Exodus 31:14

_AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,_ Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep. The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardour and eagerness with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit-an acceptable tribute-to prosecute the undertaking without the interruption of a day's repose; and therefore the caution here given, at the commencement of the undertaking, was a seasonable admonition. Verse 13. IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS. There is here an allusion to the separation of Israel as a special people to the service of God; and the keeping of the Sabbath was a sign or...

12-17 Orders were now given that a tabernacle should be set up for the service of God. But they must not think that the nature of the work, and the haste that was required, would justify them in working at it on sabbath days. The Hebrew word /shabath/ signifies rest, or ceasing from labour. The thing signified by the sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God; therefore the moral obligation of the sabbath must continue, till time is swallowed up in eternity....

Verse Exodus 31:14. _EVERY ONE THAT DEFILETH IT_] By any kind of idolatrous or profane worship. _SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH_] The magistrates shall examine into the business, and if the accused be found guilty, he shall be stoned to death. _SHALL BE CUT OFF_] Because that person who could so far contemn the Sabbath, which was a _sign_ to them of the _rest_ which remained for the people of God, was of course an _infidel_, and should be cut off from all the privileges and expectations of an Israelite....

The penal law of the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. In the fourth commandment the injunction to observe the seventh day is addressed to the conscience of the people (see Exodus 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 Leviticus 18, Leviticus 19, and Leviticus 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 ze

EXPOSITION THE PENALTY FOR NOT OBSERVING THE SABBATH. Various reasons have been given for this recurrence to the sanctity of the sabbath. Kurtz connects it with the giving of the two tables, in which "the law of the sabbath held a particularly prominent place." Kalisch and others view it rather as the sequel to the directions concerning the tabernacle, and as designed to teach "that the holy service in the tabernacle could not supersede the observance of the sabbath, but derived front that observance its true value." A third set of critics regard the recurrence to the subject as purely practical—being intended to meet an immediate danger—that of the people, in their zeal to erect the tabernacle, setting sabbath observance at nought. (So Jarchi, Aben-Ezra, Clark, Rosenmuller, Canon Cook, and others.) It is to be observed, howev

YE SHALL KEEP THE SABBATH THEREFORE,.... Strictly observe it, according to the rules given concerning it: FOR IT IS HOLY UNTO YOU; a day that was set apart of God for holy exercises, peculiarly on their account: EVERYONE THAT DEFILETH IT; by doing any servile work upon it, or not observing it in a religious way; SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH; by the hand of the civil magistrate; if the law of the Jewish sabbath is now in force, the sanction continues, and the violation of it ought to be punished by a judge with death: FOR WHOSOEVER DOETH ANY WORK THEREIN; so much as to kindle a fire, and dress any food, by boiling or roasting, or any other way: THAT SOUL SHALL BE CUT OFF FROM AMONG HIS PEOPLE; that is, shall die by the hand of the civil magistrate, it being but another phrase for being put to death; though the Jewish writers, particularly Jarchi, understand the former phrase, "p

CHAPTER 31 THE WORKMEN AND THE SABBATH _ 1. The workmen called (Exodus 31:1)_ 2. The Sabbath law emphasized (Exodus 31:12) 3. Moses receives the tables of stone (Exodus 31:18) The call of the builders of the tabernacle follows the instructions. The plan and worship of the tabernacle was by divine appointment, only God could give such a plan foreshadowing the redemption work of His Son. To carry out this plan, the Lord called His own workmen by name and filled them with His Spirit, so that they could do the work in a manner which would please Him. “I have called; I have given; I have filled” are the words of Jehovah showing that He selected and qualified the two men to undertake the work. The

These two Chapter s form an appendix to Exodus 25-29. The golden incense altar finds no place in Exodus 25 or Exodus 26:33 or Leviticus 16 (where the annual rite of Exodus 30:10 is ignored). Instead we hear of censers in Leviticus 16:12 and Numbers 16:6 f., while the great altar in the court is called the altar, as if no other were recognised. Similarly Exodus 30:30, requiring the unction of Aaron's sons, betrays itself as later than the series of passages in which the High Priest alone receives it, being often indeed called the anointed priest. Hence these

SOUL. Hebrew. _nephesh_ (App-13)....

_holy_ cf. Exodus 16:23 (P), Exodus 20:8 (E), Isaiah 58:13; Ezekiel 20:20, &c. _profaneth_ To -profane" is characteristic like its opposite, to -sanctify" of H, Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 19:8; Leviticus 19:12; Leviticus 19:29;...