Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Exodus Chapter 31
Metaphysically Interpreting Exodus 31:1-11
31:1And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 31:2See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 31:3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 31:4to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 31:5and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. 31:6And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee: 31:7the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent, 31:8and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick with all its vessels, and the altar of incense, 31:9and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the laver and its base, 31:10and the finely wrought garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office, 31:11and the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.
July 11, 1948: Exodus 31:1-11
How can we all express our divine nature in our work? By following the guidance of Spirit in it, and at all times doing the best work of which we are capable. The work of God is all “very good,” and so can ours be, if we will to make it so.
Is work a gift of God? It is inasmuch as it enables us to express the energy, faithfulness, wisdom, and other qualities of Divine Mind. Without work we cannot develop the full, rounded sonship of God, the Creator.
Besides an opportunity to work, what is necessary for us to achieve work well done? Devotion and intelligent application to our task. Unless we bring these to the work, it is not well done.
What does Bezalel represent? The name Bezalel means “in the likeness of God,” and Bezalel represents the ideal man in action after his creation by God.
In what different ways is the Spirit of God expressed in us? In every kind of excellence, namely “in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise skilful works.”
How can we always be sure of doing our best? By observing seasons of rest, quiet, and meditation for the refreshing of our mind and body and the replenishing of our energies, we can come with renewed zest to our work. We must give some time to the inner life and its needs, if we are to do our best in the outer world.
How can purely material substances like gold, silver, brass, and precious stones reveal the Spirit of God? Material substances gain spiritual meaning and significance by being molded by the hands of the master craftsman or the man whose hands are inspired by divine wisdom, knowledge and experience.
Are superior skill and efficiency essential in expressing the Spirit of God? Not necessarily. We can also express the Spirit of God in superior faithfulness and devotion to duty, which come before wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
In the matter of good work what is the chief need of the present? That the worker balance his power with a sense of responsibility to the common good and his opportunity with a high ideal of service.
How can we be sure that our work will endure? It will endure if we put our best endeavor into it in the full faith that it will be found good.
Metaphysically Interpreting Exodus 31:12-17
31:12And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 31:13Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you. 31:14Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31:15Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 31:16Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 31:17It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
[Undated]: Exodus 31:15
The Sabbath question is at this time attracting a great deal of attention among all classes and sects. The first thing to settle is, What is the Sabbath? The text says “it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations.” For what purpose? “That ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” It was set apart as a day of rest. But what does this rest mean? It certainly means more than to quit work, to cease from work. It is said God rested on the seventh day. Now God did not get wearied as man does. But there is a sense in which God needed to rest, to enter into the Silence wherein he gained strength of spirit, of life, of Being. He had expended his energy in creating the external form that we call the “world,” and hence how appropriate that the Soul of the Universe should enter into the silence of rest.
“All nature is one stupendous whole, whose body nature is, and God the Soul.” That condition of rest in silence is holy; it is a sanctified condition, “a holy convocation.” That silence or rest every soul is commanded to keep, for in it alone can the individual “know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” The Sabbath is not a day of outward observance that required statutory law to enforce, but it is a law of Being that the God of Life has demonstrated by his word, to be a holy state that brings joy, peace and knowledge to those who observe it.
It is a law of soul, a doctrine for the Christian Metaphysician to enjoin upon his students, to practice which will show an advanced growth of spiritual nature. It is a state that belongs to spirit, to the inner man and was given as a law to God's people, just as baptism is. The Sabbath was to be observed as a religious ordinance and not a civil action. It was commanded to be observed under a theocracy and not a democracy nor a republic. Civil governments have no right to enforce the observance of the Sabbath nor any other religious doctrine upon the citizen. The church and civil authorities have both made mistakes upon this subject: the church in trying to have its observance enforced by statutory law; the state in attempting to thus enforce it. It is the province of the church to compel its members to observe the spiritual law and the observance of the Sabbath as a period of rest in the Silence. In fact the church today needs to be thoroughly reorganized upon a new basis of Scripture interpretation from a spiritual standpoint.
The Bible is an effort to teach people the true doctrine of the Word, but the church has mistaken the spirit of it and took hold upon the letter which is only the outer garb of truth, hence the many dogmatic creeds that have been forced upon the people. The Sabbath is a sign between me and you. In mathematics, as in all other sciences, there are certain signs that are to be used in the practice of its laws, in the demonstrations of the problems of the science. These signs show the relation existing between the numbers of the problems. So in Spiritual Science, the highest of all sciences, we must learn the signs and their meaning. The Sabbath as a sign is, “that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Now we have man and the Lord as the two numbers, but without the Sabbath sign between them we do not have their relation to each other. Change the places of either, place the Sabbath as a civil something or in a different relation, and it ceases to be the Sabbath and as a sign it is valueless. It only has a meaning as a sign that “I am the Lord who doth sanctify you,” when placed between me and you. Now to whom is it a sign? The Odd Fellows and Masons has a sign of recognition for the members only. To others it is no sign, it is only a sign between the members.
So the Sabbath is only a sign between you and “me” for the purpose that you may know me as the Lord who doth sanctify you. What is it to have the Sabbath between you and the Lord? Remember the Sabbath is a condition of rest, which condition has been blessed and hallowed by the Lord, a condition into which he entered alone in the Silence of the Spirit, and the only way to put the Sabbath between man and the Lord is for man to enter that condition alone, individually separated from all the outward cares of life.
Then he will for himself take the “degree” in that order, where he will know the Lord who doth sanctify him. The only way to learn these secrets is to enter the order and become an initiate, when you will have sight to the “Face of Life” and of Knowledge. To all others the Sabbath is no sign and does not mean anything. Any law of any civil government attempting to compel its citizens to observe a Sabbath is as ridiculous as it is for a “Morgan Mason” to attempt to affiliate with a true Mason. Such an one would justly be regarded as a thief and a robber who had climbed up some other way than the door.
The popular idea about the Sabbath of the present is about the same as it was in the days when Jesus lived upon the earth; that is, that it was a day to be worshiped, one that the human should be sacrificed to observe. The Pharisaic idea was that man was made to serve the Sabbath, but Jesus silenced that idea by saying the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. “The Son of man is master even of the Sabbath day.” Who is a Son of man? I answer, a sanctified one. “To as many as believed on him gave he power to become the Sons of God.” The one who recognizes the sign between me and you and knows the Lord who doth sanctify you.
Let us observe the Sabbath of rest in the Silence as the Lord intends that we should. It is absolutely necessary to our growth that we rest. One-seventh of our time we ought to devote to God in the Silence, which is the only way to rest as God rested on the seventh day, and in that way blessed that condition and hallowed it, and any one who observes it in that way will be sanctified while there. It is the Holy of Holies of the soul, where every soul can enter as a high priest and commune with God direct for itself.
Metaphysically Interpreting Exodus 31:18
31:18And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-03-2014
