CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 35:1. And Moses assembled = vayyakheyl]. This assembling suggests the idea of reuniting and strengthening the bonds of union among “all the congregation,” which, through the sad consequences of the sin of the golden calf, were no doubt very much loosened. And Moses does this by first impressing upon the people that most elevating observance of God’s laws, viz., the keeping holy of the Sabbath day, and then by affording them a common interest in a common work. He only now tells them of what he had been told by God (25–31) concerning the holy service. He invites them to bring free-will gifts for the construction of the tabernacle, its vessels, and the holy garments (Exodus 35:4-20). This wrought so effectually on their better nature that Moses found it necessary to restrain the spontaneous outflow of their hearty generosity (Exodus 36:5).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 35:1-3
The covenant having been renewed, Moses now relates to the people what God had revealed concerning the time and place of divine worship.
THE TIME FOR DIVINE WORSHIP
1. Moses was never weary of impressing on the people the importance and divine obligation of the Sabbath day. For this there were several obvious reasons.
(1.) The Sabbath was part of the moral law.
(2.) It was necessitated by the conditions of the body and mind needing rest.
(3.) It was a recognition of God’s right to time.
(4.) An opportunity apart from the distractions and duties of life for drawing near unto God. All these reasons are in special force under the Christian dispensation. Why then should Christian preachers tire of teaching it, or Christian people tire of hearing it? It requires no very wide research to find that selfishness, worldliness, and sin are at the bottom of Sabbath desecration.
2. As this chapter deals mainly with the building of the sanctuary, this command may be regarded as applying to that. They were not to break the law even for so good a purpose. So Christians should not do evil on that day for the supposed benefit that may accrue. The question is not, Would it amuse and instruct to open museums on the Sabbath day; but, Is it right to do so? No! says God’s Word. Notice—
I. That the Sabbath was to be a rest after six days’ work. Hence, honest, diligent toil is of equal obligation. Do not let us lay all the emphasis on “Remember the Sabbath day,” and none on “Six days shalt thou labour.” Again, it would be easy to show that if a man has played away his working week he is unfitted for the sacred enjoyment of the day of rest.
II. That the Sabbath was to be a day of sacred rest. “An holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord.” Not of unsanctified idleness, but a cessation of exhausting labour, so that the mind might be wholly given to the refreshing duties which devolve upon that day. A man may no more waste the Lord’s time than his own. Keeping the Sabbath day holy does not mean simply the putting up of shutters, and the putting by of business; it means also attention to those sacred employments which devolve upon us as the servants of God.
III. That the Sabbath implied the cessation of unnecessary labour. “Ye shall kindle no fire,” &c. In eastern climates this would be quite unnecessary. And, indeed, as the materials of life in those climates are so simple and so easily procurable, very little manual work could be said to be necessary. The obvious exceptions, of course, were works of mercy to man and beast. With us it is different; fires, e.g., are necessary. But the prohibition against needless work is binding still. We have ample time to do our necessary works and to enjoy the luxuries of life. Let us not, nor oblige our servants to, rob God of the right to His own day.
In conclusion—Remember that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
i. For man’s use. Not for his abuse. If a man wants recreation let him take it out of his own time. ii. For God’s worship. As the institution, or the confirmation at any rate of the Sabbath contemplated the tabernacle, so the Sabbath is inseparably, all through the ages, connected with the worship of God.
—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Moral Law! Exodus 35:1-35.
(1.) The ceremonial law was like a scaffolding around a building which is being slowly and gradually raised. When the building is completed, the scaffolding is taken away. But the moral law is like the rafters, deep sunk in the building itself. These cannot be taken away without the ruin of the whole structure of revelation.
(2.) The ceremonial law is like the bright petals of a blossom, which drop off to make room for the fruit. But the moral law is like the stem, which upholds both blossom and fruit. For God is holy—God is good; and therefore the law of holiness and goodness must, like God, endure for ever.
“Thy God is good, His mercy nigh,
His love sustains thy tottering feet;
Trust Him, for His grace is sure,
Ever doth His Truth endure.”
—Zehn.
Sabbath! Exodus 35:2. The Sabbath was originally instituted as a day of rest; and was to be employed in the service of God. Of this latter circumstance the Jews had so far lost sight, that they substituted their own superstitious rites in the place of divine ordinances, and thus exchanged a spiritual for a merely ceremonial observance of the day. Concerning some of the superstitions which prevailed amongst the people, Basnage tells us that in the places where they had liberty, in the time of Maimonides, they sounded the trumpet six times to give notice that the Sabbath was beginning. At the first sound the countryman left his plough; at the second. they shut up their shops; at the third, they covered their pits. They lighted candles, and drew the bread out of the oven; but this last article deserves to be insisted on because of the different cases of conscience about which the masters are divided. When the sound of the sixth trumpet surprised those that had not as yet drawn out their bread from the oven, there the pious must leave it, &c.
“A Sabbath glory for the good
No night shall take away;
When shall Thy servant, Lord, attain
To that eternal day?”
—Geork.
Sabbath-Sanctuary! Exodus 35:2. The temple, says Hamilton, was a sacred place. In the Middle Ages it was usual to claim for churches the right of sanctuary; so that whosoever took refuge within the hallowed precincts was safe from the avenger. But it is not to a holy place, but to a holy day, that God has given this protecting privilege. Every seventh day was to be a sacred asylum for man and beast. Humboldt despised all religions and hated Christianity; yet he was forced to own that the “seventh day rest from labour” was an unspeakable blessing. But what Humboldt would not acknowledge, viz., its Divine authority, an eloquent Israelite has. Disraeli, in his “Tancred,” remarks that the life and property of Britain are protected by the law of Sinai. The hard-working people of England, he says, are secured a day of rest in every week by the Sinaitic Decalogue; for
“Sunday is the golden clasp
That binds together
The volume of the week.”
—Longfellow.
Sabbath-Service! Exodus 35:3. It is no easy matter to be everybody’s friend. Yet we do not fear to say that the friend we are introducing to our readers deserves that gracious name—we mean the Lord’s day. Our friend is most faithful and punctual; every seven days he comes round. However laborious our vocation, however painful our life, we are sure to see that friend reappear at the end of the week, inviting each of us to break for a few hours the monotony of our work, to give a new current to our thoughts, to put on our Sunday garments, and to enjoy necessary repose.
“Why do we heap huge mounds of years
Before us and behind,
And scour the Sabbath days that pass
Like angels on the wing!
Each turning round a small sweet face
As beautiful as near;
Because it is so small a face,
We will not see it clear.”