31:1. “And the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
31:2. “See, I
have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of
Judah:”
Bezaleel means in God’s
shade; Uri, my light; Hur, white; and Judah, he shall
be praised. God’s having called Bezaleel reminds us that it is folly to
attempt to do God’s work apart from His call and His enablement, see Romans
8:28-30, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he
did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified,” and again, “For
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” Romans 11:29.
The meanings of the names
of Bezaleel and his ancestors are replete with spiritual instruction, for
those who would do God’s work must be like Bezaleel: they must dwell in
God’s shade, i.e., they must walk in fellowship with Him, their every
thought, word, and deed being according to His Word.
And they must manifest the
character of Uri: they must walk in the light of His presence, this being
possible only as they obey His Word, relative to which it is written, “Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” Psalm 119:105. Such
obedience will produce the righteousness suggested in the meaning of Hur,
i.e., white, the end result being the glorification and praise of God
indicated in the meaning of Judah, he shall be praised.
31:3. “And I
have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and
in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,”
It is to be noted that
being filled with the Holy Spirit is not the same as being indwelt by Him.
At the moment of conversion very believer is indwelt by the Holy
Spirit, and will enjoy that experience until he goes home to heaven; but His
filling fluctuates in proportion to the degree that we allow Him to control
our lives, for it is to be remembered that He will never impose His control
against our will. We diminish His filling when we grieve Him by doing what
He forbids, and when we quench Him by refusing to do what He commands.
Bezaleel’s being filled
with God’s Spirit made him wise, skilful or expert, and knowledgeable
relative to every type of craftsmanship, today’s counterpart of this
endowment being the spiritual gifts given believers by God. There is
however, a difference, Scripture indicating that during this present age
each believer is given only one spiritual gift; note e.g., 1 Timothy 1:14,
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee,” and 2 Timothy 1:6, “... stir up the
gift of God, which is in thee ....”
31:4. “To
devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,”
To devise means to
invent, fashion, produce; and cunning means ingenious,
skilful, masterful.
The order in which the
metals are listed is also instructive, for gold represents Divine glory;
silver, redemption; and brass, judgment. God is glorified by man’s
obedience; but only the redeemed man, i.e., the believer, can yield that
obedience; and he who will not glorify God must then suffer His judgment as
portrayed by the brass.
31:5. “And in
cutting of (precious) stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work
in all manner of workmanship.”
Believers are likened to
precious stones, see Malachi 3:16-17, “Then they that feared the Lord spake
often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that
thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth
his own son that serveth him.”
“... to set them.”
Precious stones are almost invariably set in gold, and this setting of them
teaches typologically that as the obedient believer glorifies God, so will
God glorify that same submissive saint eternally, as it is written, “For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he
also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified,” Romans
8:29-30.
“... and in carving of
timber.” Timber is a type or symbol of man, so that this carving speaks of
the process by which God fashions the believer into the likeness of Christ:
He cuts away all that is unnecessary in the believer’s life, so that that
man or woman becomes daily more closely conformed to Christ’s image, see
again Romans 8:29. We have a part in that conformity, as exhorted in Romans
12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye my prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
“... to work in all manner
of workmanship” means that Bezaleel would be endowed with the ability to
work in every medium.
31:6. “And I,
behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of
Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that
they may make all that I have commanded thee;”
Aholiab means tent of
father; Ahisamach, brother of support; and Dan, a judge,
judging. All of these meanings have a good connotation, tent of
father suggesting submission to God; brother of support speaking
of helpfulness; and a judge or judging indicating wise
discernment.
Concerning wisdom it is
written, “The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom,” Proverbs 9:10, the propriety of the meaning declaring the truth
that the wholesome fear of offending God will preserve us from the folly of
disobeying Him, for obedience brings blessing; disobedience, chastisement
and loss.
31:7. “The
tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy
seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the
tabernacle,”
The tabernacle was the
symbolic dwelling place of God in the midst of His redeemed people Israel.
It was a type or figure of the Church. The making of it speaks symbolically
of the building up of God’s house, which during this present age of grace is
the Church, the divided state of which declares all too clearly that this
command is more often breached than obeyed.
The mention of the mercy
seat is the clear reminder that as God has been merciful to us, so are we to
extend mercy to others as commanded in Luke 6:36, “Be ye therefore merciful,
as your Father also is merciful.”
“... and all the furniture
of the tabernacle,” embraces symbolically everything related to the life of
the Church, no facet of which is exempt from this command.
Furniture, in the present
context, means fittings, utensils, vessels, appurtenances, instruments.
31:8. “And the
table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture,
and the altar of incense,”
Since a table is
associated with eating, the mention of the table first, teaches the
imperative of nourishing our souls with the pure spiritual food of the
Scriptures as commanded in 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” God’s reprimand of
those who fail to thus nourish their souls is recorded in Hebrews 5:12-14,
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach
you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are
become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For everyone that
useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason
of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
The candlestick or
lampstand speaks of testimony or profession, the need of maintaining a
vibrant witness being declared in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who
is in heaven.”
Its being called the
pure candlestick refers to its being made of pure, i.e., unalloyed gold,
reminding us that we who are God’s witnesses here on earth are also to be
pure: there is to be nothing of the world in our lives beyond what is
required by our need to earn a livelihood, our principal work being to be
witnesses for the Lord.
An altar is inseparable
from sacrifice; and incense speaks clearly of worship, so that the lesson of
the altar of incense is that worship requires the sacrifice of time and
energy, which in our unconverted state, were given to the pursuit of the
world’s wealth and pleasure. He who would offer acceptable worship must
spend time with God in the study of Scripture, meditation, and prayer.
31:9. “And the
altar of burnt offering with all his furniture (vessels, utensils, etc.,)
and the laver and his foot,”
Every sacrifice placed on
the brazen altar (the altar of burnt offering), was a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross, offering Himself without spot to God the Father, first
for His glory, and then for the expiation of our sins.
The laver and its foot -
the foot being either the base of the laver, or a separate small basin used
to take water from the laver, and with which the priests were to wash their
hands and feet - are a type of the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the water of
life, see John 4:7-15.
31:10. “And
the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, to
minister in the priest’s office,”
Nothing is known of “the
cloths of service,” but it seems that they may have been towels with which
the priests dried their hands and feet after washing at the laver.
31:11. “And
the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all
that I have commanded thee shall they do.”
This indicates that part
of the priests’ work was the blending of the anointing oil, and the
compounding of the sweet incense burned on the golden altar. The blending
of the anointing oil seems to speak of the need to be submissive to the Holy
Spirit, not just in connection with worship and service, but in everything
we do; while the preparation of the sweet incense clearly speaks of the need
to prepare ourselves to sit at the Lord’s Table on the first day of each
week to remember His death, and present our worship.
In connection with this
latter preparation a word of caution may not be inappropriate. We should
devote adequate time to reading, prayer, and meditation relative to what we
might present in worship during the Lord’s Supper, but we must never insist
on making that presentation apart from the clear leading of the Holy
Spirit. If what is on my mind isn’t along the same lines as the worship
already offered, there is the very real danger that it is not being indited
by the Holy Spirit, and will therefore mar rather than contribute to the
worship of the company as a whole.
31:12. “And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
31:13. “Speak
thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall
keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that
ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.”
The reference here is
primarily to the seventh day of the week, see e.g., Leviticus 23:3, though
that doesn’t exclude its application to the other sabbaths designated by
God. It takes us back to Gen 2:1-3 when He, having completed His
restoration of the ruined earth, rested on, and sanctified (set apart) the
seventh day to be a weekly sabbath of rest.
The importance of the
weekly sabbath is that it foreshadows the eternal rest into which the
believer enters through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Society’s desecration of the seventh day is an affront to God because it
signifies man’s rejection of the rest secured for believers through the
Lord’s vicarious death.
31:14. “Ye
shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that
defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work
therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”
The severity of the
penalty for desecration of the sabbath is related to the fact that it is a
symbolic rejection of the eternal rest secured for believers through the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, who, by rejecting Christ as his Savior,
refuses to enter into that rest, will be cast into the never ending torment
of the terrible lake of fire, there to weep and wail and gnash his teeth,
and never know rest.
31:15. “Six
days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to
the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be
put to death.”
The twice repeated “shall
surely be put to death” emphasizes the awful consequence of failure to trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, and warns of the dreadful folly of
hoping to enter heaven on the basis of good works. The warning is repeated
in the literal language of the NT in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
not of works, lest any man should boast.”
31:16.
“Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the
sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”
The children of Israel,
God’s redeemed earthly people, typify believers of this present age of
grace, and the command to Israel to keep the sabbath translates into God’s
instruction to us to rest in the enjoyment of Christ’s perfectly completed
work. All that was needed to secure the redemption of our souls was
completed at Calvary when the Lord said, “It is finished,”
As to whether a literal
weekly sabbath or day of rest is to be kept today, godly men differ, but two
facts argue very strongly in favor of its being so kept: God Himself rested
on the seventh day, see Genesis 2:1-3, and also Romans 14:5-6. When giving
the Ten Commandments He appointed the seventh day as a day of rest, and
since the other nine commandments apply to every dispensation, this command
relative to the seventh day obviously applies also. The word perpetual
in the present context means eternal.
31:17. “It is
a sign (symbol)betweeen me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and
was refreshed.”
As has been discussed
already, man’s resting on the seventh day of the week is a symbol of the
eternal rest into which every believer enters when He trusts in the Lord
Jesus Christ as Savior.
Relative to God’s having
made heaven and earth in six days, see the commentary on Genesis by the
present writer, and available on this web site.
“refreshed” is associated
with the pleasure given by a soft wind after toil.
31:18. “And he
gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount
Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of
God.”
The tables were the two
stone tablets upon which God Himself had inscribed the Ten Commandments,
their being engraved on stone declaring their immutability and eternality.
The significance of their
being given on mount Sinai, meaning my thorns, is related to the fact
that thorns are the evidence of the earth’s cursed state, see Genesis
3:17-18, Sinai, in the present context, being symbolic of that sinful
condition. Those tables of stone declared the inflexible criterion of
Divine righteousness, and reveal to every honest man the impossibility of
his ever meeting that standard, and impelling the same cry as fell from the
lips of the Philippian jailor, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The
answer given by Paul is the same as is given to every other who sees himself
as a condemned sinner in God’s sight: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved ....” Acts 16:30-31.