Last time we introduced Bezalel, who was called by God to be an amazing craftsman and serve the Lord by building the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle of Worship. Let’s see how he did with this important job and how it applies to us today.
Bezalel – Serving God with His Hands – Part 2
Building the tabernacle was a complex and amazing project. For a quick example, look at Bezalel’s construction of the Ark of the Covenant.
Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold all around it. (Exodus 37:1-2) [For the top of the Ark,] He also made the mercy seat of pure gold. (Exodus 37:6a) [To cover the mercy seat,] He made two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of one piece at the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 37:7)
The Ark with the mercy seat was placed inside the Most Holy Place, the inner room of the tabernacle. The mercy seat was where the high priest put the blood from a sacrifice to make an atonement for national sin once a year. (Leviticus 16) This was the central point of the entire sacrificial system of worship. It did not float down from Heaven on a cloud. God used a man’s hands to build it, Bezalel’s.
You’ve probably heard someone use an expression about being God’s hands on Earth. The Bible talks about the Church being the body of Christ with many members and functions.
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8)
Have you ever thought that your skills were not as important as someone else’s? Consider this, God has given each of us an important function.
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (1 Corinthians 12:17-18)
Could your body work if it were a giant eye with no hands or feet? Could the Church function if everyone was a deacon but there was no choir? Could society function if everyone was a movie star but there were no farmers? Now think about your skill or talents? Are you able to work with your hands? What could the Lord do with your hands? What could He do with your voice or feet?
Back to Bezalel, how do we know he was really seeking the Lord? He was faithful to complete the task and do all the Lord wanted.
Bezalel…made all that the Lord had commanded Moses. [And] Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses blessed them. (Exodus 38:22; 39:43)
The Lord approved of Bezalel’s work, and when it was all put together and set up,
Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34)
Bezalel’s faithfulness blessed many people for many years. His work provided a visible reminder of God’s covenant and a place for worship for an entire nation that lasted until Israel had a king who built a temple.(1 Chronicles 16:1) Even after that the Ark of the Covenant and mercy seat went into that famous temple which Solomon built (2 Chronicles 5) and remained a centerpiece of worship until the nation went into captivity.
This earthly work had amazing spiritual lessons that were not fully understood until after Jesus came and revealed them to us in the New Testament book of Hebrews. We’ll find out about that next time!
If you’d like to learn the details of the work that was done, read Exodus 36:8-38:20. For help in understanding all of it, get the booklet “The Tabernacle: God’s Portrait of Christ” by Dr. James V. McGee from Thru the Bible at www.ttb.org. To see what the tabernacle looked like, get the Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Time Lines by Rose Publishing.