Thursday: Filled With the Spirit of God
Daily Lesson for Thursday 4th of September 2025
God instructed Moses on every detail in preparation for the tabernacle’s services. Priests were to have priestly garments, but the high priest wore a special ephod, which contained the names of the sons of Israel. He also wore a breastplate, which contained the Urim and Thummim and was to be on his heart (Exodus 28:1-43). All priests were to be consecrated (Exodus 29:1-46). Other items to be carefully prepared were the altar of incense, the basin for washing, the anointing oil, and the incense (Exodus 30:1-38).
Read Exodus 31:1-18. What special assistance did God give so that all the tabernacle’s details and related services would be prepared and built in a beautiful and proper way?
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For the first time in the Scriptures, one reads that God would fill a person with the Spirit of God. What does that mean? Bezalel was empowered to work artistically on the tabernacle. He was filled, i.e., equipped with new skills, understanding, and knowledge on the needed craftsmanship. Additionally, God gave Aholiab and many other craftsmen the same Spirit to assist in this work.
In the midst of all this creativity, God’s Sabbath is presented as a sign between God and His people that the Lord makes them holy. It means that the observance of the fourth commandment is associated with sanctification. Ezekiel later observed: “ ‘I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them’ ” (Ezekiel 20:12, ESV).
The Sabbath is a reminder that the Lord is not only our Creator (Genesis 2:2-3), Redeemer, and God (Deuteronomy 5:15; Mark 2:27-28) but also the Holy One. He transforms people by His presence; through His Spirit and Word, they grow to reflect a loving, kind, unselfish, and forgiving character.
The culminating present that God gave to Moses was the Decalogue (Exodus 31:18). God Himself wrote and gave the two stone tablets with the ten precepts (Exodus 31:18, Deuteronomy 9:9-11). These tablets were to be placed in the Most Holy Place and inside the ark of the covenant, which was under the mercy seat (Exodus 25:21).
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The phrase “mercy seat” comes from one Hebrew word, whose root meaning is “to atone.” Why, then, would this “mercy seat” be set right over God’s law? What hope should we see in this fact? |
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The Lord could have miraculously and instantly built the tabernacle Himself, complete and perfect. Yet in His wisdom He chose to instead involve people in the work, the Lord called them to bring offerings and to use their God given gifts in service. In doing so, God not only provided a dwelling place for His presence but also drew the Israelites into deeper commitment to Him. In their labor and generosity God didn't force anyone but they freely participated showing what the spirit can do in transforming our free will contributions like the construction of the tabernacle into an act of worship.
To make this possible, God filled individuals like Bezalel and Oholiab with His Spirit, granting them wisdom, skill, and creativity far beyond natural ability (Exodus 31:3–5). This shows that when God calls His people, He also equips them. The work was not simply about building a structure, but about Spirit-empowered service that reflected God’s glory. It is possible that today, believers can volunteer their time and talents for the Lord, He takes ordinary offerings and, through His Spirit, shapes them into sacred and unique service.
Have you ever wondered why the Ten Commandments were written on a couple of slabs of stone and hidden in a box, kept in a room without windows and as far as we know, only one person in each generation was allowed in the room with it?
In some respects, the Ten Commandments were a bit like the standard metre. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the metre was defined as the distance between two marks in gold in a platinum bar held in Paris. (It was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance along a line between the North Pole and the equator through Paris.) Very few people had access to the standard metre so copies were made for practical purposes. But in effect all metre rulers are based on the standard metre held in Paris. (For the purists among us, the metre is now defined as the distance travelled by light from a particular line of the Caesium spectrum in 1/299,792,458 of a second, where the second is defined in terms of the caesium light frequency).
Why go to such lengths to define a length? Very few of us can access let alone use the old platinum bar standard metre. And even fewer of us have access to caesium lights and the equipment to use it meaningfully to measure things. However, we all benefit from the standardisation of length and the agreement to use that as the basis of measurement from the smallest quark to the visible universe. The really important thing about the standard metre is that we agree to use it, even if we cannot see it.
The Ten Commandments are the platinum standard and while the original was hidden away in a box and looked after with care, their meaning was to be well understood and applied. Their physical representation was not to be venerated or used as a religious idol, but rather their meaning was to be internalised and practised.
The Bible has quite a bit to say on this:
That last quote is really something to think about because it extends the knowledge of God’s law beyond the Israelites.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft! (Exodus 31:1-5, NLT).
God chose Bezalel son of Uri a man who was already a master craftsman, an expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He was a master at every craft. Yet, God goes ahead and fills him with His Spirit. I am challenged by this passage of scripture. Many of us profess to be “master craftsmen” or true professionals in our fields of specialisations. Yes, to some extent people see us as some “authorities” in our fields. How much do we welcome the Third Personality of the Godhead to enhance our professionalism? This passage of scripture is teaching me the following lessons:
1. Spiritual empowerment is essential in every human activity. Work is not simply a means to earning a living but should be an act of worship.
2. Skills and inspiration come from God.
3. Yes, I might be well qualified in my field of work, that alone is not enough without the hand of God. Human talents are God given and when we allow the Spirit of God to work with us, greater exploits can be achieved for the glory of God.
4. Collaboration under the influence of the Holy Spirit brings real professional success. God want to bless our human endeavours.
5. We are not successful in different fields by accident; God want to use our success for His glory. Particularly to bless those who are less fortunate than us.
“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” - 2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV.
I appreciate much of the comment above, such as
But I am concerned about one important detail:
Our lesson for this day reads
The emphasis here is on God supplying the necessary skills that these men did not previously possess. Their slave labor was in brick laying, not skilled artistry.
Yet, in this comment I read a direct contradiction:
This was supported by a modern Bible translation that reads thus:
However, even in this translation, the Lord first endows Bezaleel with "great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts." The he is said to be "a master craftsman ... " etc.
This is not a minor detail. It suggest that God used these men's innate ability and honored it to do His work - something God can and does do.
However, God also calls people to a work and gives them the needed ability to do it. It is only the latter way of looking at how God works with humanity that allows us to have the faith to do what He asks us to do when we feel unfit or too small for the task. If He tasks us, He enables us.
When the Israelites came to the Red Sea, they did not innately possess the ability to walk through the water to the other side, but as soon as the priests put their feet in the water, God honored their faith by miraculously parting the waters.
God honors our will to do His will, and then He supplies the power through supernatural means. And that's exactly what He did for Bezaleel and his helpers. The skills miraculously bestowed in the desert were inherited by his descendants.(We now know such heritability as epigenetic traits.) (See Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 62)
Sadly, the descendants of the men so miraculously endowed with artistic skills forgot the Source of their skills and started to demand higher wages, and when they could not get them among God's people, they moved to surrounding nations and there supported the worship of other gods with their exceptional talents.
Aholiab was of the tribe of Dan and when Solomon was ready to build his magnificent temple, the man in charge of all the skilled artistic workmanship was a son "of the daughters of Dan," (2 Chr. 2:13, 14) and I believe it likely that he was a descendant of Aholiab.
As I noted above, a modern translation of Exodus 31:3-5 reads thus:
From this it is possible, though not necessary, to understand that Aholiab was already a "master craftsman" before God blessed his skills. (We can also read it as saying that, after God miraculously endowed him with artistic skills, "He is a master craftsman ... ")
This demonstrates the necessity of comparing the reading of several Bible versions if we are not expert in ancient languages - which likely includes almost all of us.
It is easy to make such a comparison. In fact, if you will check the link to Exodus 31:1-5, NLT, you will find that you only need to scroll further down the page to see that no other version suggests the misreading that Bezaleel was already endowed with artistic skills before God miraculously endowed him with such skills.
This comparison is also helpful with old translations, such as the KJV, because it is not a perfect translation. Comparing translations allows us to see the possible meanings in the original text. (Scholars estimate that around 4,000–5,000 words in the KJV have archaic meanings, but not all of these mean the opposite in modern English - many are simply obsolete or slightly altered in connotation.)
Many people do not realize that, in thousands of texts in the KJV, one of the words now means the opposite of what it meant at the time of translation. (There are only a few such words, but they are used many times.) That is why I recommend the NLT to non-native English speakers. It is generally a good translation. However, when you run into texts that suggest the opposite of what the lesson teaches, it is worthwhile to compare translations.
I guess I don't personally see the two ideas to be at odds. I am open to the possibility that Bezalel and Oholiab had some natural talents (which obviously come from God) that God's Spirit empowered to allow them to build the tabernacle. Of course, they might have had no talents at all, but why choose those two men then? And just because they were laying bricks in Egypt didn't mean they didn't possess talent.
Whatever our talents or skills, we need God's Spirit to truly use them for Him. I feel that was what Omwenga was trying to convey. Our skills can never be used for God in the way they are intended without His empowerment. Whether we are born with those skills or God gives them to us, they ultimately come from Him.
In Exodus 31:13 God is saying, you’re going to be really busy making the temple, furnishings, utensils, clothing etc but you must still observe the Sabbath because (v14) it is holiness to you - it clothes you in a state of holiness when you obey it. Therefore, bringing an extra meaning to Mark 2:27 - the sabbath was made to bring holiness to God’s people.
The Ten Commandments were placed at the center of the Tabernacle’s hierarchy, untouchable for the people. While the Most Holy contained reminders of God’s will for His people, the most democratic place in the Tabernacle liturgy was the sacrifice altar. That means the only way the people could relate to their original perfection was through the most representative demonstration of God’s love for them: the sacrifice of His guiltless Son.
John 6:30-58 – Acts 17:24 – Acts 7:48
The Tower of Bable, Cathedrals, churches, meeting places of all types, only speak to the efforts and their shortcomings of man attempting to meet God using material and physical means. Our Creator God seeks of us to give Him our ‘physical house, our body', for His Spirit to dwell in a living ‘temple’. One could see His 10 commandments representing His ‘physical house’, our body, which we place under/in our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus - God’s ‘Mercy Seat’.
Today as it was then, magnificent cathedrals, planed and erected by the most skilled craftsman, decorated by gifted artists, impressing people to wonder about how such magnificent structures could possibly be build, only remind us that, by themselves, they are unable to contain the Spirit of God given to save mankind.
Ultimately, everything material related to the Tabernacle and His Temple was for the purpose to solicit man’s highest regard for their God by using means and standards acknowledged as ‘special’ in man’s eyes. Though, the spiritual aspect when meeting God in this ‘place’ remained elusive, because it is impossible to meet God through physical means. God knocks at the door of man’s heart, wanting to construct His own Temple for the spiritual meeting place with us - Rev.3:20; Matt.7:7-8
A few thoughts...
(1) I wonder what Moses felt as God was telling him all of these plans. Was his heart and mind so pure that he was not tempted to envy as others were being chosen and specially equipped by God's Spirit to do this amazing, visible creative work? After all, Moses' calling was leading people, an often whining stubborn people, very different from producing something tangible and beautiful. Did Moses' training to be a pharaoh shape his personality to be aligned with this, or did he have other creative talents that he longed to express? As a teacher and caretaker in various roles for most of my life, I have often longed to spend more of my time in personal creative expression in what we typically call "the arts".
(2) Seems there were a lot of planning details God gave, and also a lot of details God was leaving up to the craftsmen to choose, consciously or unconsciously, in their inner conversations with God's Holy Spirit. Like...What exactly would the cherubim faces and bodies look like? Were the pillars holding up the veil to be round or square?
As we pray, "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" God gives us inner vision to model the heavenly reality in our everyday visible earthly lives. I think of all the creativity out there today - in fashion, in music, in art, in architecture, etc. - when we "do it heartily to the Lord and not as to men" (Col. 3:23) how God must love to pour more talent upon those creators and their efforts to give all of us glimpses into the boundless creativity of His Kingdom in Heaven.
(3) They were busy working for God making a Sanctuary, but they were still to stop that work on the Sabbath. Our work for God should not eclipse our focus on His work for us...especially on the Sabbath Day. Burnout is probably a sign we are more focused on what we are doing than on what He is doing. As a part of church leadership, I think this is important to pray about together....Sabbath can be full of roles in the worship service, potluck discussions, cleanup after potluck, community service events, maybe even leadership meetings. Our creativity and ability to be fueled by God's Spirit dries up if we are not adequately refreshed, setting aside our own works ...even works that we consider worshipful .... and meeting in prayer and Bible Study with our Creator together on the Sabbath, to receive from Him....poured out through those original ways in the Garden of Eden...nature and family and walking and talking with God. We must receive from Him to have something divine to give.
(4) The idiom "it's not written in stone" means "this can be changed or adjusted". Like if I say, "these building plans are not written in stone" I'm saying, "I may change the building design later on, I'm still deliberating". And correspondingly, the saying "written in stone" means the opposite...."this is permanent, unchangeable, final". To me, this is the most helpful in my understanding that all 10 Commandments are to remain forever, not one is negotiable, even for a nice idea like remembering Jesus' resurrection every Sunday. The "Lord's Day" is, and has always been, the seventh day of the week, Shabbat, Saturday, Sabado. Jesus Himself wrote that on stone. It is written in stone. Period.