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Page 1 of 9 Bezalel: You are Gifted by God
The Power of One Life 5.0
Exodus 35:30-36:7
by Eric Stillman
June 29th, 2008
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This morning I’m in the fifth week of a series I’m calling The Power of One Life, where I’m focusing on minor characters in the Bible and the impact they had, for better or worse, on their generation. Even though many of these people are spoken of for maybe no more than a chapter or two in the Bible, they are great examples of what God can do with a life that is lived in faithfulness to Him, or sometimes what God can do with the people that you least expect to be used by Him. One of my biggest motivators as a pastor is seeing people realize the joy that comes from serving God and others with the gifts He has given you. The joy that comes from seeing Holly share her heart for missions, or Sharman spend her time encouraging people and welcoming new people, seeing the elders (and wives) give of their time to lead this church, when none of you has any obligation to, is a huge blessing to me. So thank you. This morning I want to look at the life of Bezalel in Exodus 35:30. Bezalel is hardly a household name, but his life reveals something crucial about God’s dream for us and the role you were designed to play.
The book of Exodus begins with the story of the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The whole nation passes through the Red Sea, and comes to Mt. Sinai, where God gives them the laws that explain to them what it means to be the people of God and how they are to interact with each other. One of the central features of Exodus is the restoration of God’s presence, which was lost in Eden, to the midst of God’s people. To this end, a big part of the book is given over to explaining how to construct the Tabernacle, which will be the place where God would dwell in their midst. It’s not easy reading for a 21st century American, but the point of all the details is that this is where God’s presence will be among them. This is why the finest materials are used – gold, fine linen, silver, bronze, precious stones (even the priest is required to have sacred undergarments!) – this will be the place where people meet with God, where he dwells, so only the finest materials must be used in order to give him the honor He is due. And in the midst of that we read about a man named Bezalel, in Exodus 35:30-36:3.
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