Exodus: Unity of Law and Grace

The Restraint

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: The Restraint

Genre: Lessons with Q & A

Track: 123

Dictation Name: RR171BP123

Location/Venue:

Year: Early 70’s

Let us worship God. Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing thy praises, O Most High. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Let us pray.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank thee that thou art He that dost provide for us, that underneath all the experiences of life are thine everlasting arms. We thank thee that all our yesterdays and our todays thou dost use for our good, and for our eternal glory in Christ. Teach us, day by day, the way thou wouldst have us to go. Guide us in our work and our travels, in all that we do. Give us quiet hearts that trust in thee. Bless our children and our children’s children, and make them thine. This we ask in Christ’s name. Amen.

Our scripture is from Exodus 36:1-7, and our subject: The Restraint. The Restraint. Exodus 36:1-7. “Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.”

We have here again a text which is not very often the subject of preaching and teaching, but it is very important. Before considering the important and neglected aspects of this text. Let us look at some interesting aspects of it. In verse 2, the statement is made that the man whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work came to do it. One scholar, G. Hinton Davies, stated that to come is literally, in this text here, to draw near to God, and so the point is clear that work was also worship. This was an aspect of Medieval life and of the Reformation; work as worship.

Since the sanctuary’s construction did not depend on mandatory gifts but free will offerings, we must not assume that everyone gave a gift. There were no doubt many who were still silently hostile to Moses. The super-abundant giving came from those who were willing hearted. In spite of that fact that is was only some that gave, there was an embarrassment of riches, because those who gave, not only gave but they came back morning after morning we are told, out of a desire to give. God’s work depends not of majorities but on the willing hearted.

God had already made clear that His work depended on those who wanted to give. It was to be done debt-free, and with the gifts and labor of those who wanted to be a part of the work. Paul had this in mind in Romans 12:1. He said, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service.” Men are too ready to introduce coercion, or at least pressure, where God simply has none. Those who took their covenant relationship to God seriously, gave, and gave generously. No arm twisting. No every member canvass. No heavy promotion to make everyone give. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, refers to the Macedonian churches. They were having a severe ordeal of trouble, apparently, persecution, and they were having also, as a result of that, poverty. In spite of that, to use James Moffet’s translation here, they poured out a flood of rich generosity, and this was to help their fellow Christians in distress. Paul cites this, because it was those who were in distress recently who gave most generously to those who are now in distress. In fact, says Paul, they begged him of their own accord, to accept their gifts and saw Paul’s willingness to take the gifts as a favor to them.

The key to our text is verse 6 which reads, “And Moses gave commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying Let neither man nor woman make anymore work for the offering of the sanctuary, where the people were restrained from giving.” How shall we read the reference to the work that they brought? Were the gifts brought by the people materials such as needlework, or did they include gifts such as gold and silver? What does “make anymore work” mean? Some have read it that they were people who were doing some of the work. According to Sporno{?}, the reference is to such things as a woman made, that is, spinning and the like. However, there is a very different emphasis in Robert Young’s literal translation of the Bible. He reads it as translating word for word, “And Moses commanded and he cause a voice to pass over through the camp saying, ‘Let no man or woman make anymore work for the heave offering for the sanctuary, and the people are restrained from giving.’” In other words, he says, “No more heave offerings.”

The heave offering was a gift to the sanctuary for the priests. It is referred to in Leviticus 22:10-14, and in Numbers 18:8, 11, 12, 26, and 30, and again in Deuteronomy 18:4. These various passages refer to two kinds of heave offerings. One is part of the tithe and the other is not. Unlike these heave offerings, what Exodus 36 refers to is not a gift of food. It is an offering for the sanctuary, for its construction, and the emphasis is on the free wish aspect of it. But there is more.

Although deer are classified as clean animals, they cannot be used as a sacrifice or as a heave offering because man’s work did not go into their growth and maturing. All offerings, heave offerings in particular, had to represent work on someone’s part. Gold and silver represented work in that to get them required more than a little labor. It was an exchange for your work. In Deuteronomy 26, the believer is given instructions concerning his tithes and offerings. As he brings his gifts, he says, in part, “I have brought a way {?} out of mine house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to the commandments which thou hast commanded. I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead, but I have harkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.”

Well, this reference to giving food to the dead and eating some of it in that context had reference to Egyptian practice. Some of the people obviously were still carrying on Egyptian cultic practices. Ezekiel, centuries later, refers to the fact that Egypt stayed in the hearts of many. The worship of the dead and the religious importance of their tombs was clearly in mind in this sort of practice. So, Egypt, while not long out of Egypt, was also not entirely weaned from it.

All these gifts were therefore, free will gifts, and the work they represented was a product of their labor. They had worked to earn the gold and silver, and whatever else they gave.

Now, to limit the gifts which were brought in super abundance to a few things on which men’s or women’s hands had labored, such as spinning, or cut boards, places an unnatural strain on the text. It then reads, in effect, “Bring in no more needlework but bring on the gold.” I mention this because it’s an example of the twisted interpretation that sometimes goes into reading the Bible, to take away the emphasis on the free will offering by all. So, the statement of the workmen, the artisans, is not restrictive. They simply said the people bring much more than enough for the service of the Lord which the Lord commanded them to give freely. It is an important and an obvious meaning.

I once heard a scientist, a very remarkable man, a medical research, comment on his difficulties during the long years before he made the breakthrough and became a world famous scientist. He worked in a laboratory that was a shed. He had the most primitive equipment, but once he accomplished the basic work of his life, he had money poured out for his work. A magnificent building, a large staff, but his work was really done. I mention this because, as he pointed out, all too often men give to impressive groups, and they pour money into churches and ministries which sometimes have no need of them, and the result sometimes is empire building, not constructive development.

Well, here the artisans, as godly men, stopped their work to come to Moses with a remarkable statement. This is the first recorded work stoppage, or strike in all of history, and it was not a strike for higher wages, but simply to say that more things are being donated than we need. Now this account is not idly included in the Bible. It establishes guidelines for giving. As we’ve already seen, first, God’s sanctuary must be built by free will offerings or gifts. The tithe goes for the maintenance of God’s work. The gifts and offerings above and over the tithe are for advancement. If we are interested in the future, in our children and grandchildren’s future, then the free will offering, above and over the tithe, works for the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Then second, this means that God’s people get exactly the future they pay for. Now that may seem like a strong statement but that’s the implication of what God has been saying in these chapters. They cannot maintain God’s kingdom without tithing, so the tithe is for the maintenance, but they cannot advance God’s kingdom without gifts above and over the tithe. Now here’s a premise that applies not only in the household of faith, in Christian work, but elsewhere. That’s a major problem of our time, in every part of the world. The cities are decaying. Why are they decaying? Because there is nothing provided sufficient for the maintenance of the sewer lines, the water lines, the bridges, the roads, and the subways. Not only that, there is nothing for improvement, so not only are the cities seeing nor substantial improvement of the public facilities, but the infrastructure is not being maintained and is everywhere nearly collapse. Well, something similar occurs in every field, and it’s happening in the churches. Advancement in many areas is lacking and maintenance in other spheres is waning. Christian reconstruction is therefore, very clearly, a necessity.

Then third, as our text makes clear, where there is a desire to maintain and advance, there are also limits to giving. If a cause is not advancing the kingdom of God, but is simply accumulating funds, it should not solicit funds nor be an object of our giving. Now this is an important fact. We have had any number of groups, in my lifetime, that made a point of begging for money as though they were going to shut down the next week unless people poured out money. That has become a regular plea in solicitation. “We’re a valuable ministry, we’re going to have to shut down unless you give more,” and the whole purpose is to accumulate millions which are quietly held in various special accounts, in one case, in the Bahamas, of a major ministry, so they’re accumulating funds for the remote future in case there’s a need. Well, that’s saying that, while there may be a need in the future that they’re still going to be good in the future, still worth supporting, and this is morally wrong. The Lord places a restraint on the greediness of men.

In this text, Moses commands the people to stop giving. It was only a fraction of the people, we don’t know how much, but those that were willing hearted that gave, but at a certain point, Moses said, “No more. The workmen have enough.” The workmen, by their own statement, cut themselves off from the temptation to greed and excess. They were going to do what God required and no more. They were not going to have gold and silver, or whatever else in super abundance above that which the work required. This was a rare act. I think I would have trouble locating another example of it, but it was a godly one, and God makes clear in this text that not only does He require the tithe, but for the advancement of the kingdom, free will gifts above and over the tithe, but then, He says, there’s a limit. We advance the work. We do not try to build and prepare for eventualities in the remote future. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil therefore,” and sufficient unto the day is the godly work that is required. We cannot do the work for our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. They have to do their own maintenance and advancement. This is the meaning of these important verses. Let us pray.

O Lord, our God, we thank thee for this, thy word. We thank thee for the demands it makes on us and for the limits it places upon our giving. Thy word is truth, and thy word speaks with infallible authority. Give us grace to hear and to obey. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience] A couple years ago, the state of Montana set up a trust fund of a coal tax, as they imposed a very stiff penalty on coal, which is all but ruined the coal industry in that state. All the money goes into a fund which may not be used for anything. The rationale was that it was for use by future generations after coal played out. Would such a tax and such a fund be a violation of this principle?

[Rushdoony] I don’t think the text necessarily excludes funds which make provisions for the future, although I worked for a foundation once, whose founder, who was then dead, required that all the funds be given away within fifteen years after his death, and he felt that there would be too great a likelihood that the wrong element might gain control if it continued indefinitely. As a result, he gave away, perhaps a hundred, two hundred, three hundred million, no one knows how much, and the balance had to be given away after his death. I think that’s wholesome. On the other hand, we do know that the Puritans, at the time of Edward VI, set up a number of foundations. The purpose of these foundations was a very remarkable one. Henry VIII has seized churches and monasteries, and vast funds from the Middle Ages that had gone to take care of the poor of England for generations. So, one of the consequences of Henry VIII’s seizure was that suddenly, beggars were everywhere. Now, Laver{?}, a Puritan preacher preaching in St. Paul’s, recognizing there was no chance of getting the nobility to cough up what had been taken, and had been given to them or sold at bargain prices by Henry VIII in order to make the powerful families of England partners in the crime, so, it could not be undone. So he preached, he said, “This is blaspheme. We have robbed God. If some of these monasteries are corrupt, the money still belonged to God, it had been given to the Lord and it should have been put to godly use. Let us make restitution to the kingdom of God with a great outpouring of gifts,” so there was a vast outpouring of gifts, and it created a variety of funds which took care of educating the poor, which took care of welfare, a variety of needs, and because these funds were, for the most part, tightly controlled by thoroughly reformed believers, for generations, they functioned and were remarkable in the work they did. In our century, those that have survived have been taken over.

At times, it has worked. It requires a great deal of care and the right kind of men. It can be said, however, as against the success of these that perhaps it should have been left to each generation to take care of their own needs, that it should be a challenge to the believers, let us say, of this century rather than having all that backlog. I think a case can be made for setting up trust funds for future Christian and charitable work, if very strict requirements are placed upon those who are trustees. We have an additional problem in our day, however, in that the courts are breaking up such trusts on the ground that they are restrictive. For example, one famous trust that went for the education of poor, white children, primarily of immigrant families, was destroyed because the court said it was guilty of racial prejudice. Well, at the time it was begun, there were hardly any other people in the area. In other areas, there were trust funds that were set up for Indian children. These have also been tampered with. In fact, Dartmouth was created as a college for Indians, but so many like that have been destroyed. Scholarships, for example, created for Armenians as Berkeley, by Armenians, have been destroyed. So today, to try to create something for the future means interference from the courts to an appalling degree. So today, it is exceedingly dangerous and unwise. Yes?

[Audience] A classic case is a social security trust fund. My father started paying into it when it first started and he said it was sold to the people as an insurance policy for the future, and now the government, the United States government has stolen all the money and we have now a three and a half to four trillion dollar debt hanging over this for the future.

[Rushdoony] Yes, I can remember when the Social Security Act was passed, and it was said it was strictly an insurance policy, which the courts have since ruled it is not, it is a tax, and it belongs to the federal government the minute it goes in, then another aspect of it was your number, and there were a lot of people at the time who were frightened by the social security number because it sounded too much like Revelation, the beast, giving a number to every man. So, they said your number will be confidential. No one will know it but the Social Security Administration. Well, that’s also, as you well know, gone by the board. Everyone demands your social security number now. Anybody can check up on you using your social security number, any agency. There isn’t an aspect of the original promises of social security that stands today except taking your money. Any other questions or comments? Well, if not, let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, we thank thee for the sufficiency of thy word, for its clarity and for its majesty. Give us grace to heed it and to walk joyfully in the way thou hast appointed. 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.