Commentary - Exodus 36:1-7

Bird's-eye view

This short passage in Exodus is a glorious picture of the church at its best, functioning as God designed it to function. Here we see three crucial elements working in perfect harmony: divine enablement, cheerful obedience, and extravagant generosity. God does not just give commands; He gives the gifts and skills necessary to fulfill those commands. Bezalel and Oholiab are not simply talented men; they are men to whom Yahweh has given wisdom and discernment for a specific task. Then we see the response of the people, whose hearts are so stirred that their freewill offerings become a torrent of generosity, a flood of grace. It is so overwhelming that Moses, the mediator, actually has to tell them to stop giving. The work of building God's house is not a grim duty, but a joyful overflow. This is a portrait of a Spirit-filled community, where the leadership directs, the skilled craftsmen work, and the people give with such abandon that there is more than enough to accomplish the task. It stands as a permanent rebuke to all our modern, anemic fundraising programs and our reluctant, calculated giving. This is what happens when God's Spirit moves upon God's people; they build His house with joy.

The central lesson is that God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supply. The construction of the Tabernacle was a massive, intricate, and expensive project, yet it was funded entirely by the freewill offerings of a people recently freed from slavery. Their hearts were stirred, and their hands were opened. This passage is a beautiful illustration of the principle that where God guides, He provides. But He provides through the willing hearts and open hands of His people. The result is a testimony to the world: our God is a God of glorious abundance, and His people are a people of lavish generosity.

Outline

Context In Exodus

This passage comes immediately after the Lord has given Moses the detailed instructions for the Tabernacle and after Moses has relayed those instructions to the people. In chapter 35, we see the call for contributions and the stirring of the people's hearts to give. Chapter 36 marks the transition from planning and gathering to the actual work of construction. This section is the direct fulfillment of God's command and the people's willing response. It is a bright spot in the story of Israel, a moment of profound unity and godliness, sandwiched between the horrific apostasy of the golden calf in chapter 32 and the subsequent wanderings and grumblings in the wilderness. This moment of cheerful, obedient, and skilled worship stands as a model of what Israel was called to be and a foreshadowing of what the Church, the true temple of the Holy Spirit, is called to be in Christ.

Key Issues

The Stirred Heart Economy

In our day, we are accustomed to seeing the work of the church funded through carefully planned budgets, stewardship campaigns, and sometimes, manipulative emotional appeals. We are constantly worried about "making the budget." But here in Exodus, we see a different kind of economy at work, what we might call the "stirred heart" economy. God's command goes forth, and the Spirit of God moves upon the hearts of the people. The result is not a reluctant trickle of donations, but a veritable flood. The giving is not coerced; it is a freewill offering. It is not calculated; it is extravagant.

This is a foundational principle for the people of God. The work of God is to be supported by the willing gifts of God's people. When the hearts of the people are right with God, when they are captivated by His glory and grace, they will not need to be begged or guilted into giving. They will give freely, joyfully, and sacrificially. This is the pattern we see again in the New Testament, where Paul urges the Corinthians to give "not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). The problem in the modern church is not a lack of resources, but a lack of stirred hearts. When we are truly gripped by the gospel, our wallets and pocketbooks will be the first to show it. This passage reminds us that the greatest resource the church has is not the wealth of its members, but the grace of God stirring their hearts to joyful generosity.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 “Now Bezalel and Oholiab and every person wise at heart, to whom Yahweh has given wisdom and discernment to know how to do all the work of the service of constructing the sanctuary, shall do in accordance with all that Yahweh has commanded.”

The first verse sets the stage by establishing the ultimate source of all competence for the work of God. It is not native talent or learned skill alone, but wisdom and discernment that Yahweh has given. God is the one who equips His servants for His service. Bezalel and Oholiab are the chief artisans, but they are joined by a whole company of those who are "wise at heart." This wisdom is not abstract intellectual knowledge, but practical skill, the "know how" to do the work. And what is the standard for their work? It is not their own artistic inspiration or the popular styles of the day. They are to do everything in accordance with all that Yahweh has commanded. God's work must be done according to God's Word. Divine enablement and divine command are the two pillars upon which the entire project rests.

2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every person wise at heart to whom Yahweh had given wisdom, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to do it.

Moses, as the covenant mediator, formally calls the workers to their task. Notice the two qualifications again. First, they are those to whom Yahweh had given wisdom. The gift is from God. But second, they are those whose heart stirred him to come to the work. This is crucial. God gives the gift, but the individual must have the internal motivation, the desire, the willingness to put that gift to use. This is not a draft; it is a call for volunteers. God does not compel service. He bestows ability and then stirs the heart with a desire to use that ability for His glory. True Christian service is always the marriage of divine gifting and a willing heart.

3 And they received from Moses the entire contribution which the sons of Israel had brought to do the work in the service of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.

The materials are now formally transferred from Moses to the craftsmen. But the giving does not stop. The people are so full of zeal for the house of God that they just keep bringing more. The offerings are described as freewill offerings, emphasizing the voluntary and cheerful nature of their giving. And it is a consistent, daily pattern: every morning. This is not a one-time fundraising drive. It is a sustained, daily overflow of a people whose hearts are set on the worship of God. Their generosity has a momentum of its own, driven by their love for Yahweh.

4-5 And all the wise men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was doing, and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded us to do.”

This is one of the most remarkable moments in the Bible. The workers, the men in charge of the project, have to stop what they are doing to report a problem. But it is the kind of problem every pastor and church treasurer dreams of. The problem is not a deficit, but an overwhelming surplus. The people are bringing much more than enough. The craftsmen, who know exactly what is needed to fulfill God's commands, recognize that the supply has exceeded the demand. This is a testament not only to the generosity of the people but also to the integrity of the craftsmen. They are not looking to line their own pockets or to expand the project beyond what God commanded. They are faithful stewards of both the divine blueprint and the people's gifts.

6 So Moses commanded and a proclamation was passed throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer do the work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more.

In response to the report, Moses issues a command. But it is not a command to give more; it is a command to stop giving. A proclamation is sent out to the entire camp. The "work for the contributions" likely refers to the crafting of the gifts themselves, spinning yarn, preparing metals, and so on. The people had to be formally restrained from their own generosity. Imagine that. The leadership of God's people had to put the brakes on their giving. This is the opposite of the world's way, and sadly, often the opposite of the church's way, where the appeals for money are endless. Here, the need was met, and the giving was concluded.

7 Indeed, the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to do it.

The final verse summarizes the situation with a beautiful statement of divine provision. The material was sufficient. It was enough to get the job done right, according to God's specifications. But it was more than just sufficient; it was more than enough. There was an abundance, a surplus. This is characteristic of God's economy. He is not a God of bare minimums. He is the God of overflowing baskets, of nets breaking with fish, of grace that is "more than abundant." When His people respond to His grace with stirred hearts, the result is always sufficiency, and often, glorious, over-the-top abundance. God's house was built not with a strained budget, but with a joyful surplus.

Application

This passage is a powerful diagnostic tool for the modern church. If our churches are constantly struggling for funds, if our people give reluctantly and only under pressure, if our projects are perpetually underfunded, we should not first look at our accounting methods. We should look at the state of our hearts. Have we lost the wonder of our salvation? Has the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ grown dim to us? A stirred heart is a generous heart, and only the gospel can truly stir the heart.

Secondly, this passage calls us to recognize that our skills and abilities are gifts from God, given for the purpose of building His kingdom. Whether you are a craftsman like Bezalel, a leader like Moses, or one of the unnamed people bringing a freewill offering, you have a part to play. God has gifted every member of His church with wisdom and skill for the work of the ministry. The question is whether our hearts are stirred to use those gifts. We are not to sit on our gifts, nor are we to use them for our own glory. We are called to bring them to the work, to do it for the construction of the sanctuary, which today is the Church of Jesus Christ.

Finally, we must learn to trust in God's economy of abundance. We serve a God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He has promised to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Our task is not to worry and fret about resources, but to be faithful to His commands and to cultivate hearts that are stirred by His grace. When we do that, we will find, as Israel did, that our God provides not just enough, but more than enough. The great work of the gospel will not fail for lack of funds. It will go forward on the tide of the joyful, extravagant, and unrestrainable generosity of a people whose hearts have been captured by the King.