Exodus: Unity of Law and Grace

The Wise and the Willing-Hearted

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: The Wise and the Willing-Hearted

Genre: Lessons with Q & A

Track: 122

Dictation Name: RR171BN122

Location/Venue:

Year: Early 70’s

Let us worship God. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name, for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth to all generations. Let us pray.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, with grateful hearts we come into thy presence again. We thank thee that our times are in thy hands and not ours. Thou knowest the waywardness of our hearts, our inability to govern ourselves, and therefore, we give the reins into thy hands. Overrule us, teach us the way in which we should go, make us subject to thy sovereign will. Grant. O Lord, that in all things we are faithful to thee, and in Jesus Christ become more than conquerors. In His name we pray. Amen.

Our scripture is from Exodus 35:20-35. Our subject: The Wise-Hearted and the Willing-Hearted. Exodus 35:20-35. “And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord's offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses. And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.”

These verses continue the emphasis made in verses 4 through 19. Those called by God to do the work for the construction of the sanctuary are the willing hearted and the wise hearted. The wise hearted means those who are skilled. The willing hearted are those who give freely above and over their tithe. The kingdom of God can only be advanced by the willing, those to whom God’s work is important, not only in terms of words but also in giving.

There is, however, another very important fact here, which is conveniently passed over in our time. This kind of text in this section through the fortieth chapter is almost invariably passed over, rarely treated. But, there is a fact here which is especially neglected. The work on the sanctuary did not begin when God gave Moses the pattern and instructions, but only when the people had donated all the materials, including gold, everything which was needed for the work. Only then did the work begin. In other words, the God who limits debt to six years does not allow for debt where His sanctuary is concerned. Short term debt for our private concerns is permitted. For God’s work, no debt is considered as tenable. In brief, God’s work must be done in God’s way. We saw, much earlier, the implications of this policy. When you do not have long-term debt, and the Bible specifies a limit of six years and only hard money by weight and by measure, you cannot have inflation. Inflation is created by long-term debt and paper money, or adulterated money. So, not only does God not permit such policies for society at large, but where His work is concerned, no debt at all. God’s work must be done in God’s way.

But heavy indebtedness marks the modern church and is routinely defended on religious grounds. Supposedly, if you don’t go into a huge debt for millions of dollars, there’s something wrong with your faith, you don’t have enough faith. I know of one pastor, a friend of mine, who was called to a church which had a very fine facility, school, teacherage, everything. It had been built by the previous pastor who then called attention to what a magnificent work he did in getting another church somewhere else. When the new pastor arrived, he found that, with the church’s income, meeting all their monthly obligations, there was fifty dollars left over each month for his pay. So, he agreed to go to work and be their pastor, but since he was going to provide most of his income, he was going to lay down the law, and they were not only going to become a church dedicated to biblical law, but were going to respect his word where he spoke in terms of scripture.

Well, supposedly we are told by those who justify debt by churches, need creates and poses an emergency which justifies debt. However, if God required that His sanctuary be built only when everything was in hand, we cannot do otherwise. Moses made an appeal for contributions of various kinds. We do not know what the tablets mentioned in verse 22 were, but the context indicates something of value. In Deuteronomy 15:10, we are told that God honors and blesses the liberal giver. That is, the one who gives well beyond the tithe. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” Incidentally, someone has written a chapter in a book about that word “cheerful,” because in the Greek, the word is “hilarious.” It’s the word from whence we get our hilarious, and he’s argued that because it means hilarious now, it didn’t mean hilarious then. Well, there’s no way you can really get around the meaning of it in the original Greek. It means somebody who gives with joy, with a delight in giving.

Well, in this whole passage, the reference to sowing seed should not be taken lightly. Only meager results follow a sparse sowing of seed; whereas, bountiful seeding leads to a bountiful harvest. You cannot be a miser when you are sowing seed. God deals with us in the same way. Poor giving to Him leads to poor results. Paul says it’s like being a miser when you plant seed. Now God is mindful in the difference in our estates. Hence, the gifts of precious stones and spices are specifically urged onto the rulers of the tribes in verses 27 and 28, but not the gifts of gold and silver. That’s an interesting point, and the reason is that in a hard money economy, even the poor can be depended on to have gold and silver as an insurance, and that’s the way it has been historically, until our century.

The calling of Bezaleel and Aholiab goes beyond the statement of Exodus 31:1-6. Earlier that that verse, in those verses, they had been appointed to their work. Now, in verses 30-35 of this chapter, God also appoints them to teach as well as to work, and we are told He inspires them in both areas. Those who are called include a variety of artisans, including women skilled in needlework. We have here a very curious fact. No scholar regards needlework as a serious art. At the same time, some of our art galleries and museums are ready to pay large sums of money not only for the needlework of earlier generations, but for current work. This is because art is limited by some pretentious persons to a few areas.

Another area is that of teaching. In verses 30-35, teaching is associated with the best artisanship. In earlier years, it was the great artists who did the teaching by taking on apprentices. Verse 26 is better read that the women spun with wisdom. That is, with skill and art. In the Old Testament culture, the artisan had an honored place. This is unlike all other cultures. In every culture, including the Greek, if you worked with your hands, you were a slave of low class. The science of the Greeks was produced by slaves who were then made honorary Greeks. This is why science has arisen out of Christian context, because of its emphasis on the dignity of work, and on its emphasis on the concrete, the specific.

We see an interesting statement by Ben Sirach in Ecclesiasticus, which is an apocryphal work, but in all the Apocrypha, there is nothing that is really equal to Ben Sirach for reading. It isn’t pretending to be scripture as the rest of the Apocrypha, for the most part, does. It was simply the observations of a wise old Hebrew, about the Bible, his meditations and his jottings. Well, it’s interesting that he classified the physician, the druggist, the scholars, the farmer, the craftsman, the builder, the metal worker, the potter, and the artisan generally as a unit in society and he observed, and I quote, “All these rely on their hands, and each one is skillful in his own work. Without them, no city can be inhabited, and men will not live in one or go about it in, but they are not sought for to advise the people, and in the public assembly they do not excel, they do not sit on the judge’s seat and they do not think about the decision of lawsuits. They do not utter instruction or judgment, and they are not found using proverbs. Yet, they support the fabric of the world and their prayer is the practice of their trade.”

Now, in those words, Sirach summed up the biblical attitude towards artisans, towards, the farmer, towards the scholar who works with ideas in a biblical fashion, towards the builder. While Sirach did give a higher place to the scholar in God’s law, his classification here is very important. He saw the artisan as one of the necessary people whose work supports the fabric of the world. The vocations he cited have in common the health and development of society under God. This is why other cultures developed things that potentially had use for science. The Chinese did, for example, but it was Christendom that made use of all these things because of its emphasis on these people who work. They support the fabric of the world. This is what gave science a place of dignity. Their prayer is in the practice of their trade.

Verses 21-24 make clear that not everyone gave to make possible the construction of the sanctuary. They gave as many as were willing hearts, we are told in verse 22. God wanted nothing from those not willing to give. The fabric of the world is not upheld nor developed by those willing to bless themselves, but not to further God’s kingdom. Lang(?), in his commentary more than a century and a half ago, called attention to the direction of all the law, and I quote, “The one root of the law is the covenant of circumcision which, from the first, pointed to the circumcision the regeneration of the heart. The law accordingly is not stationary, but is everywhere a movement in and with the legal man towards regeneration, and the method of this movement is sacrifice, the fundamental type of which appears in the feast of the passover lamb. This festival looks, in its character of sin offering, peace offering, and burnt offering, towards a process of spiritualizing the law and forms a contrast to the curse offering.” Well, Lang’s{?} last sentence is regrettable because the direction of the law is not to spiritualize, but to make concrete and specific in our lives and in society God’s law and kingdom. He was right in seeing the law as a movement, as a means of creating a direction and structure in society.

In our text, this direction becomes apparent again. God’s purpose is to make us wiling hearted and wise hearted. Lang{?} said also, and I quote further, “First of all, the law’s requirement of deeds must not be toned down. Deeds are a check upon that which is evil, a definition, a picture, a practice of that which is good. But the law is the training master to bring to Christ. It leads to a deepening of the inner life till one comes to the hill of self-knowledge and here only is brought to perfection that entire receptivity for the gospel of grace through which the law is transformed into a fountain of spiritual life. The mistaken view regarding acts, that the mere act is all that is needed is the root of Judaism, a Pharisaic self-righteousness, though even the mere doing or not doing has its value and reward in the outward world, especially in the regulations of social life. The mistaken view respecting the mirroring of one’s self in the law, that the recognition of sin is an end in itself leads to the deadening of the inner life in self-depreciation, quietism, and pietistic self-torture.”

This enables us to see the direction which is basic to the book of Exodus. Israel is delivered from bondage in Egypt. It is given God’s law, the straight and narrow way of justice. As against man’s will, God’s law must prevail. Man’s will is no better in Israel than it is in Egypt. Israel is forced to recognize its own depravity. The goal is regeneration. The regenerate man is willing hearted and potentially wise hearted. He is a necessity for the development of the fabric of world. Well, the fabric of the world is very badly damaged in our time. Is cannot be mended nor developed without willing hearted and wise hearted men and women. Let us pray.

Our Father, make us willing hearted and wise hearted, that we may further the extension of thy kingdom, that we may give with hilarity, with joy, knowing how great the reward is, that we may sow seed bountifully so that we may reap a bountiful harvest. Bless us this purpose. In Christ’s name. Amen. Are there any questions now about our lesson, or anything related to it? Yes?

[Audience] There are those who would advise you that the 2 Corinthians 9 passage set aside the requirements for tithing in favor of just as the spirit leads you in giving. How do we know that that’s not so?

[Rushdoony] Well first, we’re definitely not told that it is so. The Bible makes the distinction between the willing hearted gift and the tithe. The tithe is referred to in Hebrews. Our Lord says, “Ye tithe and ye do well,” because that’s necessary in the sight of God. The tithe is, in no way set aside, because there is nothing in scripture to indicate it. It is referred to in the New Testament, and gifts are referred to, and we are specifically told by Paul, when he made the collection for the famine relief, that this was to be from the wiling hearted, and in one passage which we shall deal with next time, Paul expresses his amazement that the church in Macedonia, or that the churches in Macedonia, who are in deep trouble, persecution, and hard put for money, begged him to take their free will offerings. The distinction is very clear throughout the New Testament. In fact, a two volume work was written at the beginning of this century or in the last years of last century, going over every aspect of the New Testament carefully, pointing out the distinction between the willing hearted gift and the tithe. It’s very clearly there. The work is by Lanstel{?} Yes. Any other questions? Walter?

[Audience] The artisans of today are . . . the list of categories of the artisans of today go well beyond what, the list you originally gave us. Knowledge workers, for example, people who process information, is that a kind of artisanry?

[Rushdoony] I’m not sure I quite understood the question. The artisans of the day . . .

[Audience] Of today.

[Rushdoony] Today.

[Audience] Is the list much expanded today, over what it was in the list that you gave us earlier?

[Rushdoony] Well, I would say anyone who is skilled in a particular area of the arts and sciences, and we are told specifically that they were not only to work, but to teach, and historically this has been the best method. One of the interesting attempts to revert to that came at the end of World War 2. I don’t think any of you are familiar, unless it’s you, Douglas, with Stanford before the War. It was called the farm. It was open land all around it. When the War ended, all that area was developed. At the first it was entirely and exclusively laboratories, scientific laboratories which were productive areas but experimental areas at one and the same time. Now, something that Stanford has buried and does not record is the fact that when those laboratories were first begun, a graduate student in the sciences had the option of doing his doctorate under a professor at the university or going into the laboratories and working, and getting his doctorate when they said he’d had earned it. Well, it was destroyed by its success. It was so successful that every graduate student with any ability was working in the laboratories, and the professors found that their graduate students in the sciences were only the dunces, so they killed the program, but it was an excellent experiment and a reversion to the apprentice system; the academic training and then apprenticeship, culminating in a doctorate. I think it’s still valid. Any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Audience] The atonement frees us from guilt, but how does it do that?

[Rushdoony] The atonement frees us from guilt because we are guilty in the sight of God for being rebels against His kingdom and against His law. Now, we are created by God, and having been created by Him, every atom in our being witnesses to God. This is why Paul, in the first chapter of Romans, 17 following, says that the things visible and invisible are known by every man but they hold the truth, or literally in the Greek, hold it back, hold it down, or supress it in their unrighteousness or injustice because of their rebellion against God. Well, once we are made a new creation in God, there is new life in us, and we know that we are right with God. It releases us progressively from the burden of guilt. Now, this is not to say that some Christians, without reason, if you’re sinning you’ve got reason to feel guilty, but without reason.

[Audience] {?}may be justified. If you break the law, you’re still going to have those guilt feelings.

[Rushdoony] If you break God’s law, you’re going to have guilt feelings and if you transgress human law where God does not permit you to, you will have guilt feelings. Now, you are atoned for. What you then do is to make amends, restitution, for that which you have done wrong, and then the guilt feeling goes, but because we are God’s creatures, we are going to react the way God has made us to react. Any other questions or comments? Well, if not, let us conclude with prayer.

Thy word, O Lord, is truth, and thy truth speaks to our heart the word that we need. Give us grace to grow, make us wise hearted and willing hearted, make us joyful in thy service. Bind us to thy will that we may be the means of furthering the reign of thy kingdom, of thy justice. And now go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.

End of tape.