Here we read how God encourages men to do things God won’t do when men are more than capable of doing it themselves under God’s guidance. It was the duty of the skilled worker to use their judgment as to how to make the materials and determine many of the details.
These two men, Bezalel, whose name means ‘in the shadow of God’, and Oholiab, whose name means ‘the Father is my tent’, obviously had some kind of leadership skills, and God was going to use them both to direct the building of the tabernacle according to God’s will, Exodus 35:30-35.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Bezalel was a grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, who is mentioned in Exodus 17:10 / Exodus 24:14, and was called to be the master-builder, to superintend the whole of the building and carry out the artistic work, consequently, he is not only invariably mentioned first, Exodus 35:30 / Exodus 36:1-2, but in the accounts of the execution of the separate portions, he is mentioned alone, Exodus 32:1 / Exodus 38:22.’
God filled Bezaleel, Exodus 31:1-3 / Exodus 35:30 / Exodus 28:3, which means he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to carry out the instructions to build the tabernacle.
Bezalel was blessed with the wisdom, Exodus 31:3 / Exodus 35:31 / Exodus 28:3 / Proverbs 8:12, to lead those who were chosen to complete the tasks set before them. His judgments were inspired by God, in order that he lead the workers to comply with the will of God in reference to the construction of the tabernacle.
He was also blessed with understanding, Exodus 31:3 / Exodus 35:31. This was the ability to organise the parts of the tabernacle to be completed in order to organise the workers to accomplish the task of construction.
He was also blessed with the knowledge, Exodus 31:3-5 / Exodus 35:31-34, of what materials to use, as well as how to bring these materials together into the final goal of the constructed tabernacle and its furniture. With his assistant, Oholiab, Exodus 31:6 / Exodus 35:34, Bezalel was to create the beauty of the tabernacle in a way that it would manifest the splendour of God.
Oholiab was filled with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers, Exodus 35:35. From this, we learn that God never calls anyone to do a task of any kind without first giving them the ability to do so, Acts 6:3-6 / Ephesians 4:11-14.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The name Oholiab means ‘father of tents’, he was from the tribe of Dan, and although that tribe doesn’t appear to have been famous for such men of artistic talent, it was likewise true that Hiram, the chief artist employed by Solomon for the ornamental work of the temple, was also a Danite, 2 Chronicles 2:14. Despite such notable exceptions, The Danites in general were more warlike and rude than artistic, Genesis 49:17 / Deuteronomy 33:22 / Judges 13:2 / Judges 18:11 / Judges 18:27.’
Together they are to make the tent of meeting, Exodus 26:7-14, the ark of the testimony, Exodus 25:10-16, the atonement lid that is on it, Exodus 25:17-22, all the furnishings of the tent, Exodus 31:7. The table with its utensils, Exodus 25:23-30, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, Exodus 25:31-40, the altar of incense, Exodus 31:8 / Exodus 30:1-10.
The altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils, Exodus 27:1-8, the large basin with its base, Exodus 31:9 / Exodus 30:17-21. The woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests, Exodus 31:10 / Exodus 28:1-43 / Leviticus 16:4.
Cook, in his commentary, says the following concerning the three types of dress mentioned here.
1. The richly adorned state robes of the High Priest, Exodus 28:6-29:8.
2. The holy garments of white linen worn by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
3. The garments of white linen worn by all the priests in their regular ministrations.
They are also to make the anointing oil, Exodus 30:22-33, and sweet incense for the Holy Place, Exodus 31:11 / Exodus 30:34-38. They will make all these things just as God has commanded them, Exodus 31:11.
Moses is to speak to the Israelites and tell them that they must observe God’s Sabbaths, Exodus 31:12 / Exodus 16:23 / Exodus 20:8 / Exodus 23:12. Notice this is plural, Leviticus 19:3 / Leviticus 19:30 / Leviticus 26:2.
Keil and Delitzsch, in their commentary, say the following.
‘My Sabbaths’ by these we are to understand the weekly Sabbaths, not the other sabbatical festivals, since the words which follow apply to the weekly Sabbath alone.’
Notice also the two things which are revealed for the first time here concerning the Sabbath Day.
1. The Sabbath day was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel, Exodus 31:13.
2. The profanation of it was a capital offence to be punished by the execution of all violators! Exodus 31:14-15.
The keeping of the Sabbath was a very serious matter; this is seen in the fact that if anyone violated the sabbath day commands, they received the death penalty. We know that God takes His covenants seriously, and so must we. The Jews were to observe the covenant for generations to come, Exodus 31:16, that is, until the time of the Messiah.
This was exactly the proper place for Moses to have included this information because the established worship of God in the services of the tabernacle was about to be inaugurated.
And, as the Sabbath was to be a prominent and vital part of that worship, this placement of the instructions stressed it as being also of equal importance with the tabernacle rituals.
Along with circumcision, Genesis 17:11-14, the Sabbath was given by God as a sign of the covenant between Israel and God, Exodus 31:17. These two signs were distinguishing marks that separated Israel from the nations around them. No other nation adopted the sign of the Sabbath.
As long as the Israelites circumcised their males and kept the Sabbath, they were signalling to God that they would keep the covenant. We now know that when Christ came, this observing of the sabbath day ended, Galatians 3:26-29 / Colossians 2:16. The Sabbath is no longer a sign of a covenant between God and His people.
Here we read that the tablets were inscribed by the ‘finger of God’, Daniel 5:5 / Daniel 5:24 / John 8:1-11. We’re not to suppose that God has literal fingers; He is Spirit, John 4:24. The point is simply this: the writing was from God, it was God Himself who wrote the commandments.
It’s at this point that Moses finishes his forty days on the mountain. It was for the purpose of receiving these tablets that God had called Moses up into the mountain in the first place, Exodus 24:12, and so this is the fulfilment of the promise of God made to Moses at that time.
After Moses received these stone tablets, they were to be placed in the ark, Exodus 25:16. Although Moses later would break the original tablets of stone in his frustration with Israel, Exodus 32:19, God gave him a set of new tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments, Exodus 34:4 / Exodus 40:20.