...keep the sabbath holy through public worship...

Sabbath Regulations

“1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them: These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:

2 For six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the sabbath day.

Preparations for Making the Tabernacle

4 Moses said to all the congregation of the Israelites: This is the thing that the Lord has commanded: 5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and fine leather; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing-oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breast-piece.

10 All who are skillful among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded: the tabernacle, 11 its tent and its covering, its clasps and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 the ark with its poles, the mercy-seat, and the curtain for the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lamp stand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing-oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance, the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt-offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin with its stand; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the finely worked vestments for ministering in the holy place, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests.

Offerings for the Tabernacle

20 Then all the congregation of the Israelites withdrew from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments. 22 So they came, both men and women; all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and ear rings and signet rings and pendants, all sorts of gold objects, everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And everyone who possessed blue or purple or crimson yarn or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or fine leather, brought them. 24 Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering; and everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work, brought it. 25 All the skillful women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and crimson yarns and fine linen; 26 all the women whose hearts moved them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breast-piece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing-oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the Israelite men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill-offering to the Lord.

Bezalel and Oholiab

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites: See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 he has filled him with divine spirit, with skill, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every kind of work done by an artisan or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of artisan or skilled designer” Exodus 35:1-35.

Dear friends, chapters 35-40 are very much the same as the previous 5 chapters, and yet in chapter 35 the essential requirements for the construction of the tabernacle are now in place: God has reiterated the covenant, the nation has been cleansed of those who refused to repent from idolatry, the covenant has been written down and taught to the people, and they have accepted the covenant and Moses' leadership once again. It is now time for the fulfillment of what God commanded to be made and used for properly worshiping him so that the first response of the believer (worship) can begin as it should.

Why, then, does the story of the fulfillment of the tabernacle construction begin with a repeat of Sabbath law? The primary reason is surely that the Sabbath was the sign of the covenant, the visible weekly proof that the people of Israel were keeping their part of the great divinely revealed legal obligation through which came their protection and blessings.

In a certain sense Israel's formal starting point for keeping Yahweh's covenant was keeping the Sabbath, that is, the fourth commandment, not because doing so was more important than fulfilling the first three commandments, but because obedience to the Sabbath requirement was the most obviously measurable of them—either in the keeping or in the disobeying. Worshiping each week is the most visible sign that you are following Christ! Sunday worship shows without ambiguity whether or not you are was committed to keeping the commandments of God. But merely keeping the Sabbath holy  through worship does not confer righteousness if other commandments are violated, but it is an openly visible essential sign of your loyalty to Almighty God. 

So I beg you to worship on Sunday. It is essential to you and an enormously important witness to others. Your worship helps others follow Christ!

Make this your prayer today, that you will publicly worship God every Sunday!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.