The Tabernacle as Community Project — Gold, Gusto, and Giving Your Best

Israel Did Everything With Gusto

The children of Israel in the wilderness get bad press. They are normally accused of horrible murmuring and complaining and even plain ungratefulness towards God and Moses. There is no doubt that there was murmuring and complaining, but there is also no doubt that, when the children of Israel did something either good or bad, they did it with gusto. They gave generously to Aaron the high priest to build the Golden Calf, and now they give again with the same zeal for the building of the tabernacle.

We must remember that this nation is a nation of slaves. The building of the Tabernacle was just a few months after they left Egypt. They were liberated from slavery only a very short time ago, and they wandered in the Sinai desert for two months before they arrived at Mount Sinai and received the Torah from the mouth of God. Now, suddenly they are asked to build a Tabernacle, and everything in that portable temple would have to be donated. These slaves had nothing much before they left Egypt. They took from the Egyptians all the gold and silver, the expensive silk and leather, and precious stones. They felt that all that they took was not even fair payment for the years of slavery that they were enslaved in Egypt.

These same people were just out of the trauma of the building of the Golden Calf. There too they were asked to give gold, and women took their gold jewelry off their ears and necks and gave them to Aaron to make the Golden Calf. Now, a second time in a very short period, they are asked to give more gold and more silver and precious stones to build the portable temple for the Lord. They gave so much that Moses had to stop them and say, "it is enough, stop giving!"

What Would a Committee Say?

Now imagine that this was a church or a synagogue committee making the decisions and planning this Tabernacle! Here we go! "Why do we have to cover this beautiful woodwork with gold!" "Why do we need to make the bases for the tentpoles from silver?" "There are so many beautiful stones here in the Sinai desert. We have green marbled stones from the copper mines of Bir Nasb. There are wonderful red granite stones. Why use Gold?"

Here is the answer that Moses would give to these people of the construction committee: "Dear Brothers, you are all right, we could use the malachite (marbled green stone), we could use the red granite stones of the Sinai desert. But, we must do exactly what God said we ought to do. God said to make the ark of the covenant from acacia wood and cover it with gold. Please, dear brothers, is God not the ultimate architect? Let us do what God commanded us to do in the way that He commanded us to do it. Let us remember the God who promised and kept His promises. He promised that we would leave Egypt with the wealth of Egypt in our possession. He kept His promise. He promised that we will be free from Egyptian slavery. Here we are now free at last! We stood on dry ground and saw our enemies drown in the sea! Now you have seen and heard the voice of the Lord speak to you from the smoking and shaking mountain. You have heard God's promises for our future! God's track record is 100% success every time. Take out your gold and your silver and cut the wood for the tentpoles. Lift that wood and bring the gold and silver and start building."

Remember the following Torah principle: God does not accept damaged sacrifices! He wants your very best because He gave His very best, His Son Yeshua, for our transgressions, and by His stripes we were taken each out of our private Egypt. God knows everything about everyone of us humans. He knows the number of hairs on our head and the number of hairs we have lost in the wind! He knew what these Israelites who left Egypt have in their pockets and under their sleeping bags. He would never ask what was impossible from them or from us!

Frida Lindsey — Like Moses in the Wilderness

The giving was not prescribed, and there was no percentage numbered of how much each should give to the building of the tabernacle. In my lifetime I have had the privilege of knowing personally some of the best and most honest Christian fundraisers. One of the very best was a dear woman, a widow, from Dallas, Texas. Her name is Frida Lindsey. She is the founder of Christ for the Nations in Dallas. This woman was, first of all, the paragon of honesty and dignity and true dedication to the memory of her dear husband Gordon Lindsey, and the education and equipping of young people to serve God and Yeshua the Messiah.

I have watched dear Sister Frida so many times raise funds for the school. If she had 50 people in the audience she would pray and set the goals to raise 50,000 dollars. At first, dear sister Frida would have the song leader sing the song, "Must I Go, and Empty-Handed?" Sister Frida has gone to be with the Lord, and I have not heard anyone sing this song since the last time that I was with her. The next thing she would say is, "Are there here five people who would give 10,000 dollars each?" Normally there was at least one who would give 10,000 dollars. Next she would say, "are there eight people who would give 5,000 each." There would normally be two or three who would give 5,000 each. Finally the last would be how many people can give 10 dollars or 5 dollars for the said project. In other words, Sister Frida, like Moses in the wilderness, would give everyone the honor and the opportunity to have a part in the project that she felt God wanted and blessed.

Everyone Had a Part — and That Matters

Everything in the Tabernacle built in the wilderness was a donation. And the interesting thing about that tabernacle is that every single individual Israelite from every tribe had a part in the building of the tabernacle. So when people looked at the tabernacle, they said, "Oh, that's mine. I have a part in it. I gave this gold that made the lamp. I gave the silver that made the foot of where the pillars that hold the temple together stand. I gave the wood for making the Ark. I gave the skin to make the roof. I gave the silk and the purple for the clothing of the priests. I gave the precious stones for the breastplate of Aaron."

The disciples are encouraged to give with three pre-conditions: as they have purposed in their hearts — that is, as they have decided beforehand with sincerity of heart; generously, because it is like a seed that is sown in the ground and the harvest is dependent on the amount of seed sown; and with joy and gladness.

I miss this aspect in my visits to churches all around the world. I know very few people that feel that they have ownership — physical ownership — in what they built in their church buildings and in their faith and in their teaching and in their daily life. We are in partnership with God from A to Z. We're in partnership with God in everything that we have as a community, as a building, as a ministry, and in missions. We have to be participants and we have to feel and know that ownership. That's the key to having a healthy community of disciples of Yeshua, of the Messiah.