energy they would be unable to do what needed to be done.  After getting a vision of the glory and power of God Moses realized God was able to control things without his help. 

God had directed Moses to build the Tabernacle, and to build it, they would need to obtain the necessary materials.  Instead of designating that each person donate a certain amount or setting up a telethon or other fund raising campaign, like many modern churches do, Moses listed what they needed and said that anyone who wanted to could donate toward those needs, in Exodus 35:4-9.  “And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

He also described the things they were going to build and said that if they had needed skills and wanted to help would be welcome to come and do the actual construction, in Exodus 35:10-19.  “And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded; The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets, The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering, The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the showbread, The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light, And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle, The altar of burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords, The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.”

The people gave willingly, according to Exodus 35:20-29.  “And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.  And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD'S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.  And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.  And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.  Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord's offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.  And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.  And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.  And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.  The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.” 

No one was encouraged to give in an effort to prove their faith, or to test God, and there was no competition to see who gave the most.  The people simply brought what they had or could produce, as they felt led of the Lord to give, and nobody knew how much anyone else gave.   There were no tax write offs or announcements made about their gifts, nor even a chart showing how much had been received. 

Moses recognized that God had called Bezaleel and Aholiab to oversee the construction, just as he had called Moses to lead the nation.  He had also called others to do specific jobs on the construction, giving them special skills and knowledge to do those jobs.  Moses would not need to oversee every detail, but could trust God to direct them so that things got done properly, as Exodus 35:30-36:1 tells us.  “And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.  And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.”

This is an important concept for Christians, that God has called them to a specific type of work where they can use their special talents at their job to glorify him and minister to those around them.  The janitor has just as definite a calling into the Lord’s service as a missionary or pastor, and their jobs are just as important.   Before God we are all equals, and as James 2:1- 10 tells us, when we set one above another we are sinning.  “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?  Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Having told the people what God wanted, Moses left it up to the Lord to direct them what they should do, trusting them to do as God directed as Exodus 36:2-3 describes.  “And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.”

Given the freedom to follow what God directed, the people rose to the occasion. Providing everything that was needed, according to Exodus 36:4-7.  “And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.  For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.”

Free to give as they saw fit, the people had outdone themselves.  The workers had to ask that no more be given as they couldn’t use it all.  When we set up our fundraising efforts, we are depending on our own abilities rather than on God’s power.  As a result, people often become resentful, and it is usually a struggle to get the last part that is needed.   Philippians 4:19 promises, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  Since God has not run out of money, if he is not supplying what is needed, it implies we are not following his plan, either not trusting him to supply, or trying to do something he is not pleased with. 

Having recognized God could direct others besides himself, Moses allowed the workers to do their job without his interference.  It turned out exactly as God had planned, according to Exodus 39:42-43.  “According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work.  And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.”  When we begin to understand who God is, we begin to understand everything depends on him rather than on us.  We can trust him and don’t need to control others.