January 10, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in some Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 31 (NIV)
Bezalel and Oholiab
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—.......Continue Reading
So awesome that not only did God provide the instruction for how everything should be made He provided the skilled workers to do the work. God gives us all talents….not just Pastors, teachers, missionaries, some of the most important talents are those of service! Being a servant cleaning, building, sewing, all these things should be done for the glory of God and are important in His sight.
God also wanted the people to respect the Sabbath day…the 7th day to rest and reflect on God and all He has accomplished. What an important thing to do!
Exodus31
Exodus 31
“And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.”
It is sad that in today’s day and age we consider those in academia as those with “wisdom, understanding and knowledge” and therefore “elite”, but those who work with their hands are the uneducated, working class. It is encouraging to see the talent and the mental equality that God attributes to those who are skilled with their hands.
“It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”
I think of the consequences for those who didn’t keep the Sabbath, but the purpose of the Sabbath wasn’t to instill a legalism in the Israelites, but rather to give them a gift of rest and refreshment for the week ahead.
“And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” When we were in college we were in a class where we were supposed come up with quick concepts for a word or idea, sort of a prep for advertising, messaging etc. The word we were given was “absolute”. My friend and I were working together and we decided to draw a picture of the 10 commandments written on stone tablets. What could be more absolute than the law of God written in stone by the hand of God? It was a HUGE controversy! Others put up blank paper, a picture of a bottle of Absolut whiskey, a dog with the name “Absolute” on his bowl, other students clearly had been brainwashed into thinking that there are no absolutes. People found what we drew as so offensive….that was over 30 years ago.
It is not surprising that God would bless certain individuals with the ability to perform the tasks necessary to make the tabernacle what it was supposed to be. It just goes to show that when God commands something, He provides the means to accomplish it. So we can always look for the ways He is providing for His plan for us as well.
And does it amaze anyone else that God would have to command people to rest? It is rooted in His own pattern of working for 6 days and resting on the 7th and is intended to be a lasting ordinance, a reflection of the covenant God has with the Jews. It was a challenge to prioritize the things of God and trust Him to take care of things while they rested.
And how neat to think of God’s hand writing on a tablet…that is cool!
Exodus 33: Such an amazing God!
Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you: