Lesson #29

EXODUS 25:1-9
Lesson #29
GIVING ABUNDANTLY TO GOD UNDER LAW AND UNDER GRACE

• Memory Verse: Luk 6:38

• Beginning with chapter 25 of Exodus, God began to give the Israelites the pattern for worship. This is a very extensive theme in the rest of the book of Exodus and in the book of Leviticus.
• God gives them the pattern for the construction of the tabernacle.
• God gives them the pattern and function of the priesthood.
• Before we begin to discuss the tabernacle and all of its meaning for us today in this New Testament age of grace, we first see a marvelous passage that opens Exo 25 concerning how abundantly the people gave to God.

• Read Exo 25:1-9 (Exo 35:5-18) Giving to God
• Read Exo 35:20-29
• We are going to discuss God’s plan for giving to Him and to His work, the church.
• We are going to rightly divide scripture to gain an understanding of exactly how the believer in this New Testament age should give offerings to God.
• What do we notice in this passage about giving to God?
• The right motive for giving to God and His work, the church.
• In a period of law or in a period of grace, the correct attitude in man’s heart for giving to God should be willingly in his heart.. (Exo 25:2 Exo 35:5, 21, 22, 29)
• In other words, no one should tell the believer how much he should give to God for that violates man’s free will giving to God.
• Notice that God speaks of the willingness in the heart.
• Many pastors, teachers, and church leaders say that if you do not tell people how much to give, they will not give.
• However, the Bible indicates that just the opposite is true.
• An Important Principle:

Law raises man’s rebellious nature.

• Read Rom 7:7-9
• We see that when a person is under law, the obligation which that law demands makes a person want to do exactly the opposite.
• We see this aspect with our children. As soon as you tell a child, you must do this or that, the child immediately rebels and will not do it.
• For example, if you command a child to give a kiss to grandma, the child will usually say no. However, if you ask the child if he can show grandma how much he loves her, he will easily give her a hug and a kiss.
• Because the Holy Spirit is living inside of the believer, He is the one who directs the believer to give to God and His work. It is His job to guide the believer to give.
• The willingness in the heart is based on man’s love for God.
• Read Luk 7:36-47
• Jesus said that the woman gave him more because she loved him more.
• A person will give to God in proportion to the amount of love he has in his heart. Therefore, you can tell how much a person loves the Lord by how much he gives to the Lord and His work.
• A person will demonstrate his love for the Lord in two ways:
• By his obedience. (Joh 14:21)
• By the amount he gives to the Lord and the Lord’s work.
• What items did God tell the Israelites to give?
• They were to give specific items that God wanted to be used in the building of the tabernacle and for the operation of the priesthood to perform their duties in worship.
• Gold, silver, brass.
• Precious stones,
• Red, blue, purple, and white linen.
• Specific animal’s skins.
• Wood
• Oil and spices.
• How much did the Israelites give?
• Read Exo 36:1-7
• The people gave abundantly and willingly until Moses told them to stop giving because they had too much.
• This is remarkable in that the Israelites were so disobedient in every other way. How can we explain it?
• The most likely explanation is the difference in motivation between law and grace.
• The people were not commanded to give but encouraged to give willingly. That is the concept of giving in an age of grace. The motivation to give is love. Therefore the people give freely and abundantly.
• When people are commanded to give, like the tithe under the Mosaic Law, they naturally rebel and do not give (Mal 3:9-10), because the motivation to give is obligatory.
• This abundant wealth that the Israelites gave, came from the Egyptians when they paid the Israelites to leave Egypt.
• How does this relate to the New Testament church?
• Read 1Cor 16:2
• The New Testament believer is supposed to give money to support the building and the operation of the church (Luk 10:7) and its ministries just as we see how the Israelites gave for the ministry of worship in Exo 25.
• The tithe in the period of law and in the period of grace:
• Because the book of Exodus is the beginning of the period of law, and the tithe is part of the law given to Moses, we need to get a clear understanding of the tithe as it relates to giving to God.
• What is the tithe?
• The word, tithe, means 10%.
• The tithe in the period of grace:
• The word, tithe, first occurs in scripture in a period of grace with Abraham, the father of faith.
• Read Gen 14:17-20
• Abraham paid the first tithe of all the spoil he received from winning a battle to rescue his nephew, Lot, from their enemies.
• Because this reference to the tithe comes in a period of grace which is similar to this age of grace in which we now live, many Christians today believe that the New Testament believer should tithe.
• However, this is the only reference to the tithe in a period of grace. Did Abraham consistently tithe month after month, year after year? We do not know.
• Genesis does not tell us why Abraham paid this tithe, because the tithe was not the focus of this passage in Genesis. The priest, Melchizedek, was the important focus in Genesis according to Heb 7. Melchizedek was a prefigure of Jesus Christ.
• Did Jesus tell His believers that they should tithe? No.
• Jesus encouraged believers to give with a motive of love according to their free will in a manner consistent with Luk 6:38 (the memory verse for this lesson).
• The tithe under the Mosaic Law:
• What were the Israelites supposed to tithe?
• Read Lev 27:30-34 (Deu 14:22 2Chr 31:5)
• The tithe under the Law of Moses was for an agricultural society.
• The Israelites were to tithe the seed of the land, the fruit from the trees, and the herds of animals.
• The Israelite was to bring 1/10 of his crops and herds and give them to God each year.
• Notice that the farmer could buy back from God certain products with money by adding 1/5 more of the value. However, he could not buy back animals. (Lev 27:31)
• Therefore, in the end we can say that the Israelite gave to God more than the tithe of 10% plus 1/5 more in the form of money.
• How was the tithe used?
• Read Num 18:21
• The priests and Levites were to collect the tithes (Num 18:21-24).
• The purpose for the tithe was to provide a living for the priesthood and for the tribe of Levi. This tribe did not inherit any land in the promised land.
• In turn, the Levites were to take a tenth part of that tithe and give it to God as an offering. (Num 18:26)
• Read Deu 14:28
• Where were the tithes paid?
• The people were to bring the tithes to Jerusalem for two consecutive years annually after they had entered the promised land. (Deu 12:5, 17)
• Every third year the tithe was used as a welfare program in his own community for the poor administered by the priests.
• Did those who were not farmers pay tithes?
• The Mosaic Law does not specify any tithe for a shopkeeper who sold sandals, pottery, cloth, etc. to make a living. The tithe related only to agricultural products. Why?
• The promised land belonged to God. Therefore, any increase from the land in the form of food products belonged to God. However, in His mercy, He let the people keep 90% of the prosperity for their own use.
• The Old Testament speaks of freewill offerings that were separate from the tithes. (Lev 23:18, 38)
• These offerings are sometimes mentioned along with tithes (Mal 3:8), which indicates that both freewill offerings and tithes of crops and animals were given to God.
• Did the Israelites faithfully pay tithes and offerings to God in the period of law? No.
• Read Mal 3:8-12
• This scripture was written in the period of law. We know this by the condition linked to the promise. (Remember that in a period of law the blessings of the covenant came if the people fulfilled the conditions.) God says He will rebuke the devourer, if they pay their tithes.
• Summary:
• Important things to remember concerning the Old Testament tithe:
• =1= The purpose of the tithe in the Old Testament was::
• To support the priesthood.
• To support the temple or tabernacle
• To support the tribe of Levi who did not own land.
• To provide a welfare system for the poor.
• =2= The Old Testament tithe was limited to agricultural products and animals which were products of the land that belonged to God.
• =3= Did God expect only the tithe in the Old Testament? No.
• The people were to give agricultural tithes and freewill offerings from the heart as a means of expressing love to God.
• The tithe, along with the rest of the Law, temporarily came in alongside the covenant of grace.
• Therefore, in a period of law God expected the agricultural tithe and freewill giving.
• In a period of grace, God expects freewill giving.
• What are some principles and guidelines for giving to God in this New Testament age of grace?
• =1= Every believer in Jesus Christ should give abundantly to God as a freewill offering from the heart according to his love for God.
• Read Mat 23:23
• Read Mar 12:42-44
• Notice that Jesus compares the widow’s freewill offering to the tithes of the Scribes and Pharisees.
• She loved the Lord more than the Scribes and Pharisees, so she gave more of what she had. In other words, she gave more than a tithe.
• Some Christians today make the tithe the standard for Christian giving. They say that all that you have to give is the tithe and no more. That is neither the Old Testament standard of giving, nor is it the New Testament concept of giving. It is the Pharisees’ concept of giving.
• We have seen that the Old Testament standard was both agricultural tithes and freewill offerings.
• We see in the widow’s mite the New Testament standard of giving. It is a freewill offering based on love which will often be more than the 10% tithe.
• =2= The New Testament believer is not commanded to tithe. However, many Christians feel that the tithe is a good quantity at which to start giving. If your tithe is a freewill giving from the heart, by all means start there with the understanding that it is not a New Testament standard to indicate you have arrived at all that God expects or desires.
• =3= Every believer should first give his freewill offerings of money to his local church. Why?
• The local church is God’s instrument for extending the gospel and ministering to people.
• These methods of ministry are not cheap nor free. Therefore, because Christ died for the church (Eph 5:25), the believer should support it by giving money to the church.
• The local pastor has the responsibility and the call from God to feed and care for the sheep. Therefore, the congregation should invest their money in the local pastor and his ministry by giving money to the church in support of the pastor. (1Tim 5:18)
• =4= Every believer should also give freely to other ministries outside of his local church that the Holy Spirit guides him to support. (Phi 4:15-17)
• =5= Every believer should freely give his time, his talents, and his spiritual gifts to the local church.
• This aspect of giving does not replace giving your offerings of money but should be in addition to it. (1Cor 14:12 Neh 10:32-39)
• Application and Summary:
• We have discussed giving to God in a time of law and a time of grace.
• We have examined many scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament to achieve a balanced interpretation of giving to God.
• We have come to the understanding that giving is from the heart according to the love we have for God.
• We come back to our memory verse in Luk 6:38

• “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

• Jesus commands us to give to God. The measure we use to give to Him is the same measure He will use to give to us.
• In addition, He promises that He will exceed our measure by 3 times more:
• He will press it down in the measure.
• He will shake it together in the measure.
• He will cause it to run over the measure.
• That is a good RETURN on our investment in God’s kingdom.!

HOMEWORK
A STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE: INTRODUCTION
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Exo 25:1-9
• Which aspects of your giving to God are out of order concerning what you have learned about giving in this lesson?
• How will you remedy your giving to God based on the willingness of your heart?

• Preparation for a study of the tabernacle:
• Read Heb 9:1-5
• Read Heb 8:5
• What very important truth does Heb 8:5 tell you about the earthly tabernacle?
• Read Heb 9:9-12
• This passage tells us that the tabernacle is a prefigure of Jesus Christ. Therefore, everything in and about the tabernacle tells us about Jesus Christ and His ministry.
• Read Exo 35:4-5, 20-29, 35 and Exo 36:5-6
• These passages tell us the objects that Moses gathered to make the tabernacle. These objects also have a symbolic meaning. What do you think the following items signify?
• Gold:
• Silver:
• Brass or Bronze:
• Blue color:
• Purple color:
• Scarlet color:
• White linen:
• Goat’s hair:
• Ram’s skins dyed red:
• Badger skins:
• Acacia wood:
• Oil:
• Spices:
• Precious stones:
• Memory verse: 1John 2:2