Exodus 31 Summary: A Concise Overview in 5 Minutes

Exodus 31 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• God delivered the Israelites from slavery in approximately 1491 B.C.

• The events of Exodus 31 took place 3-4 months after the Hebrews left Egypt (19:1).

CHARACTERS:

• God – The Lord’s glory descended on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 31, God spoke with Moses on the mountain and gave him instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle.

• Moses – A Hebrew who grew up in the house of Pharaoh. He fled Egypt in Exodus 2 and went to live in Midian. God called him back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from slavery.

• Bezalel and Oholiab – Two men specially gifted with the Spirit of God to help in the construction of the Tabernacles and the holy items within it.

WHERE:

• Moses and the Israelites were encamped near Mount Sinai.

OUTLINE:

• A GIFT OF CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD (31:1-11):

  • God told Moses He was going to gift two men special ability to build the unique items required for the Tabernacle.

  • The two men were Bezalel and Oholiab, and they would be empowered with God’s Spirit “to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.”

  • Bezalel, Oholiab, and the men who assisted them would be responsible for making the Ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat, all the furnishings for the tent, the table for the Bread of the Prescence, the gold lampstand, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering (bronze altar), the washing basin, the garments of the priests, the anointing oil, and the Tabernacle incense.  

• THE SABBATH DAY LAW (31:12-18):

  • Next, the Lord commanded the Israelites to observe the Sabbath day every 7th day of the week.

  • The Sabbath observance was to sanctify the people a (set them apart as holy), and it was to be observed indefinitely.

  • The Israelites were to work the first 6 days of the week, but they were to rest on the 7th day.

  • Anyone who broke the Sabbath law was to be killed.

  • The Sabbath principle had its foundation in creation. God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

  • When God finished speaking all these things to Moses, He gave him “two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

APPLICATION:

• While there isn’t a direct command in the New Testament to observe the Sabbath day, the principle is one to consider applying into our week.

• A day of rest is a statement of faith that God governs our lives, and that it is ultimately Him who gives success to our work.

• Patterning our week after the Creator’s week is a constant reminder of the foundational realities of world in which we labor.