Exodus 31

31 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: ³ and I have filled him with divine spirit,^[a] with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, ⁴ to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. ⁶ Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you: ⁷ the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant,^[b] and the mercy seat^[c]that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, ⁸ the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, ⁹ and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, ¹⁰ and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests, ¹¹ and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.

The Sabbath Law

¹² The Lord said to Moses: ¹³ You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴ You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

The Two Tablets of the Covenant

¹⁸ When God^[d] finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant,^[e] tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

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Have you been in meetings or classes where there was so much information flying around that when a break is called everyone just walks around dazed with big eye?  That is how I imagine Moses at this point.  His brain is just full and he is trying to figure out how to make all this happen.  And so God closes by giving him a couple of important pieces.

• Partnership.  God has already called and anointed a couple of people from the Israelites who are gifted in craftsmanship.  If Moses is anything like me, he can barely make a straight line and rarely recognizes colors and patterns.  The idea of having to make something beautiful and worthy to be called God's would completely terrify me.  However, if I had a partner who was really good at those kinds of things (like my wife) and only needed me to provide God's instructions and gather supplies for them...the project could totally happen and have everyone involved feel qualified.  God equips us for what He calls us into.  That often means that the skills and abilities that we do not have are contained in someone else that we are invited to partner with.
• Sabbath.  Notice that this is the only commandment or piece of the law that God reiterates here for Moses.  Remember Sabbath.  Remember rest.  Remember that the plan and the outcome and the entire world revolves around God, not you.  Sabbath is an essential part of faith.  It recharges our bodies by providing down time, allowing us to step out of the wild current for a while and just be still.  It recharges our souls by reconnecting us to the Source of Life.  It is so easy for us to fill every moment of our weeks with activity...good and fun and important activities.  But when we do that we position ourselves as the center of our lives instead of God.  We believe that it is our efforts and our work that sustains us; we believe that it is our busyness that allows us to achieve everything that we desire and enjoy everything that we have.  Those are lies of idolatry and pride.  Those are traps that promise that just a little more will bring us happiness.  God is the one who sustains and provides and offers purpose and joy and rest.  Saying "no" to rest is saying "no" to God...which is what we call "sin."