Reading: Exodus 30-31, Psalm 27
During my first year of seminary one of the many tests and evaluations we were subject to was the spiritual gifts inventory. These were well intentioned, and were helpful to some extent in determining what areas of church service students might be apt to. The results were things one might expect: generosity, service, leadership, prayer, and so on. Over the years I have seen a variety of these kinds of inventories, and I have long been on the lookout for one that allows for the spirit of God giving someone the gifts of sewing, artistry, metal and stonework, or mixing incense.
In today’s reading we get the bronze basin, the incense alter, and the incense to be used on it. Two day ago we noted the significance of the unique smell to the tabernacle, and here God tells Moses both how to make the incense and anointing oil and restricts their usage to only the tabernacle. The bronze basin is where priests are to wash themselves every time they approach the alter or the tabernacle tent, another example of continual purification that the priests must do in order to work in the tabernacle.
But enough recap, let’s talk about spiritual gifts of crafting. God tells Moses about two guys, Bezalel and Oholiah, who are to be placed in charge of making all the stuff he has just outlined. Bezalel is the guy in charge, and God says he has filled him with the Spirit of God for ability and knowledge and design. Oholiab will be his chief assistant. While I enjoy poking fun at spiritual gift tests that don’t acknowledge the value of manual skills by pointing at this passage, I do think there is a little more going on here than that. After all, the ancient people of Israel weren’t going around handing out spiritual gift inventories. No, by directly appointing even who is to do the work, God is adding to the otherworldly quality of the tabernacle. These works, though done by humans, aren’t really a human undertaking, and for them to serve their function even the process of their crafting will be overseen by the Spirit of God.
The covenant agreement is now complete. When the people came to Sinai back in chapter 19, God began the process of making a nation-king covenant with them. The form of this covenant is similar to others in the ancient world. It begins with a recitation of the story so far, culminating in a promise by the king to protect the people, and a response by the people to obey the king. Following this there is a set of rules, what we would think of as laws, which govern the interaction between the people and their ruler. In this case, God handed down the Ten Commandments, and the people agreed to them. Then God gives applications from these commandments. God promises to fulfill his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by giving these people the land of Canaan. They seal the covenant with a sacrifice, and the representatives of Israel sit down to feast with their ruler, God. Finally, God gives Moses the outline and plan of the tabernacle, the place of God’s rulership, where the people can interact further with their king, albeit through a single representative who must go through extreme measures for purification.
Framing the covenant agreement is the covenant sign. Reiterated several times before, through, and after the covenant agreement is the sign of the covenant God is making with Israel. That sign is the observance of the sabbath. God explicitly tells Moses here that the sabbath is the sign of belonging to the God of Israel. Keeping the sabbath means you are of God’s people, breaking means you are not. It is easy to let the importance of the sabbath slip by us while we read through all the other commands God gave to Israel through these books, but there is nothing more central to the culture of Israel. Even when there is no tabernacle or temple, the sabbath can be kept. Even when there is no community of Israelites, the sabbath can be kept. Even when all the details of the laws and regulations in the covenant are lost, the sabbath can be kept. This is the one thing that in any circumstance the people can do to make it clear that they are different, belonging to the kingdom ruled by the God of Israel.
The forty days and nights on the mountain are done, and God gives Moses stone tablets with this covenant written on them by God personally. He takes off down the mountain to begin the work of the new creation. But as we will see tomorrow, the human problem is about to derail everything again.