I Have Called You By Name

I Have Called You by Name Exodus 31 Context • God has completed the long discussion about the Tabernacle structure, furnishings, priesthood, etc. • As we noted last week, God frequently intermixes the How’s with the What’s. • Today, we will observe three developments as God brings this monologue to a close: 1. God Calls His Craftsmen 2. God Sanctifies His Day 3. God Presents His Tablets God Calls His Craftsmen (31:1-11) • Besides writing, accounting, judication, and butchering, God demands the work of metallurgy, gemology, framing, gilding, sculpting, perfuming, incense making, weaving, and sewing. • Chief Craftsmen: Bezalel (#1) and Oholiab (#2); God calls His workers regardless of age, tribe, or gender (35:26). • Spirit Filling: see Micah 3:8, Luke 2:4, & Ephesians 5:18 • Emphasis on “all” – 4x the words “all” or “every” is used God Sanctifies His Day (31:12-17) • Forcefully Reiterated: 1. “Above all” best understood as, “Surely” or “Verily” 2. 2x God says it is a “sign” 3. 2x Death, 1x Cut Off 4. 5x the command to observe is repeated in some way • Purpose: 1. Israel would know that God sanctifies them (13). 2. Rest and refreshment (15, 17) 3. Perpetual covenant display (16) • Why here? National worship is no substitute for personal recognition, submission, and worship. God Delivers His Tablets (31:18) • Fulfillment of His promise – 24:12 • Perpetual testimony of the covenant between God and His people placed in a box over which God’s presence and atonement rests (Deuteronomy 10:12). • Israel possessed the very handwriting of God – it was God’s law in every way. Reflections • God did more work in writing His law than He did in creating the universe: spoke/wrote; 7/40 days; Psalm 19 says that creation testifies, but the Word of God transforms. • Sabbath rest is the declaration of our faith (see Psalm 116:7; Hebrews 4:9-10). • God calls people by name unto service and salvation – Isaiah 43:1; Acts 15:16-18.