Exodus 31:12-17
v. 13
ACH ET-SHEB’BE’TOH’TAI TISH’MO’RU
Surely (“However”—STONE) you shall observe (keep) My Sabbaths….
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A LITTLE WORD MAKES: “ACH” (ALEPH and FINAL CHAF)!
BDB says of this simple adverb, “ACH”:
“1. surely 2. with a restrictive force, emphasizing what follows: a. in contrast to what precedes,
‘howbeit’ (STONE, “however”) b. in contrast with other ideas generally, ‘only….’” There are
other uses as well, but the restrictive and contrastive use is what is employed here.
God is indicating that the erecting of the Tabernacle of Witness is not to be done in such a way
as to desecrate the Sabbath. The STONE editors take this to mean that holy service cannot be
used as an excuse to circumvent sabbath observance.
“However,” Messiah Himself said in Matthew 12:5-8 (in response to the criticism of the
Pharisees that Jesus’ disciples were profaning the Sabbath by eating corn from the field as they
went through the stalks), “Have you not read in the law (the Torah), how that on the sabbath
days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that
in this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is
Lord even of the sabbath.”
Messiah ministers the Sabbath through Mercy. Mercy is very empowering. It refreshes that
which God causes to produce on its own. (Genesis 2:1-4)
So then…Here is a complex consideration:
In verses 1-11 of Exodus 31 God gives instruction to Moses concerning Betzalel and Aholiab
saying that God has given to them the Spirit of Wisdom for the construction of the Tabernacle
and all its furnishings; they are to build according to all that God showed Moses, “according to
all that I have commanded you they shall do.”
In verses 12-17 God gives Moses a summary instruction concerning observance of the Sabbath,
using the word “ACH” (however, surely, verily) as an introduction of this section of the chapter,
an immediate context that follows the instructions to the builders of the tabernacle.
In verse 18, scripture finishes the passage by saying, “And He gave Moses, when He had made
an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone,
written with the finger of God.”
TABERNACLE, SABBATH, TABLETS.
The Messianic understanding of these three things is that they are embodied in our Lord
Messiah Himself: He is the Tabernacle of God that is “with men” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23):
(also, “a body hast Thou prepared me”—Psalm 40:6-8 with Hebrews 10:1-10). THIS IS VERY
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND. That which was foreshadowed in the Torah has now been
brought to completion in the Messiah. (Revelation 21:3)
Messiah Himself is our Rest, in the form of Menuchah (Rest—see Genesis 8:4, 9 where this
word is used of the Ark and the Dove—a settling place, a grounding, an alighting, a rest): in Him
we have rest from our own striving, as it says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST (MENUCHAH); take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, and you shall find REST FOR YOUR SOULS; for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light.”
It is a spiritual rest that our Lord gives unto us, not an abrogation of the weekly Sabbath
(Matthew 5:17-20); it is a rest beyond ritual and human effort. It is a repose that transfers the
singular labor of the flesh to the conjoined enabling and instruction of the Holy Spirit. (See
Hebrews 3-4 for the elucidation of the “Rest of Messiah” that is contained in Psalm 95:11, the
rest contained in the term “My MENUCHAH”—MY REST, MY REPOSE.”)
MESSIAH IS ALSO THE WORD OF GOD MADE FLESH—NOT WRITTEN ON STONEY TABLETS BUT
INSTEAD ON FLESHY TABLETS OF THE HEART! (2 Corinthians 3:2-3; John 1:14; Jeremiah 31:31-
33)
THIS IS LOGOS THEOLOGY. The Word is to be Made Flesh in us. This is what is symbolized as we
consume the Spiritual Life* of our Savior in the Lord’s Supper: “TAKE. EAT. THIS IS MY
BODY…BLOOD.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-34). We receive HIS LIFE by Impartation of the Holy Spirit
through Faith as we partake of the Covenant Ritual that our Lord has given to us. (LUKE 22:19-
20; see also John 20:20 as the direct ministration of the Holy Spirit to us from the Messiah.
After He ascended, this was completed from Him to us at Pentecost as an ongoing ministration
of the Spirit (Acts 2, 10, 15; 1 Corinthians 12-14).
[*”the Spiritual Life”: meaning, “the Spiritual Body and Blood of Mashiach our Sacrifice,” in the forms of
Grain and Wine, the Bread and Libation offerings provided by God in the Levitical ritual. By means of the
Covenant Meal of Messiah we are joined to God our Father.]
May we follow the Holy Spirit in matters having to do with specific observances so that our
yoke may be the easy and light discipline of Jesus. (John 14:15-26)
