Tag Tabernacle

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.

More Than a Tent

Todd R 3 Comments

Long before there was a Temple in Jerusalem, the Israelites built a tabernacle according to instructions given by God to Moses.  This tabernacle from a material perspective was just a big tent, but to the Israelites it was the place where God had chosen to dwell among them, the place where they would learn how He was to be honored and worshipped.  The tabernacle was designed so that it could be torn down and moved with the people to each new location they travelled to during their wilderness wanderings between the exodus from Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land.  To make moving it easier, it was constructed of many pieces, but still the size of the tabernacle was impressive.  For example:

“And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked.  The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.” – Exodus 36:8-9

I’ve read these verses many times without really thinking about them, but eventually I asked: how much cloth is that exactly?  Consider how hard and time-consuming it would be to make cloth while wandering in the wilderness, particularly cloth with detailed images of cherubim worked into them.  They didn’t have anything close to a modern loom or sewing machine, yet they made 10 curtains that were each 28 cubits by 4 cubits.  But how big is that?

A cubit would be approximately 18 inches today.  So, 28 cubits would be 28 times 18 to get the number of inches, then divided by 12 to get the number of feet.  Do the same math for the 4 cubits of breadth.  The result is that each of these 10 curtains were 42 feet long and 6 feet wide!

Think about how much clothing could be made with that much cloth, and about how people with more than 2 or 3 changes of clothes in those days would be considered rich.  Later when we read in Judges about Samson posing a riddle to his 30 companions, where if they couldn’t solve the riddle they’d have to give Samson “thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.”[1]  These companions pleaded with Samson’s wife to help them solve the riddle, saying: “Have you invited us here to impoverish us?”[2]  What would impoverish these 30 men?  Having to give Samson one garment and one change of clothes each!  And this was not in the wilderness, but long after Israel had settled in the Promised Land.

I write all of this to say that, looking at only one part of the tabernacle, among many that were made of gold and other precious materials, the sacrifice made by Israel to have a tabernacle was impressive.  They didn’t provide their God with a small tent that didn’t cost them much to build, but they gave their God a tabernacle that cost them much in terms of both materials and labor.  After all, this was the place where God was going to dwell among them.  He deserves it, and more.

What does this mean for us today?  Some say the modern equivalent of the tabernacle is the physical churches that we build to gather in, and so the tabernacle example justifies huge, expensive, elaborate churches.  But I don’t think that’s the right equivalent.  It is the body of Christ Himself – His people – including you and me.  Since the time of Christ, He has chosen to dwell within each of us directly.  The cost of the tabernacle can be compared to the cost of discipleship, or of following Christ.

If that’s so, what do we sacrifice and invest in ourselves as the dwelling place of God?  Do we value other Christians as God’s temples, investing in them?  Do we give enough to God that it takes away from other things we might want to do with our time and resources?  Do we provide God with a basic tent to stay in, or do we put into His dwelling so much that it might “impoverish” us in other areas?

After all, He deserves it, and more!

[1] Judges 14:13
[2] Judges 14:15