Category Devotionals

The Spirit of Craftmanship

Todd R Leave a comment

After God redeemed His people Israel from slavery in Egypt, He wanted to impart a further lesson to them: that He was always with them.  At first, His presence was signified “by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”[1]  Later, including after Israel entered the Promised Land, the Lord’s presence was especially known as dwelling in the tabernacle, and even later in the temple.

The pillars of cloud and fire simply manifested themselves by God’s will, but in the case of the tabernacle and temple, someone had to build them.  After revealing to Moses the intricate design of the tabernacle and all its component parts, Moses may have been concerned about how this was all to get done.  Therefore, God said to Moses in Exodus 31:2-4 how He would provide for that:

“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.”

Since the construction of the tabernacle would require many skills and techniques, including working with wood, metal and cloth, someone with all of these skills would be needed.  But note where the “ability and intelligence,” “knowledge and all craftmanship” come from – the Spirit of God!  They didn’t just appear out of nowhere.  God’s Spirit personally enabled Bezalel to do the needed work.

Also note that God said, “I have called by name Bezalel.”  He didn’t say to Moses “go find someone, anyone, who you think can do the work, and I will enable them to do it.”  No, He called Bezalel “by name.”  This calling was to belong to Him, and no other, by God’s Spirit and grace.

Now Moses might have asked, “how can one man do all this, even with God’s Spirit?”  In verse 6 the answer is provided:

“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”

Oholiab was also called by name, but God also provided many others with the ability to build the tabernacle.  Each person had their part to play, and God knew every one of them personally, even if Exodus doesn’t name them.

Which brings us to the topic of Spiritual gifts, those abilities described by Paul and others in the New Testament as being given to each believer for the building up of the church.  Were all the skills needed to construct the tabernacle “Spiritual gifts” given to Bezalel, Oholiab and others?  I think so, since God clearly says these men were filled with God’s Spirit to do these things.[2]  The lesson here is that every Christian has Spiritual gifts, but that many of those gifts may not seem “spiritual” as we often think of that word.  Not everyone is a pastor, elder, deacon, Sunday school leader, or other church roles you can think of.  In fact, some people will be more like Bezalel and Oholiab, filled with the ability to make beautiful and/or useful things that glorify God.

If you’ve found your place in the church and in the world to use your gifts, praise God!  If not, it doesn’t mean you don’t have gifts to use in God’s service.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” and when he says “we” he means every Christian.  We all have our own tabernacles to build, and God will give us the means and ability to do them, including the help of other “able men” if needed to get the job done.

What skills and interests do you have?  Can they be used to help build up the church?  Can they be used as a witness to the world?  Ask for God’s guidance and keep an open mind about what He might say.  In Bezalel’s case, it included building a massive curtain!  God calls each of us “by name” to do specific things – are we listening to whatever He might say?  He is always with us, ready to lead.

[1] Exodus 13:21
[2] There are differences between the OT and NT concepts of being filled with the Spirit, but for space I’m leaving that out here.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

Todd R Leave a comment

Have you ever watched a movie that was much worse than what the trailer for it led you to expect?  Were scenes taken out of context, giving you the wrong impression?  Was every good scene from the movie already in the trailer, leaving you disappointed?

Every now and then, God gives us a preview of heaven, reminders of His steadfast love for us in our present time that strengthen our hope and empower us to live for Him.  When we seek God, He gives a glimpse of the blessings in store for us.  He may answer with an encouraging word, a compassionate friend, a moment of mental clarity, or some surprise blessing.  David describes something like this in Psalm 36:7-9 –

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
            The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
            and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
            in your light do we see light.”

David wrote these verses in the present tense, meaning we can take refuge with God right now, and experience the abundance of His love.  Commenting on the middle verse, James Montgomery Boice says the Hebrew word translated as delights “is the plural of the word Eden and undoubtedly looks backward to the joys of our first parents before the fall.”[1]  By referencing the past paradise of Eden, David also hints of future paradise where we will have eternal life.

Paradise was real and will be real again, and we know the movie will be far better than the trailer could possibly show us.  God does not give wrong impressions and He does not disappoint.

Take refuge in Him.

[1] From “March 28.” James Montgomery Boice and Marion Clark. Come to the Waters: Daily Bible Devotions for Spiritual Refreshment.  (2017).

An Eternal Perspective on Life: A Quint of Quotes

Todd R 2 Comments

Dear fellow travelers,

Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection, five quotes on the theme of living for eternity:

“O LORD, make me know my end
            and what is the measure of my days;
            let me know how fleeting I am!” – Psalm 39:4

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”  – Jim Elliot

“Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I will be more alive than I am now.” – Dwight L. Moody

“Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of eternity.”- Charles Spurgeon

“Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that men may live in eternity.” – Jan Hus

Jesus is Indignant – Those Who Mourn #3

Todd R 1 Comment

Today is part 3 of a series on the second Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” – Matthew 5:4.  The first two are here and here. We begin with story of the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus:

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” – John 11:39

Before this dead man Lazarus died, Jesus got a message that he was ill.  Lazarus was in Bethany, near Jerusalem, and Jesus was about a day’s journey away avoiding the Jewish leaders who sought to stone Him to death for claiming to be God (Jn 11:30 and elsewhere).  After saying “this illness does not lead to death”[1], Jesus stayed away for two more days and after the time it took to travel to Bethany, He found Lazarus already “dead four days.”

Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus, were deep in mourning, along with many others who had come to mourn with them.  Then “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  Reading this we might assume Jesus’ reason for weeping was the same as everyone else’s.  However, pastor and author Tim Keller notes that: “Both verses 33 and 38 say that while He was weeping with grief He was also snorting with anger.  Jesus could not have been weeping for Lazarus because He knew he was about to raise him from the dead.  What, then, was He so grieved and angry about?  He was furious at the sin and death that had ruined the creation and people He loved.”[2]

Jesus knows that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).  Since Adam and Eve, mankind has been facing, and mourning, the consequences.  From the repetition of “and he died” in the genealogy of Genesis 5 on, we are reminded of the result of missing the mark of God’s righteousness.  Nobody is more aware of this than Jesus.  As God, He understands our loss more deeply than we do, and He is indignant, consumed with righteous anger.

When Jesus got the message Lazarus was ill, He could have healed Him on the spot from a distance as He did the official’s son in John 4:46-54.  Instead, Jesus delayed in coming to raise Lazarus “so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4b).  The miracle convinced many, but not everyone: “the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well”[3] because so many were later believing in Jesus that they plotted to bury the evidence[4].

However, Jesus used the miracle to increase His disciples (and our) faith, particularly in times of loss and mourning.  Jesus taught Mary to replace her “if” statement “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”[5] with His statement “I am the resurrection and the life.”[6]  As man, He feels as we do, and in compassion for us He weeps.  He steps right into our suffering with us – the odor of death does not deter Him.  He knew He would have to die to save us from our suffering, and He willingly took it on.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” – Hebrews 4:15

Just as He could have healed Lazarus before he died, Jesus could return right now and take us to heaven, but He waits until His purpose (not ours) is fulfilled so that He may be glorified.  For now, we can know as Mary did that He is “the resurrection and the life,” rather than wonder “if” He could have come sooner.  Therefore, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” – Matthew 5:4.  In time, Jesus will fix it all.

[1] John 11:4
[2] Keller, Timothy.  Making Sense of God (2016).  P. 164-5.
[3] John 12:10
[4] See also this earlier post
[5] John 11:32
[6] John 11:25

Mourning Has Value – Those Who Mourn #2

Todd R Leave a comment

Today is part 2 of a series on the second Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” – Matthew 5:4. In the first post, I wrote about how mourning logically follows our awareness of needing Jesus because we are poor in Spirit.  When we mourn this way as Christians, we deeply acknowledge that we aren’t happy with the consequences of having sought our own way.

Many religions and philosophies see no value in sorrow.  Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers hated it and strived to avoid it.  Eastern religions sometimes deny its reality and seek to live above it.  On the other hand, in Christianity and Judaism stories like those of Job are highly valued, and verses like these from Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 are common –

“It is better to go to the house of mourning
      than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
       and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
       for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
       but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

In Christianity, mourning can have value, helping sanctify us, making us more like Christ.  Mourning can be a form of confession – a way of saying the same thing about sin that God does.  When we mourn doing wrong things or neglecting things that should have been done, we agree with God on what is “wrong” and what “should” be done.  It is not the same as repentance but is often a preceding part of it.

The framework of the series of posts on Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” – shows many ways living outside the kingdom of heaven fails us and others:

  • Times we were too proud or ashamed to act (Post 1)
  • Times we thought earning God’s favor was more important than loving Him and our neighbor (Post 2)
  • Times we thought our own sins were ok because we thought they weren’t as bad as someone else’s (Post 3)
  • Times we failed privately because we couldn’t see the consequences or the point in trying (Post 4)
  • Times we didn’t love someone because they weren’t like us (Post 5)

Therefore, we should mourn!  Emotionally reacting to these things means that knowing we are “poor in spirit” is more than just an intellectual or logical idea.  Sin needs to mean something to us, deeply.  However, this mourning is not the same as despair, depression, or meaninglessness.  In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, spoken through the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings: “Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt.”  Only God can see the end, and there is more to come!  In Christianity it is but part of a journey, or in the case of the Sermon on the Mount, part of a sequence of Beatitudes.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” – Matthew 5:4

In the next post of the series, I plan to talk about Jesus’ reaction to death and the consequences of sin, focusing on John 11: 33 and 11:38.  He knows more about it than we ever will, and He cares deeply.

This post continues a series on the Beatitudes. To start at the beginning, click here, and for the next post click here