BibleTools
Exodus 36:1
Compare all
1 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every agifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the bsanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”  

The People Give More than Enough

2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in awhose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart1 was stirred, to come and do the work.  
3 And they received from Moses all the aoffering which the children of Israel bhad brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.  
4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing,
5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, a“The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”  
6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing,
7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too amuch.  

Building the Tabernacle

8 aThen all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them.  
9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size.
10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another.
11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set.
12 aFifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another.  
13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.
14 aHe made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.  
15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size.
16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.
17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set.
18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one.
19 aThen he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of1 badger skins above that.  
20 For the tabernacle ahe made boards of acacia wood, standing upright.  
21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half.
22 Each board had two1 tenons afor binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle.  
23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side.
24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons.
25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards
26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards.
27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards.
28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle.
29 And they were coupled at the bottom and1 coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners.
30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.
31 And he made abars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle,  
32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward.
33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other.
34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
35 And he made aa veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim.  
36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.
37 He also made a ascreen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a1 weaver,  
38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Exodus 35:35   Exodus 36:2 >>

What Does Exodus 36:1 Mean?



Exodus 36:1-2

Perhaps it would be helpful to understand that the basic meaning of the Hebrew word translated as "wisdom" is equivalent to the English word "skill." Solomon, in Proverbs 4:7, tells us, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom." He is really saying, "Above all things, get skill." Skill in what? Skill in living. God wants us to be skilled in living. In this case, God has filled Bezalel with wisdom, and this wisdom has to do with the responsibility that He had given to him in constructing the Tabernacle and its furnishings and utensils.

This principle becomes vital to us in regard to our place in the church of God, understanding about the Spirit of God, and understanding about God Himself and what He does in our conversion. These verses show that God Himself was personally and directly involved by means of His Spirit enhancing the natural and developed abilities of humans involved in His work. Bezalel and Aholiab already had skill, but what God did to enable them to perform a function directly for Him is that He increased their natural ability to enable them to function at a higher level than normal. A supernatural element was added to their lives.

If God did this for Bazalel and Aholiab, will He not also do it for us? Will He not give us powers greater than we have by nature? He does this by His Spirit and by stirring up the spirit in man.

If we follow the usage for "spirit" and apply it here, we see that "spirit" is an invisible and immaterial source of some sort of needed power, but in this case, it is external to mankind—supernatural. In other words, we can communicate spirit from one person to another, but that spirit will only be what any human is capable of. As we become more skilled, our ability to project or to communicate spirit to another person is also increased as well, but we reach a limit in our human ability to do this. However, God is showing that in order to do a work for Him, He will empower us to go beyond what is normally possible for a human being to do.

God gave these craftsmen supernatural power for them to operate in His behalf, to produce good fruit within the purpose of God, and therefore it was of God. However, when we see abilities that seem to be beyond the ken of a normal human being, we may not know the identity of the supernatural force or power until we begin to see its fruit: "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Four)



Exodus 36:1

Where did all the materials come from to make the Tabernacle? The Israelites were out in the wilderness. A good part of the Tabernacle was made from badgers' skins. How many badgers were running around the Sinai? God had to supply them too! A great deal of the material, including the gold, came from the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians before they left Egypt. With this project in mind, God inspired the Egyptians to give these things to them, for instance yard upon yard of fine cloth was given to take with them. The Israelites probably wondered, "What in the world are we going to do with this?" But obviously, they took it, and it was used for a good purpose.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Six)

Related Topics: Badger's Skins | Building the Tabernacle | Materials for Tabernacle | Plundering the Egyptians | Spoiling the Egyptians | Tabernacle, Building the


 
<< Exodus 35:35   Exodus 36:2 >>

Join 137,058+ readers

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning

Consistent Bible study is hard to start.

The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.

Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.

Close
E-mail This Page