“Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.” -Exodus 36:1-7
After God delivered Moses and the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, He prescribed a very specific manner in which they were to live and worship Him. God commanded them how to conduct themselves in daily life in every topic from laws and punishments for breaking those laws down to the minutia of how to eat and dress. He was just as complete and particular with their worship: He laid out in meticulous detail what they would do in worship, who would perform each portion of the service, when and where certain parts of worship would be conducted, and gave many of the reasons for why they would worship in those specific ways. These instructions included details on exactly the sizes, shapes, materials, functional features, and adorning features of all the items used in the law service. A non-exhaustive list of what Israel needed to produce is: the curtains for the court and tabernacle, the ark, the table with its furnishings, the alter of sacrifice with its affiliated tools, the garments for the priests with their accessories, and the alter of incense.
All of these many items were made of fine materials such as gold, brass, fine linen, and shittim wood. Additionally, they had to be fashioned according to God’s specifications. Here, we consider the difficulty: where will the children of Israel (who are currently traveling in the wilderness) find the materials and craftsmen who could make all of these things? The answer begins in Exodus 12:35-36 when Israel began the Exodus out of Egypt. When they left, God moved the Egyptians to give them the types of materials they would ultimately need for God’s service. At that point, the children of Israel possessed the riches of Egypt, but these riches were possessed by the individuals of Israel, not by Moses or the Levites who would be performing the law service. So, God commanded Moses in Exodus 25 (and Moses obeyed it in Exodus 35), “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering…”
As recorded in the study text, the children of Israel were moved to offer of their own substance more than enough for the service of God. What a testimony this is! It is one thing when someone pays an obligation such as government taxes, but it is an entirely different concept that people should give of their goods willingly! Moses did not have to beg and plead with these people; in fact, he had to restrain them because they gave too much. This is an inspiring example of the generosity of the Lord’s people. In Old Testament times, the ongoing service was supported by tithing. However, in the New Testament, our practice is parallel to the willing gifts of Israel, not tithing. Consider II Corinthians 9:7: “Every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” It is a blessing when God moves His people to give of their goods; but it is even more of a blessing when God moves His people to give themselves in His service, as did the wise hearted men.
This brings me to the next point: The wise hearted men did not simply give their possessions to the service; the text says that they actually did the work. I record verse 2 here again for emphasis: “And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it…” The wise hearted men of Israel committed their time, energy, and skills to preparing the instruments of the service of God. This is a God-honoring and encouraging example to us. Especially in today’s time of comfort and prosperity, our time and heartfelt dedication is worth far more than the monetary value of our gifts.
But there is still more to study here. The wisdom in the hearts of the men of Israel which prompted them to give to God’s service did not originate with them! God Himself put that wisdom in their hearts, and then they acted in wisdom. Both the motivation to work and the ability to work came from God! Because pride is one of the faults of our nature, men frequently take far too much credit for skills that God has blessed them to develop. In this text, Moses enlisted craftsmen of a variety of secular trades (carpenters, apothecaries, stoneworkers, carvers, etc). From the study of Bezaleel and Aholiab, we learn that even skill in a secular craft ultimately is the gift of God (Exodus 31:2-6). Of course, we must learn, practice, and grow our skills in the secular world (no differently than the fact that we must learn, practice, and grow spiritually). Nonetheless, the ability to learn, practice, and grow comes from God!
If we understand this properly, this truth enables us to recognize that dedication of our labor to God is simply returning to Him what He has already given to us. It helps us make sense of the fact that our worship of God is not limited to time when we are engaged in studying the Bible or attending church, but that it also extends to time we spend engaged in any kind of profitable activity. Bezaleel and Aholiab were not “praising God” in the sense we normally think of praise, but what they did certainly was praising to God. Our efforts in work in the modern time are not any different from the work of Bezaleel and Aholiab. If we are wise hearted, we will employ the work ethic described in Colossians 3:23, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” In every aspect of life, our perspective should be that we are simply using the good things God gave us to cheerfully return praise and thanksgiving to Him. Whether our labor is in the field of our families, secular workplaces, or church, we should be both industrious and joyful in it. In doing so, we will follow the God-honoring pattern of working like wise hearted men.