Exodus 35:1-36:7
Dear RTB’ers,
Two thoughts for today. First, the Sabbath. God is serious about His Sabbath. It was one of two items from the Ten that was mentioned in yesterday’s reading and now it’s the first item in today’s reading. Maybe He wants us to be (or get) serious about observing His Sabbath. Frankly, for years I tended to observe the Sabbath by going to church and not doing a lot of “heavy lifting”. Then an incident occurred when I was a graduate student at the University of Maryland. One Sunday morning I attended a church in Washington, DC that coincided with me reading Hebrews, especially the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4. I began to see God’s Sabbath rest more as a gift than a requirement – and I am not a person who dismisses gifts lightly. Beginning that following Sunday I rested from my studies and my homework and my teaching preparations (except for when classmates or students made a serious request of me to join them for a study session). Carol and I continue to observe God’s Sabbath rest. I encourage you to go to Hebrews and read from 3:7 to 4:13, about the Sabbath as a rest-gift rather than a requirement. It’ll change your focus.
Second item… We’re not there, but I think it’s pledging time at St. Andrew’s. Timely that we should be reading about the Israelites’ gifts for the construction of the tabernacle and all its contents and the priestly robes. I was struck by the people’s reaction to the call for contributions:
And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
Exodus 36:3-7
‘Nuff said.
Blessings!
See also: January 28 (2023) / Exodus 35-37