Exodus 35:5, commentary and pictures

God asked Moses to invite all Israel to bring voluntary gifts of gold, silver, and brass, including personal jewelry and ornaments, to build His house, accepting only what each willing heart freely chose to give. The people answered gladly and so generously, giving more than a million dollars' worth until there was more than could be used, so Moses had to command them to stop bringing gifts and labor. This call came when freedom from Egypt was still fragile and means were scanty, yet God's house was to come first before enlarging their own tents, and the gift was to be the best each possessed in proportion to what had been entrusted to him. These were special freewill offerings beyond tithes and regular dues, because gold and silver and even bodies and souls are the Lord's, and He asks all to return His own to Him so every soul may share in the work and its blessing. Hearts that are free and anxious to help need no urging but only the assurance that God calls for their means and cooperation, and the same call still applies to preparing pure and tasteful places of worship and to strengthening schools and institutions where youth are trained and salvation is revealed.

Tabernacle Offering in Context

The call for the offering came just after Israel left Egypt, when there was but a step back from freedom to slavery and their means were scanty. God's house was to be built first, before enlarging their own small tents, following the design God gave.

The Lord directed Moses to invite all Israel to bring, accepting only freewill gifts from whoever was of a willing heart and whose heart stirred them. No compulsion was used, for the giving required devotion to God's work and sacrifice from the heart. The offering was to be gold and silver and brass. It was brought as jewelry, ornaments, and ornamental work taken from the person and cast into the treasury to beautify and enrich God's house. Materials and skill were to be given and applied with care.

The response was glad, cheerful, and generous, for each soul was anxious to have an interest in erecting a house for God. The gifts and freewill offerings came in abundance and cost more than a million dollars. There was more than could be used or appropriated. Moses therefore had to proclaim there was enough and tell the leaders and the people to stop bringing offerings and willing labor, so that cheerful willing labor and offerings ceased.

Principle of Willing Giving

The tabernacle in the wilderness was built by special free-will offerings beyond the systematic tithes and regular required gifts. These were called for by God at a stated time for a special object, with the amount measured by the amount possessed, so that the larger the capital entrusted the more valuable the gift to be returned. The requirement rested on all and not on one class, and it was made for the good of the givers as well as to sustain God's service.

The gold and the silver are the Lord's, and all that people possess, even their own souls and bodies, are His. He could furnish means without asking any sacrifice, but He has never worked that way. Instead He carries forward His work by calling all the people to bring free-will offerings from willing hearts, returning to Him what is His own so that every soul may have a share and blessing in acting his part. Hearts that are free and willing and anxious to aid the advancement of His work, and who understand He calls them to a work, need no urging, only assurance that there is a work to be done and that God calls for their means and hearty cooperation.

Willing generosity means giving God the best one can, enough to complete the work, and valuing His presence above earthly comforts. Grudging or insufficient gifts show little regard for sacred things, while willing generosity is met with God's blessing and with rejoicing because with perfect heart the people offer willingly to the Lord. Everything connected with worship is to be treated as sacred, with its arrangements pure, clean, and tasteful. The materials and skill used were to be given and applied with care, and the exactitude, skill, wisdom, and perfection required for the tabernacle are a pattern for every kind of work in God's service.

The same call applies now to preparing places of worship, where Israel's cheerful example teaches giving the best that completes the work. It calls for an offering from every willing heart whose heart stirs him and whose spirit makes him willing, in gold and silver and brass, for the strengthening of institutions and training centers and for medical missionary evangelists. It calls for opening heart and purse to buy property for schools where youth shall be educated to go forth as missionaries and where the salvation of God shall be revealed.