Exodus 31

The artisans of the tabernacle (vs. 1-11)--There were men with certain God-given talents whom the Lord commissioned to do the work of making all the utensils, etc., for the tabernacle. One of them was a man named Bezalel, whom God had "filled...with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship" (v. 3). There is no reason to consider this as a miraculous endowment. If I have any talent from God, it wasn't given to me miraculously, I was born with it and developed it further. How the Lord put these abilities into man's genetic make-up is something that we will never understand on this earth. "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Bezalel was to be helped by a man named Aholiab. No doubt they would have assistants because they were to make everything (vs. 7-11). But these two men would be the overseers.

The Sabbath day once again hallowed (vs. 12-17)--The Lord had mentioned the importance of the Sabbath (Exodus 16 and 20), but emphasizes it again here. It is to be a holy day; "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" (v. 14). The "cutting off" here is defined in verse 15 as "surely...put to death." The Sabbath was a "sign" between God and Israel (v. 17). As He labored six days in creating the heavens and the earth, then "rested" on the seventh, even so it was to be among the Israelites. That has changed in the New Testament dispensation. The Lord Jesus was raised on Sunday, and that is the holy day to be observed now.

The tablets of testimony (v. 18)--Some suppose that only the Ten Commandments are meant here; the account is not clear. Since much of the law had not been given yet (i.e., many laws in Leviticus and Numbers), it's possible that only the Ten Commandments are intended. It's not an important point.