March 15th 2018 – Exodus 35:1-3

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, "These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day."

Exodus 35:1-3

It is surely significant that we have a further reiteration of the fourth commandment at this point, at the beginning of the vast operation of constructing the tabernacle, which now is to occupy the remainder of the book of Exodus. There are important lessons for us in this. For one thing, as we saw in 31:17, the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel and of the nature of the relationship existing between them; and its emphasis here is meant to bear witness to the truth that all true and worthy work for God must issue from a true relationship with Him. On the one hand, in this connection, it stresses the necessity of our resting from our own works in order that we might work the works of God, that is, it signifies the cancellation of the energies of the flesh so that the work might be done in the Spirit. Merely human enthusiasms in God's work are excluded. On the other hand, we are reminded that it is from the basis of rest that we can best work for God. Not only must we rest from our works so that He can work in us and through us, but also we must rest from ourselves in order to become all we are meant to be in the presence of God. As has been said, the secret of effectual service is not overwork, but overflow. And that overflow comes best and most naturally, and certainly most fruitfully, from the rest of faith, to which the law of the Sabbath bears witness.