“Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, the finely worked garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office— the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14 I have chosen and made meet, Exod. 35:30.
I have chosen and made meet, Exod. 35:30.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14 Exo 31:2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel…
Exo 31:2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
Ver. 2. The son of Hur.] Of that Hur mentioned in Exo 17:12; Exo 24:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14 He seems to be the same mentioned 1Ch 2:20
He seems to be the same mentioned 1Ch 2:20
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v12 Here is, I. A strict command for the sanctification…
Here is, I. A strict command for the sanctification of the sabbath day, Exo 31:13-17. The law of the sabbath had been given them before any other law, by was of preparation (Exo 16:23); it had been inserted in the body of the moral law, in the fourth commandment; it had been annexed to the judicial law (Exo 23:12); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law; where no conscience is made of that, farewell both godliness and honesty; for, in the moral law, it stands in the midst between the two tables. Some suggest that it comes in here upon another account. Orders were now given that a tabernacle should be set up and furnished for the service of God with all possible expedition; but lest they should think that the nature of the work, and the haste that was required, would justify them in working at it on sabbath days, that they might get it done the sooner, this caution is seasonably inserted, Verily, or nevertheless, my sabbaths you shall keep. Though they must hasten the work, yet they must not make more haste than good speed; they must not break the law of the sabbath in their haste: even tabernacle-work must give way to the sabbath-rest; so jealous is God for the honour of his sabbaths. Observe what is here said concerning the sabbath day.
1. The nature, meaning, and intention, of the sabbath, by the declaration of which God puts an honour upon it, and teaches us to value it. Divers things are here said of the sabbath. (1.) It is a sign between me and you (Exo 31:13), and again, Exo 31:17. The institution of the sabbath was a great instance of God's favour to them, and a sign that he had distinguished them from all other people; and their religious observance of the sabbath was a great instance of their duty and obedience to him. God, by sanctifying this day among them, let them know that he sanctified them, and set them apart for himself and his service; otherwise he would not have revealed to them his holy sabbaths, to be the support of religion among them. Or it may refer to the law concerning the sabbath, Keep my sabbaths, that you may know that I the Lord do sanctify you. Note, If God by his grace incline our hearts to keep the law of the fourth commandment, it will be an evidence of a good work wrought in us by his Spirit. If we sanctify God's day, it is a sign between him and us that he has sanctified our hearts: hence it is the character of the blessed man that he keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, Isa 56:2. The Jews, by observing one day in seven, after six days' labour, testified and declared that they worshipped the God who made the world in six days, and rested the seventh; and so distinguished themselves from other nations, who, having first lost the sabbath, which was instituted to be a memorial of the creation, by degrees lost the knowledge of the Creator, and gave that honour to the creature which was due to him alone. (2.) It is holy unto you (Exo 31:14), that is, "It is designed for your benefit as well as for God's honour;" the sabbath was made for man. Or, "It shall be accounted holy by you, and shall so be observed, and you shall look upon it a sacrilege to profane it." (3.) It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord, Exo 31:15. It is separated from common use, and designed for the honour and service of God, and by the observance of it we are taught to rest from worldly pursuits and the service of the flesh, and to devote ourselves, and all we are, have, and can do, to God's glory. (4.) It was to be observed throughout their generations, in every age, for a perpetual covenant. Exo 31:16. This was to be one of the most lasting tokens of that covenant which was between God and Israel.
Read full note →
2. The law of the sabbath. They must keep it (Exo 31:13, Exo 31:14, Exo 31:16), keep it as a treasure, as a trust, observe it and preserve it, keep it from polluting it, keep it up as a sign between God and them, keep it and never part with it. The Gentiles had anniversary-feasts, to the honour of their gods; but it was peculiar to the Jews to have a weekly festival; this therefore they must carefully observe.
3. The reason of the sabbath; for God's laws are not only backed with the highest authority, but supported with the best reason. God's own example is the great reason, Exo 31:17. As the work of creation is worthy to be thus commemorated, so the great Creator is worthy to be thus imitated, by a holy rest, the seventh day, after six days' labour, especially since we hope, in further conformity to the same example, shortly to rest with him from all our labours.
4. The penalty to be inflicted for the breach of this law: "Every one that defileth the sabbath, by doing any work therein but works of piety and mercy, shall be cut off from among his people (Exo 31:14); he shall surely be put to death. Exo 31:15. The magistrate must cut him off the sword of justice if the crime can be proved; if it cannot, or if the magistrate be remiss, and do not do his duty, God will take the work into his own hands, and cut him off by a stroke from heaven, and his family shall be rooted out of Israel." Note, The contempt and profanation of the sabbath day is an iniquity to be punished by the judges; and, if men do not punish it, God will, here or hereafter, unless it be repented of.
II. The delivering of the two tables of testimony to Moses. God had promised him these tables when he called him up into the mount (Exo 24:12), and now, when he was sending him down, he delivered them to him, to be carefully and honourably deposited in the ark, Exo 31:18. 1. The ten commandments which God had spoken upon mount Sinai in the hearing of all the people were now written, in perpetuam rei memoriam - for a perpetual memorial, because that which is written remains. 2. They were written in tables of stone, prepared, not by Moses, as it should seem (for it is intimated, Exo 24:12, that he found them ready written when he went up to the mount), but, as some think, by the ministry of angels. The law was written in tables of stone, to denote the perpetual duration of it (what can be supposed to last longer than that which is written in stone, and laid up?), to denote likewise the hardness of our hearts; one might more easily write in stone than write any thing that is good in our corrupt and sinful hearts. 3. They were written with the finger of God, that is, by his will and power immediately, without the use of any instrument. It is God only that can write his law in the heart; he gives a heart of flesh, and then, by his Spirit, which is the finger of God, he writes his will in the fleshly tables of the heart, Co2 3:3. 4. They were written in two tables, being designed to direct us in our duty both towards God and towards man. 5. They are called tables of testimony, because this written law testified both the will of God concerning them and his good-will towards them, and would be a testimony against them if they were disobedient. 6. They were delivered to Moses, probably with a charge, before he laid them up in the ark, to show them publicly, that they might be seen and read of all men, and so what they had heard with the hearing of the ear might now be brought to their remembrance. Thus the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–14 See, I have called by name Bezaleel,.... Had pitched…
See, I have called by name Bezaleel,.... Had pitched upon, chosen, and distinguished him particularly from all other men to be the architect or chief master builder of the tabernacle, and to be the director and overseer of the whole work relating to it: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,""I have called with a good name Bezaleel";''as if respect was to be had to his name Bezaleel, as given him by God, and very expressive and significant; whereas the phrase of calling "by name" does not signify the imposing of a name upon him, but the singular and personal choice of him to an office: indeed, his name Bezaleel is very significant, and may be rendered, "in the shadow of God"; and he was under the shadow, influence, and protection of the Lord, and was called to be concerned in making those things, which were shadows of good things to come; and he may be considered in all as a type of Christ, who is the chief and master builder of his church, has the care and oversight of it, and under whom others work; for except he built the house, they labour in vain that build it; he was called by name, or eminently chosen to this work, he took not this honour to himself, but was called of God, as Bezaleel was, and was hid and abode under the shadow of the Almighty all the while he was concerned in it, see Psa 91:1.
the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; Bezaleel's father's name was Uri, which signifies, "my light"; and his grandfather's name Hur, which has the signification of liberty or freedom; the same that Moses left with Aaron to judge the people of Israel during his stay in the mount, and is thought to have been the husband of Miriam; so that his grandfather being living, he may be supposed to be but a young man: the Jews say (n) he was but thirteen years of age when he was employed in this service, but that is not probable; though indeed his antitype, when but twelve years of age, said, "wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" his Father, whom he calls Uri, my light, Psa 27:1 he being the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person; and is the Son of God that makes men free, and they are free indeed; and of whom it is evident that he sprung out of the tribe of Judah, a tribe greatly honoured of God.
Read full note →
(n) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 6. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 13, 14 See I have called Bezaleel, the grandson of Hur,…
See I have called Bezaleel, the grandson of Hur, probably that Hur who had helped to hold up Moses's hand, chap. xvii, 10-12, and was at this time in commission with Aaron for the government of the people in the absence of Moses. Aholiab of the tribe of Dan. is appointed next to Bezaleel, and partner with him. Hiram, who was the head-workman in the building of Solomon's temple, was also of the tribe of Daniel, 2 Chron. ii, 14.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 Verse 2. I have called by name Bezaleel] That…
Verse 2. I have called by name Bezaleel] That is, I have particularly appointed this person to be the chief superintendent of the whole work. His name is significant, בצלאל betsal-el, in or under the shadow of God, meaning, under the especial protection of the Most High. He was the son of Uri, the son of Hur, the son of Caleb or Chelubai, the son of Esron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah. See 1Ch 2:5, 1Ch 2:9, 1Ch 2:18-20, and See Clarke on Ex 17:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14 Exo 31:3. And I have filled him with the…
Exo 31:3. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God — And, Exo 31:6, In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom. Skill in common employments is the gift of God; it is he that puts even this wisdom into the inward parts, Job 38:36. He teacheth the husbandman discretion, Isa 28:26; and the tradesman too, and he must have the praise of it. Although it is probable that the arts were carried to a great height at this period in Egypt; yet, considering the state of slavery in which the Israelites had been held there, and the hard labour to which they had been compelled, it is not to be supposed that many of them had made any proficiency therein, or were qualified for such curious workmanship as had been prescribed. But that God who often chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise; who took the apostles from their fishing-boats, and from other low occupations, and enabled them to speak fluently and correctly in the languages of all nations to which they were sent to preach; endued the persons here mentioned with the skill requisite for the work to which they were appointed. A late commentator remarks here, “Neither Moses nor Aaron, nor any of Aaron’s sons, were appointed to this service; the honour already conferred must suffice for them, and if they attended to their proper work, they would find that also sufficient. Nor were Moses’s sons appointed; for it was the Lord’s will that his disinterestedness and divine legation should appear illustrious in the obscurity of his posterity.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v12 The penal law of the Sabbath. Exo 35:2-3. In…
The penal law of the Sabbath. Exo 35:2-3. In the fourth commandment the injunction to observe the seventh day is addressed to the conscience of the people (see Exo 20:8 note): in this place, the object is to declare an infraction of the commandment to be a capital offence. The two passages stand in a relation to each other similar to that between Lev. 18, Lev. 19, and Lev. 20. It seems likely that the penal edict was especially introduced as a caution in reference to the construction of the tabernacle, lest the people, in their zeal to carry on the work, should be tempted to break the divine law for the observance of the day.
Exo 31:14
Read full note →
See Num 15:32-36. The distinction between the meaning of the two expressions, “to be cut off from the people”, and “to be put to death”, is here indicated. He who was cut off from the people had, by his offence, put himself out of the terms of the covenant, and was an outlaw. On such, and on such alone, when the offence was one which affected the well-being of the nation, as it was in this case, death could be inflicted by the public authority.
Exo 31:17
Was refreshed - Literally, “he took breath”. Compare Exo 23:12; 2Sa 16:14. The application of the word to the Creator, which occurs nowhere else, is remarkable.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13 By name. I have fixed upon and taken into…
By name. I have fixed upon and taken into my service, as Isaias xliii. 1.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 6, 12 I have filled him with the spirit of God--It…
I have filled him with the spirit of God--It is probable that he was naturally endowed with a mechanical genius, and had acquired in Egypt great knowledge and skill in the useful, as well as liberal, arts so as to be a first-class artisan, competent to take charge of both the plain and ornamental work, which the building of the sacred edifice required. When God has any special work to be accomplished, He always raises up instruments capable of doing it; and it is likely that He had given to the son of Uri that strong natural aptitude and those opportunities of gaining mechanical skill, with an ultimate view to this responsible office. Notwithstanding that his grand duty was to conform with scrupulous fidelity to the pattern furnished, there was still plenty of room for inventive talent and tasteful exactness in the execution; and his natural and acquired gifts were enlarged and invigorated for the important work.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14 3. Filled him with the spirit of God —…
3. Filled him with the spirit of God — There is no need of explaining this as equivalent merely to the phrase “a divine spirit,” or translating “a spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit of God is intended, which quickened all Bezaleel’s mental faculties, and enriched him with such a degree of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that he was recognized as divinely gifted with the required qualifications for all manner of workmanship which the construction and erection of the tabernacle called for.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14 2. called by name] i.e. specially chosen: cf. Isa_45:3-4…
2. called by name] i.e. specially chosen: cf. Isa_45:3-4 (of Cyrus).
Bĕẓal’çl] i.e. ‘In the shadow (i.e. protection, Num_14:9 RVm.) of God’; cf. the Ass. name Ina-ṣilli-Bel, ‘In the shadow of Bel’ (cited by Bä.). There are no sufficient grounds for identifying the Ḥur here with the Ḥur of Exo_17:10, Exo_24:14. The whole series Ḥur, Uri, Bĕẓal’çl occurs again in 1Ch_2:19 f., in the ‘family’ of Caleb, one of the three leading clans of Judah; but the relation of the two series of names to each other is uncertain: 1Sa_30:14 appears to shew that even in David’s time the Caleb-clan was not yet actually part of Judah (comp. the writer’s Genesis, p. 327; and DB., EB., s.v. Caleb).
Read full note →
In v. 6 Oholiab is associated with Bĕẓal’çl; but Bĕẓal’çl is evidently regarded as the constructor in chief: he always takes the first place (Exo_36:1-2; cf. Exo_38:22 f.), and is often mentioned alone (Exo_37:1, and implicitly in vv. 10, 17, 25, &c.).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 (2) I have called by name.—It is a high…
(2) I have called by name.—It is a high honour to be called of God by name. He thus calls only those whom He appoints to some great work, as Moses (Exo_3:4; Exo_33:12), Samuel (1Sa_3:10), and Cyrus (Isa_45:3-4).
Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur.—Hur, the grandfather of Bezaleel, is generally supposed to be identical with the Hur who supported Moses’s hands (Exo_17:12), and was left joint regent with Aaron when Moses went up into Mount Sinai (Exo_24:14). There is, however, no evidence of this beyond the identity of the name.
Read full note →
Of the tribe of Judah.—Descended from Judah through Pharez, Hezron, and Caleb (1Ch_2:5; 1Ch_2:18-20).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 I have called by name. God "calls by name"…
I have called by name. God "calls by name" only those whom he appoints to some high office, as Moses, (Exo_3:4 Exo_33:12) Cyrus, (Isa_45:3, Isa_45:4) and here Bezaleel and Aholiab. He honours us highly in even condescending to "know us by name," still more in "calling" us. Bezaleel is traced to Judah in Chronicles through five ancestors Uri, Hur, Caleb, Hezron, and Pharez, Judah"s son by Tamar. The genealogy, though less contracted than most of those in Exodus, probably contains two or three omissions. The son of Hur. Hur, the grandfather of Bezaleel, is thought to be the person mentioned in Exo_17:10, and Exo_24:14.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v6 In the hearts of all that are wise hearted…
Exo_31:6
In the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom.
Read full note →
The danger of accomplishments
There are persons who doubt whether what are called accomplishments, whether in literature or in the fine arts, can be consistent with deep and practical seriousness of mind. I am not speaking of human learning; this also many men think inconsistent with simple uncorrupted faith. They suppose that learning must make a man proud. This is of course a great mistake; but of it I am not speaking, but of an over-jealousy of accomplishments, the elegant arts and studies, such as poetry, literary composition, painting, music, and the like; which are considered, not indeed to make a man proud, but to make him trifling. Of this opinion, how far it is true and how far not true, I am going to speak. Now, that the accomplishments I speak of have a tendency to make us trifling and unmanly, and therefore are to be viewed by each of us with suspicion as far as regards himself, I am ready to admit, and shall presently make clear. I allow that in matter of fact, refinement and luxury, elegance and effeminacy, go together. Antioch, the most polished, was the most voluptuous city of Asia. But the abuse of good things is no argument against the things themselves; mental cultivation may be a Divine gift, though it is abused. An acquaintance with the elegant arts may he a gift and a good, and intended to be an instrument of Gods glory, though numbers who have it are rendered thereby indolent, luxurious, and feeble-minded. But the account of the building of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, from which the text is taken, is decisive on this point. How, then, is it that what in itself is of so excellent, and, I may say, Divine a nature, is yet so commonly perverted? Now the danger of an elegant and polite education is that it separates feeling and acting; it teaches us to think, speak, and be affected aright, without forcing us to practise what is right. I will take an illustration of this from the effect produced upon the mind by reading what is commonly called a romance or novel. Such works contain many good sentiments (I am taking the better sort of them); characters, too, are introduced, virtuous, noble, patient under suffering, and triumphing at length over misfortune. But it is all fiction; it does not exist out of a book which contains the beginning and end of it. We have nothing to do; we read, are affected, softened, or roused, and that is all; we cool again--nothing comes of it. Now observe the effect of this. God has made us feel in order that we may go on to act in consequence of feeling; if, then, we allow our feelings to be excited without acting upon them, we do mischief to the moral system within us, just as we might spoil a watch, or other piece of mechanism, by playing with the wheels of it. We weaken its springs, and they cease to act truly. For instance, we will say we have read again and again of the heroism of facing danger, and we have glowed with the thought of its nobleness. Now, suppose at length we actually come into trial, and, let us say, our feelings become roused, as often before, at the thought of boldly resisting temptations to cowardice, shall we therefore do our duty, quitting ourselves like men? rather, we are likely to talk loudly, and then run from the danger. And what is here instanced of fortitude is true in all cases of duty. The refinement which literature gives is that of thinking, feeling, knowing and speaking right, not of acting right; and thus, while it makes the manners amiable, and the conversation decorous and agreeable, it has no tendency to make the conduct, the practice of the man virtuous. The case is the same with the arts last alluded to--poetry and music. These are especially likely to make us unmanly, if we are not on our guard, as exciting emotions without insuring correspondent practice, and so destroying the connection between feeling and acting; for I here mean by unmanliness the inability to do with ourselves what we wish--the saying fine things and yet lying slothfully on our couch, as if we could not get up, though we ever so much wished it. And here I must notice something besides in elegant accomplishments, which goes to make us over-refined and fastidious, and falsely delicate. In books everything is made beautiful in its way. Pictures are drawn of complete virtue; little is said about failures, and little or nothing of the drudgery of ordinary, every-day obedience, which is neither poetical nor interesting. True faith teaches us to do numberless disagreeable things for Christs sake, to bear petty annoyances, which we find written down in no book. And further still, it must be observed, that the art of composing, which is a chief accomplishment, has in itself a tendency to make us artificial and insincere. For to be ever attending to the fitness and propriety of our words, is (or at least there is the risk of its being) a kind of acting; and knowing what can be said on both sides of a subject is a main step towards thinking the one side as good as the other. With these thoughts before us, it is necessary to look back to the Scripture instances which I began by adducing, to avoid the conclusion that accomplishments are positively dangerous and unworthy a Christian. But St. Luke and St. Paul show us that we may be sturdy workers in the Lords service, and bear our cross manfully, though we be adorned with all the learning of the Egyptians; or, rather, that the resources of literature and the graces of a cultivated mind may be made both a lawful source of enjoyment to the possessor, and a means of introducing and recommending the truth to others; while the history of the Tabernacle shows that all the cunning arts and precious possessions of this world may be consecrated to a religious service, and be made to speak of the world to come. I conclude, then, with the following cautions, to which the foregoing remarks lead. First, we must avoid giving too much time to lighter occupations; and next, we must never allow ourselves to read works of fiction or poetry, or to interest ourselves in the fine arts for the mere sake of the things themselves; but keep in mind all along that we are Christians and accountable beings, who have fixed principles of right and wrong, by which all things must be tried, and have religious habits to be matured within them, towards which all things are to be made subservient. If we are in earnest we shall let nothing lightly pass by which may do us good, nor shall we dare to trifle with such sacred subjects as morality and religious duty. We shall apply all we read to ourselves; and this almost without intending to do so, from the mere sincerity and honesty of our desire to please God. We shall be suspicious of all such good thoughts and wishes, and we shall shrink from all such exhibitions of our principles as fall short of action. Of all such as abuse the decencies and elegancies of moral truth into a means of luxurious enjoyment, what would a prophet of God say? (Eze_33:30-32; 2Ti_4:2-4; 1Co_16:13). (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
The wise hearted ones
Who are the wise hearted ones?
1. They are those who prove themselves as having ability to do useful work. Work done, and well done, though it be in itself of trifling value, is the determination of wisdom.
2. The wise hearted are they who reach beyond present ability to perform. No true workman is satisfied to simply repeat his last job.
3. The wise hearted are they who, at Christs call, enter His kingdom, there to labour under the influence of the purest, strongest motives. (C. R. Seymour.)
Grace and genius
I. Natural gifts are often discovered by grace.
II. Natural gifts are directed by grace.
III. Natural gifts are heightened by grace.
IV. Natural gifts are sanctified by grace. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The method of Providence
God would have everything built beautifully. What an image of beauty have we seen this Tabernacle to be through and through, flushed with colours we have never seen, and bright with lights that could not show themselves fully in the murkiness of this air! He would make us more beautiful than our dwelling-place. He would not have the house more valuable than the tenant. He did not mean the worshipper to be less than the Tabernacle which He set up for worship. Are we living the beautiful life--the life solemn with sweet harmonies, broad in its generous purpose, noble in the sublimity of its prayer, like God in the perpetual sacrifice of its life? Not only will God build everything beautifully; His purpose is to have everything built for religious uses. His meaning is that the form shall help the thought, that images appealing to the eye shall also touch the imagination and graciously affect the whole spirit, and subdue into tender obedience and worship the soul and heart of man. What is the Tabernacle for? For worship. What is the meaning of it? It is a gate opening upon heaven. Why was it set up? To lift us nearer God. If we fail to seize these purposes, if we fail of magnifying and glorifying them so as to ennoble our own life in the process, we have never seen the Tabernacle. Herein is it for ever true that we may have a Bible but no revelation; a sermon but no Gospel; we may be in the church, yet not in the sanctuary; we may admire beauty, and yet live the life of the drunkard and the debauchee. In all His building--and God is always building--He qualifies every man for a particular work in connection with the edifice. The one man wants the other man. The work stands still till that other man comes in. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Various kinds of inspiration
Who can read these words as they ought to be read? How it makes ministers of God by the thousand! We have thought that Aaron was a religious man because of his clothing and because of many peculiarities which separated him from other men; but the Lord distinctly claims the artificer as another kind of Aaron. Who divides life into sacred and profane? Who introduces the element of meanness into human occupation and service? God claims all things for Himself. Who will say that the preacher is a religious man, but the artificer is a secular worker? But let us claim all true workers as inspired men. We know that there is an inspired art. The world knows it; instinctively, unconsciously, the world uncovers before it. There is an inspired poetry, make it of what measure you will. The great common heart knows it, says, That is the true verse; how it rises, falls, plashes like a fountain, flows like a stream, breathes like a summer wind, speaks the thoughts we have long understood, but could never articulate! The great human heart says, That is the voice Divine; that is the appeal of heaven. Why should we say that inspiration is not given to all true workers, whether in gold or in thought, whether in song or in prayer, whether in the type or in the magic eloquence of the burning tongue? Let us enlarge life, and enlarge Providence, rather than contract it, and not, whilst praying to a God in the heavens, have no God in the heart. You would work better if you realized that God is the Teacher of the fingers, and the Guide of the hand. Labour is churched and glorified. Art turns its chiselled and flushed features towards its native heaven. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Gifts from God as well as graces
God gave the plan clearly, graphically, distinctly, to Moses; but it needed men raised up specially by the Spirit of God to execute the plan, and to give it practical development. And we learn from this fact that a gifted intellect is as much the creation of the Spirit of God as a regenerate heart. Gifts are from God as truly as graces; it needs the guidance of Gods good Spirit to enable a man to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them; and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship; just as it does to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. We thus see that God gives light to the intellect as well as grace to the heart; and we may, perhaps, from this learn a very humbling, but a very blessed truth--that the man with a gifted intellect is as much summoned to bow the knee, and to thank the Fountain and the Author of it, as the man that has a sanctified heart feels it his privilege to bow his knee, and to bless the Holy Spirit that gave it, for this his distinguishing grace and mercy. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Spiritual gifts
1. Prize them inestimably.
2. Covet them earnestly.
3. Seek for them diligently.
4. Ponder them frequently.
5. Wait for them patiently.
6. Expect them hopefully.
7. Receive them joyfully.
8. Enjoy them thankfully.
9. Improve them carefully.
10. Retain them watchfully.
11. Plead for them manfully.
12. Hold them dependently.
13. Grasp them eternally. (Biblical Museum.)
Genius and industry
A friend of Charles Dickens, a man who had given promise of a noble career as an author, but who, through indolence, had failed in doing any permanent work, called upon him one morning, and, after bewailing his ill-success, ended by sighing, Ah, if I only were gifted with your genius! Dickens, who had listened patiently to the complaint, exclaimed at once in answer, Genius, sir! I do not know what you mean. I had no genius save the genius for hard work! However his enthusiastic admirers may dispute this, certain it is that Dickens trusted to no such uncertain light as the fire of genius. Day in and day out, by hard work, he elaborated the plot, characters, and dialogue of his imperishable stories. Whole days he would spend to discover suitable localities, and then be able to give vividness to his description of them, while, sentence by sentence, his work, after apparent completion, was retouched and revised. The great law of labour makes no exception of the gifted or ignorant. Whatever the work may be, there can be no success in it without diligent, unceasing, persevering labour.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v12 Exo_31:14. Ye shall keep the Sabbath = Ushemartem eth…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exo_31:14. Ye shall keep the Sabbath = Ushemartem eth hashahabbath]. The verb shamar = to keep, implies the idea of guarding, watching over with tenderness and fidelity. (Comp. Psa_21:4-5, “He that keepeth Israel”—and, “The LORD is thy keeper”). Thus Israel, by keeping the Sabbath aright, was intended to cultivate those ennobling qualities of the human heart and mind which should distinguish them as a people in covenant with God, both their keeper and liberator, to bless them with rest from the works of their bondage, and with peace on account of His jealous love and care.
Read full note →
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_31:12-18
THE SABBATH AND THE SANCTUARY
The command to keep the Sabbath was included already in the decalogue, and there is therefore some special meaning in the repetition of the command in this place. Coming as it does at the conclusion of the instructions respecting the Tabernacle, it is evident that the intention was to teach the connection which existed between these great institutions. We observe—
I. Both exist to the same divine end. What is the end of the sanctuary? That man may come near to God—that he may worship God. All understand this. The sanctuary does not exist to any merely intellectual or physical end, but it is the place where our spiritual nature is to be instructed and purified and blessed by communion with the Holy Spirit (Psa_27:4). What is the end of the Sabbath? Precisely that of the sanctuary. Many entertain the idea that the grand end of the Sabbath is physical rest—that this is one of its purposes is quite true, but it by no means exhausts the meaning of the day; neither is the grand end of it intellectual—visiting picture galleries and science lectures, &c. its grand object is spiritual. The Sabbath is primarily intended to free man from bodily toil and secular care, that he may give his earnest attention to his spiritual nature. The sanctuary and the Sabbath have one purpose, and that is religious and holy.
II. Both are alike essential for the accomplishment of that end. They cannot be divorced.
1. If the public worship of God is neglected the Sabbath will soon be secularised. The Sabbath has a divine basis, and when God ceases to be recognised and worshipped, this day will no longer retain its spell.
2. If the Sabbath is secularised, religious worship will soon cease. If we spend some hours of the sacred day frivolously, how seriously it impairs our worship in the temple! When society give up the Sabbath to physical and intellectual pleasures, it will give up its God and His worship soon after. Some who are fully persuaded of the importance of the sanctuary and its services, have very loose views on the keeping of the Sabbath. It is greatly to be deplored. The Sabbath is the main pillar in the temple of God, and if it comes down the whole fabric of divinity comes down with it.
III. Both are alike of absolute and perpetual obligation. We know that the worship of God is of strict and perpetual obligation, and thus is the Sabbath. Read the text. And Christ did not revoke or modify the obligation of keeping this day to high and holy ends.
Lessons:—
1. We see the wickedness of those who would secularise the Sabbath. It would shock us if some profane man made a stable of a church; it ought not to shock us less to see God’s holy day profaned to worldly ends. Anti-Sabbatarianism is essentially atheistic.
2. We see the mistake of those who seem to think that having worshipped they may spend the remainder of the Sabbath in worldliness and pleasure.
3. We see the error of those who think that doing religious work justifies certain forms of Sabbath desecration. The Israelites had a great work to do in building the Tabernacle, but they were not to build it on the Sabbath; and we must all take care that the work of the Sabbath which we call unavoidable is really so.
4. We see the error of those who think they have kept the Sabbath when they rest from their work, but who absent themselves from the house of God.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Mosaic-Mines! Exo_31:1-18.
(1.) The face of Nature, says Macmillan, is everywhere written over with Divine characters, which he who runs may read. But beside the more obvious lessons which lie, as it were, in the surface of the earth, and which suggest themselves to us often when least disposed for inquiry or reflection, there are more recondite lessons which she teaches to those who make her structure arrangements their special study, and who penetrate to her secret arcana. And those, who read her great volume, passing on leaf after leaf, to the quiet and sober chapters of the interior, will find in these internal details revelations of the deepest interest.
(2.) It is even so with the Bible. In the New Testament, we have a rich robe of vegetation adorning the surface, the beauties of tree and flower, forest, hill and river, and the ever-changing splendours of the sky. In the psalms and prophets we walk amid the beauty of gardens and ornamented parterres, where every-thing thrills with their beauty and fragrance. But in the pentateuch, we descend, as it were, into the crust of the earth. We lose sight of all these upper-air glories; but we find new objects to compensate us—truths written with the finger of God—lessons on the deep things of God—diamonds which sparkle when brought up within the sphere of the Sun of Righteousness, who has risen with healing in His wings.
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear.”
—Gray.
Sabbath-Storm! Exo_31:12-15. Owing to the length of the winter and the shortness of the summer on the Swiss mountains of Jura, it is of great importance for the peasantry to preserve their hay; otherwise the cattle would starve. One Lord’s Day, when the hay was just in the finest condition for taking up, the sons of an old man who feared God and honoured His Sabbaths, proposed to go and cut it. He admonished them for the wickedness of such desecration; but they persisted and went. Just as they had cut it down, a sudden and terrible storm broke over their heads, the rain poured down from the thunderclouds in torrents, and the hay was soon completely destroyed. Returning home drenched and dispirited, the sainted patriarch replied: “My sons, learn from this to respect the commandments of God.”
“I do regret God’s day among the hills,
Spent in wild wand’rings in His world so fair;
Warmed by the sunshine which His mercy fills,
Swept by His mighty wings when storms were there;
When I passed by the church’s sacred door,
And left His people all within once more.”
Sabbath-Significance! Exo_31:16. In addition to other important ends, the Sabbath was intended to be an ever-recurring symbol of heaven, and a prophecy of the rest that remaineth for the people of God. It is thus explained at large by inspired writers, and by those who accept the Bible as from God this statement will not be questioned. It is not essential to our purpose to determine whether or not this institution be still binding upon the Christian Church. But it is clear as a sunbeam that, as positive institution, prophetic type, or soothing symbol, the Sabbath has graven its name on the very heart of Christianity. Its sweet voice is heard in her hymus and psalms of praise. To unnumbered millions of her children it is the only practical foretaste of that blessed rest which it foreshadows, and which the servants of God anticipate with longing hearts.
“Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.”
Testimony-Tables! Exo_31:18. The learned author of “Earth’s Lessons” says, it was on tables of stone that God’s finger traced the unerring and unchanging moral law. The same handwriting may be recognised in the masses of rock from which these very tables were constructed. We can trace the universality of Divine law throughout all the successive creations of the earth—throughout all the time worlds, as throughout all the space worlds, in geology as in astronomy. That divinely universal law is unity of force amidst diversity of phenomena—unity of plan amidst diversity of expression. And thus, amid all the varying operations of His hands and dispensations of His Providence, we find Him to be without variableness or shadow of turning.
“Oh! Thou Almighty, throned above the stars,
In light eternal, which no darkness mars,
From where Thy bright pavilion is unfurled
Thou lookest on the sorrows of the world;
Thine is the kingdom, Thine is power and might,
Directing day, and ruling in the night.”
Divine Finger! Exo_31:18.
(1.) Before Moses first went up to the Mount it was the voice of God which he heard repeating the decalogue; now he sees the finger of God writing the same. By finger some understand the “power” of God, as in Exo_8:19; others conceive the “Spirit” of God, as in Luk_11:29. No doubt both are right; and the Holy Spirit by the power of God wrote the tablets.
(2.) Both as spoken by God’s own voice, and as written on the rock by God’s own finger, these commandments stand forth alone. Their supreme importance is sufficiently betokened by their prominence in the forefront of all the Mosaic ordinances and Levitical ceremonies, and by their promulgation so directly and entirely Divine. God’s finger gave to man those ten jewels of purity—
“As an eagle from the waters
Rising plumes his feathers bright,
Shaking diamonds as he soareth
Upwards in the sunny light.”
Decalogue-Restoration! Exo_31:18.
(1.) This magnificent memorial was designed by God to stand up amid the ages in full clear outline, like the Egyptian pyramids, free from external growth of any kind. But during the subsequent centuries the grand pillars disappeared. True, it stood, but a jungle of weeds and creepers had sprung up around it. Instead of insisting on the simplicity of the decalogue, the Pharisees and Syrian scholiasts planted creepers round it, so that these growing up soon hid the Memorial-Thoughts of God amongst scarves and hems, washing of pots, and tithes of mint and cummin.
(2.) It was reserved for the Lord Jesus to destroy this desolating overgrowth. With the Sword of the Spirit in His Sermon on the Mount He cleared away this noisome tangle, until the Memorial-Truths of God again flashed forth to view, and beholders were astonished at their majesty. Nay, He did more. As the restoration of ancient fabrics brings out again the old lines of carving and sculpture; so did the Restorer of the decalogue fill out the law, and bring its sayings into stronger relief: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
“When Moses stood upon the hill,
The land with storms was trembling still;
As Jesus speaks from the hillside,
All is with sunshine glorified:
The Saviour preaches on the Mount.”
—Gerok.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v12 Concerning the Celebration of the Sabbath
Concerning the Celebration of the Sabbath
v. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Read full note →
v. 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. Through the rest of the Sabbath-day the children of Israel were to remain conscious of the fact that it was Jehovah that sanctified them, the Sabbath being the day especially consecrated to His service.
v. 14. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore, observe it most religiously; for it is holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death, the desecration or profanation of the day consisting chiefly in not observing the rest enjoined by the Lord; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people, the breaking of the Sabbath being a capital crime.
v. 15. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, a day devoted entirely to rest from physical labor, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath-day, he shall surely be put to death.
v. 16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, their resting should make the day a real Sabbath, for a perpetual covenant.
v. 17. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, the public symbol and expression of the relation between Jehovah and Israel; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. As the text expressly notes, this phase of the Third Commandment, according to which one special day was set apart for total rest, concerned only the children of Israel. For the believers of the New Testament the observance of the Third Commandment consists in this, that we gladly hear and learn the Word of God. He that despises preaching and God’s Word destroys himself by starving his soul.
v. 18. And He (God ) 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. In what manner this engraving was done is not revealed, the fact alone being stated. The Decalogue is the word and will of the Lord, of which He Himself says that heaven and earth will pass away before one tittle of this will is invalidated. The ministry of the New Testament is written with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart, 2Co 3:3.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 10, 12 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.
Read full note →
I have filled Bezalel with my Spirit
Yahweh speaks of giving Bezalel his Spirit as if Bezalel were a container and God's Spirit were a liquid. AT: "I have given my Spirit to Bezalel" (See: Metaphor)
for all kinds of craftsmanship
The abstract noun "craftsmanship" can be translated as "making crafts" or "making things." AT: "for making all kinds of crafts" or "so that he can make all kinds of things" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
filled with the Holy Spirit
wise
know
gold
silver
bronze
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 11, 12, 14 31:3 I have filled him with the Spirit of…
31:3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God: This is one of the earliest references to being filled with the Spirit as an expression of divine empowerment for activities that are clearly beyond normal human abilities (see also Gen 41:38; Num 11:17; Judg 6:34; 14:19; 1 Sam 10:6; 16:13; Joel 2:28-29; Mic 3:8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.