ANB 71, work like Bezaleel (3-7-06)

Hey everyone, as many of you know I am about to graduate from law school, Praise the
Lord. So I have certainly been in prayer and the Word about where I should work after
school. We'll leave that issue for another time, but I did feel led to share with you some
of what I have seen in God's Word.

"And the Lord spake to Moses, saying, 'See, I have called by name Bezaleel . . . and I
have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold,
and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stone, to set, and in carving of timber, to
work in all manner of workmanship. And I behold, I have given with him Aholiab . . .
and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all
that I have commanded you." (Exodus 31:1-6).

Glory to God. So what we have hear is God telling Moses who is going to build all of the
Old Testament Tabernacle. This was the Tabernacle that was carried with them for some
time throughout the wilderness. This was the Tabernacle that housed the Arc of the
Covenant. God told Moses to build the Tabernacle and many pieces of furniture and
different curtains/coverings that would go inside and outside. This was to be God's first
man made structure that He came and inhabited on a regular basis. Glory to God. So you
know this was going to be a special building.

So God found a faithful builder, Bezaleel, and God gave him His Spirit to complete the
work in a divine manner. When you look at the phrase, 'all manner of workmanship,' in
the Hebrew, you see that God really put His wisdom into Bezaleel to perform every kind
of work. Think of that, God anointed (called and empowered) this human to do every
kind of work. While you may just think that God's Spirit was on him to do this manual
labor, and specific types of manual labor are listed there, the word 'workmanship' is the
generic term for 'work.' So God gave Bezaleel the wisdom to do every kind of
work. Praise the Lord.

So this same Spirit of God can come into you and empower you to do every kind of
work. Let's say you are a lawyer, doctor, accountant, construction worker, or whatever.
I'm not belittling these jobs, but they are still all flesh knowledge, sense/natural realm
jobs. You are working for God with earthly knowledge and you are working on earthly
things. God wants to come and give you His Spirit of wisdom for your job, whatever it
is. God cares a great deal about your work. God tells us to work as if we worked for
Him (Colossians 3:23). God wants to empower you to do this. Glory to God.

Let's look for a second at two more aspects of this story. First, God gave many specific
instructions to Bezaleel about the Tabernacle and the things that would go inside it.
Some things however, God did not give exact specifications for, like the brass wash
laver. I believe related to this idea is the phrase, 'cunning work' mentioned by God
above. This phrase really speaks of creative work. A recreated spirit in Christ Jesus is
the only one that can truly be creative. A fascinating fact, those countries without
widespread Christianity have not had intellectual property laws for any significant length
of time. That is because the Spirit of God is not in those places. They can only copy,
they cannot create.

God wants to empower us to do 'cunning work.' With God's Spirit we can be creative in
a Holy way. God will show us how to do new and better things in our jobs for His glory.
Bezaleel didn't need exact specifications, with a Holy Spirit of creativity he could see a
holy and powerful way to make these extra items according to God's will.

The last part of this verse that I find particularly interesting is God's Word that 'in the
hearts of the wisehearted I have put wisdom.' We see first that God says He puts wisdom
into our hearts. He doesn't say He puts wisdom into our minds. God speaks to our
spirits, which aren't corrupted by our worldly minds. It is our spirits that commune with
God, that are one with God, that are His Temple, that are purified by Jesus blood (1
Corinthians 6). We are the new Testament Tabernacle, and God will meet with us here
and give us wisdom here.

So we must develop wise hearts so God sees us as an open channel for His wisdom.
If we will seek after Godly Wisdom by going to His Word, looking at His ways, and
applying them to our lives, God will see us as wise hearted. To him who has more will
be given (Matthew 25:29). If we will show ourselves wisehearted before God, God will
bless us with His wisdom. When we have God's wisdom, we can create and work with
the Spirit of God infilling all that we do. That's the kind of blessing for work we can
walk in. So ask God for His Spirit of Wisdom, let it come to you and affect everything
you do. You will see the Glory of God manifested in even your vocational calling.
Praise God.