The Study of Exodus with Tina Rains - Chapters 34-36
Welcome back, Masterpiece Women. This week, we are in chapters 34 through 36 of Exodus.
In chapter 34 verses 5-7, we see that “The Lord comes down in a cloud and He stands over Moses and He calls out His own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected- even children in the 3rd and 4th generations.”
These were the basis of his renewal of the covenant. God's unfailing love and his generous desire to forgive are not a weakness. They are also not a reason to choose to sin. We see in these passages that Moses asks the Lord to travel with him and the people. He asks the Lord to make them his special possession. In verses 10 through 11, we see God commits to caring once again for the people in a miraculous way. The Lord also makes it very clear in the passages that “idolatry will not be tolerated.” In verse 14, he says “You must worship no other gods for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.” Further in the same chapter, we see the Lord repeating the importance of the festival of unleavened bread, sacrificing the firstborn, the Sabbath, a celebration of the festival of harvest, a Passover sacrifice, and He has Moses rewrite on the tablets. Moses remained there for 40 days and 40 nights. When he comes off of the mountain, we see that he is radiant. When I am in the word and spending time with the Lord, I feel radiant don't you? I feel radiant from the inside out. I can picture Moses and the feeling he must have had when he spent that time with the Lord and knowing the sovereignty and the loving God of the universe chose for him to come to spend those 40 days and 40 nights with him. In verse 33, we see that Moses was glowing so greatly, that he had to cover his face with a veil. Wow! Can you picture it? In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Paul applies Moses’ experience to Christians who by faith see the glory of Jesus Christ in the word and experience a spiritual transformation.
In chapter 35, he starts talking about the Sabbath once again. Do you think taking a Sabbath is important? Do you see how many times he repeats that over and over throughout these chapters? I believe it is a message to all of us. Yes, build our business and ministries, and take a Sabbath weekly. In Chapter 35: 4-7, we see that the Lord commands a sacrifice, however, gives many options for the sacrifices. I love how the variety of gifts opens the opportunity for those making sacrifices to have more options to sacrifice to the Lord. It reflects the body of Christ and how we all have different gifts, talents, and treasures. He values it all. He creates it all for a purpose and a plan. The greatest point I catch here is that He wants us to sacrifice to him and put him first. What are you seeing in this chapter? What are your gifts, talents, and treasures? How are you using them for God’s glory?
In chapter 36, we see that Bezalel and Oholiab are all gifted and skilled Craftsmen. They are called to construct the Tabernacle. But what is it that they use? In Chapter 36 verses 3-5, we see “Moses gave them the materials donated by the people of Israel as sacred offerings for the completion of the sanctuary. But the people continued to bring additional gifts each morning. Finally, the Craftsmen who were working on the sanctuary left their work. They went to Moses and reported, “the people have given us more than enough materials to complete the job the Lord has commanded us to do!” Each person was able to sacrifice and glorify the Lord with their gifts, treasures, and talents. They had more than they needed. They had to tell the people to stop sacrificing. This is a beautiful picture of generosity. The heart to sacrifice and give out of abundance versus scarcity is such a gift to that giving. Can you imagine if the ministries in our community had to say stop giving because we have more than we need? What if we gave as much as we spend on luxuries? How much do we really need to live on?
I had a conversation recently with one of my friends and as we reflected on the conversation, we both realized how first world countries our thoughts and conversation was. While we worry about the luxuries, many people around the world are dying and becoming refugees due to war, being human trafficked, starving, do not have clean water, and need Jesus. Well, that certainly puts it into perspective. What could you sacrifice today? I'm going to encourage you if you are not making an impact in the world with your time, talent or treasures, ask God how he wants to use you in that way. He has called us to be a living sacrifice. Are you giving him your finest of time treasures, and talents? Or are you giving him your scraps? He has great plans for us and He wants us to use the gifts that he gives us to make an impact and not just for selfish gain. I want to challenge each of us to do something for someone else this week. What can you do? Who can you help? The beautiful thing about giving is that it is so much richer to give than it is to receive. Nothing makes my heart smile greater than to see a life impacted by my gift, talent, or treasure. Go be a blessing to someone today ladies.
Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a wonderful day!
