Exodus 31

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:10utc

This chapter can be divided in two parts:

1. The appointment of Bezalel and Oholiab vs. 1-11

2. The Sabbath command vs. 12-18

1. The appointment of Bezalel and Oholiab vs. 1-11

The construction of the tabernacle and its furniture was a huge enterprise, too much for one or two persons to perform. So we may suppose that Bezalel and Oholiab did not do all the work themselves, but were assisted by other people, who are called "all the craftsmen" in vs. 6. Actually, there must have been a whole team of workers: Moses, who was the only one who had seen the original, Bezalel and Oholiab, who were gifted artists and assistants who helped in carrying out the assignment. If the two men were the only craftsmen doing the work, they would have had to have gifts so versatile that it cannot be imagined; they would have to be master goldsmiths, master tailors, master perfume makers.

First of all, Moses had to impart a vision to the two artists. We know from Moses' own confession that he was not a good communicator. When God called him, we read: "Moses said to the LORD, 'O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.' "[ 1 ] Yet Moses had to describe in detail to Bezalel what he had seen. Words would never have been sufficient to convey the message. Bezalel would have to see in Moses what the glory of God, with whom he had spent forty days and nights on the top of the mountain, had done to and in him. It was Bezalel's task, not only to make a copy of the items the Moses described, but to add that indefinable touch of God's glory that he saw in Moses. To be able to do this, it takes more than being an artist, it takes the Spirit of God.

This brings us to the subject of inspiration. Some people are blessed with natural artistic gifts. Some people use their gifts to the glory of God, many use them only to express themselves. Rembrandt painted numerous scenes from the Bible. His "Head of Christ" is one of the most beautiful paintings in the world. Johan Sebastian Bach and Anton Bruckner wrote above some of their compositions: "Soli Deo Gloria."[ 2 ] Some people have tried to detach art from any connection with God or with human values and they came up with the slogan: "Art for Art's Sake."[ 3 ] Ultimately, the significance of a work of art will depend on its relationship to God. It has to be admitted that there is something divine in all expressions of beauty. After all, it is God who gives gifts to the artists. Some artists are more religious than they would want to admit. But true artists will testify and affirm that they handle things of eternal value that go far beyond self-expression.

There is no doubt about what kind of artists Bezalel and Oholiab were. God had not only given them natural artistic gifts, but they were anointed by His Spirit for the work they had to do. Theirs was inspiration in the purest sense of the word.

We tend to feel some kind of jealousy toward people who had the privilege to put abstract glory into concrete form. The Old Testament worship involved all the five senses of man. With his eyes he beheld the tabernacle, where the glory of God manifested itself in a column of smoke and fire; with his ears he could hear the music and sometimes even the voice of God: he could smell the incense; taste the sacrifice; and touch the reality of it all. We tend to find ourselves poorer because we lack this kind of stimuli. The apostle Paul wakes us up from this dream when he says: "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."[ 4 ] And we realize that there is nothing left of this Old Testament glory that was tangible and visible, but what we possess is eternal. Again, Paul says: "For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."[ 5 ]

Even John's exciting words: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete,"[ 6 ] are balanced with Jesus' words to Thomas: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."[ 7 ] So, in spite of our jealousy, we, who have not seen are more blessed than those who have seen and touched and tasted.

It is no coincidence, of course, that Bezalel was from the tribe of Judah, since he was an image of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews Moses is called a faithful servant in God's house, but Jesus surpasses him as the builder of the house and the Son of the house. We read: "Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house."[ 8 ] In that sense, by way of image, Bezalel surpassed Moses in that Moses only transmitted the blueprint, but Bezalel constructed the house and created the furniture.

God gave him a great deal of liberty in expressing himself in the working out of the project. For the making of the ark, for instance, only the kind of material to be used is specified and the measurements are given. The only detail we read about is that the atonement cover had to have the image of two cherubs. It was up to Bezalel, not just to copy what he had not seen, but to make something that approached a heavenly reality. Is that not the essence of art?

Bezalel also portrays the Lord Jesus in that both are from the tribe of Judah; that relationship puts them outside and above the priestly office in the earthly tabernacle. They are the builders, and in that sense, they are above all that is done in the tabernacle. We turn again to Hebrews, where we read: "He [Jesus] of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah."[ 9 ]

Oholiab was from the tribe of Dan, which later would become part of the Northern Kingdom after the division of Israel into two parts. His appointment seems to reinforce the sense of unity God wanted His people to have. Oholiab's specialty seems to have been the textile part of the project. We read later about him that he was "a craftsman and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen."[ 10 ]

The Sabbath command vs. 12-18

It seems strange to find this Sabbath command repeated at this point in the narrative. Some commentators connect it to the giving of the two Stone Tables on which the Sabbath command was the pivotal one, the one in the center. The Pulpit Commentary observes that the verses do not contain a mere repetition of the command already given, but that two new points are added: "1. That the Sabbath was to be a sign between God and Israel, a 'distinguishing badge,' a 'sacramental bond'; and 2. That its desecration was to be punished with death."

It is true that the Sabbath was a "distinguishing badge" in that it was a unique observance by the people of Israel alone. Circumcision was practiced by other people, but only Israel set aside one day each week to abstain from labor. The Sabbath command is the only one of the Ten Commandments that reaches back to before the fall of man into sin. Vs. 17 says: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested."

The Hebrew word translated "rested" is shabath. Strongs Definitions definition of the word is: "to repose, i.e. desist from exertion." The KJV usually renders it with: "to rest," "to cease," or even "to celebrate," as in Leviticus. Speaking, of all things, about the Day of Atonement, the verse says: "It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."[ 11 ] For reason unknown to me, the NIV omits the last clause of this verse, that most other translations add: "and was refreshed." The RSV, for instance, reads: "It is a sign for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." The Hebrew word translated "refreshed" is naphash, which literally means "to breathe; passively, to be breathed upon, i.e. (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air)." (Quote from Strongs Definitions Definitions.) The main idea for observing the Sabbath is the full enjoyment of creation.

This seems to conflict with the punishment for breaking the Sabbath, which was capital punishment. The Pulpit Commentary comments here: "The penalty of death for breaking the sabbath seems to moderns over-severe; but the erection of sabbath-observance into the special sacramental sign that Israel was in covenant with God made non-observance an offense of the gravest character. The man who broke the sabbath destroyed, so far as in him lay, the entire covenant between God and his people - not only broke it, but annulled it, and threw Israel out of the covenant. Hence, when the sin was committed, no hesitation was felt in carrying out the law (See Numb. xv. 32-36)."

The incident from Numbers referred to, reads: "While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses, 'The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.' So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses."[ 12 ]

Such a punishment, as we said above, does not only seem to conflict with the concept of celebration, but it does make the impression upon modern man of an over-reaction on the part of God to human frailty. We should understand, however, that the intent of the Sabbath-observance was much more modern than seems on the surface. The Sabbath rest linked man with God's enjoyment of creation. God wants us to enjoy life, much more even than the most hardened existentialist could preach it. A man who refuses to celebrate the fact that he is alive is, in fact, already dead. His execution is merely a confirmation of his spiritual condition.

God wants us to be witnesses to the marvel of His creation. We are living testimonies of the fact that God is our Creator. That is what the Sabbath stands for in the first place. God does not want the fact that sin came in and separated us from fellowship with God to interfere with the basic enjoyment of our existence. Yet, it is sin that created the paradox which changes the Sabbath from a day of enjoyment to a day of death for people who are separated from God. God does not want His children to accept this fact. In keeping the Sabbath, we are fighting for our life and for the right to enjoy it. This is meant by the writer to the Hebrews when he says: "For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."[ 13 ]

As we said above, the Sabbath was the pivotal law in the Ten Commandments. As the fourth of the ten it connects the laws that govern our relationship with God with the laws that deal with our inter-human relationships. It is obvious that the Ten Commandments are the ground rules for man's moral behavior. They are fundamentally different from the ceremonial laws, which deal with his sinful condition and tell him what to do about it. The Ten Commandments show what man ought to be; the ceremonial laws tell us that he isn't what he ought to be. They indicate the way to restore the fellowship with God that was broken by sin.

The question remains whether the Sabbath command is a ceremonial law or a moral law. In breaking the first three commandments we sin against God alone. In breaking the fifth to the tenth commandments we sin against our fellow men; or rather, as the Prodigal son put it: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you."[ 14 ] In breaking the fourth commandment, however, we sin against ourselves. We refuse to recognize that we are part of God's creation and that we are alive and love life. Is this a moral trespass? Maybe we should call it the ultimate trespass.

We know from the Gospels that Jesus' attitude toward the Sabbath differed from the way the people of His time interpreted the Sabbath command. In the eyes of the Jewish leaders, Jesus broke the Sabbath. Jesus' answer to them was: "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."[ 15 ] Jesus' interpretation of the Sabbath reveals that there is more involved than abstaining from certain kinds of work on the seventh day of every week. Jesus even goes beyond the reference to the Father's rest at the completion of creation. The Sabbath command in the Old Testament reaches back to before the fall of man into sin. Jesus sees the Sabbath as reaching forward to the rest that awaits us when sin and death will be defeated. The work of the Father He refers to is the work of restoration.

The early church recognized this aspect of the Sabbath, and consequently the first day of the week, the day of Christ's resurrection, began to overshadow the observance of the Old Testament shadow. This came about spontaneously. There is no record in the New Testament of any law stipulating this. The first day of the week is not a New Testament Sabbath. We do not celebrate the Sabbath; we celebrate the day after the Sabbath. Of the Ten Commandments that were on the two stone tablets, all of them are repeated in the New Testament, except the fourth. In observing the Sabbath, man celebrated the fact that God had made him a living creature. In our celebration of the eighth day, we celebrate the fact that we were dead and are now alive for ever and ever.[ 16 ]

[ 1 ] Ex. 4:10

[ 2 ] Only to God be the glory.

[ 3 ] "l'Art pour l'art." (French)

[ 4 ] II Cor. 3:7-18

[ 5 ] II Cor. 4:18

[ 6 ] I John 1:1-4

[ 7 ] John 20:29

[ 8 ] Heb. 3:3, 5-6

[ 9 ] Heb. 7:13-14

[ 10 ] Ex. 38:23

[ 11 ] Lev. 23:32 (KJV)

[ 12 ] Num. 15:32-36

[ 13 ] Heb. 4:10

[ 14 ] Luke 15:21

[ 15 ] John 5:17

[ 16 ] See Rev. 1:18