Skilled Workers & the Sabbath

REVIEW

While Moses met with the Lord for 40 days, he received all of the Lord’s instructions for the tabernacle. According to Exodus 29:45, this tabernacle was so important because God said, He “will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their God.” In this tabernacle, they would see God dwelling with them, and they could be in His presence. In Exodus 30, God continued to instruct Moses to build additional furnishing for the tabernacle: the altar of incense (vv. 1–10); the atonement money, which the poor and rich had to pay (vv. 11–16); the laver or bronze basin (vv. 17–21); the anointing oil (vv. 22–33); and the sacred incense (vv. 34–38). So, who was going to build this?

TEACHING

Exodus 31:1–2: God told Moses He had chosen Bezalel to lead the work. Bezalel means “in the shadow of God.”¹Bezalel was the grandson of Hur, whom many believe was Miriam’s husband. If so, Bezalel was the grandson of Miriam.²He was from the tribe of Judah! The man who built the tabernacle was from the lineage of the Messiah. Our word for Jesus in Exodus is Deliverer. In a weird way, Bezalel served as a deliverer for the Messiah.

The tent of meeting allowed the people to experience the presence of God, and it pointed to the Messiah. God effectively said to Bezalel, “Put on a hard hat and some work boots because I have work for you.” Bezalel was called to serve God as a construction foreman. Never minimize any calling on your life.

Exodus 31:3: God filled Bezalel with the Spirit to give him “wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft.” This was an incredible picture of how a construction worker pointed to the coming King. At this point in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was specifically mentioned only two times before. Genesis 1:2 described the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. In Genesis 41:38, Pharaoh recognized that Joseph had God’s Spirit in him. Isaiah 11:2, a messianic prophecy, says, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Acts 2:1–13 described the events of Pentecost when believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit will become active in your life, as they did in Bezalel’s life.

In the Old Testament, God gave the Holy Spirit for specific times and purposes. In the New Testament, believers receive the Holy Spirit when they believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Acts 4:8; Ephesians 5:18). When we trust in Christ, we have the indwelling of the Spirit, and He never leaves us. But we are encouraged to ask Him to continually fill us up. The more we have of Him, the more glory is given to God.

Exodus 31:4–5: God gave Bezalel the gifts he needed to do the job God had for him. All of us have natural abilities, and when the Spirit of God comes into our lives, He fans those natural abilities to be used for Him. One example was described in 1 Samuel 16:13–23. After Samuel anointed David, “the spirit of the Lord took control of David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). David knew how to play the harp, and God used the harp to relieve Saul of the evil spirit. When the Spirit of God takes over in our lives, our natural abilities can be exercised for the glory of God! We need to learn how to hear from the Holy Spirit. When we open ourselves up to Him, we begin to see the Lord work in new ways in our lives.

Exodus 31:6: God also chose Oholiab, from the tribe of Dan, to work with Bezalel. Oholiab meant “tent of the father, one who lives closely with God.” Dan was the firstborn son from Jacob’s concubine. Samson would later be born from the tribe of Dan. The Danites were known as craftsmen who could build things. Many years in the future, Huram-abi, a skillful man from the tribe of Dan, would help build Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 2:13). God “placed wisdom within every skilled craftsman” (v. 6), not just within Bezalel and Oholiab. These guys were in tune with the Lord, and they were instructed to build a whole lot of incredible things so the Israelites could experience the presence of God. These were everyday guys, which makes me think of the 12 sons of Israel, the 12 tribes, who were just normal guys. And the disciples were average, everyday men as well, like tax collectors and fishermen. But when the Spirit of God came upon them, He empowered them! Revelation 21:12–15 says these men will be remembered in the New Jerusalem. “The names of the 12 tribes of Israel’s sons will be inscribed on the gates” (Revelation 21:12), “and the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles” will be on the 12 foundations of the city walls (Revelation 21:14).

Exodus 31:7–11: God gave specific instructions for setting up the tent of meeting and the placement of all its furnishings, as well as the garments for the priests, and the anointing oil and incense. The skilled workmen completed all this work exactly as God commanded.

Exodus 31:12–13: While emphasizing the importance of following His instructions for the tabernacle, God commanded Moses to “Tell the Israelites: You must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations.” Even in the midst of building a place for God to dwell with them, God wanted them to rest in His presence. There were no other cultures that practiced this.³

Exodus 31:14–15: God considered observing the Sabbath so important, that whoever profaned it or did any work on that day would be cut off from the people and put to death. God commanded that the Sabbath be observed as a day of complete rest dedicated to the Lord.

Exodus 31:16: This command was so new that the Israelites weren’t sure what was work and what wasn’t. Numbers 15:32–35 recorded that a man went to pick up wood on the Sabbath and was brought before Moses and Aaron for violating the Sabbath. God then instructed Moses to put the man to death by stoning him outside the camp. Remember that the manna fell daily except on the Sabbath. On the sixth day, the Israelites had to gather double portions, so they didn’t have to work on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day to celebrate!

Exodus 31:17: The Sabbath was a sign between God and His people, not the people and the church.⁴On the Sabbath, they were commanded to stop working and come before the presence of the Lord to rest.

Do we see anything about holding a worship service on the Sabbath? Sometimes we take things out of context and we don’t really understand what they mean. In Isaiah 1:13, God told the Israelites, “Stop bringing useless offerings. Your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies—I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.” Apparently, some of their assemblies weren’t pleasing to God. In Hosea 2:11, God said He would put an end to Israel’s celebrations. In this context, God didn’t say put together a worship service—He said rest.

Exodus 31:18: God “finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai” and gave him the tablets with the Ten Commandments that He wanted the Israelites to live by. The phrase “inscribed by the finger of God” was an example of anthropomorphism; when a quality of God was expressed in human characteristics. The emphasis is that the word of God was delivered to the man of God, and now that man of God was supposed to deliver it to all of the Israelites. These Ten Commandments would be stored in the tabernacle that Bezalel and Oholiab were going to build.

CLOSING

Everybody played their unique part! Moses received the Word, the skilled craftsmen built the tabernacle, and the priests served in the tabernacle.