Exodus 31, our text for today, is a record of what the Lord told Moses He wanted built for His tabernacle, but it also tells us about a man named Bezalel. Did you know he is the first person whom the Bible tells us is filled with the Spirit of God? Let’s read what scripture says about him.
Exodus 31:1-18 (NASB)
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to create artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, so that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, so that they may make everything that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, the ark of testimony, the atoning cover that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10 the woven garments as well: the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, with which to carry out their priesthood; 11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place, they are to make them according to everything that I have commanded you. 12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”
At the begining of this text, the Lord tells Moses that Bezalel has been “filled with the Spirit of God.” As I said, he is the first person to be described in this way. Who was he? There is not much information about him, but according to Strong’s Concordance, his name, which is also spelled as Betsalel, means “in the shadow (protection) of El.” El is another word for God. We also see in our text that he was the son of Uri, the son of Hur. The Bible does not give us any further details about Uri, but we first read about Hur in Exodus 17:9-13, which says, “So Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.’ Joshua did just as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”
Had you asked me who helped to hold up Moses’ hands, I would have said Aaron did, for I had not remembered that Hur was there, too. In Ellicott’s Commentary, he says, “According to Jewish tradition (Joseph., Ant. Jud., iii. 2, § 4) Hur was the husband of Miriam, and so the brother-in-law of Moses and Aaron. He was a descendant of Judah. Moses left him joint regent with Aaron when he ascended up into Sinai.” The Bible isn’t clear if indeed Hur was married to Miriam, but what it clear is he was an important person among the Israelites since he helped hold up Moses’ arms, and he was left in charge along with Aaron. That event took place after the battle, and it is recorded in Exodus 24:13-15, which says, “So Moses got up along with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, ‘Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, have him approach them.’ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.” If you remember that story, then you know the people behave reprehensibly and Aaron assists them in making a golden calf to worship. Hur’s role is not mentioned. While all that is taking place, though, the Lord is giving Moses all the instructions on building the tabernacle and the Law and Commandments.
Exodus 32:26 says that after Moses goes down the mountain and confronts the people, “Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, ‘Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.” Exodus 32 tells in verses 28-29, “So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, ‘Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.’”
3,000 men died for that disobedience, and later in that text, we see God also sent a plague on the people. But did you catch what Moses said to the people? Even in that situation, we see the profound mercy of our God. He said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” and people did, for not all the people were destroyed, ‘just’ 3,000 of them. We don’t know whether Bezalel, Hur’s grandson, took part in the idol worship, but if he did, he must have gone with all the people who followed the Levites to stand with Moses, and so God’s mercy covered his sin. We know he didn’t die that day because he lives to craft all these things the Lord tasks him with.
He lives, and God says He fills Bezalel with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge “in all kinds of craftsmanship, to create artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, so that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.” If you keep reading the rest of the book of Exodus, you can read all about the many things he made, including the altar of burnt offerings. Chapter 39 details how he even made the ephod, the apron-like garment worn by the High Priest.
Although he is mentioned first as crafting all these items, Bezalel does not make all these things by himself. Verses 6 tells us, “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, so that they may make everything that I have commanded you.” God has also put these skills into the “hearts of all who are skillful.” To those who already possessed some skill, He gave them more skill. It makes me think of the Parable of the Talents that Jesus tells in Matthew 25:28-29. He says, “Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”
God has multiplied the skill of those who are gifted in making things. Not only that, but Exodus 35:34-35 says about Bezalel that, “He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver, of a designer, and of an embroiderer, in violet, purple, and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.”
Bezalel and Oholiab are going to teach the other talented people how to craft these specific things that the Lord wants. I think it’s worth noting the wording of that last passage. God has “put in his heart to teach” seems to imply that the Lord has given Bezalel and Oholiab the desire and skill to teach. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, we see that teacher is one of the spiritual gifts that is mentioned. It says, “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues.” That means that God is still gifting people today with the spiritual gift of teaching. Clearly, not everyone can teach, but like Paul says at the end of that chapter in 1 Corinthians 12:31, it is good to “earnestly desire the greater gifts.” We should ask God to give us spiritual gifts.
We should ask, for it is God who gives us our creative gifts. This is one of the things that makes humans unique from other created beings. God clearly cares about aesthetics: think of all the beauty and craftsmanship His world contains. The talents and skill that people have, those gifts come from God. As James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Like Bezalel, we should use our talents to create works of art that bring glory to God. Whatever talents God has gifted us with, we should work hard at developing and using those talents, but we should also ask Him to increase our skill so we might glorify Him even greater. We have to participate in this endeavor, though. For God didn’t just miraculously gift people to make these things, He added and increased what they already knew. That means that they had already learned basic skills.
When Moses spoke to the people and told them God’s plan, the people had to respond. Everyone whose heart stirred brought contributions or volunteered to help. Even Bezalel had to respond. He had to show up in order to do what God was going to call him to do. Exodus 35:30-31 tells us, “Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, ‘See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship.’”
Moses had given the call to come and build what God was telling them to build, but Bezalel didn’t know until he showed up that God had “filled him with the Spirit of God.” Moses points him out and says, ‘Look, Bezalel is here. Bezalel is going to lead you all in how to build all these things.’ It seems too obvious to state, but if Bezalel hadn’t shown up, he wouldn’t have built all those things. He wouldn’t have been filled with the Spirit of God. But he did show up. He did respond. He listened to the Holy Spirit moving inside of him.
Just like Bezalel had to show up and participate in order to accomplish all that God told Moses to do, the other people had to show up, too, and they did. They gave from their personal wealth. Exodus 25:1-9 says, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Tell the sons of Israel to take a contribution for Me; from everyone whose heart moves him you shall take My contribution. This is the contribution which you are to take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, violet, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, oil for lighting, balsam oil for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. Have them construct a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, so you shall construct it.’”
Also, in Exodus 35:20-21, it says, “Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence. And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service, and for the holy garments." The giving was voluntary, and the people responded enthusiastically. Exodus 36:3 also tells us, “And they still continued bringing to him voluntary offerings every morning.” The people continued to bring to Moses contributions for the building, even after the work had begun, and they brought so many items that Moses had to tell them not to bring any more.
But where did all that gold come from? The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. How could they have such wealth? Remember what God instructed them to do as they left? Exodus 12:35-36 tells us, “Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Therefore they plundered the Egyptians.”
The Egyptians gave them their jewelry and gold, silver and clothing. With all of this, they crafted all the things for the tabernacle. Just the ephod alone had an enormous amount of jewels sewn into it. God must have planned beforehand that He wanted to make all this and so He provided a way to do it. God equips the people with the means to do what He asked of them, not just with the physical items, but with the increased talent. Remember when the Israelites were in captivity, they were working with bricks and mortar, and I don’t know that any of them had acquired the specific skills needed to perform any of these tasks. Even if some had previously known how to work with these materials, after working with rough stones for so long, their hands would have lost the skill. Hands develop callouses and become rough and with manual labor. To do delicate work with gold and thread requires delicate hands, dexterous hands. This is a perfect example illustrating that when God calls, He also equips. He takes what little talents we may have, and He increases them, gifting us with the abilities we need to fulfill His calling in our lives. I’ve seen this work out in my own life. When the Lord first called me to homeschool my children, I had the gift of teaching, but it was not developed or mastered by any means. I’ve seen over the years how the Lord has increased my desire and my skill as a teacher. He has done this so I can accomplish His calling. The Lord will do this in each of our lives if we will respond willingly to His calling.
After the Lord spoke to Moses and told him about Bezalel and the others, He gave further instructions. In reading this chapter, we see the Lord spoke about the Sabbath after he told Moses about the construction. But when Moses gives the people God’s instructions, he begins by immediately telling them about the Sabbath day of rest. Exodus 35:1-3 says, “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.’”
Then, following this instruction to take a Sabbath, Moses will detail all that God wants the people to do, but he leads with this mandate to take a weekly day of rest. Moses did this because he knew how important it was to God. This tells us a few things. One, God really did create the heavens and the earth in six days. If the creation account in Genesis was figurative, then why would God declare as our text for today does that, “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.” Those seven days are as literal as the seven days that make up each week. Two, there is no work that is too important to take a rest from.
Just like God had planned for the construction of the tabernacle, He also had planned for the people to take a Sabbath rest. When God provides manna and quail for the people in the wilderness, He instructed them to not gather the food on the Sabbath, but to take that day as a rest. Earlier in Exodus 16:25-26 it says, “Then Moses said, ‘Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.’”
God had freed from them from slavery, and gave them rest. Unlike the burdens of slavery, His requirements were actually blessings, all for their good. The Sabbath stands in beautiful contrast to the burdens of slavery they suffered under in Egypt. God provided a weekly day of rest, when before there was only oppressive work. So important to the Lord is the Sabbath that anyone who disobeyed would be put to death! That probably seems unduly harsh to you, as it does to me, but I think that should prove to us that the Lord takes the Sabbath mandate very seriously, and so should we.
Why do you think the Lord feels so strongly about this? For the Israelites, the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between God and the people. If they did not keep His Sabbath, they were choosing not to obey the Lord: it was a clear indicator of whether the people were His people. It set them apart from other people, it was a weekly reminder to them that it is the Lord who provides, and it illustrated the eternal rest that awaits all people of God. As it is one of the 10 Commandments, we should take a day of rest each week, as Jesus did. But we should not make it a burden to others, as the Pharisees did. A day of rest each week should do the same three things it did for the Israelites. By keeping the Sabbath, it sets us apart from the world, it reminds us that God is the one who provides for us, and it illustrates for us the eternal rest that awaits us.
God does not change. He is the same God, and in the same way that the Sabbath is still to be observed today, God is still gifting people with the abilities needed to fulfill His calling. I believe that God has created every single person with unique talents and abilities. The question is, what do we do with these gifts? Do we use them for God’s glory? Do we waste them by not developing them? Do we spend them on things that are meaningless? If we take what He has given us and give it back to God for His glory, then He will take what we have and give us more. When we create and work for His purposes, then what we do for Him will last forever. People might not know what we have done, but God does, and that is why what we do for Him lasts for eternity.
This work that Bezalel did has lasted. We know about him and his work, because he responded to the Holy Spirit and worked for God’s glory. And what he created, it physically lasted, as well. 2 Chronicles 1:4-6 says, “However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. Now the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. And Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.”
This bronze altar, or brazen altar as it also called, was still in operation when Solomon was king. It stood in the outer court of the tabernacle. Leviticus 6:13 tells us it was always burning, always ready to receive an offering. This was where Israel’s priests offered animal offerings as atonement for the people’s sins, for sin was only atoned by a blood sacrifice. A guilty sinner would make an offering on that brazen altar by sacrificing an innocent animal. This, as we know, is what Jesus did for all people when He died on the cross. He shed His innocent blood, atoning for our sin. The brazen altar was the only way people could receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. Jesus became our brazen altar, for the only way we can receive God’s mercy and forgiveness is through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus’ blood on the cross. As 1 Peter 2:24 tells us, “and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.”
What Bezalel created was illustrative of the work that Jesus was to do on the Cross. Bezalel’s craftmanship became the vehicle through which God offered people forgiveness for their sins. Imagine if the work we did was such a reflection of God’s grace. How might we, too, point people to God’s incredible work on the cross? When we respond to God’s call on our life, He fills us with His Holy Spirit and He leads us to do exactly this: proclaim the message of hope we have been given through salvation in Jesus. If we allow Him to use us and the talents He gives us, we too can be vehicles that God uses to lead people to salvation.
Bezalel was the first person mentioned to be filled with the Spirit of God, yet we believers in Christ also experience this filling. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, leading us and guiding us as we follow Jesus. Just like Bezalel, our task is to answer God's call and use the gifts He has given us to glorify Him.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we pray we would be like Bezalel and point people to the work Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross. Help us respond positively to the Holy Spirit’s leading and show up to do the work You have called us to do. May we reflect the work of salvation You have done in us. May we lead others to You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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