HAVE you read the chapter and found it boring? You couldn’t be blamed for that since there is so much repetition and minute attention to detail, but stop a moment and think back just a few chapters to Chapter 32. Are these devout workers the same people as those riotous revellers? Not all of them certainly, as three thousand of them were killed after Moses came down from the mountain, but most of them would have had some part to play in the idolatrous goings-on. What made the difference? Remember Chapter 33, where the people were so aware of the glory of God.
How often have we heard men and women in their fifties and sixties saying “It wasn’t like that when we were young!”? It certainly wasn’t, so what is different? We don’t have to go far to seek the answer. Just walk down the street on a Sunday and see how few people are going to Church. I know that there are exceptions, but by and large our churches are empty and other places like shopping malls are full on a Sunday. Pray for the nation that we will return to God.
There’s a nice touch mentioned in the description of the way they made the basin out of the women’s highly polished bronze mirrors. Were they all given willingly or were there some hidden away when the collection was made? Moses had an inventory made of all the materials collected (v 21). The precious metals of gold, silver and bronze must have been brought from
