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Exodus 31 Bible study: Filled with the Spirit to build

The first man the Bible says God filled "with the Spirit of God" is a craftsman, Bezalel, given skill for gold, stone and wood (31:3-5). In the LORD's instructions for the tabernacle, the seventh speech is about the Sabbath, and one Hebrew word names both Bezalel's workmanship and the work that stops. Then come tablets "written with God’s finger" (31:18).

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“I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,”
Exodus 31:3 · World English Bible

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“In Exodus 31, God says he filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God for skilled work in gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood.”

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What's really going on

The Spirit of God, for gold and wood and stone

In the text

"I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah" (31:2). "I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship" (31:3), "to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood" (31:4-5). The World English Bible says God filled someone "with the Spirit of God" only twice, and both are Bezalel: here, and when Moses tells the people, "He has filled him with the Spirit of God" (35:31). Before this, the Bible has spoken of "God’s Spirit" over the waters (Genesis 1:2), of Pharaoh calling Joseph "a man in whom is the Spirit of God" (Genesis 41:38), and of craftsmen "filled with the spirit of wisdom" to make Aaron's garments (28:3). The first man said to be filled with the Spirit of God is filled to make things.

Where it leads to Jesus

Lord even of the Sabbath

Interpretation

Exodus 31:13leads toMark 2:27-28

"Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you" (31:13). When the Pharisees asked why his disciples did "that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day" (Mark 2:24), Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27), and "Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28). Jesus doesn't quote Exodus 31 here, so this link is a reading: some hear in his words his own authority over the day the LORD calls "my Sabbaths"; others read them as his answer about the Sabbath law in general, without a link to this chapter.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Exodus 31

That was a taste

The rest of Exodus 31 is waiting in Favor

  • The seventh speech is the Sabbath
  • "The LORD who sanctifies you"
  • Tablets of stone, tablets of hearts
  • Hebrews on God's rest
  • 8 questions as you read
  • 9 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

מְלָאכָהmela'khahsay me-la-KHAH

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "occupation, work", including "workmanship". Strong's: "employment (never servile) or work". It comes five times in this chapter. Twice it is Bezalel's gift: "all kinds of workmanship" (31:3, 31:5). Three times it is what stops on the Sabbath: "whoever does any work therein" (31:14), "Six days shall work be done", and "Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day" (31:15). It is also the word for God's own work in Genesis: "On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done" (Genesis 2:2).

For your group

Exodus 31 Bible study questions

  1. 1Bezalel was filled with the Spirit of God to work in gold, stone and wood (31:3-5). Where in your ordinary work could you serve God with the skill he has given you?
  2. 2The Sabbath was "a sign… that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you" (31:13). What would someone watching your week learn about who you trust?
  3. 3On the seventh day the LORD "rested, and was refreshed" (31:17). What truly refreshes you, and when did you last make room for it?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 31 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home