Exodus 31:1-18 & 32:1-6
Q.1. How were the artistic adornments designed for the Tent of Meeting? What part was played by Bezalel and Oholiab? – (Exo.31:1-11)
God told Moses that He had set apart Bezalel from the tribe of Judah, and Oholiab from the tribe of Dan to make the tent of meeting and its furniture (Exo.31:2 & 6). He warned that – they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you (Exo.31:11 c.f. Heb.8:5; 9:23-24). God told Moses about Bezalel – 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs … (Exo.31:3-4). God added that He had appointed Oholiab to assist him, along with a team of others in whom – … I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you (Exo.31:6). They were to make all the artistic designs of the tent of meeting, the Ark of testimony, the Mercy Seat, the furniture: the table and lampstands, the altar and the laver and the utensils, the priestly robes, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense (Exo.31:4-10). Everything had to be made exactly according to God’s specifications because it prefigured the High Priestly role of Jesus. Hebrews explains – we have such a High Priest, Who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man (Heb.8:1-2).
Q.2. From where did the idea of the Sabbath come? In what way was it a sign? Where did Moses get the tablets of testimony? – (Exo.31:12-18)
The nation of Israel was given two signs of their Covenant with God: (i) The circumcision of all males – Gen.17:10-14. (ii) The keeping of the Sabbath – It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labour, and was refreshed (Exo.31:17). This pointed back to God resting after the six days of Creation (Gen.2:1-3). When God had passed on all His commands for His people on Mount Sinai – … He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God (Exo.31:18).
Q.3. How long was Moses on Mount Sinai? Why did Aaron make a god? How did he try to justify making it? – (Exo.32:1-6 c.f. Exo.24:12-18)
Moses had taken Joshua part way up Mount Sinai and had left Aaron and Hur to lead the people and deal with the legal matters (Exo.24:12-14). He was gone for forty days and forty nights … well over a month. (Exo.24:18). The Glory of the Lord appeared to Israel – like a consuming fire on the mountain top (Exo.24:17). It is therefore amazing that with the Glory resting on the mount, in that time the people turned from God and asked Aaron to make a golden calf – Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him (Exo.32:1). Then they had the audacity to claim – This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt (Exo.32:4). When Aaron saw how far the people had drifted – he built an altar before it (Exo.32:5) and pronounced – Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (Exo.32:5). To top it off – the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play (Exo.32:6). How quickly they forgot their promises to God (Exo.19:8; 20:22-26). How quickly they forgot the goodness and blessing of God.