Exodus 31:15

_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....

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

SIX DAYS MAY WORK BE DONE;.... Allowed to be done by an Israelite, if he would; for this is not a command to work, but a permission or grant to do it; and therefore, seeing they had so many days granted them for their use, it could not be thought hard and unreasonable that God should claim one day in seven for his own use and service, and oblige them to refrain from work on it: BUT IN THE SEVENTH [IS] THE SABBATH OF REST; from worldly labour, and was typical of spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter: HOLY TO THE LORD; separated from other days, and entirely devoted to the worship and service of God, and to be kept holy to the Lord in all holy and religious exercises, as hearing and reading the word, praying, praising, c. WHOSOEVER DOETH ANY WORK IN THE SABBATH DAY, [HE] SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH the Targum of Jonathan adds, by casting stones, and so we find that the first...

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

SABBATH OF REST. Hebrew sabbath of sabbatizing". See note on Exodus 16:23....

How the sabbath is to be observed, viz. by cessation from work. Cf. Exodus 20:9 f. _a sabbath of_ ENTIRE REST] So Exodus 35:2; Leviticus 23:3 _al._: see on Exodus 16:23....

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 31 And Je-ho-vah spake unto Mo-ses, saying, (2) See, I have called by name Be-zal-el the son of U-ri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Ju-dah: (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, (4) to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (5) and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. (6) And I, behold, I have appointed with him O-ho-li-ab, the son of A-his-a-mach, 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: (7) the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent, (8) and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick with...