“People to meet in heaven: Bezalel”
Exodus 31:1-3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
It was 1658, and a young Italian boy named Antonio, from a town called Cremona, loved music. The only problem was, he wasn’t a very good musician. Whenever he tried to sing, his friends called him, “Squeaky voice.” When he tried to play the violin, he was all thumbs. The only thing he could do was to whittle on a block of wood.
And one day, as he sat whittling on a curb beside the road, three of his very musical friends were playing and singing. That’s when a man stopped by to listen, then asked the boys to sing their song again. When they finished, he dropped a gold coin into one of their hands, a lot of money for a street singer. Then he moved on down the street.
“Who is he?” asked Antonio. One of his friends proudly replied, “It’s Nicolo Amati, the greatest violin maker in Italy!”
That’s when a thought entered his mind.
The very next morning, he went to Amati’s house and waited for the great master to come out. And just as soon as he opened the door, little Antonio bounded up the stairs and told him he wanted to learn how to make violins. He said, “I can’t sing and I can’t play, but I can carve.” Would Amati agree to take him on as an apprentice?
Amati agreed and let the little eleven-year-old boy work with him. In time, he became a true craftsman, and even took over the business.
What was Antonio’s full name? Antonio Stradivari, of course.
He couldn’t sing. He couldn’t play. But he could carve. So he became the greatest violin maker of all time.
So it was for a man named Bezalel in the words of Exodus chapter 31.
Now you know some of the more important people of the Bible, people like Moses, David, Solomon, Esther and Ruth. But Bezalel? Probably not. Yet there he is, mentioned some nine different times, tucked away at the end of the Book of Exodus.
Please turn with me in your Bible to page 91 as a I read the words of our text. I’ll start at chapter 31, verse 1: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘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. 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: 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, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.’”
Let’s step back for a moment to see what’s going on.
The people of Israel had just left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. Aaron and Hur held Moses’ hands up high as Joshua defeated the Amalekites at the battle of Rephidim. And the Lord inscribed, on two tablets of stone, His Ten Commandments.
And now, as they made their way to the Promised Land, the Lord saw fit to have them build a place of worship—a tabernacle—a portable temple.
Turn back to page 84 to see what I mean. Look at chapter 26, verse 1. It says, “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size.”
Then for some six chapters (!), the Lord said exactly how that tabernacle should be made. They were to make a table to hold twelve flat cakes of bread, (representing the twelve tribes of Israel), an altar made of bronze, a lampstand made of gold, and best of all, the ark of the covenant, the symbol of the very presence of God.
But who would do it? Who would have the wisdom and the knowledge and the skills necessary to make all these amazing things?
That’s when, out of the blue, we meet a man named Bezalel.
Look again on page 91, at the words of Exodus chapter 31, verse 1: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘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.”
Notice, he wasn’t given just one gift, say, the ability to work with gold. He was a true metalworker--he worked with gold, silver and bronze. Even more, he was a jeweler--he knew how to cut stones and polish them and place them in beautiful settings. He was a seamstress--he wove and cut fabric with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and golden thread. He was a carpenter, cutting and carving wood. And not just any wood--acacia wood—a rare wood, a hard wood, a precious wood.
You’ve heard the phrase “jack of all trades and master of none”? Bezalel wasn’t just a “jack of all trades.” He was an artist, a genius, the “Leonardo da Vinci of the Hebrews,” a master craftsman--which is why we want to meet him in heaven.
He wasn’t a great statesman like Moses or a warrior general like Joshua. Nor was he was a high priest like Aaron. He wasn’t a patriarch, a lawgiver, a prophet, or a judge. That’s not what God called him to be. He was Bezalel, a talented, gifted, master craftsman.
But how could he do it? How could he know so much and have such incredible skills?
Look again at verse 3: “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God.”
Did you know that, of all the people in the Bible, he was the very first, whom the Bible said, was filled with the Spirit of God?
Samson was filled with the Spirit. That’s how he defeated the Philistines. Gideon was filled with the Spirit. That’s how he conquered an entire army with only three hundred men. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit. That’s how he prepared the way for the Lord. And Stephen, Barnabas and Paul were all filled with the Spirit too. That’s how they faithfully preached the word of the Lord.
And so was Bezalel, as he crafted a place to worship the Lord.
What does all this mean for us? It means that whoever you are and whatever you do, you too can work for the glory of God.
Every ability you have can be used for the glory of God. You can repair a car for the glory of God. You can balance financial books for the glory of God. You can make a meal for the glory of God. You can manage an office for the glory of God. You can catch a football and shoot a basketball for the glory of God.
Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, for the glory of God.
That’s what Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
And Peter wrote in his first epistle: “As each has received a special gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Just like Bezalel, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
A doctor in Spokane, Washington, Kurt Fine, once shared words his grandmother had given him. This is what he said: “In all the world, there is nobody like me. Since the beginning of time, there has never been another person like me. Nobody has my smile, my eyes, my nose, my hair, my hands, my voice. In all time, there has been no one who laughs like me or cries like me. And what makes me laugh and cry will never provoke identical laughter and tears from anybody else…ever. I am the only one in all of creation who has my set of abilities. There will always be somebody who is better at one of the things I am good at, but no one in the universe can reach the quality of my combination of talent, ideas, abilities and feelings.
“And God made me for a special purpose…and has a work for me to do that no one else can do as well as me.”
And to that he added: “I have turned to this many times during my many years of schooling. And this, along with daily prayer, got me to where I am today.”
Whatever God has called you to do, know that it’s possible only because there’s another Craftsman, a Master Craftsman, who has, by His grace, taken you and made you what you are—not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.
Why? That we may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “We are God’s handiwork, God’s workmanship, God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do.”
Dear Father, You have given us great gifts just as You once gave a man named Bezalel. Help us in our time and place to do all that You’ve called us to do, for the honor and glory of Your name. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen