HaShem said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” (31:1-5).
As noted before, God gives people ability – in this case God specifies He has filled Bezalel (and others) with His Spirit “with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship” (31:3).
Because our abilities come from God, the correct response should not be pride, but gratitude.
This chapter moves on from describing how God had gifted certain men to make the tent of meeting and all its furnishings, to addressing the Sabbath:
Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed (31:16-17).
The Sabbath, one of the ten commandments, was a big deal to God. God led the way, so to speak, in that He “rested and was refreshed” on the seventh day. How are we to follow His example in this frantic-paced world that we live in? We would do well to search the Scriptures and seek God about this.
The chapter concludes with, “And he gave to Moses, when He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (31:18).
I have no comment to make on this except it is quite remarkable: God Himself wrote His commandments on the stone of the two tablets of the testimony!
Prayer: God, it is difficult to keep the Sabbath in today’s society. It is difficult to just stop and rest. Please show me how to do this. And may I be grateful for the abilities You have given me and use them in the ways that You want me to, for Your glory. Amen.
