Moses in Mount Sinai Receives God's Revelation.
Moses In The Mountain With Yahweh For Forty Days and Nights (Exodus 25:1 to Exodus 31:18).
After receiving the covenant and putting it into writing Moses was called by Yahweh to go up to Him into the Mountain. The Great Overlord wished to establish the necessary protocol for His people's approach to Him. There through revelation Moses was to be given instructions concerning the provision of a Dwellingplace for Yahweh, with all its furniture, so that they could know that He ‘dwelt among them'. This was in order to confirm to Israel His gracious intentions towards them (Exodus 25:1 to Exodus 29:46), and which will enable them to reveal their continued loyalty and concern for His holiness (Exodus 30-31).
Regulations Concerning Things Not Directly Concerned with the Godward Aspect of The Overlordship And Atonement But With The Expression of Responsive Concern For Yahweh and His Holiness (Exodus 30:1 to Exodus 31:18).
Up to this point all the emphasis has been on God's provision for His people as Overlord and Atoner. And this has concluded with the teaching about the continuing daily sacrifices of Exodus 29:38-42, followed by a summary that makes Exodus 25:1 to Exodus 29:46 a clear unit. God has been revealing His sovereign power and His provision for atonement and finishes with the promise of His future dwelling with His people.
But there are certain things that He has not dealt with which we might have expected. There has been no mention of the altar of incense or the laver. There is, however, good reason for this, for neither expressed what He was then trying to get over to His people, Yahweh's reaching out to them. They spoke rather of the response of His people in dedication, loyalty and respect. So these are now dealt with along with other examples of the same. The people's response of dedication, worship and loyalty will now be expanded on.
The regulations in this chapter are about man's response and are connected with the ideas of loyalty, and with responsibility towards and true respect for their Divine Overlord. They cover certain covenant responsibilities:
a Their responsibility to offer worship and loyalty as signified by the altar of incense (Exodus 30:1-10).
b Their responsibility as servants of Yahweh to recognise that they are His and accordingly pay their dues (Exodus 30:11-16).
c The necessity for their representatives to make themselves free from earthiness when entering His presence (Exodus 30:17-21).
d The making of the anointing oil that sets the priests aside in loyal service (Exodus 30:22-33).
c The making of the incense by which they express the people's love and loyalty to Yahweh (Exodus 30:34-38).
b The appointment of men set aside to loyally produce the Dwelling place and all its furniture (Exodus 31:1-11).
a The need to keep the Sabbath continually which is the sign of their loyalty and devotion (Exodus 31:12-17).
It will be seen that there is a pattern in this. The first and the last (a) refer to continual acts which reveal their loyalty and dedication, the first by the priests, the last by the people, so expressing their continual loyalty to the covenant and to Yahweh. The second and the sixth (b) are connected with service to the Dwellingplace, in the first case as a service from which they are ransomed, in the second case as something that they freely offer when called on. The third and the fifth (c) refer to the use of differing God-provided avenues by which priests are able to approach God, on behalf of the people, although not connected with atonement, and the central one centres on the setting apart to God of the priests on behalf of the ransomed people. They head up the dedication and worship of Israel
The Appointment of the Men for The Task Of Producing All That Has Been Described (Exodus 31:1-11).
The list of what demonstrates men's responsive loyalty and concern is now added to in terms of those who are chosen for the supremely important work of producing the Tent of Meeting and the sacred furniture.
The Appointment of Bezalel (Exodus 31:1-5).
• Yahweh has called Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, and has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, and knowledge and all manner of workmanship (Exodus 31:1-4).
• To devise cunning works, to work in gold and silver and brazen copper, and in cutting stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship (Exodus 31:5).
Notice how the two statements are balanced by ‘in all manner of workmanship'.