And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... After he had described to him the place of worship, and appointed the priests that should minister in it, and ordered the making of all things appertaining to it, and the workmen that should be concerned therein, he repeats the law of the sabbath, and puts in mind of the time of worship: saying : as follows. read more
The Sabbath. If this prohibition to work upon the Sabbath is introduced, as probably it is, lest the people, in their zeal for the service of the sanctuary, should be tempted to infringe upon the holy day, it has certain obvious sides of instruction turned towards ourselves. We cannot but see in it the high honour which God puts upon his Sabbath . 1. It is the one command of the Decalogue to which reference is made in the conclusion of this series of instructions. This implies its... read more
The penal law of the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2-3. In the fourth commandment the injunction to observe the seventh day is addressed to the conscience of the people (see Exodus 20:8 note): in this place, the object is to declare an infraction of the commandment to be a capital offence. The two passages stand in a relation to each other similar to that between Leviticus 18:0, Leviticus 19:0, and Leviticus 20:0. It seems likely that the penal edict was especially introduced as a caution in reference to... read more
The weekly day of rest (31:12-18)People might have thought that, because the tabernacle was a sacred structure, they could work on it on the Sabbath day. God reminded them to keep the weekly Sabbath as a holy day of rest. This rest was part of God’s plan for preserving the holiness of his people (12-17).God then gave Moses the ten basic commandments of the covenant engraved on stone as he had promised (see 24:12; cf. Deuteronomy 10:4). Having received God’s instructions for his people, Moses... read more
RESTATEMENT OF THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six... read more
12-17. Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep—The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardor and eagerness, with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle, exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an acceptable tribute, to prosecute the... read more
10. The sign of the Sabbath 31:12-18"As a sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Genesis 9:13), and as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Genesis 17:11), the sign of the Mosaic covenant is the observance and celebration of the Sabbath day (Exodus 31:13; Exodus 31:17)." [Note: Youngblood, pp. 112-13. The sign of the New Covenant is the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).] God intended this sign to teach Israel and the... read more
The Appointment of Bezaleel and Aholiab. The Keeping of the Sabbath2. By name] indicating a very special call: cp. Exodus 33:12; Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 45:1, Isaiah 45:3-4; John 10:3. Bezaleel] RV ’Bezalel’: see 1 Chronicles 2:18-20. For the identification of the grandfather of Bezaleel with the Hur of Exodus 17:10 there is nothing beyond the similarity of names. 3. See on Exodus 28:3. 4. To devise cunning works] Divine inspiration does not reduce man to a mere machine or passive instrument. It is... read more
THE LAW OF THE SABBATH DECLARED ANEW UNDER A PENAL SANCTION.(12-17) The worship of the tabernacle was so closely connected with Sabbatical observance (Leviticus 19:30), that no surprise can be felt at a recurrence to the subject in the present place. It was not only that there might be a danger of zealous men breaking the Sabbatical rest in their eagerness to hasten forward the work of construction now required of them. The re-enactment of the Law might serve to check this tendency if it... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 31:12-18
Here is, I. A strict command for the sanctification of the sabbath day, Exod. 31:13-17. The law of the sabbath had been given them before any other law, by was of preparation (Exod. 16:23); it had been inserted in the body of the moral law, in the fourth commandment; it had been annexed to the judicial law (Exod. 23:12); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law; where no conscience is made... read more