Parashat Vayakhel (And he assembled)

Shemot (Exodus) 35:1–38:20

I marvel at God’s Word and the amazing wisdom and insight that it contains! In it, we find instructions that are relevant until today, and that enrich our lives when applied. Before I continue sharing a couple of thoughts from this week’s Scripture portion, it is important for me to emphasize that I am sharing my own personal convictions from God’s Word, and am in no way passing judgment on anyone who disagrees with me.

In this week’s Scripture portion, the command to keep the Sabbath is found right in the first verse. This is actually a repetition of the same command found four chapters earlier in Chapter 31, verses 12–17. When God repeats something more than once, it’s a pretty clear indicator that it’s important:

Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Exodus 35:1–3

In Exodus 31, the command to observe the Sabbath comes in the middle of God giving Moses instructions for how the children of Israel are to prepare His dwelling place, the Tabernacle. The entire Tabernacle was centered around God, His precise instructions, and His holiness. But the building of God’s dwelling place on earth also contained a provision for God to commune with the children of Israel! In the midst of all the instructions, we find that God instructed Israel to stop all of their work on the seventh day — the Sabbath — and to make the Sabbath day a holy day, a day that was set apart from the other days of the week.

What does this have to do with God communing with His people? Well, the Sabbath day was also a sign of a special relationship between God and the people of Israel (Exodus 31:13). I believe that the Sabbath is itself evidence that God created us for relationship. God stopped and rested from creating after He created man so that He could spend time with him! Therefore, the Sabbath is a sign that Israel belongs to one living God, who created human beings for the purpose of relationship. The Sabbath is also a sign of trust that God is our provider and that He will provide everything we need!

I am reminded of a challenge that I received many years ago before I entered fulltime ministry. In that period of my life, I was working about 80 hours a week, 7 days a week. I was sharing with a friend about how much I was working and he asked me a very important question that I’ll never forget. He asked, “Moran, do you think that in six days, God can accomplish what you can do in your own strength in seven days?” I was so convicted by my lack of trust in God’s supernatural provision for my life, and I started to take a Sabbath one day a week to rest and to be with Him.

In essence, God shows us that part of doing His “work” — building His Kingdom — includes time to spend with Him and to trust in His provision for us and our families. Even when we are doing God’s work, we need to stop, seek Him, follow His instructions, and apply His wisdom to our lives.

I would like to encourage you to take a break from the daily grind, and simply spend some time with your Creator.

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran