Exodus 31
Willing Artisans
1The Lord spoke to Moses:
Jehovah spoke to Moses. This was not New Testament doctrine. God does not speak to charismatics today. This divine conversation between God and Moses was simply just a recording of history. The doctrine of revelation is found in the New Testament. The only modern revelation from God is the written Word of God. Tongues and prophecies are not part of the modern dispensation. Tongues and prophecies were to disappear and be replaced with sound Bible teaching from gifted pastor-teachers.
2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
Notice that God does the choosing of whom He wants to accomplish His tasks. Bezalel was the grandson of Hur. Hur was one of the two men who held up the hands of Moses in chapter 17.
God has chosen all believers to perform services for Him. Many believers do not have enough Bible doctrine to recognize their own gifts. Others do not have enough spiritual maturity to exercise their own gifts. Many carnal Christians sit on their gifts, refusing to worship God with the gifts which God has given them.
3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in skill, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,
Bezalel’s skill came from the Holy Spirit. All believers have different skills, abilities, and gifts that are given to them by the Holy Spirit. Skills and abilities are given at birth. Spiritual gifts are given at the moment of salvation. Many people use their gifts for their own personal glorification. When unbelievers or carnal Christians misuse their God-given gifts, they are making themselves a god. They are making themselves more important than God. Believers who are grounded in strong Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God will use their gifts to glorify God. It is a sin to not use one’s skills, abilities, and gifts for the glory of God.
4 to make artistic designs for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze,
The Holy Spirit gave Bezalel the skill of working artistic designs with gold, silver, and bronze.
5 and with cutting and setting stone, and with cutting wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.
The Holy Spirit also gave him the skill to work with cutting and setting of stone and wood. He was skilled in other fine crafts as well.
6 Moreover, I have also given him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given ability to all the specially skilled, that they may make everything I have commanded you:
Oholiab was given similar skills as well. They would both use their god-given skills together to glorify God. This is an example of what the modern church is to do today in the modern world.
7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent, 8 the table with its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, 9 the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils, the large basin with its base, 10 the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests, 11 the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the Holy Place. They will make all these things just as I have commanded you.”
These two men were so gifted by the Holy Spirit, that they possessed skills in all of these areas.
Sabbath Observance
12 The Lord said to Moses,
Jehovah spoke audibly to Moses once again. Before the Bible was completed, God chose to reveal Himself through prophets such as Moses. Once the Bible was completed, God then chose to reveal Himself through the His written Word. Satan wants men to trust in modern day tongues and prophets so that he can mix truth with error and keep people spiritually disoriented. The last thing that Satan wants is a person studying the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level.
13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
Israel was commanded to keep the Sabbath days until the Messiah arrived. Another compound name was given for God. The Lord who sanctifies is יְהוָ֖ה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם (Jehovah mikadoshimcem), meaning the Promise-keeping God who makes one holy.
14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people.
Under the Mosaic Law, failure to keep the Sabbath was a capital offense. God took Sabbath attendance very seriously. He takes modern church attendance very seriously as well. In Hebrews 10:25, the author wrote “Do not neglect the meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” Whenever believers miss a church assembly, they are missing a chance to learn Bible doctrine. A church assembly is any meeting called by the church elders.
After the atonement of Christ, the Mosaic Law was made inoperative. Believers no longer had to keep the Sabbath. They can now worship on any day of the week which they desire. It is the responsibility of the elders to schedule this worship meeting. It is the responsibility of the congregation to obey the elders and attend the scheduled meeting.
There is nothing more important in a believer’s life than learning sound Bible doctrine in a face-to-face meeting with a gifted pastor teacher. This face-to-face meeting is more important than working, making profit, education, spending time with family and friends, sports, entertainment, or sleeping late. Many believers make excuses for not attending a church meeting called by elders. During the Mosaic Law, it was so important to God, that He made missing the Sabbath a capital offense. Missing an Assembly of God was equal to murder, blasphemy, or homosexuality. Many modern day believers take church attendance much too lightly. God takes church attendance very seriously.
Many believers will claim that since the Law is inoperative, they no longer must attend church. However, Hebrews 10:25 makes it very clear that church attendance is not to be neglected.
The spiritually mature believer will desire to go to church and cannot wait to get there. It is their favorite time of the week. They attend church with joy. They go to hear the Word of God taught at the deepest level.
Immature believers miss regularly. When they do attend, it is mostly because they enjoy the music and fellowship, but they are not interested in deep Bible study, especially if it is biblically-language oriented. They want their ears tickled. They desire shallow teaching. They do not want a pastor-teacher telling them that they are living a sinful life and they need to change. They do not want to hear that they are responsible for studying the Bible at the deepest level. They do not want to hear that they are spiritually immature, because they have never studied the entire counsel of the Word of God, they are void in the Biblical languages, they are Biblically ignorant, and they do not have the proper skills to become a Berean and check out the teachings of their pastor-teacher. Instead, they want to sit down, relax, hear some upbeat music, and hear a sermon that inspires them. They want an emotional lift, not Bible doctrine. Once the pastor-teacher begins teaching the Bible at the deepest level, then instead of studying to meet the demands of the pastor-teacher, they bail out and find a church that teaches shallow Bible doctrine. One of the biggest sins of the pulpit is not teaching the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level. One of the biggest sins of the congregation is not studying the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level. These two sins keep Satan in business.
In conclusion, the Mosaic Law is inoperative, but the mind of God is that missing an assembly to learn sound Bible doctrine about God is a capital offense. This is not something that the modern believer wants to hear, but it is a part of God’s word that needs to be taught. This type of message is the divine truth. It will either harden or soften the heart. Weak and disoriented Christians will not accept this message. They would rather sleep in their beds on Sunday morning to get some more rest so that they will have enough energy to engage in the satanic world system.
15 Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.
When God uses repetition of a spiritual concept in back-to-back sentences, He desires to get the attention of the reader. The spiritual concept is that missing the Sabbath is a death penalty offense, just like murder, blasphemy, and homosexuality.
16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
Notice that the Israelites were to keep the Sabbath throughout their generations. This verse is not talking about modern day Seventh Day Adventists. Seventh Day Adventists have the liberty to worship on Saturday if they wish, but not because it is commanded to do so in Scripture. All of the Mosaic Law was made inoperative at the atonement of Christ, including the Law of the Sabbath. Believers today have the liberty to worship on any day of the week as they wish, so long as the elders establish the day of worship.
17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
God could not make it any clearer. He made the heavens and the earth in six literal 24 hour days. Theistic evolutionists claim that these six days were long periods of time. They make this claim, because they are elevating scientific speculations of atheists over the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
God did not rest because He was tired. He rested because He finished His creation. When God finished His creation on day six, He stated that His creation was “very good.” It was perfect. There was no death or dying in this world until the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Therefore, theistic evolutionists are calling God a liar when they claim that Adam and Eve evolved from a monkey.
Television host Phil Donahue claimed that God used evolution to create the known world of today. This is the speculation of the total depravity of man. Satan uses Hollywood to deceive those who are ignorant of Bible doctrine. Man was not created in the image of monkeys. He was created in the image of God. He was redeemed by the blood of God.
Notice that this is a “sign.” As long as people throughout history see the Jews worshipping on the Sabbath, they know that the Bible is the Word of God.
18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God.
The two tablets were the two required witnesses of testimony. The two tablets most likely did not have five commandments on each tablet. Instead, they most likely had all ten commandments on each tablet, possibly five on the front and five on the back. The Ten Commandments were written in stone by the finger of God. The other 603 commandments were given by God, but written by Moses on parchment.