“And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of everyone that is wisehearted I have given wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you (lit.)” (Exo. 31:1-6).
These verses, which we covered in a recent Life-study on Exodus, have a good point for us to consider. I would especially like to talk about verse 3.
The elders or the leading ones in the church responsibility are those most in need of the constant infilling of the Spirit of God. No need to say to build the New Testament church, even to build the Old Testament tabernacle the record in Exodus stresses strongly the infilling of the Spirit of God. Yes, there is a difference between the New and the Old Testaments, yet in the reality of God’s economy there is no difference. What we need today they needed in ancient times.
Actually the tabernacle was designed by God Himself. Yet—here is a basic principle—the tabernacle was not built by Him directly. It was built by His people, who were filled with Him, that is, with His Spirit.
The Spirit of God is God Himself. Don’t think of God as in the heavens and sending His Spirit down to earth to enter into the designers to do the work. It was not that way. Whenever God reached man, He was the Spirit. Even today what is the Spirit of God? It is God reaching us. When He reaches us the very reaching God is the Spirit.
What I would like to share with you brothers is this: to take the lead in the church life requires the infilling of God Himself. We need the infilling of the Triune God. As you know, the Spirit today is much, much richer than the Spirit of God in Old Testament times; but the principle is the same.
You may say that in the case of Bezalel and Oholiab, God initiated the matter of filling them with Himself. It may be so, but I have a doubt. I believe these two dear ones had a seeking heart. When they learned that God was going to have a dwelling place built on this earth, I believe that they began to have a heart to seek for wisdom to design what would be needed. No doubt Moses saw every part while he was on the mountain; the Bible says that God showed him the pattern (Exo. 25:40; Heb. 8:5). He saw the things, and he took down a record of the measurements. Even Moses himself, strange to say, did not have the wisdom to design what he had seen, what he had been charged with. It was Bezalel and Oholiab who received the wisdom to make the designs. I think their designs must have been checked by Moses. He must have said, “Yes, that’s it! That’s the same as I saw on the mount.”
The two of them, I believe, began to have a heart of willingness to work for God’s dwelling place and therefore sought the wisdom to design what was needed. In principle it is the same today in the church life. If you do not have a heart to seek after the Lord’s mind, to pick up the burden for the church life, God has no way to initiate anything with you. God’s initiation begins with your willingness.
This is why 1 Timothy 3:1 says, “If anyone aspires to oversight, he desires a good work.” This aspiring is no doubt the initiation God has worked out within you.