Exodus 31 Devotional
By Pastor Mark Hudson
This chapter easily divides into two sections. 31:1-11 about Bezalel and Oholiab and 31:12-18 on the Sabbath. I want to focus on the first 11 verses of this chapter. I love this section because God is calling gifted men who know how to work with their hands to serve Him in the fabrication of items for worship. This seems like a contrast to what we currently see as being gifted by God. Giftedness is valued in Christian ministry in areas such as singing, speaking, leading, but rarely, it seems, in areas like we find in Exodus 31:3ff: craftsmanship, design, working in gold, silver, and bronze, cutting stones, carving wood, and “work in every craft.”
Lest you think that God only values skills you observe in a worship service, think more about these verses. The people who could not serve as priests were called by God to design and make a variety of objects for the tabernacle. God calls people to be nurses, doctors, politicians (yes, politicians), teachers, and engineers. God equips others to design instruments or machines to improve our lives. God calls builders, and those who fix our devises for web browsing to their callings. God calls people into “secular” jobs. Building bridges, for example, may not sound important until you start noticing how many bridges there are within 20 miles of your home.
God bless those of you who work with your hands. Don’t think God does not care about your work or that He does not value your efforts to improve vehicles, building materials, devices use in surgeries, or those who build foundations for homes. He always has cared about those who work with their hands.
In verse 3, notice the following, “I have called by name Bezalel. . . and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability . . . .” This may sound unusual but God fills these two men with His Holy Spirit and they build and fabricate furniture and design artwork for the tabernacle. Stuart writes that a clearer translation might be, “I have filled him with God’s Spirit in (regards to) wisdom, in insight. . . .” Verse three does not say that God gave Bezalel four things: the Spirit of God, skill, ability, and knowledge.” Rather, God fills him with the Spirit enabling him to be wiser, more insightful, etc. The Spirit does not merely create enthusiasm or excitement but the Spirit empowers God’s people to do His will and to speak His words.
Stuart goes on to elucidate what “being filled with the Spirit” means. It is a Biblical idiom for “having from God the ability to do or say exactly what God wants done or said.” In Micah 3:8, Micah describes being filled with the Spirit, “to declare Jacob his transgressions . . . in other words, to speak God’s Word forcefully and effectively – to say what God wanted said. The angel’s assurance to Zechariah that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth (Luke 1:15) empowering John to be persuasive: “Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.
You will see this same dynamic in Acts 2:42; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9, 52. In fact in Acts 5:3, Peter asserts the opposite is true so that “Satan” had “filled” Ananias, therefore“he lied to the Holy Spirit.” When Satan fills us, we disobey God. When the Holy Spirit fills us, we obey God.
Maybe this helps you sort out some of the discussion about “being filled with the Spirit.” I know I was confused about what that meant when I was a young Christian. Although I still have much to learn, I have advanced a bit since those younger days. Maybe you can see why being filled with the Spirit is so important. If you want to obey God, you need His Spirit to do and say exactly what He wants.