Monday: Offerings and the Spirit
Daily Lesson for Monday 22nd of September 2025
Read Exodus 35:4-35; Exodus 36:1-7. What important lessons are here for us today?
An abundance of various precious materials was needed to build the tabernacle, and it was accomplished by generous donations from God’s people, who gave from the bottom of their hearts, willingly and with joy.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
They gave gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, precious stones, unique fabrics, acacia wood, olive oil, spices, and many other needed items. People also donated their labor because many specific objects needed to be crafted through their artistic and diligent work on the tent or its furniture. Also, tailors had to weave garments for the priests, who would be ministering in the tabernacle, and for the high priest, whose very elaborate garments included a breastplate and turban.
God had abundantly blessed the Israelites through the gifts that the Egyptians had given them on their departure from Egypt. Now it was their opportunity to give offerings of gratitude for God’s merciful and mighty leadership, and their hearts were moved to accomplish this work to His glory.
The people were giving with such joy and abundance that Moses was told: “ ‘The people are bringing more than enough’ ” (Exodus 36:5, NIV). So, Moses had to stop their donations “because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work” on the tabernacle (Exodus 36:7, NIV).
Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God equipped and empowered the people to accurately build the tabernacle. Bezalel, Aholiab, and others were “filled . . . with the Spirit of God” (Exodus 35:31, NKJV), which means that they were endowed with skills, wisdom, and artistic knowledge to perfectly do all the work. It was an enormous project and had to be created exactly according to the model God showed Moses.
It is significant that the gift of the Holy Spirit was related to people’s different abilities and skills, which needed to be employed in building the tabernacle. To be filled with the Spirit is not a magical process and does not mean that special spiritual forces are within humans. To advance God’s cause and fulfill His mission, God empowers His followers to accomplish His objectives and to do it well.
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What spiritual gifts have you received when you were filled with the Holy Spirit? Remember that the spiritual gifts can flourish only when you cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). |
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For those of us with a cynical mind, we could read today’s lesson with the idea that it is intended to put the hard word on us to give more of our money and time to the church. Giving time and money to the cause of God is one thing, but the most useful thing that comes out of such projects is the sense of community that develops as we work together. When we are working together, we tend to put aside our differences.
I am not a big fan of sport, but I cannot help but notice our local Rugby League team in the national competition has just won the wooden spoon for the season. Earlier in the season when it became quite obvious that things were going bad, there were recriminations and blame cast on the coaches, management, and one another. They had lost the will to work together, and that lack of cohesion has left them stranded at the bottom of the ladder.
Isaiah has this to say:
If our churches have become a brief stopover for the liturgy fest on Sabbath morning, we have lost the blessing and the witness of working together. Perhaps we should be praying for a local project that required team effort.