10326. Exodus 31

1. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2. See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah.

3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all [manner of] work ¹ ,

4. To compose designs ² , to work ³ in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,

5. And in the cutting of stones for filling ⁴ , and in the carving of wood, to work ¹ in all [manner of] work ¹ .

6. And I, behold, I have appointed ⁵ with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, belonging to the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart. And they shall make all the things that I have commanded you -

7. The tent of meeting, and the ark of the Testimony, and the mercy-seat which is over it, and all the vessels of the tent,

8. And the table and its vessels, and the pure lampstand and all its vessels, and the altar of incense,

9. And the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal,

10. And the garments of ministry, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to serve in the priestly office,

11. And the anointing oil, and the incense of spices for what is holy. According to all the things which I have commanded you they shall do.

12. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

13. And you, speak to the children of Israel, saying, Surely you shall keep My sabbaths; for it is a sign between Me and you [throughout] your generations, that you may know that I Jehovah am sanctifying you.

14. And you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. He who profanes it must certainly die; for everyone who does work on that [day], that soul will be cut off from the midst of his people.

15. Work shall be done for six days, and on the seventh day there is the sabbath of rest ⁶ , holy to Jehovah; whoever does any work on the sabbath day must certainly die.

16. And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath [throughout] their generations, the covenant of an age ⁷ .

17. This is a sign between Me and the children of Israel into an age ⁸ ; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and recovered His breath.

18. And He gave to Moses, when He had finished talking to him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

CONTENTS

The subject here in the internal sense is first the establishment of the representative Church among those in whom the good of love to the Lord and the good of faith in Him are present. This is meant by the objects, listed briefly, which were to be made by Bezalel from the tribe of Judah and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan. Further on the subject is the joining of the Lord to that Church by means of representatives. This is meant by the sabbath, to be kept in a holy manner.

Footnotes:

9528. 'Of shittim wood' means out of mercy. This is clear from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486; and since the good of merit is mercy, 'shittim wood' also means mercy. For out of pure love, thus out of pure mercy, the Lord assumed the Human, and underwent the severest temptations, finally the passion on the Cross, that He might save the human race; and therefore merit and righteousness are His. From all this it is evident that the good of merit consists in mercy, mercy (misericordia) being Divine Love directed towards those trapped in misery (miseriae).

The Lord underwent the severest temptations and thereby set heaven and hell in order; and He fought out of Divine Love, to save those who receive Him in love and faith, see 1266, 1663, 1668, 1676, 1690, 1691 (end), 1737, 1787, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820, 1921, 2083, 2159, 2574, 2649, 2776, 2795, 2813, 2816, 3318 (end), 4180, 4286, 4295, 5078.