Exodus 31:1-11--Oholiab and Bezalel

Oholiab and Bezalel​
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, 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 and its stand, 10 and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

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This is a very comforting passage to me, not simply because it is a break from the schematics and instruction manual that we've been studying, but because the task that God had laid before the people would have been impossible if God had not already equipped people with the right gifts and talents to accomplish the work that he wanted them to do.  Imagine if there had been no metal-workers, tanners, tailors, or perfumers (for example).  How would the furniture and tent and incense and anointing oil get made?

God told Moses not to worry about any of that because He already knew who He had prepared to take care of this.  Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan had been given all the gifts and talents to take care of everything on God's to-do list.  Moses would oversee and inspect everything to make sure it was according to God's specifications, but Moses wouldn't have to do it all alone.  What a great blessing!

Isn't this how we are supposed to operate, and forget to operate in the Church?  We are supposed to be the Body of Christ--one body made of many parts all with their own gifts and talents and specializations, and each Christian with his or her own duties to perform for the good of the entire body while still being in submission to the Head which is Christ (See Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 for some more information about spiritual gifts and how we use them in the Church to accomplish the work of God and glorify God).  We sometimes thing that our pastors are supossed to be super-human and super-Christian and that we are supposed to be spectators, but "Christianity.is Not a Spectator Sport." (main title of a book by Kenneth McFarland.  The subtitle is "God Needs Players, Not Cheerleaders").  I also like the book entitled "I Am a Church Member" by Thom S. Rainer (a PDF outline/summary is available here:  https://www.ebenezerbc.org/Portals/0/ChurchMember/I_AM_A_CHURCH_MEMBER_-_Outline.pdf).  The basic premise is that we are called to serve, not to be served--there is no such thing a "country club Christianity" where you pay your dues by way of tithes and offerings and everyone else serves you and waits on you.  God has specific work that He has prepared for you to do--God has saved us for a special purpose (Ephesians 1) by grace, through faith and unto good works that He has prepared for us (Ephesians 2).

What would have happened if these men would have refused the task that God had laid out for them?  Well, we already see what happened when Moses tried that earlier when God tried to send Him back to Pharaoh and Moses made excuses.  God's anger burned against Moses and God prepared someone else to do the work He had prepared for Moses and it would be Aaron and not Moses that would get the "glory" of people God's spokesman--yet somehow to this day, we forget to talk about Aaron in any role other than High Priest.  Aaron was there to fill the gap that Moses left.  God could have and would have done the same here and will do the same in the Church today--no one is irreplaceable, but God wishes for you to share in the glory of seeing His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, not for your glory, but for His glory.  How amazing is that? God chooses to use imperfect people like us to accomplish His perfect design and will!  As my friend Patrick from Lynchburg, VA would say (rather loudly), "HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!" (He got very excited about God and seeing God work in Him and seeing God work in and through other people, and I don't think there was much that excited him more than see God at work in this world.)

God has made all kinds of people to fill all kinds of roles for all different kinds of jobs that He's prepare.  To tie this into our lesson from The Gospel Project this week--don't covet anyone else's spiritual gifts or talents and don't desire to have anyone else's job.  Be content to do the work that God has called you to do while God has still permitted you to be alive and do it, and do it with joy and gladness that you get to serve Him and do it in a way that points people to Jesus and brings glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Do not use your gifts for making yourself rich or famous and do not use them in a way that steals glory from God because the God that gave you that gift can take it from you and give it to someone else (the parable of the talents).  Be good stewards of your time, talent and treasure so that you remember God is owner of all and be about His work that He would be doing with that which He owns (including you, because He has bought you with a price) and do it in a way where people know that you are just about doing your Master's business.  I'm sure these two men were just happy to be available and part of God's plan to build His Tabernacle and display His glory to His people and to the whole world--and in doing so to give people a taste of the gospel and what the new heaven and the new earth would look like one day when God would once again dwell among men and we would tabernacle with Him as we dwell in the place in which the Lord would reside--the Most Holy Place--forever and ever.