Read Exodus 35:1-36:38 at Bible Gateway.
The teaching tools of scripture
Gen 1:1-2:3 and the teaching tools of scripture part one and part two
Gen 1:1-6:8 and finding the topic themes of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
35:1-3 {p} Work shall be done on six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest
35:4-29 {p} Freewill offering for the work of the tabernacle commanded / children of Israel brought
35:30-36:7 {s} Bezalel and artisans called to do the work and received what the children of Israel brought
36:8-13 {p} He made the fine linen curtains for the tabernacle
36:14-19 {s} He made the goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and seals’ skins coverings for the tabernacle
36:20-38 {p} He made the boards, sockets and bars/ veil/ screen for the door and its pillars
Strong themes of the parashah
34:27-35:3 {s+p} Moses reflected God’s glory encompassed by obedience and rest
35:4-36:13 {p+s+p} Called, equipped, provided to make the tabernacle
36:14-36:38 {s+p} He made the Most Holy and Holy Place coverings, frame, veil, screen
Exo 35:1-36:38 Chiastic structure
Download the fully expanded Exo 35:1-36:38 Triennial Vayakhel chiasm pdf (Coming …).
Theme of the parashah
Even the work of the ministry must rest on Sabbath, God supplying the needs of the work.
Finding Messiah in Triennial Vayakhel
In the first paragraph there is the repeat of the Sabbath commandment, which has been repeated more times in Exodus than any of the other commandments so far. Why is YHVH so adamant about the seventh day rest? Is it because He likes to burden His people with commandments? No!
Moses was not to deviate from the blueprint for the tabernacle, because it is a beautiful prophetic picture of Messiah. If he were to change the design of the tabernacle, then he would misrepresent Messiah. He would be prophesying falsely, because the tabernacle was a prophecy of Messiah to Israel.
I think it is the same thing with the Sabbath commandment. Follow with me.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. Gen 2:1-3
While the heavens and the earth were new, and still perfect, unmarred by any evil or sin, God set apart the seventh day—the Hebrew meaning of “sanctified”—as a day of resting from work. But sin did enter the perfect creation in the very next chapter.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he ate. Gen 3:6
God meted out the consequences of their sin, first to Eve.
Unto the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain and your labor; in pain you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Gen 3:16
And then to Adam.
And unto Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying: ‘You shall not eat of it;’ cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” Gen 3:17-19
The highlighted words “pain” and “toil” in these verses is the same word in Hebrew: Strong’s H6093, itstsabon, a concrete noun indicating pain from grief or heavy toil; labor, hardship, sorrow. It is from עצב atsav, Strong’s H6087, a verbal root meaning, “to labor.” The pictographs are ayin + tsadey + bet.
ayin ע = eye, thus to see, watch, look, know, understand
tsadey צ = trail, thus a man concealed, journey, chase, hunt
bet ב = house, thus house, household, family, in, within
The parable being told is of looking ahead (ayin) at a lifelong journey (tsadey) to maintain the house and family (bet). Its association to pain from grief or heavy toil, is of endless work, a job that is never completed. Housework, cooking, laundry, home repairs, raising crops, tending livestock, going to a job, it is the same work over and over again, constantly repeating, which continues until the man and the woman return to the dust from which they were taken.
An alternate meaning of atsav according to Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon, is “to worry or be vexed,” and I think that is a very common side effect of the responsibility men and women have in caring for their family.
The traditional understanding of Gen 3:16, the woman’s painful toil, is that she will experience pain in childbirth. But I think the Hebrew makes it clear that her role of bringing forth children does not stop with just bearing them, but also raising them. The husband’s painful toil is similar in that it is never-ending; with the added responsibility of knowing that the buck stops here, that his success at farming or at his career means the difference between his wife and children being able to eat or go hungry.
So we see that painful toil, never-ending labor, is our daily consequence of sin from our first parents, Adam and Eve, with death waiting for us at the journey’s end. But God in His grace extended mercy to man and woman before they ever sinned. He set aside the seventh day as a day of rest from labor from the foundation of the world. Every seventh day, men and women can lay down the consequence of their sin, their painful toil, burden, and responsibility, and enjoy a respite of grace. Every seventh day, His people shall cease suffering the consequences of sin.
“Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Yeshua, Mat 11:28-30
Sabbath rest is the first teacher of the Gospel of grace. The earned wages of sin leads to death, but the undeserved free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, not by work, lest any man should boast.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Messiah Yeshua our Lord. Rom 6:23
For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8-9
When God’s people work on the seventh day, they are prophesying a false prophecy to the world, that there is no rest in Yeshua from the consequences of our sin. And that is why YHVH is so adamant that His people do no work on the seventh day.
Additional readings for this parashah
Psa 65 (my notes) | Jer 31 (my notes) | 2 Cor 3 (my notes)
Studies in Triennial Vayakhel
Exodus 35, Bible for Beginners
Exodus 36, Bible for Beginners
Exodus 35:1-38:20, Vayakhel Strong themes
Exodus 35 and 36, Sabbath rest even from Kingdom work
SCRIPTURE REVEALED SERIES by CHRISTINE MILLER:
THE LAW of LOVE | FINDING MESSIAH in TORAH | EXODUS in CHIASTIC STRUCTURE
Leave a Reply