Bezalel (1)

Bezalel! What a name? Hardly anyone quotes him, much less unheard of. Talk about David or Moses, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob / Israel, they are familiar lot. But who is this insignificant man, Bezalel?

Exodus 31:2-5 See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and  with all kinds of workmanship, To fashion skillful designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze, And in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.

Bazalel means in the shadow of God, he was a master builder, a leader in God's building, a man under the shadow of God's grace. 

After Jehovah commanded Moses to build the tabernacle He also selected the person who would do the building. Whom He selected He endowed him with His Spirit, with the wisdom required to build exactly as designed. Yes it was Bezalel whom God used, but who gave the skill to Him? It was God Himself.

The building up of the tabernacle, the church, God's dwelling place, is a noble work which every believer should do, yet the ability to do is of God. God said, "And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and  with all kinds of workmanship," Otherwise, no man can build God's house. What God intends to build, He also infuses with the building skill.

To fashion skillful designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze : To build up the church we must know how to use the divine nature as gold, the redemption of Christ as silver, and God's righteousness judgement as the bronze as the material for our building work. Otherwise, what we build will be natural and unacceptable to God.

 And in the cutting of stones for setting : To cut stones for setting is to help the saints to be transformed into stones and to be adjusted to fit into God's building. 

And in the carving of wood,: To carve wood is to work on the humanity of the saints for the sake of God's building; 

To work in all kinds of workmanship : To work in all kinds of workmanship is to produce finer virtues in human character with uplifted humanity of Christ. 

All these are needed for the building up of the church. And Bezalel has it all! Because God blessed him with all.Having read this my heart longs and prays for the God of building to bless me with all the skill needed in this age to build the building of God. On the one hand, it was and is God who builds, but He builds with man, He does not speak, "Let the tabernacle be!" and the Tabernacle was. No. God needs Bezalel to build. God needs man to build. God needs you and me to build. Lord make us the Bezalel of today!