Exodus 31:5

_AND I HAVE FILLED HIM WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, IN WISDOM, AND IN UNDERSTANDING, AND IN KNOWLEDGE, AND IN ALL MANNER OF WORKMANSHIP,_ 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 his grand duty was to conform with scrupulous fidelity to the pattern furnished, there was still plenty of roo...

1-11 The Israelites, who had been masons and bricklayers in Egypt, were not qualified for curious workmanship; but the Spirit who gave the apostles utterance in divers tongues, miraculously gave Bezaleel and Aholiab the skill that was wanting. The honour which comes from God, is always attended with a work to be done; to be employed for God is high honour. Those whom God calls to any service, he will find or make fit for it. The Lord gives different gifts to different persons; let each mind his proper work, diligently remembering that whatever wisdom any one possesses, the Lord put it in the heart, to do his commandments....

Verse Exodus 31:5. _IN CUTTING OF STONES, C._] Every thing that concerned the _lapidary's, jeweller's_, and _carver's_ art....

Exodus 35:30. This solemn call of Bezaleel and Aholiab is full of instruction. Their work was to be only that of handicraftsmen. Still it was Yahweh Himself who called them by name to their tasks, and the powers which they were now called upon to exercise in their respective crafts, were declared to have been given them by the Holy Spirit. Thus is every effort of skill, every sort of well-ordered labor, when directed to a right end, brought into the very highest sphere of association. There appears to be sufficient reason for identifying Hur, the grandfather of Bezaleel, with the Hur who assisted Aaron in supporting the hands of Moses during the battle with Amalek at Rephidim Exodus 17:10, and who was associated with Aaron in the charge of the peo

EXPOSITION THE CALL OF BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB. The directions for the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture being now complete, and the composition of the holy oil and the holy incense having been laid down minutely, it only remained to designate the persons to whom the oversight of the work was to be especially entrusted. These were to be two—Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, as head and chief; Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, as his assistant. There can be no doubt that they were selected, primarily, as already possessing superior artistic powers and acquirements; but in appointing them God promised an infusion of special wisdom and knowledge, so that they were at once naturally and supernaturally fitted for their task. It is important to note that artistic ability is thus distinctly recognised as being quite as much a gift of God as any other, and inde

AND IN CUTTING OF STONES TO SET THEM,.... Not of marble stones, or of any common stones used in building, and the cutting and hewing of them to be laid therein, for of those there was no use in the tabernacle; but of precious stones, and the cutting of them, and setting of them in their ouches or enclosures, as the onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priest, and the twelve precious stones in his breastplate: Bezaleel was taught by the Spirit of God the art of jewelling, and instructed others in it: AND IN CARVING OF TIMBER; or rather, "in cutting timber" o; for it is the same word as before, for we have no account of any carved work in the tabernacle; and therefore this must design the work of carpenters and joiners in cutting the shittim wood, making planks and boards of it, and of them the sides of the tabernacle, jointed into sockets; the ark of the testimony, the shewbread tabl...

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

The nomination of Bĕẓal"çl and Oholiab....

SEE, I HAVE CALLED BY NAME BEZALEEL, &C.— _Bezaleel_ and _Aholiab,_ Exodus 31:5 are particularly chosen (which is the meaning of the phrase _calling by name,_ Isaiah 45:3.) as the principal artists, the chief directors and overseers of the work and the workmen who were under them. For an explanation of the phrase, _I have filled him with the Spirit of God,_ &c. Exodus 31:3 see note on ch. Exodus 28:3. It is not to be questioned, that the arts were carried to a great height at this time in Egypt; in which, no doubt, many of the Israelites were proficients, as having so long continued there: engraving on stones, in particular,