Exodus 36 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin

        Bezalel and Oholiab were master craftsmen highly endowed by the Holy Spirit with both knowledge and skill.  God had gifted them in this way in part that they might be able to construct God’s holy tabernacle and all its furnishings.  Of course, they didn’t carry out all the work themselves, but they trained and equipped other gifted individuals to work with them in this marvelous endeavor.  And together they carried out every detail exactly as the Lord had commanded back in chapters 25-30. 

      In the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 3:10ff, the apostle Paul describes himself in the same way saying, “According to the grace of God given me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it.  Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”  Paul is not seeking to carry out all the work on his own but to train others up to build God’s house.  In fact, he says in Ephesians 4:11ff that God “gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”  So in both cases, the Lord filled certain individuals with the Spirit to train the rest of God’s people to build up the church of God.  And together that is what they did.  There is always plenty of work to be done, but one or two master craftsmen cannot do it alone.  It requires a whole crew who are willing to learn and to do their work unto the Lord. 

      Notice too that these men didn’t do this work begrudgingly, but that the Lord had stirred their hearts to come and to do the work.  They wanted to see God’s glory manifested in their midst.  They were eager to serve the Lord.  In addition, those who were not directly involved in the building process itself were giving anything they could to contribute to the final work.  They were bringing not merely a tithe into the storehouse but were bringing free will offerings every morning for they were exceedingly zealous for the ministry of the Lord.  Apparently, their giving went above and beyond what had been asked of them, for the laborers begged Moses to have them stop bringing anymore offerings to them, and Moses actually commanded them to refrain from bringing anymore for the contributions.

      Truly, it is a blessing to have all three of things working in sync: to have spirt-filled and highly skilled master builders, to have willing and humble workers to come alongside them in their work, and to have the members of the church readily giving and making sacrifices for the sake of Christ’s Church.  Oh, may the Lord bless His church in every generation with these three things.