EXODUS
CHAPTER
31
1. 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, 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.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 1 to 5)
Whenever the time is proper God gives us adequate skills and knowledge. People who were once considered as ordinary and or worthless become skilled persons and even geniuses such as Albert Einstein and or Galileo. God is able to enrich us with the needed skills in any field of science. When the Church was in a crisis God sent people such as St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Thomas of Aquinas and gave them unlimited wisdom and knowledge in both arts and sciences as was needed in order to be as a strong defence during that time of Heresy. God anointed even particular people as popes and even initiated important events such as Vatican Council 2 and many others.
Oh God if I look back in my life I can remember many moments when you intervened in my life and gave me skills both for myself and for others. Of the many moments I recall the time when You wanted me to en roll as a full time University student. I was terrified. My level of education was only up to my second year of secondary school level and now I was attending for lectures with students who had completed the whole process of education. I was both unskilled and the underdog in my level of education, however still I graduated alongside those whom I had considered as being the 'big guys' because their level of education was far better than mine.
You gave me the knowledge and the skill to acquire all I needed in order to be of help to others. In fact You gave me more than I bargained for. On an academic level University gave me all the available skills but on a spiritual level You filled in the missing links, so that my perception of the human being could be made fully comprehensive. Thanks for enriching me with all that was lacking in me. I can recall many other moments, however I am not the focus of this chapter and I will therefore move on to verses 6 of the 30th chapter of the book of Exodus.
6. Moreover I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahismach, 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 the meeting, and the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat 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.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 6 to 11)
When reflecting on the mentioned items that God had commanded the sons of Israel to make, there was the need of a variety of skills in order to accomplish all the mentioned tasks. Oh father in heaven and Holy Spirit of God rich in love, power and even Knowledge that is supreme over worldly knowledge, thank You for giving us the sciences, that when used according to Your will many people can benefit from the discoveries in the cure of many illnesses and syndromes. I also thank You for the knowledge and skills that you give to inventors and manufactures of a variety of products such as cars and utilities that enable and improve the life of impaired people and even that of fully able bodied persons.
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.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 12 to 13)
On reflecting now that the Israelites would have had all the available means in order to give worship by means of sacrificial offerings God made it a must that they give worship to him as an everlasting covenant. T|his is why Oh God even during our times we still consider this day as being holy and is therefore dedicated to 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 shall be put to death.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 14 to 15)
God made it a hard core law that on the Sabbath that is our Sunday no work was to be done. In this respect the state which is usually not in full accordance with issues related to the Church for instance as in the case of divorce, has come to accept and respect the fact that on Saturday no work is to be done. However in the name of respecting the exceptional cases of forms of work that cannot be left attended to in order to ensure the well being of mankind and the upholding of Social order the State gave permission to police, doctors and nurses working in hospitals etc to perform work even on a Saturday. Moreover Jesus in the New Testament challenged the issue of the Sabbath since it was being abused and made it clear that the Sabbath was to be respected, however we must be practical and perform necessary tasks that cannot be left unattended, therefore he was cut of from His society as a violator of this norm, and was an eligible candidate to be put to death. Jesus sought to establish the much needed balance between work and leisure that is a necessity for humanity, however it is not easy to go against a firmly ingrained mentality. The Roman Catholic Church today is being challenged by current trends such as divorce, marriage between people of the same genders amongst others.
Oh God give us the strength to remain adherent to the values that You transmitted to us. Help us to remain practising Christians instead of Christians simply due to our being baptised in the Church.
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. 18. When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 16 to 18)
According to verses 16 to 17 which bring us to the end of chapter 31 of the book of Exodus our observance of the Sabbath or our Saturdays is a mark of distinction which identifies us from people of other religions. On the other hand our observance of this Holy day is an act of love and respect to God. This is a special day because God rose on this day and claimed our salvation from the forces of evil once and for all. God wanted this observance so much that He included this rule as one of His commandments which He had passed on to Moses and inscribed them on the stone tablets which He gave to Moses before leaving the mountain of Sinai on which he had spent forty days and nights
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Thanks my God, my father for giving us the day of Sunday, which is the day of not only the Son but even of the Father and the Holy Spirit of God. Thanks for giving us a day during which I can totally focus my self on you and make more time to visit you in a special and solemn way. Thanks for the covenant that you made with me and all humanity. Please give us the sense of commitment to always be faithful towards You and towards the upholding of the sanctity of this Holy Day. Amen.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 14 to 15)
God made it a hard core law that on the Sabbath that is our Sunday no work was to be done. In this respect the state which is usually not in full accordance with issues related to the Church for instance as in the case of divorce, has come to accept and respect the fact that on Saturday no work is to be done. However in the name of respecting the exceptional cases of forms of work that cannot be left attended to in order to ensure the well being of mankind and the upholding of Social order the State gave permission to police, doctors and nurses working in hospitals etc to perform work even on a Saturday. Moreover Jesus in the New Testament challenged the issue of the Sabbath since it was being abused and made it clear that the Sabbath was to be respected, however we must be practical and perform necessary tasks that cannot be left unattended, therefore he was cut of from His society as a violator of this norm, and was an eligible candidate to be put to death. Jesus sought to establish the much needed balance between work and leisure that is a necessity for humanity, however it is not easy to go against a firmly ingrained mentality. The Roman Catholic Church today is being challenged by current trends such as divorce, marriage between people of the same genders amongst others.
Oh God give us the strength to remain adherent to the values that You transmitted to us. Help us to remain practising Christians instead of Christians simply due to our being baptised in the Church.
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. 18. When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
(Exodus chapter 31 verses 16 to 18)
According to verses 16 to 17 which bring us to the end of chapter 31 of the book of Exodus our observance of the Sabbath or our Saturdays is a mark of distinction which identifies us from people of other religions. On the other hand our observance of this Holy day is an act of love and respect to God. This is a special day because God rose on this day and claimed our salvation from the forces of evil once and for all. God wanted this observance so much that He included this rule as one of His commandments which He had passed on to Moses and inscribed them on the stone tablets which He gave to Moses before leaving the mountain of Sinai on which he had spent forty days and nights
I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Thanks my God, my father for giving us the day of Sunday, which is the day of not only the Son but even of the Father and the Holy Spirit of God. Thanks for giving us a day during which I can totally focus my self on you and make more time to visit you in a special and solemn way. Thanks for the covenant that you made with me and all humanity. Please give us the sense of commitment to always be faithful towards You and towards the upholding of the sanctity of this Holy Day. Amen.
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