Exodus 36-39

As I mentioned in my last post, most of the remaining chapters of Exodus laboriously restate the instructions for building the tabernacle and its furnishings. However, chapters 36-39 do contain two new points of interest. The first is in 36:1-7. Because God did not require the Israelites to offer anything, from a worldly perspective one would think that only a small percentage of people would feel like giving anything. And yet the craftsmen end up saying to Moses, "The people are bringing more that enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done" (verse 5). True, they might have been motivated because God just threatened to destroy them, but in that case, wouldn't the Israelites just have offered what was needed to avoid a smiting? They actually had to be told to stop giving, the offerings were so profuse.

The golden calf was a Starkiller-sized blunder, but the Israelites (or at least the faithful remaining after the Levites' little purge) show that they still respect and honor (for the time being) the God who saved them. They gave not out of obligation, but out of faithfulness and devotion. We all pay our bills, taxes, and loans (or at least we should), but I don't know anyone who says, "You know what? I think my credit card company could use some more dough in its coffers. I'm going to donate them some of my well-earned spoils!" When we're obligated to pay something, we give the least amount we can get away with. God doesn't require us to tithe a specific amount, but if we truly have a relationship with Him, we should be thrilled and even roused to use our resources to further His kingdom. But that impetus has to come from us, which in turn comes from a healthy relationship with God.

The other point of interest is 38:21-30, in which we learn just how much gold, silver, and bronze the Israelites donated. They offered a ton of gold, almost four tons of silver, and 2.5 tons of bronze. If nothing else, the Olympics have taught us the relative values of gold, silver, and bronze, so I find it somewhat surprising that people offered more silver than bronze. (Then again, in a way it's a reflection of the odd psychology behind Olympic medal winners: some bronze medalists are happier than silver medalists. Some experts posit that silver medalists beat themselves up over just missing gold, while bronze medalists are just thrilled to have won a medal at all. Because that's exactly what's going on here with the ancient Israelites.) Still, that's quite a stash of precious metals, and it's probably not even all the Israelites had. You'll be disappointed to hear that I don't have any gold bullion in my possession, but I do know that I could probably devote even more of my money to worthy causes. Even if my contribution seems a pittance, it can still make a difference. And I apologize for making that sound like an inspirational cat poster.