Day 481: Exodus 31- Spirit, Sign, And Stone

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent,8 the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10 and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”
The Sabbath12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

​Meditation
God loves you and wants to fill you. God invites you to rest in His promises and walk in His path.  Will you trust His love?
 
God does everything needed for us to be in His presence. God filled men with His Spirit so that they could build the tent of meeting, furniture for the tabernacle, and the other Divine prescriptions for Israel to participate in the presence of God. God’s Spirit filled men to design, cut, carve, and work to follow the Divine direction (1-11).
 
God offers a sign of His faithfulness through Sabbath (12-17). The day of rest is good news for former slaves and a headline for the world to know God’s people belong to God alone- we are holy to Him! Productivity, profit, popularity, and cultural priorities are not our god. We belong to the Lord and Sabbath is a sign of the intimate relationship. God will be faithful to give all we need!
 
Relationship with God is an invitation to walk with God. Moses leaves with tablets of stone written by the finger of God (18). Amazing! God personally wrote with His finger so we can walk with Him by faith.
 
God wants to fill you with His Spirit so that you can use your gifts to re-create place and space for His glory to dwell on earth. God wants you to trust Him alone as God and to show the sign of His faithfulness through Sabbath. God invites you to walk in His ways in relationship with Him. Will you trust His love?
 
Richly Dwelling
-God’s Spirit fills ordinary people with ordinary skills to do extra-ordinary work of making a place for God’s glory to dwell. How can God use you to re-create place for this purpose?
 
-Do you worship God alone? Let me ask you this way- Does your practice of Sabbath communicate that God alone is your God?
 
-What is your reaction to God’s authority demonstrated in the Ten Commandments written on stone? Invitation to walk in paths of righteousness or other? Why?
 
Key Verse
13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.