Crystallization-Study of Exodus (4)
Message Eleven
The Workers of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath in Relation to the Building Work
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship—Exo. 31:2-3.
Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, You shall surely keep My Sabbaths; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you—Exo. 31:13.
Word of Appetizer
What is the relation between the Sabbath and the building work?
The Sabbath is mentioned again in Exodus 31:13, in relation to the work of building God’s dwelling place, signifying that as God’s people work with Him and for Him, they must learn to rest with Him by enjoying Him and being filled with Him. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign that God’s people work for God not by their own strength but by enjoying Him and being one with Him.
Spiritual Burden
The workers of the tabernacle need to be wise in heart, receive wisdom, understanding, and grace from God, and be stirred up in their heart to do the noble work of building up the church, God’s dwelling place on earth.
Man’s first day being a day of rest established a divine principle—God first supplies us with enjoyment, and then we work together with Him. We need to be one with God in His work; this requires that we enjoy Him.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
“…See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship, to fashion skillful designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze, And in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. And now, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise in heart I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you…”
The Sabbath follows the charge for the building of the tabernacle.
The Experience of Life
When we take Him and enjoy Him as our real Sabbath rest, He will be our strength to work and our energy to labor.
The sign that we bear is that we rest with God, enjoy God, are refreshed with God, and are filled up with God first. Then we work together with the very One who fills us in oneness with Him.
Practice and Application
If we would build God’s dwelling place, we must be a people filled with the Spirit of God. In order to be filled with the Spirit of God, we need the willingness to do something for God’s building (v. 6b; cf. Mal. 3:14, footnote 1), we need to abandon our natural capacity, and we need to empty ourselves to have the absolute openness to God in prayer. Every day and all the time we need to be freshly filled with the Triune God through prayer.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship—Exo. 31:2-3.
And now, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise in heart I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you—Exo. 31:6.
The Workers of the Tabernacle (1)
• Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building; His name means “in the shadow of God,” Uri—light of Jehovah; Hur—free, noble, white.
• Oholiab was Bezalel’s co-master builder; his name means “the tent or tabernacle of my father”; Ahisamach—a brother of strength or support; these two names signify that Oholiab was a man for God’s tabernacle with strength and support.
• The building up of God’s dwelling place, the church, is a noble work to be done by all God’s people; however, the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for this work must be God Himself as the Spirit to us.
Key Verses (2)
To fashion skillful designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze, And in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship—Exo. 31:4-5.
And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every man who was wise in heart in whose heart Jehovah had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart lifted him up to come to the work to do it—36:2.
The Workers of the Tabernacle (2)
• To build up the church all the believers must know how to use the divine nature as the gold, the redemption of Christ as the silver, and God’s righteous judgment as the bronze as the materials for God’s work.
• To cut stones for setting is to help the saints to be transformed into stones and to be adjusted to fit into God’s building.
• To carve wood is to work on the humanity of the saints.
• The workers of the tabernacle need to be wise in heart, receive wisdom, understanding, and grace from God, and be stirred up in their heart to do the noble work of building up the church, God’s dwelling place on earth.
Key Verses (3)
Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed—Exo. 31:16-17.
The Sabbath in Relation to the Building Work
II. The Sabbath follows the charge for the building of the tabernacle:
• On the seventh day God “rested and was refreshed”; He looked at man and said, “Very good,” resting from His work of creation; man was God’s refreshment.
• Man’s first day being a day of rest established a divine principle—God first supplies us with enjoyment, and then we work together with Him; we need to be one with God in His work.
• As God’s people, we should bear a sign that we need God to be our strength, energy, and everything.
• Keeping the Sabbath is an eternal covenant assuring God that we will be one with Him by first enjoying Him and then working with Him.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The builders of God’s dwelling place (Exo. 31:2-3) (Please refer to the Outline I. A. 1-2)
(Please explain that Bezalel, Uri, and Hur, these three names indicate what kind of persons the builders of God’s dwelling place should be.)
T2 In God’s building, we need to be under the shadow of His grace (1 Cor. 3:10)
(Please explain that if we are not under the shadow of God’s grace, many things may come to disturb us.)
D2
T1 If we would build God’s dwelling place, we must be a people filled with the Spirit of God. (Exo. 31:3)
(Please explain that this filling up with the Spirit of God involves four matters: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship.)
T2 The building up of God’s dwelling place, the church, is a noble work to be done by all God’s people (Eph. 4:12, 16)
(Please explain that all the saints of all ages have a part in building the most noble structure in the entire universe—God’s dwelling place.)
D3
T1 The work of God’s dwelling place must be done by all God’s people (Eph. 4:11-16)
(Please take Bezalel and Oholiab, Solomon and Hiram as examples to illustrate that the building work must include those of both the high estate and the low estate.) (Please refer to the Outline I. B. 1-3)
T2 In the building up of the church there is the need of adequate teaching (Exo. 35:34)
(Please explain that we need to be today’s Oholiab, receiving all this from the master builder, and then going out to teach others.)
D4
T1 The workers of the tabernacle need to be wise in heart (Exo. 31:6)
(Please explain that what we need is to become wise in heart, and to be stirred up by our heart to do the noble work of building up the church.)
T2 Being freshly filled with the Triune God (Exo. 31:3)
(Please explain that how we should exercise and experience that we may be filled with the Spirit of God.)
D5
T1 Man’s first day is a day of rest (Gen. 1:31-2:2) (Please refer to II. A. 3. a, b, c)
(Please explain that God first supplies us with enjoyment, and then we work together with Him.)
T2 After man was created, he entered into God’s rest (Gen. 2:2) (Please refer to II. A. 3. d, e)
(Please explain that the rest in Genesis 2:2 is a seed that develops through the Bible and is harvested in Revelation.)
D6
T1 Keeping the Sabbath is a sign (Exo. 31:17)
(Please explain that God’s people work for God not by their own strength but by enjoying Him and being one with Him.)
T2 Keeping the Sabbath is also an eternal covenant (Exo. 31:16)
(Please explain that when we begin to keep the Sabbath, this indicates that we have signed an agreement that assures God that we shall be one with Him.)
