 We're going to look at verses one to nine as we worship the Lord by giving. And after we do this, our brother Edgar is going to come and pray. This is Jerome's last Sunday, Pastor Jerome's last Sunday before going off to the Dominican Republic for a few weeks para que pueda aprender español. So we want to pray for him as he goes. At Exodus 25 verses one to nine, then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel that they bring me an offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart. You shall take my offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet thread, fine linen and goat's hair, ram skins dyed red, badger skins and acacia wood, oil for the light and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. Beginning in chapter 25 and continuing through the end of the book of Exodus, we read of God's instructions to Moses concerning the design and construction of the tabernacle. Very explicit instructions as we see in verse nine. It says, according to all that I show you, just so you shall make it. It's kind of amazing that so much of God's word would be focused on these details. But the lessons God wants his people to learn were taught in the details of the design. And among those was that it was to be a beautiful tabernacle made with beautiful and precious materials intended to reflect the beauty and majesty of God. This tabernacle was to be symbolic of God's dwelling with men and prefigures God's indwelling of men. In fact, in John 1.14 where we read, and the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, the word dwelt means to pitch a tabernacle and calls to mind this same tabernacle that's to be pitched by the Jews who themselves lived and pitched tents. But I want to draw your attention particularly to verse two and the use of the word offering. The Hebrew word is truma. My Hebrew is not very good, but it's a word, a different word than the word used for tithes. It's the same root of the word we find in Malachi 3.8 where we read, will a man rob God yet you have robbed me, but you say in what way have we robbed you in tithes and offerings? So tithes and offerings are different, but they're closely connected. I think you could say that a tithe is an offering, but an offering is more than a tithe. And our duty before God is to bring both tithes and to bring offerings. The New Testament affirms tithing. Christ in Matthew 23, 23 commends tithing when he says, woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. There are other passages in the New Testament that are relevant there, but with this subject of offerings, I wanted to get some help from noted theologian Dave Ramsey. Obviously I'm being facetious, but he got this right. He put it this way. He said, like llamas and alpacas, tithes and offerings are often grouped together, but they're definitely not the same thing. A tithe is a specific amount, 10% of your income that you give first, and an offering is anything extra that you give beyond that. After you've tithed and paid all your bills and necessary expenses for the month, you can then use any extra money in your budget to give even more. This can include a cash offering to your church above and beyond your normal tithe, and he mentioned some other things. But here in Exodus 25, God is calling on his people through Moses to bring offerings for the construction of the tabernacle. He says, speak to the children of Israel that they bring me an offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering. So tithes and offerings should be given willingly. There should be in us delight in the duty. Heart felt gratitude for what God has done for us. And just to think of what God had done for the Jews who were to worship in the tabernacle and to think of how that parallels what he's done for us, except for us in amazingly more complete and profound ways. One commentator in describing this and commenting on Exodus 25 said, God had rescued them from slavery. He had showered them with treasure. He had delivered them from their enemies. He had led them through the wilderness. He had provided water to drink and food to eat. He had given them his law and shown them his glory. He had provided atonement for their sins through the blood of his covenant. Out of the rich abundance of his grace, he had done everything necessary for their salvation. And when they reflected on what God had done, their hearts swelled with gratitude. They were compelled by grace to give something back to God. We are compelled to, amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we are like the Jews who were delivered from bondage. There's nothing they had to give that you had not provided. The riches of the Egyptians became theirs as they were delivered. And the wood was from trees you created and the animal hides were from animals you had provided. And in the same way, everything we have has come from your hand. And we are grateful that you allow us to worship you by giving some of our abundance to you. Amen.