pla~- ~ ·• And t.h\' general inclina.tion ie to give M little 88 it is decent to give. Or (:1) it is met in a fuR~~- Rpirit.. "Let the matter he well C'-Onsidored-let meetings be held- let a committ.oo be formed-let our Rdvice be taken. If we give, wo must be con- ~nlwd-we must ha,•e 11, voice in the e.rre.ngoments-we must exl\mine the plans and express our opinion upon them. Then perhaps we m11,y he&d the subscription-list with RnmethiDJ! handw>me.'" Very different WM the spirit which now l\niml\ted the lsr&elites, :md which is here held up for our imitation. Their response to the appeal mBde to them by Moses was- I. DEVOUT. None objected. None asked why a tllbel'llACle wu wanted, or why the t.ent which M0808 hBd mllrle 11, place of worship would not suffice. None scoffed 11,t the idea of 11, " House of God." All aeemed to 80e the proJ?riety of it. All felt th11,t wh11,t they brought wu; "the Lord's offering" (vers. 21, 24)-- real gift to Jehovah. All longed to have a ple.ce of worship of a worthy charact.er. II. UNGRUDGING AND BPOIITANEOUB. Their" hearts stirred them up," their "spirite mBde them willing" (ver. 21). They "brought a willing offering unto the Lord" (ver. 29). The rich brought jewels and precious spices; the men and women of the middle cl11BS brought their personal ornaments ; the poor men gave brass, or silver, or a ram's skin, or a piece of acacie. wood; the poor women g11,ve the labour of their hands, and spun thread for the hangings. There was no murmuring, no complaining, no fabrication of excUBeS--t10 far 1111 appears, no open refusing t.o give, though there was some abst.ention. IIl. IDmDIATE. In one verse we read "they departed" (ver. 20), in the next (ver. 21) "they came." There was no delay, no considering, no diecussing one with another, no asking " How much do you int.end t.o give ? " Each man seemed to be well penmBded of the truth of the adage-" Bis d&t qui cito d&t," and brought his offering at once. IV. UNBELFIBB .&.l.'D UNOONDITIONAL. No one wanted t.o have a quid pro qoo as the condition of his giving. No one asked t.o "see the plans." All were willing to leave the ordering of the work t.o Moses, and put their contributions absolut.ely in his hands. A spirit of enthUBiasm was stirred up, and none thought of anything but how much he could possibly spare for the grand work which they underst.ood Moses t.o cont.emplate. The wealth of Eutems is stored chiefly in the form of ornaments, and·to denude them- eelves of these was a great effort of self-sacrifice.
EXPOSITION. Vers. 80-85.-Tmt APPOINTMENT OF BE- co. xx.x.i. 2:-"I have called by name Beza- ZALEEL AND .AB:OLIAll TO ll1JPEB.INTENll THE leel," etc. Of the tribe of lndah. The de- woBX. Tbough, in some real 110I111e, "learned in scent of Bezaleel from Judah bas been already traced. (See the comment on cb. xx.x.i. 2.) all the wisdom of the Egyptian&," still Moses Vars. 31-33-Correspood almost word for was probably devoid of the technical knowledge word with vers. 3--5 of eh. xx.x.i., q. flide. req oisite for a " superint.endent of the workli " Ver. 34.-A.nd he h&th put in hia heart oo the present occaaioD. At any rate, his that he may teach. Bather, " And he bath other duties imperatively required that he put it into his heart to teach." He (God) has given him the gift of being able to teach shonld decline to undert.ake, in addition to others, and so bas enabled him to form a body them, so (JJlerow; an office. And God had told of workmen competent to cany out his coo- bi.m wham it would be best for him to set ceptioos. Both he and Aholiab. God has over the work (cb. xxx.i.1--6). Accordingly, given the same gift to Aholiab. Oo the special talent of Aholiab, see the comment be now made known to the people that the upon eh. xx.x.i. 6. collStrurl.ioD of the tabernacle and iu; appur- Ver. 35.-Them hath he filled with wiadom tewmces wonld be committed to two men- of he&rt-i.e., "with talent or genius." Of Bezaleel, the son of Uri, as principal, and the en.graver. Bather, "of the artificer," a Aholiah, the BOD of Ahisameeli, u his wist- general term, under which working io metal, gem-engraving, and wood-ca,n•iog are in- aot-wh.o wonld " ta&eb " those under them cluded. And of the ounning workman. Ba- what they were to do (ver. 34) thar, "and of the ,kilful weaver." This Ver 30 -T.lle Lord hath oalle4. etc See clause seems to apply to Aholiab (eh x.xxviii rn. ,nv. 30-36.) THE BOOK OF EXODUS.
211), the preceding one to BezAleel. And of have been quite natnrnl for !!Orne nf lhP, lsrnel- the embroiderer. This also applies t~ Aho- ites to have learnt. We are not to •nppnsA lil\b (l.s.c. ). And of the we11,ver-i.e., " the that God eupernaturally cnmmunicnterl tn ordinary weaver," who wove a cloth RII of one Bezaleel and Ah_oliab the technical knnwled~e r.olour. The "skilful weaver" produced a reqmred m their occup11tiol18, bot only tbat patterned fabric. (See eh. xxvi. I.) The he gave them genius and artistic skill, so that methods of working here spoken of are, all of both their designs, and their execution of them, euch as were well known in Egypt at them, were of unusu&I excellence. the time, and which, consequently, it would