Exodus 31:17

_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 31:17. _RESTED, AND WAS REFRESHED._] God, in condescension to human weakness, applies to himself here what belongs to man. If a man _religiously_ rests on the Sabbath, both his body and soul shall be refreshed; he shall acquire new _light_ and _life_....

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

IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FOR EVER,.... In like sense as the land of Canaan was given them for an everlasting possession; and the covenant of circumcision, and the ordinance of the passover, and the fast on the day of atonement, were for ever; that is, unto the end of the Jewish world and state, at the coming of Christ, when a new world and state of things began, see Genesis 17:8 FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY HE RESTED, AND WAS REFRESHED; which is to be understood figuratively after the manner of men, who ceasing from toil and labour find rest and refreshment; but not really and properly, for as not labour, and weariness, and fatigue, so neither rest nor refreshment can be properly said of God; but this denotes his cessation from the works of creation, though not of providence, and of the delight

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

A SIGN: that Jehovah is our God-that Christ is LORD. HEAVEN AND EARTH. One of thirteen occurrences. See note on Deuteronomy 4:26. REFRESHED. Hebrew. verbal form of _nephesh_ (App-13). Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia_ (App-6). See note on Exodus 23:12....

The main thoughts of _vv._13 15 repeated, and emphasized, in P's manner: cf. on Exodus 6:27....