The Finishing Touch Exodus 31:1-17

Thank you so much again to Faith Bible Church for all your support and prayers during this time. We are excited that Micah can join us and worship with us together for his first Sunday. We're thankful that he can sleep through loud sounds as well.

So feel free to sing as loudly as possible. It won't bother him. He's still sleeping. But we're just so grateful for all your kind words and love and all the support we've gotten these past few weeks.

We're very blessed to be part of this family, to be loved by all of you, and we do love you. So thank you so much. Now with that, I would like to read from Exodus 31 verses 1 through 17 as we pick up in our Exodus series.

And this is the last part of the subsection that talks about the tabernacle, the plan for the tabernacle, right? Chapter 31, 1 through 17, I know I'm leaving 18 by itself, but I think it better connects with the next week's text.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bazalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze and cutting jewels for setting and carving wood and to work in all manner of workmanship.

And I indeed, I have appointed with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, the son of the tribe of Dan, and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you, the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat that is on it and all the furniture of the tabernacle, the table and its utensils, the pure gold lamp stand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the laver and its base, the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron, the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests, and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place, according to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely my Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant.

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. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray.

God Dwells with His People Through His Word and Spirit

Father, we are thankful that you are a God who is pleased to dwell with us. Thank you that there is none like you, and thank you that you're the one who prepares us so that we would be a dwelling place, that we would have the Holy Spirit of God dwell among us.

Father, we pray that all of us, that we would encounter you this morning through your word in Christ, in Jesus' name, amen. So chapter 31 is the last part of this subsection in Exodus that prepares, that plans the tabernacle and all that is involved in God dwelling among Israel.

And this section encompasses from chapter 25 to chapter 31. So it's a major chunk of Exodus in the middle of it. And it is very important because it's the way that God has chosen himself of how he is going to be living, dwelling with his people.

The tabernacle section is how God will encounter his people, right? The Lord is a God who wants to be with his people. But the Lord is a God who cannot be controlled. So he has to give the plan, his will, reveal his will on how he's going to dwell among his people.

It cannot be done just any way that people want to do. It has to be done his way. And as we have noticed frequently in Exodus, this section echoes Genesis. Remember, Exodus picks up where Genesis left off.

Similar to how God dwelt with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Lord God is seeking to dwell among his people, Israel. The tabernacle was a return to what the humanity has lost after Adam and Eve rebelled against God, right?

They were actually excommunicated from God's presence, God's garden. And now the Lord is taking the initiative to return to that so that his people, Israel, may encounter him again on a regular basis.

Not at just random points in history that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph experienced, but regularly, consistently encountering the Lord. Furthermore, another similarity we see in this section of preparation of the tabernacle is that it is divided into seven sections.

And in the seventh section, the last section, it deals with the Sabbath. Just like after the six days of creation and the seventh day was the Sabbath rest for the Lord, after the seven sections that deal with the tabernacle proper and everything that is involved with the tabernacle, the last section also ends with the Sabbath rest.

Each section is divided by, each section is marked by the phrase, the Lord said to Moses. And that occurs seven times. And today we see the seventh time in verse 12 of chapter 31. The previous six times are chapter 25 verse 1, where it started, the whole section started.

Chapter 30 verse 11, chapter 30 verse 17, chapter 30 verse 22 and 34, and then chapter 31 verse 1 and 12 of today. Total accounting, seven times, and the seventh time is the re-institution of the Sabbath, reminder of the Sabbath.

And this is astounding because when God created the whole world in Genesis 1, He also spoke things into existence. And when God plans on creating the tabernacle to dwell among His people, He speaks to His people on how it must be done.

Now the main point, the main question this text asks us this morning is, how does God finalize His dwelling place? How does God finalize His dwelling place? First, the first 11 verses we will explore that God sets apart the builder of the house by completely equipping them.

God sets apart the builders of the house by completely equipping them. The last instruction to build the tabernacle deals with the appointment of the builders of the tabernacle. When God chose to dwell among Israel, there was no bid, there was no vote.

God specifically chose who will build His house according to His design. It was not a popularity contest. It was not a bid to go to the lowest bidder. It was God's decision. It was God's prerogative. Now verses 2 to 5 describe the first builder.

First, verse 2 introduces who he is. See, I have called by name Bazalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. The name Bazalel means in the shadow of God. And metaphorically, that would mean in the protection of God.

And one thing that is remarkable is that the first builder of the tabernacle who will be supervising this whole enterprise is not a Levite, but a Judahite. He's from a separate tribe. He's not even a priest.

And that's astounding because normally, no other tribesmen would be able to touch anything, any tools, any furnishings that even had to deal with the tabernacle. It was only up to the Levites and the priests to touch and transport the tabernacle and its tools.

However, here God appoints a Judahite to be one of the two main builders of his house. Now, verses 3 to 5 depict how Bazalel will be able to take on such a monumental task. And I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

The reason why Bazalel can follow God's instruction is not because he's just clever. I'm sure he has the artistic ability. He has the skill set to do so. But it's not just because of his cleverness or his skill set.

It's because Bazalel will be filled with the spirit of God, the very spirit of God. Up until now, the spirit of God has shown up explicitly twice, Genesis 1 verse 2 and Genesis 41, 38. In Genesis 1 verse 2, the spirit of God is hovering over the waters before the God creates order in all of creation, right?

This is the very beginning of creation, before all the things that exist now have existed, before they came into existence. In Genesis 41, Pharaoh praises Joseph's God, Joseph's God-given ability to interpret the dreams and to counsel how to rule during the seven-year famine.

It is the spirit of God that Pharaoh credits Joseph with, that he is able to not only interpret, but also counsel, right? That wisdom, that divine wisdom comes from the spirit of God. And although the spirit of God filling an individual in the Old Testament is not permanent as the New Testament, there still is a similarity.

And that is that when God fills someone with his spirit, that person is able to accomplish what God has called him to do. When God fills someone with his spirit, it is so that he or she may accomplish what God has called him to do.

The spirit is given to fulfill God's will according to his plan, not ours. And that's really important. Even for a monumental task of building the whole tabernacle, God is the one who empowers the builder.

God is the one who decides who will be filled with the spirit. The spirit of God fills an individual so that God's will may be done through him or her. And in Bazalel's case, God's spirit filled him so that he may have the right mindset and the right skill set to design the tabernacle and its furnishings in relation to the precious metals, jewels, and also wood.

And when God, the spirit of God, chooses to dwell among his people, he equips them, he empowers them to follow, to obey what is required of them. And this is an important lesson for us because living a Christian life is extremely hard.

And living a Christian life is impossible without the filling of the spirit of God when we are first saved. When we are first saved, when we first believe in Jesus Christ, that he died for our sin and is risen on the third day, God does not leave us alone to obey.

God fills us with the Holy Spirit, renews our hearts, renews our desires, and gives us the strength to endure, to fight, and to thrive despite the sinful world around us and the sinful nature still in us.

And we see a glimpse of that in Exodus 31. God does not leave his people hanging. Now, verses 6 to 11 introduces the second builder whom God has appointed, Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, the tribe of Dan.

There's a play on word here because Aholiab, his name meaning is, the father is my tent. And he will, in fact, be tasked with building the tent of meeting, the tabernacle proper. And verses 7 to 11 go over what Aholiab will be making.

And the order of items starts from the tent of meeting, the tabernacle proper, and it broadens out to the courtyard. Verse 7 covers the most holy place and the items associated with it, the very place that God will encounter the high priest when the high priest makes the atoning sacrifice for the sin of Israel.

The tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle. It is precisely on the mercy seat that the Lord will forgive the sin of Israel once a year.

And verse 8 branches out to the holy place and its associated furnishings, the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils and the altar of incense. The table which continually supplied the bread of presence represented Israel's unending and consistent appreciation and adoration toward the Lord.

In God's house, there always will be bread. And the lampstand represented the Lord's watchful presence protecting Israel. Especially at night in the wilderness during their journey, it was dark. But all the tribes could look outside toward the tabernacle and see the light of the lampstand burning all throughout.

God was watching over them. Who has anything to fear when God is awake at night? Now verse 9 moves out to the outside of the tabernacle proper, the tent of meeting. And we go over the altar of burnt offerings with all its utensils and the laver and its base.

And these were used for the sacrifices of the burnt offerings and sin offerings. And these items allowed for God's people to be purified and made acceptable in his holy presence. And verses 10 to 11 narrow the focus to the Aaronic priesthood, right?

And what they will need in order for them to serve in the tabernacle with the incense and the anointing oil that was strictly for the priests. Now this idea, this theme in which God chooses specific individuals to design and build his house is a thread that continues on throughout the whole Bible.

A couple hundred years later, the great King David himself, he actually offered to build the Lord a temple. After all, King David, he's been running away from his enemies, Saul, right, all, most of his adult life, and he finds rest after he conquers Jerusalem.

And he has his own palace now, and there's no war, there's peace. And he looks outside, and God's dwelling in a tent. And King David's thinking, well, I'm living in a palace, I'm at rest. I finally found rest.

But God, the Lord God who provided me with this rest, he's still in a tent. So he actually offers, God, I will build you a house. But God refuses. God rejects David's offer and counters it. In 2 Samuel 7, 11 through 16, the Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you.

It's a reversal. No, David, you're not building me a house. Instead, I will build you a house. When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.

He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.

But my love will never be taken away from him as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.

What God has in mind here is any significant point in God's redemptive history will be initiated and completed by God alone. God will not depend on any individual to accomplish what he has set to accomplish, and it will not be David building God a house, but God who will be building David a house.

And the one who will build God his house will be David's son. And in the immediate context, it is Solomon. He will build the Lord his temple, and he will be treated as God's son because when he disobeys, God will discipline him.

However, this text cannot be fulfilled completely by Solomon alone because God promises that his throne, David's son's throne, will be established forever. How does a throne remain and continue forever?

And there are two answers to that. One is there's an eternal generation of kings. There's no end to the son who is born to the house of Judah, house of David specifically. The second way in which a throne is established forever is when there is a king sitting on that throne who doesn't die.

And history and scripture will tell us it is the latter case. To this day, Jews have no idea who will get to succeed as a Davidic king even if the temple mount is conquered back. But we know as Christians that there has been a Davidic king sitting on that throne ever since 2 ,000 years ago.

He's the son of David. He's the greater son of David whom God has chosen to build a house for him. He is the one who died for his people so that their sin may be forgiven in order that God may dwell among his people.

That's why the text that Jim read this morning from Hebrews, Jesus is the ultimate builder of God's house. God ultimately does not dwell in a tabernacle. God right now dwells among his people. And the ultimate builder is Jesus Christ and he built it through his death and resurrection.

That's the Davidic king who reigns forever. A Davidic king of God's choice. A Davidic king who is the meeting place of God and sinners. And when Jesus, the promised Davidic king, entered the world, the world rejected him, the world mocked him, the world crucified him, but that was all in his building plan to build God a house in which he will dwell.

The Sabbath as a Sign of Covenant Rest

Second, God sets apart his people based upon their complete rest in him. God sets apart his people based upon their complete rest in him. While the previous section set apart the two individuals for the construction of the tabernacle, this section sets apart the whole Israel based upon their reliance on the Lord.

Speak also to the children of Israel saying, surely my Sabbaths you shall keep for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. For Israel keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, that was a holy marker of their covenant.

Guarding the Sabbath was how Israel would be set apart for the Lord. That's how Israel would be different from the other pagan nations. Verse 14 reiterates the command but warns them what would happen if they disobey, if they profane the Sabbath because the Sabbath is holy.

If you don't keep it, you profane it, you corrupt it. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

For Israel, breaking the Sabbath was detrimental. It was so horrendous that it would lead to execution and excommunication. It is difficult to explain how both can happen after execution. Why does it matter if excommunication happens if he's dead?

But it was to show how heinous that crime was to profane the Sabbath. And only a few cases resulted in both execution and excommunication. The other one being child sacrifice to Moloch in Leviticus 20.

That led to execution and excommunication. Even after you're dead, you are no longer part of God's people. The removal from the physical life was not enough. Lest they profane the Sabbath, the Lord describes again what He expects Israel to do on the Sabbath.

In verse 15, Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. The dire warning is repeated again. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

In verses 16 -17, describe the implication and the reason for the Sabbath. First, the implication. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.

The Sabbath will remain forever among Israel lest they die. And Israel must trust God by resting on the seventh day, trusting Him that He will provide. And verse 17 gives us the reason. 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. First, this part of Exodus again reaffirms the six-day creation in Genesis 1. The reason why Israel must rest on the seventh day is because God rested on the seventh day after six days of creation.

God's people, as holy people, are imitating what the holy God has done. By imitating the holy God, Israel would be kept holy. Second, we must remember the historical context of Israelites. They were slaves up until now.

They did not have weekends. They did not have holidays. They did not get to rest. Their identity was in their perpetual labor. Their identity was in their perpetual toil and enslavement. The Lord, however, reminds Israel here again, that is not your identity.

You will not be identified by your enslavement, but you will be identified by your covenant relationship with the Lord. And Israel's identity is dependent on their total reliance on the Lord as they rest in Him on the seventh day.

For Israel, breaking the Sabbath led to excommunication and execution precisely because it was a direct disobedience and rejection of the Lord. The Sabbath was a sign of complete... The disobedience of the Sabbath was the sign of complete absence of trust in the Lord.

If you're working on the seventh day, it was to say that I can't quite trust God that He will provide for me. If you're working on the seventh day, it was akin to saying, I no longer want to be identified with what God has done for me.

Now, for Christians, for those who are under the new covenant, it is important for us to remember that under the law, the physical phenomena pointed to the spiritual truth. For the Israelites, they had to go through these physical rituals to learn the spiritual truth.

And that spiritual truth of the Sabbath is that those who are of God's people must completely trust in Him. They must completely rest in Him. For Israelites, it was rest from work. But in the New Testament, God broadens it to the work that tries to earn our righteousness.

The work-based salvation. It's not that you can... It's not just that you're freed from physical enslavement, but through Jesus Christ, you're freed from spiritual bondage of sin. That's why the author of Hebrews in chapter 4 verses 8 through 11 tells us, for if Joshua had given them rest, right, Joshua, the successor of Moses, he actually brought them to the promised land, the land of rest.

However, the author of Hebrews says, for if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. We enter the ultimate rest, the ultimate salvation, when we rest in God.

And this is an important reminder for Christians, because Christians, we do not physically celebrate Sabbath on Saturday, but we spiritually rest in Christ's finished, atoning work on the cross. For Christians, we do labor and toil.

The reality of sin is so real. Sin is rampant outside of us and inside us. Every day there is the fight with the flesh, our sinful desires. And for the umpteenth time you go to the cross and you confess your sin, you receive His forgiveness, you receive His cleansing.

And for us, we do not rest in our good records. When we go to the cross, we don't say, well, I've lasted 20 days. Well, I've lost a couple of hours, Lord. Therefore, you must forgive me. No, for Christians, we rest in Christ's finished work.

We go to Christ and we plead what Christ has done. And that's how you find your rest from sin. Not based upon your good track record, not based upon what you have done in the past, not based upon any false promises in the future, I won't be ever doing this again.

We rest in Christ from our workspace salvation. We come to God with nothing of our record, but only what Christ has done on the cross. And that's enough. And in that sense, Christians indeed do rest. And in that sense, Christians will forever rest from the bondage of sin.

And that's all because of what Christ has done. When he died for our sin once and for all, cried out, it is finished. And he rose from the dead on the third day. Let us pray. Father, we are so thankful that it is up to you that the redemptive history occurs.

It does not depend on our good works. It does not depend on our perfect track record that we can never keep. But it is up to you. You bring the right man, and that right man has accomplished and earned for us an eternal rest in him so that we may not work and labor in our sin.

Father, we thank you so much for that freedom in Christ that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, but belong to you as your people. In Jesus' name.