EXODUS LESSON 53

    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 31:1 "And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying," Exodus 31:2 "See, I have called by name Bezaleel the
son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:" Exodus 31:3 "And I
have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,"
Exodus 31:4 "To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver,
and in brass," Exodus 31:5 "And in cutting of stones, to set [them],
and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship."

    When God calls anyone "by name", it is to take over a big godly
task.  God, Himself, had called a man named Bezaleel to work for Him.
This was the first mention of this man in the Bible.  He was an unknown.
Moses or Aaron might never have gone out and searched him out to do
this job. He had no background or recommendations. You see, this
Bezaleel seemed to drop in out of nowhere to do this job for God.  His
only claim to fame up until now, was that he was the grandson of Hur, who
stayed the arm of Moses to help with the battle.  You see, God does
not always choose someone who the world thinks might do a good job to
do work for Him. God chooses whom He will and that was certainly the
case here. Look at verse 3 above. God had filled Bezaleel with the
knowledge and the Spirit of God which it would take to do this job. It
seems as though God not only gave him the knowledge, but the skill, as
well. You may be assured that if God calls you to do a job for Him, He
will give you whatever you need to finish the job with. You see, in
the case of Bezaleel, God didn't stop with giving him just one gift.
He filled him with everything he needed to get the job done. All of
the details for this magnificent tabernacle would have to be indelibly
imprinted in his mind. There was no way he could get all of these
details accurate unless it was in his mind. God had miraculously
prepared him.

    Exodus 31:6 "And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son
of Ahisamach, 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;"

    We see, here, that God had given Bezaleel a helper. These two,
Bezaleel and Aholiab, would supervise all the work. Bezaleel would be
over all and Aholiab would be his helper. These men both had natural
ability to do this job, which was a gift from God, but we see in these
previous verses that God had given them even more wisdom and natural
ability than they had before by the power of the Spirit of God
teaching them and anointing from the inside with the power of the
Spirit to carry out this job that God had given them. As I said
before, if God calls you to do a job, He will equip you supernaturally
to do it.

    Exodus 31:7 "The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of
the testimony, and the mercy seat that [is] thereupon, and all the
furniture of the tabernacle," Exodus 31:8 "And the table and his
furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the
altar of incense," Exodus 31:9 "And the altar of burnt offering with
all his furniture, and the laver and his foot," Exodus 31:10 "And the
cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the
garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,"

    We see, here, a detailed explanation of all the things they were to
make. It is interesting to me,  that he was to construct it  the way a
person does a house.  He was to build the outside first, so that strange
eyes would not be allowed to look at the sacred items. As I mentioned
before, it was very unusual for a person to be skilled in the working
of so many different materials. This certainly had to be God moving
upon Bezaleel to give him all of this knowledge.

    Exodus 31:11 "And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the
holy [place]: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they
do."

    The most fantastic thing in all of this, to me, was the fact that
God, Himself, chose Bezaleel and Aholiab to do this work. He did not
tell Moses to go and find someone capable. God went and called them to
this job.

    Exodus 31:12  "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying," Exodus
31:13 "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my
sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you
throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD
that doth sanctify you." Exodus 31:14 "Ye shall keep the sabbath
therefore; for it [is] holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall
surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth [any] work therein, that
soul shall be cut off from among his people."

    This other message about the building of the tabernacle and the
outer court enclosure was not given to the people, themselves. This
was not something they needed to know, so God did not tell them. Here,
we see something that was very important to them. In fact, it was a life
and death matter. This was not an option. They had to do this if they were
to live. God had given signs to their ancestors. One of the signs had
been the rainbow in the sky which promised that God would never destroy the world again with water. Circumcision of their males had, also, been a sign 
to the rest of the world that they were a separated people. Just the fact 
that God miraculously delivered them out of Egypt and let them cross the Red Sea on dry land was a sign, also, that they were God's chosen people. This
was a very little thing for God to ask in return. Even this was for their 
own good. A person can work much better, if he will take one day in seven 
to rest his body. The body and the mind function better if you rest occasionally. God said one day in seven, and I do not dispute that. Jesus said,"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27).

    Exodus 31:15 "Six days may work be done; but in the seventh [is]
the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth [any] work in
the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death."

    God made heaven and earth in six days and on the seventh day
rested. He was showing us a formula that would work. Men's bodies are
made so exacting and every little part has to function properly. This
rest one day a week is for man's benefits as well as being a time set
aside to worship God. This set aside time was so important to God, that
those who broke this sabbath were put to death.

    Exodus 31:16 "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the
sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a
perpetual covenant."  Exodus 31:17 "It [is] a sign between me and the
children of Israel for ever: for [in] six days the LORD made heaven
and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

    This was saying, be like your Father in heaven.  Use Him as your
example. If He needed only six days to do all of this, you can make
it on six days' work, also.  Then He said, besides, how will the other
people know that you belong to Me? He told them, we have made an
agreement and I will keep my part of this agreement, but you must
keep your agreement, as well.  As we said, besides fulfilling their
agreement with God in this, it would, also, refresh their bodies and minds.

    Exodus 31:18  "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of
communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables
of stone, written with the finger of God."

    Here, we see that God, Himself, had prepared these tables of stone
(testimony).  The fiery finger of God had engraved this in the stone.
The ark of the covenant was actually built as a permanent resting place
for this testimony. Moses had been forty days and nights on mount Sinai
receiving this. Moses came and went when God decided it was time. God
said now to Moses, "We are through talking for this time."

























                          Exodus 53 Questions


1.  Who did God call by name to build the tabernacle?
2.  Who was his grandfather?
3.  What tribe was he from?
4.  What had God filled him with?
5.  What all was God asking him to do?
6.  When God calls someone by name, what is He doing?
7.  Had this man been mentioned before in the Bible?
8.  What did this show us about God's calling?
9.  If God calls you to do a job, what will He do?
10. What was so unusual about Bezaleel's gifts?
11. Who did God give him for a helper?
12. What tribe was he from?
13. What did God give them that they might do what He commanded them
    to do?
14. Where does natural ability come from?
15. What was he to do first?
16. Why was this?
17. What solemn warning was Moses to give the people?
18. How long were they to recognize the sabbath?
19. What was the punishment for not keeping sabbath?
20. Why did God not tell the common people about the tabernacle?
21. Who was sabbath made for?
22. Where was the Scripture found?
23. What does the sabbath show the world?
24. What did He give Moses as physical proof of his communing with
    God?
25. Where would they be housed?
26. What were they written with?