Exodus 36:5-7 -- On Rebellion and Dedication

"And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.
And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."
Exodus 36:5-7


Sometimes the scriptures seem to bog us down with detail... whose father was whose, how many pomegranates were engraved on the thing, how many people fought in the battle, what metal they made the candleholders from, etc. From our perspective, these things seem to be trivia. What impresses me about this verse and the general level of detail in these chapters is how much they cared. We get a skewed picture of the Israelites sometimes because of the rebellion and complaints we read about, and we conveniently forget that we also rebel and complain a LOT. :)

These people wrote this down because it mattered to them. Exodus 26 and Exodus 36 are mirrors of each other because God told them how to make it, and they appreciated that detail, and they followed it to the letter. The people in these verses were dedicated. They wanted to be part of God's great work... that's why they brought way too much stuff until Moses told them not to anymore.

Today, let's remember that we're all rebellious sometimes, but when it matters, let's be like the children of Israel here. Let's give way, way too much to make sure the Lord's will is done. That's what matters, and if that is where we end up, then all of those rebellions will fade away as we become the true children of God, walking in his ways.