I was struck by this passage when reading in Exodus. Specifically Ch. 36:1-7
36 “The Lord has gifted Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen with wisdom and ability to perform any task involved in building the sanctuary. Let them construct and furnish the Tabernacle, just as the Lord has commanded.” 2 So Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and all the others who were specially gifted by the Lord and were eager to get to work. 3 Moses gave them the materials donated by the people of Israel as sacred offerings for the completion of the sanctuary. But the people continued to bring additional gifts each morning. 4 Finally the craftsmen who were working on the sanctuary left their work. 5 They went to Moses and reported, “The people have given more than enough materials to complete the job the Lord has commanded us to do!” 6 So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Men and women, don’t prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!” So the people stopped bringing their sacred offerings. 7 Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project.
I won’t copy and paste the rest of the book, but Exodus finishes off with Bezalel and Oholiab making the tabernacle and all associated parts to perfection, “…They had done just as the Lord commanded…” Exodus 39:43.
In a most un-scholarly manner, I’ll say, “How cool is that?!
Here are the points I want to extract from this passage
- Bezalel and Oholiab were gifted specifically for the building of the Tabernacle
- Moses asked the Jews to donate materials for the Tabernacle and they gave to the point that Moses had to instruct them to stop because they had enough.
Point 1
God know that he was going to ask Bezalel and Oholiab to work on the Tabernacle, so before they were born he gifted them with excellent craftsmanship and ensured that they made it through slavery in Egypt and a number of years in the wilderness for this moment in time. It is reasonable then, to consider that we have spiritual gifts from God. It is also reasonable to consider that we are where we are in life for God’s purpose, and in this specific example I want to point to the knowledge that our gifts and our current place in life coincide for God’s will.
So when he calls, are we going to step up and utilize the gifts God had given us for his purpose? I think it’s only fair and reasonable.
Now, for the actual topic of stepping up, I think it is important to understand yourself spiritually so that when you hear a call, you know to respond. What a shame it would have been if Bezalel or Oholiab had thought to themselves, “Carpenters? We left Egypt with 600,000 men. Surely there are other carpenters among them that God can use.” What a squandering of gifts that would have been.
How often do we do that, though? How often is there a need in the community or Church that we know full well that we are capable of aiding, but we sit on the sidelines because, surely, someone else could do it too?
Reference 1 Corinthians chapter 12:
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
and
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
I could go on a titanic tangent about this passage and how it relates to self-worth, but the part that ties in with this post is the emphasis of our part as the body of Christ. There is no 1st string or 2nd string. No second body in relation to a first body. There is one body, and we need participation from everyone to make it function.
So hands, please come be hands when God calls. Feet, come be feet when God calls. Walking on your hands is hard enough, and opening jars with your feet is nearly impossible, so when you see a need that God has equipped you to help, be a blessing!
Point 2
Moses had to tell the Jews to stop bringing supplies to the Tabernacle because they had enough. That is such a blessing. I want to take this passage, and ask, “Why can’t we do that?”
The Church that I attend holds their service in a gymnasium (because we ran out of room in our original sanctuary. Praise God) and one of the responsibilities as a result of that is setting up and taking down the chairs. My next statement will sound critical, but it is more observational. For nearly a year we had one young man set up the chairs by himself every Sunday. He would work alone until someone wandered in and decided to help. He had to have surgery, so he was replaced later, but it wasn’t for another year or two that we established an official chair setup crew to share this responsibility.
Now, this may seem a trivial example in the face of poverty and lost people, but let me turn around and say that the triviality of the task could have led it to be something where we could turn people away because we have an abundance of help.
We should also understand this, a multitude of the supplies that were brought to build the Tabernacle were given to the Jewish people by God. He foretold that the Jews would ask the Egyptians for anything they owned (after being struck by the plagues), and it would be given to them. Subsequently, the Jews left with riches. A more critical take on this passage would be to say that the people rightfully provided for the Tabernacle, because God had given them the exact material that they had returned. A more critical look in the mirror for us would then pose us with this question, “If God provided me with my job and my life, should I not give my time and money and effort to him?”.
That one gets me.
One other topic we can address with this passage are the “backseat drivers” of the Christian faith, or those who fear that their inability will not allow them to help. To every congregation who says “we need a youth group” but does not put forth the effort to facilitate that, to the congregation that says “we want to do more local missions” but have no volunteers, I encourage everyone to step up and be an Oholiab, or even the people who supplied the craftsmen. We don’t all have to be Moses or Paul.
A congregation of 100 can do a lot. In many instances, one person can do a lot. And for those who don’t believe they’re good enough to be used by God, one person plus God can do anything.
As always, my purpose is to challenge and encourage. God Bless.
