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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ex. 34
Moses interceded with God on behalf of the Israelites. He asked God to, “forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession.” (Ex. 34:9b). That is precisely what Jesus does for us.
Ex. 35-36
God gave Bezalel three things to help him with his appointed task. First, He, “filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every kind of craft” (Ez. 35:31). In addition to that, He gave him an assistant, Oholiab. Thirdly, God gave both men the ability to teach others. I see so much in all of that! And I think it boils down to a pattern of leadership.
We see a similar thing with Moses. God gave directly to Moses whatever he needed to fulfill his mission. Moses never did any of it alone, however. First, he had Aaron as his mouthpiece. Later, he had Joshua, who was with him in everything. Then, using all that God provided, Moses taught the people everything that God taught him. Moving on from Moses, I see the same kind of pattern in Jesus and His apostles. They all took their firsthand knowledge and passed it on to others through teaching. And none of them ever did it alone. They always went at least in twos. Maybe that was for strength and support. Maybe it was a power check measure so that God and not any one man received the glory. Either way we know that where two or more are gathered in Jesus’ name, God is with them. (See Matt. 18:20).
It’s curious to me, then, that, though it is quite clear that a group of skilled people did the work of building the tabernacle, the Bible attributes the work to Bezalel. The only thing that comes to mind regarding that is the extra responsibility that goes along with leadership. If a leader does his work properly, as Bezalel did, the result will point through him to God. If, however, he points the people elsewhere, the resulting judgment lands on him. As James said, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (Jms. 3:1).