Know-How

DEVOTION

EXODUS

KNOW HOW

Ex 35:30-36:1

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts —  32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers — all of them master craftsmen and designers. 36:1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded."

NIV

We have already visited this thought about the LORD choosing this man Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. But what we hadn’t considered was that the LORD filled him with the Spirit of God. This is way before Jesus sent the Spirit to be poured out on all men. Yet here is the Spirit filling a man with the skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts. The LORD also gave him as well as Oholiab the ability to teach others their trades. This is no small thing. We do not know what kind of tools they had to work with but there must have been a lot of them. First just to take all the acacia wood and plane it and cut it into all the right sizes for all the parts the tabernacle, then cover them with gold. There is just so much that requires a great craftsman to complete. Where else would these men gain that kind of knowledge then from the Spirit of the LORD? There were no trade schools to attend. There was, at least for others, some on the job training, but it came from men who were filled the Spirit with the ability to teach and train others in each trade. Once again we see that when God wants something to be accomplished he will get it done. The LORD will call upon people to do things, even if they have no professional training or education in that area. What matters is the willingness of the heart to do that which the LORD has called us to do. It would seem man has developed his own way to gain knowledge or ability in order to be skilled or knowledgeable in some area to serve the LORD. It would be very rare for a person to become a pastor of a church unless he attended some bible college or seminary and was accredited by that particular denomination. There are hoops upon hoops that need to be jumped through in order for a person to be the pastor of a church. Teachers have much the same ordeal in needing to be degreed in order to obtain their certification by the governing body. Yet it is for certain God is not restricted by all the rules and regulations of man in order to accomplish his will. He simply fills a person with his Spirit and walla, that person has the ability. We have complicated this having ability and knowledge way too much. It seems in our post-modern culture we have people teaching people who teach people who teach people and have left the Spirit for doing just an occasional spiritual thing in a few churches that believe the Spirit moves among us. We really need to rely more on the Spirit then on people. Now, it is true these men were given the ability to teach others. So some men did teach other men, but that was due to the Spirit. These men did not even have the ability nor able to teach it to others unless they were filled with the Spirit. So the key for us is to either be filled with the Spirit or find someone who is in order to learn from them. In either case we should be relying on the Spirit rather than men. It is the Spirit who gives us the know-how.