to devise artistic work -- to work in gold, and in silver, and in copper,
God has called Bezalel by name and filled him with His Spirit, and here He says what that filling is for: the designs and the metalwork of the tabernacle. Why would a craftsman need the Spirit of God at all?
Craft skill is not where most readers expect the Spirit to be at work. One writer admits how strange it sounds:
To Christians it may seem strange that God filled men with the Spirit to give them craftsmanship and skill, but so it was. God gave the artistic ability. We know the Holy Spirit gives spiritual power. He changes our lives and enables us to offer spiritual sacrifices. But in Exodus the things produced were physical objects. Yet, though made with hands, Divine power was needed.
One writer looks up the older wording of this phrase, then reads the three metals as pictures:
When I look up this phrase, "devise curious things," I find it means — to think artistic things… These artistic things were worked in gold, silver and brass, suggesting the nature, disposition and character of God. Silver, which often pictures redemption, would speak of the disposition of God as a Saviour-God today.
Exact copying was not the whole task. One writer explains with a comparison:
People point to this difference between a photograph and a portrait drawn by an artist. The photograph will produce the exact features, so it can be a precise likeness. But an artist can put a life look into the picture by his own genius and spirit. So we say, "It is a speaking likeness." The tabernacle and its vessels had to be a living, "speaking" picture of the things in the heavens, and they had to reflect the mind of God. So the work needed a man filled with the Spirit of God, to build and shape them with divine wisdom and knowledge.
Another writer ties this back to what our Lord said the Spirit would do:
Our Lord said of the Spirit, "He will glorify me" (John 16:14). The Tabernacle was meant to show the glories of Christ. Should we be surprised, then, that the Holy Spirit gave special gift and oversight, so that every part would express the thoughts of God exactly?
Metalworking appears earlier in Scripture, in a very different setting:
There is a useful lesson to learn from comparing this chapter with Genesis 6. "Tubal-cain... the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron." The descendants of Cain were given unholy skill, to make a cursed and groaning earth a delightful spot without the presence of God. "Bezaleel and Aholiab," on the other hand, were given divine skill to beautify a sanctuary — a sanctuary that the presence and glory of the God of Israel would make holy and blessed.
One writer draws a warning out of this for every kind of service:
It is evident that to do God's work mere natural ability is not enough. Bezaleel may have had a natural aptitude for such work; if so, it was not enough. He had to be filled with the Spirit of God to do it. If that was true of work on material things, how much more when the service of God concerns spiritual things, and the welfare of the souls of men.
One writer names the test that such service has to pass:
The proof of divine wisdom in service is that the thing done is according to the word of God. "According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do."
- Given, not grown. God put the skill to design and to work gold, silver and bronze into a man. The man did not bring it to God.
- Given for Christ. The Spirit filled him because everything he would shape pictured Christ. The Spirit's work is to glorify Christ.
- Given against the grain. Cain's line used metalwork to beautify a world without God; here it beautifies a sanctuary God would fill.
- Given, so talent is not enough. If material work needed the Spirit's filling, work touching souls needs it far more.
- Given, and therefore answerable. Even this wisdom faced one test: the finished work had to match what God commanded.
and in cutting of stones, for setting, and for carving of timber -- to work in all manner of work.
God names three trades here: cutting stones, carving wood, and craft of every kind. He counts each one as a gift He has placed in a man. Why would God's dwelling place need artistic skill at all, and where does such skill come from?
We do not usually link stonecutting and carving with the Holy Spirit. One writer admits the idea sounds strange, then says why it should not:
Of the first it is said: "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship" (Ex. 31:3, older translation). To Christians it may seem strange that men were filled with the Spirit to give them craftsmanship and skill, but that is what happened… God gave the artistic ability. We know the Holy Spirit gives spiritual power. He changes our lives and enables us to offer spiritual sacrifices. But in Exodus the things produced were solid objects. Even so, God's power was needed to make them by hand. This should not surprise us, because everything Bezaleel made was a picture of Christ.
Bezalel may well have had natural ability. But something beyond correct measurements was required, and one writer captures the difference with an illustration from art:
There is said to be this difference between a photograph and a portrait drawn by an artist. The photograph will produce the exact features, so it may be an exact likeness. But an artist can put a living look into the picture by his own genius and spirit. So we say, "It is a speaking likeness." The tabernacle and its vessels had to be a living, "speaking" picture of the things in the heavens. They had to reflect the mind of God. So God needed a man filled with His Spirit to build and shape them with divine wisdom and knowledge. Human skill could give accurate construction, but that was not what was needed. What was needed was a true reflection of the wisdom of God.
Skilled metalwork appears earlier in the Bible, in a very different family line:
There is a useful lesson in comparing this chapter with Genesis 6. "Tubal-cain was an instructor of every craftsman in brass and iron." The descendants of Cain were given unholy skill, and they used it to make a cursed and groaning earth a delightful place, without the presence of God. "Bezaleel and Aholiab," on the other hand, were given divine skill to beautify a sanctuary — a place the presence and glory of the God of Israel would make holy and blessed.
Being filled for the work did not make these men self-sufficient. It tied them to God. Another writer names the test of wisdom in service:
The second thing is this: God called them by name and filled them with His Spirit. He made them depend on Him for the wisdom and understanding to carry out the work He entrusted to them. Man's wisdom is of no use in the service of God… But if God's servants remembered that there can be no understanding or wisdom apart from God — none at all, except what they receive from Him — they would be kept in constant dependence. That is the only way to receive it. This would produce waiting on God instead of activity. There is action, of course, once the word to act has been given. But first comes waiting, to get the wisdom the service needs. One more thing may be added. The proof of divine wisdom in service is that the thing done matches the word of God: "They shall do all that I have commanded you."
The patient shaping of stone and wood pictures something else. One writer applies it to the care believers give one another:
Bezaleel and his helpers took each rough-cut part of the tabernacle as it arrived. By patient and skilful care, design and labour they developed and perfected the character of each part, until at last all of them formed one glorious and harmonious whole. Scripture gives these craftsmen an important place. That may lead all who know and serve the Lord to weigh the great value and importance of their work — and not only those whose work is public and prominent. As Peter says, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another." Where grace has given an ability, it has also given a responsibility. We are all given the care of the characters of one another.
- Called — God calls His workmen by name. The call and the skill both come from Him.
- Filled — the skill behind stonecutting and carving came from the Spirit of God, not from natural talent alone.
- Skilled — the aim was not exact copying but a "speaking likeness." The finished work reflected God's mind, and everything made pointed to Christ.
- Directed — gift does not remove dependence. The test of divine wisdom in service is simple: the thing done matches what God commanded.
- Applied — the same patient shaping of rough material shows how believers are to care for one another. Where there is a gift, there is a responsibility.