Blessed for a Purpose: A Pentecost Sermon on Exodus 31

A young man stood in a still desert, hands at his hips, lost in thought. A mountain loomed overhead not so far away. But he stood toward the edge of the encampment, in a clear enough space for his work. All around lay heaps of raw materials: piles of gold trinkets, silver brooches and earrings, bronze rings and utensils; spools of colorful yarn, yards of linen, goatskins and rams' skins; thin cords of reddish-brown timber from the many shrubs and low trees dotting the landscape; small assortments of gemstones; pouches of spices; and so much more. All, at the young man and his assistant's direction, had been sorted into piles.

And with a team of willing volunteers under their command, plenty of work had been done already. The ten curtains, about forty-two feet by six feet each, woven of fine linen with blue and purple and scarlet yarn and angelic designs, were maybe the most challenging and most important. But they were done. Loops on the edges, linked by gold rings, fastened the ten curtains into a unit. Eleven larger curtains, forty-five by six feet each, of goat's hair had a similar design and arrangement, and a massive skin covering was underway to keep everything safe from the harsh desert sun. Meanwhile, craftsmen were arranging wooden frames and bars, and he'd started teaching another team the art of metallurgy to produce a gold covering for it all.

But his fast-paced mind was already racing and dancing over the next project – one he'd handle personally, from beginning to end, if he had his way. A wooden crate, not too large – about 3'9" long, 2'3" wide, and just as high as wide – overlaid outside and inside with purest gold, with gold rings for support by gold-overlaid wooden poles. But it was the more intricate goldwork on the top – this model throne and cherubic flanking – that would really excite his talent. He wanted it perfect in every detail; he yearned to see them as lifelike as possible, as if they could fly from his workmanship to heaven and back. What he was about to make was no ordinary artwork. It would be indwelt with power and flame and brightness. If the tent he'd woven was a universe in miniature, he was about to remake the heaven beyond the stars. With his own hands, Bezalel thought, and with his very own fingers and his very own tools, he would craft a covering of such beauty that the Consuming Fire of the Almighty would touch and caress it, that it should be a portal to God's eternity. The whole project of this ark of the covenant and this tabernacle seemed too vast, Bezalel thought, and he was so young, so fresh from Egyptian slavery. But then he felt a breeze. And in the breeze, somehow, Bezalel felt his heart thrill, his blood pulsate, his soul waken to the light. He felt a wind raging inside him, a tempest of action waiting to be unleashed. And so, with all doubt blown away like dust in the wind, he steeled himself for the work to which he was driven.

When we think of the Book of Exodus, more likely than not, we think about the familiar story of the actual exit from Egypt: the burning bush, the call of Moses, the confrontations with Pharaoh, the ten plagues, the passage through the sea. Or maybe we're in less of a story mode, so we think of the lists of laws, starting with the Ten Commandments we read in chapter twenty. But we're less likely to remember that basically the last entire third of the whole book is a continuous treatment of one key project: the plans for, and production of, the Tabernacle and all its accoutrements. Everything needed as a place for God to dwell with his people, which is exactly the climax of the book: when the glory-cloud takes up residence in this well-furnished tent, and Moses no longer has to go mountain-climbing every time he needs to mediate between God and the people. But for that to be possible, and for the whole sacrificial system to begin, they need all the physical pieces to make that happen. Those don't just appear out of nowhere. They don't drop from the sky. They need to be made, and they need to be made well.

Like any major construction project, it'll take a team. But at the head of this team are two men, standing in for the whole nation. One man, Oholiab, is from the far-back reaches of the encampment, as the tribes are to be arranged; he's from the tribe of Dan. But the other man is from Judah, from the vanguard of the Israelite march through the wilderness. Bezalel, the real leader of this enterprise. He's probably not a biblical figure you think of very much. He doesn't have the name recognition of an Adam, a Noah, a Moses, a David. He's got no book named after him; he has to settle for my cat being named for him. But Bezalel the man, Bezalel the Judahite, was responsible for the holy project that consumes the last part of Exodus and makes possible everything that follows. And he's far from uninteresting.

See, the Bible names for us Oholiab's father Ahisamach (Exodus 31:6). That's not uncommon – we often get a father's name for various biblical characters. A grandfather's name is unusual, but we hear that Bezalel is the son of Uri, and that Uri himself was the son of a Judahite named Hur (Exodus 31:2). And if we've been reading closely, that name should ring a bell. In Exodus 17, during the Battle at Rephidim when the Israelites were being harassed by the Amalekites, Moses stood on a hill with arms raised up in blessing and his staff uplifted, to ensure the army's victory. But he couldn't keep his hands up by himself. So he sat down, and his one arm was held up by his brother Aaron. And who held up the other arm? Hur. The Bible doesn't bother explaining where he came from. Later Jewish tradition says he was either the husband or the son of Moses' older sister Miriam – a natural counterpart to Aaron. And then, when Moses and the elders ate a covenant banquet in God's presence, and when Moses was called up into the cloud to receive the Law, whom did he put in charge while he was gone? “Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute, let him go to them” (Exodus 24:14).

It was while Moses was on the mountain, communing with God and beholding the pattern for the tabernacle and its contents, that the Israelites down below were rebelling. Deciding Moses was a goner, they demanded new gods they could actually see in their midst: a golden idol shaped like a calf. Aaron, one of Moses' deputies – we hear about his part in everything, how he gives in to their demands and makes the idol as asked. Where has Hur gone? He never shows up again. Jewish tradition suggests he stood in the way of their idolatry, and the mob killed him, making him one of the first martyrs. The faithful grandson of a man like that – well, he couldn't be very old when it happened. His early thirties, at most; and later rabbis suggested that Bezalel may have only been a teenager – that it was a teenager, grandson of a godly man, whom God chose to be responsible for the holiest construction project of that generation.

That seems strange, doesn't it? That's not a choice you or I would make, to take the most important work and hand it over to somebody that young, who's probably never had a chance to even try his hand at something remotely like it. What practice is he likely to have had, growing up doing hard labor in Egypt? And yet God chooses him. In fact, the Bible tells us, God says, “I have called by name Bezalel” (Exodus 31:2). God has singled him out, appointed him personally and specifically. And you know, the Hebrew phrase here, calling by name – that's not a common one. Who else gets 'called by name' in the Old Testament? Usually, it's God himself – when people “call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 26:25, etc.). Once, it's the stars, which God “brings out … by number, calling them all by name” (Isaiah 40:26). And then, once, it's Israel, to whom God says in Isaiah 43, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). A list with the LORD God Almighty, the blazing stars in the sky, God's elect and holy nation as a whole... and this one young man Bezalel. Bezalel is important enough to belong on that list. Bezalel is important enough to have his individuality singled out by God like that. One Jewish tradition says that Bezalel was chosen and had his name written down in a heavenly book even before Adam was created. Now that's some calling! Bezalel is the very definition of a man with a calling on his life, as much so if not more than any of the prophets.

But Bezalel has something else going for him. When God lets Moses in on his plans, God adds, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God” (Exodus 31:3). Now, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the LORD, was plenty active in the days of the Old Testament. Sometimes the Spirit is said to be 'upon' someone – the Spirit 'was upon' judges like Jephthah (Judges 11:29). The Spirit 'came upon' Levites like Jahaziel and Gentiles like Balaam to make them prophesy truth (2 Chronicles 20:14). The Spirit 'rushed upon' warriors like Samson and David (Judges 14:19; 1 Samuel 16:13). The Spirit 'fell upon' prophets like Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:5). The Spirit was even present 'in' Joseph (Genesis 41:38). We're even told that the Spirit 'clothed' the priest Zechariah in the days of King Joash – Zechariah, who was stoned to death for speaking out (2 Chronicles 24:20). But do you know how many times a person in the Old Testament is said to be 'filled' with the Spirit, the most radical term yet? Not many. Micah, the prophet, announces, “As for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8). Maybe Joshua was, because once Moses laid hands on him, he was “full of the spirit of wisdom” (Deuteronomy 34:9). But before either of them, twice Bezalel is said to be “filled with the Spirit of God” (Exodus 31:3; 35:31). We should take special notice of Bezalel today: he's the very first Spirit-filled believer in the Bible!

Others are moved by the Spirit, touched by the Spirit, even indwelt by the Spirit, but Bezalel is all but unique in being “filled with the Spirit.” And if the Spirit gives gifts, well, Bezalel has them in abundance. Just look at all the qualities he has. God himself describes them. Through being filled with the Spirit, Bezalel is filled with “wisdom.” He receives a special gift of skill to apply what he sees and knows in making decisions. Bezalel is filled with “understanding.” He receives a special gift of ability to logically reason through what he can't yet see. His brainpower is amped up. Bezalel is filled with “knowledge.” He receives a special gift of awareness of and familiarity with God, and not just with God, but God's creation. Whole fields of science, math, art, what he's surely never had the chance to study – he's supernaturally familiar with them. He's even filled with “all craftsmanship,” or “all works.” All this doesn't have to stay within the confines of Bezalel's head. He receives a special gift of hands-on practical achievement of what he knows, understands, and applies. Bezalel is Tesla, Einstein, DaVinci, and the Wright Brothers, all rolled into one (Exodus 31:3), the gift of God (Proverbs 2:6)!

But there are specific forms of work, specific kinds of craftsmanship, Bezalel is equipped with. He's filled with this abilities “to make artistic designs” – literally, to think thoughts or plan plans – and “to make in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones to fill, and in carving of timber – to make in all workmanship” (Exodus 31:4-5). With those gifts, and complemented by Oholiab's God-given gifting as “an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine-twined linen” (Exodus 38:23), Bezalel is more than competent in every sort of artistic endeavor and every sort of crafty construction that's set before him – all gifts given by the Spirit of God who fills him, rages like a creative tempest inside him.

All this is necessary for them to make what God describes: “the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that's on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with 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” (Exodus 31:7-11). Bezalel has to engage in those tasks because he has a tabernacle complex to make and fill and furnish, and he has the qualities he has because the Spirit is filling and gifting him to equip him for those tasks.

And the tabernacle, like the temple after it, was designed to be something like a scale-model of the universe – but put back in order with God at the heart of everything. That's why the blue and purple are so prominent: the colors of the evening sky. That's the point of the way the tabernacle is designed, and the point of its being consecrated on the first day of the new year (cf. Exodus 40:2).

So if the tabernacle is a model universe, what does that make of the man who builds it? Think about the role Bezalel is playing in this! What three gifts did the Spirit fill him with? Wisdom, understanding, knowledge. In Proverbs, we read what qualities God used to make the universe: “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open and the clouds drop down the dew” (Proverbs 3:19-20). And when the Spirit fills Bezalel with “all works” (Exodus 31:3), that's the same phrase Genesis uses for the six days of creation: “all his work” (Genesis 2:2-3). Bezalel does in miniature what God did in making a universe. Bezalel is equipped by the Spirit to follow in God's footsteps and create a model universe that unwinds the Fall. And that's why Bezalel and his project get such top billing in Exodus. That's why Bezalel is given so many virtually unique blessings, why he's called by name from the start, why he's filled with the Spirit of God in ways never said of Adam, Noah, Moses, Aaron, or David.

If his grandfather Hur did die for opposing a false way of making God near in a golden calf, Bezalel lived to accomplish a true new way of having God near: by building the tabernacle through which his presence would be in our midst. I almost wonder if it would be fair to call Bezalel the Mary of the Old Testament! Mary was “overshadowed” by the “power of the Most High” (Luke 1:35), and through her came the human body of Jesus – and in this flesh, John tells us, the Word “pitched his tabernacle among us” (John 1:14). Mary was overshadowed by God to conceive through the Spirit and produce a tabernacle of skin and flesh and blood for the Word of the LORD. Bezalel's name means “In the Shadow of God,” and that same Spirit filled him to produce a tabernacle of skin and fabric and wood for the Glory of the LORD. Bezalel is filled with the Spirit of God, and that means a special blessing, a special gifting. But the reason why is because he has tasks to perform that add up to a mind-blowing mission. Bezalel is greatly blessed for a great purpose.

Bezalel was almost alone in the Old Testament in being “filled with the Spirit.” But the New Testament is a different story. John the Baptist and both his parents stand out, of course (Luke 1:15, 41, 67). But then a big thing happens. On the anniversary of the day Moses came down from the mountain with the Law, the followers of Jesus are gathered in one place (Acts 2:1), and “suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house” (Acts 2:2). And the house isn't all that gets filled. On Pentecost, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Later on, again and again, we hear that the early believers were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31), that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:8), that Paul was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17; 13:9), that the disciples on the whole were “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). After Pentecost, Bezalel wasn't so alone.

Why were they filled with the Spirit? Because they had a mission to take up. And in this mission, there were various tasks to be done. And just as Bezalel and Oholiab had tasks assigned to them, and just as the various volunteers given wisdom and skill from God had subtasks assigned to them, so we read of a case where two early Christians were assigned a special task: “In the church at Antioch..., the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:1-3). Barnabas and Saul, like Bezalel and Oholiab, were filled with the Spirit and equipped for tasks that furthered the broader mission. It's undeniable that Barnabas and Saul were mightily blessed. But the mighty blessing came with and for a mighty purpose. That's the pattern of Bezalel.

What does that mean for us? Where do we fit in all this? What does Bezalel have to teach us, God's people living in a post-Pentecost age? Well, look at it this way. If Bezalel was “called by name” (Exodus 31:2), the Lord tells us that we are “called by [his] name” (Acts 15:17), that there is an “honorable name by which you were called” (James 2:7). If Bezalel was chosen from before the days of Adam, like Jewish tradition suggested, well, Scripture reminds us that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4). If Bezalel had the Spirit, we have the same Spirit: “God's Spirit dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16), and “you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). And if Bezalel was special in being “filled with the Spirit of God” (Exodus 31:3), Paul urges us, too, to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). And if Bezalel was filled with God's world-making qualities of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and 'every work,' so Paul prayed for us to be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:9-10). Whether you're as young as Bezalel or as old as Hur, the very same special blessing given to Bezalel is available to each and every one of us, each and every one of you!

Why? Because you are greatly blessed for a great purpose! God aims for you to be blessed like Bezalel for just as great a purpose as Bezalel. That's the wonder of Pentecost! God did not pour his Spirit on you, God did not put his Spirit in you, God did not invite you to be fully filled with the Spirit, for just no reason – for us to just sit around and waste away, for us to complain and whine and do nothing, for us to fritter away our blessings on our own little golden calves and on arks to store our own private trinkets. He has blessed and gifted you for bigger, larger things. We have one clear mission: to know Christ and make him known, to disciple the nations, to be the church as a scale-model new creation and a sign of God's kingdom, and through this to heal the world. For the aim of that mission, some tasks we share in common; other tasks may differ. “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,” Paul writes, and “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. … All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). But make no mistake: ever since that first-century Pentecost, you, like Bezalel, have been greatly blessed for a great purpose. Don't turn away from it. Today, on Pentecost, I pray for God to not only fill you with his Spirit, but to rage in you like a tempest, driving you with a gale-force “mighty rushing wind” to your work that suits the purpose of God for this his people on this very day. Remember Bezalel. Amen.