251 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and they take for Me a heave-offering; from every man whose heart impelleth him ye do take My heave-offering. 3 'And this 'is' the heave-offering which ye take from them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and linen, and goats' 'hair', 5 and rams' skins made red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the perfume of the spices, 7 shoham stones, and stones for setting for an ephod, and for a breastplate. 8 'And they have made for Me a sanctuary, and I have tabernacled in their midst; 9 according to all that which I am shewing thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its vessels, even so ye do make 'it'.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 25:1-9
Commentary on Exodus 25:1-9
(Read Exodus 25:1-9)
God chose the people of Israel to be a peculiar people to himself, above all people, and he himself would be their King. He ordered a royal palace to be set up among them for himself, called a sanctuary, or holy place, or habitation. There he showed his presence among them. And because in the wilderness they dwelt in tents, this royal palace was ordered to be a tabernacle, that it might move with them. The people were to furnish Moses with the materials, by their own free will. The best use we can make of our worldly wealth, is to honour God with it in works of piety and charity. We should ask, not only, What must we do? but, What may we do for God? Whatever they gave, they must give it cheerfully, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver, 2 Corinthians 9:7. What is laid out in the service of God, we must reckon well bestowed; and whatsoever is done in God's service, must be done by his direction.