Exodus

31.1-18

Bezalel and Oholiab have a special designation as craftsmen in Scripture. Bezalel with wisdom for the designs (v4), and Oholiab with wisdom for the making all that God commanded (v6). As the directions and leadership for the assembly of all that is to be in and of the Tabernacle conclude, Yahweh gives Moses one final reinforcement of His commandments that are to be carefully heeded - the sign that is to be between God and the Israelites throughout the generations (v13) - the sign that is to be kept by the sons of Israel forever (v17): The Sabbath. From verses 12-17, Yahweh delivers to Moses a unique and separate highlight of a portion of the Ten Commandments before He writes them with His own finger and gives them to Moses on two tablets (v18). The natural question to ask here is: Why would this part of the Ten Commandments be highlighted here before God gives Moses the Law in stone? The penalty for failure to obey this command is the most severe of any - profaning the sabbath or working on the Sabbath, both are punishable by death (vv14-15). In Leviticus 25:1-4 God establishes that the land shall have a sabbath to Yahweh (Le 25:2). When the Israelites rejected their obligation to follow the Shmita (the Jewish traditional law of leaving the land fallow in the seventh year), God delivered their punishment through the prophet Ezekiel: 430 years of exile (Ezekiel 4:4-6). When they returned from exile in 537 BC after serving 70 years of this punishment (Jeremiah 25:11), they still failed to return to the Sabbath observance for the land, and God invoked the punishment He declared in Leviticus 26:18 18 ‘If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will discipline you seven times more for your sins." This meant the Israelites' remaining 360 years of exile were now 2,520 years. That didn't end until 14 May 1948, when Israel once again became a nation.

CHAPTER 31

Bezalel and Oholiab

1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
3 “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in discernment, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,
4 to devise artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,
5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, in order for him to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.
6 “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wise at heart I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent,
8 the table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,
9 the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand,
10 the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to minister as priests;
11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they shall make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

12 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely keep My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who makes you holy.
14 ‘Therefore you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
15 ‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to Yahweh; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.
16 ‘So the sons of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.’
17 “It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.