Bezalel and the Creative Spirit Of God.

Author: Jordan Raynor

Here’s a mind-boggling truth: The very first person the Bible says was “filled with the Spirit of God” was not Adam or Eve.

It wasn’t Abraham. And it wasn’t Moses. It was a creative named Bezalel.

Bezalel—an artist and culture-creator—was the first person to be “filled with the Spirit of God.” 

On the surface, this seems startling.

But I would argue that in singling out Bezalel in this remarkable way, God is simply reminding us of something He’s been saying all throughout time:

Creativity is central to who He is and who we are as His image-bearers.

After all, the very first thing God reveals about Himself in Genesis is His creative spirit.

Before He showed us that He was loving, holy, or just, God showed us that He is a God who works.

A God who is productive. A God who creates.

And of course, Jesus revealed this same creative spirit when “the Word became flesh,”

spending 85% of his adult life as a carpenter, leveraging a skill set very similar to Bezalel’s.

What is God showing us through all this repetition?

Creativity is central to who God is and who we are as His image-bearers. –

Nobody creates in isolation, All creation happens in community.

You and I need each other to do the work God created us to do.

He’s showing us that work and creativity are not meaningless “fringe” things.

They are central to who God is and who we are as His representatives in the world.

This means that while some (like Bezalel) may be “filled” with more of God’s creative likeness,

all of us are creative because we are all made in the image of God.

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit Of God.

As Jen Wilkin says,

“Even those of us who would not call ourselves [creative] recognize our ability to combine several average things into something above average.

We take piles of data and turn them into pie charts.

Also, We take eggs, butter, cheese, and onion and turn them into an omelet.

And We are not creation-optional beings.”

All of us create, and in doing so, show the world what God is like.

The object of Bezalel’s creative endeavors illustrates this well. 

Bezalel was filled with the creative spirit of God in order to build the Tabernacle—

a physical representation of “the universe the way it ought to be” with God at the center of it.

The Tabernacle was essentially its own world, with everything pointing toward God.

So, when God called Bezalel to create the Tabernacle, He was inviting him to mimic God’s creation of the earth in Genesis,

thus bringing glory to God by emulating His creative spirit to others.

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit of God.

You and I won’t build a literal Tabernacle today.

But as we go to work, let us remember that as we create, we are revealing the character of our great God.

Let us allow that truth to motivate us to create with excellence as a means of most accurately reflecting our Creator. 

Exodus 31:1-5 KJV

[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

[2] See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

[3] and I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

[4] to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

[5] and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

https://bible.com/bible/1/exo.31.2.KJV

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit of God.

Earlier, we saw the significance of Bezalel—a creative—being the first person said to be “filled with the Spirit of God.”

Exodus 31:1-5 is one of many sections of Scripture that debunks the myth of “the creative genius.”

In our culture today, we are enthralled with entrepreneurs, YouTube celebrities,

and other culture makers who build empires seemingly through grit and creativity alone.

But as Bible reminds us, while grit and talent may be part of the equation, in the end, all creative success is graced by God. 

Bezalel didn’t create the Tabernacle out of nothing.

He started with God’s creative Spirit, “with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.”

Furthermore, Bezalel was given the raw materials of gold, silver, bronze, stones, and wood.

All of this—all of these good gifts—were graced by God.

As James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” 

Bezalel’s creative endeavors didn’t start with grit. They started with grace. The same is true for you and me.

Now, does that mean grit plays no role? Absolutely not!

Colossians 3:23 commands us to “work heartily as unto the Lord.”

It wasn’t enough for Bezalel to be graced with these gifts of skill and resources.

He had to roll up his sleeves and do the work to put those gifts of grace to use!

Christ-followers must wrestle with a unique tension between “trust and hustle”—

on the one hand trusting in God to provide, while on the other hustling to put our God-given energy and skills to work.

Another way of saying this is that we, like Bezalel, must embrace both grace and grit—

accepting gracious gifts from our Father (such as talent, materials, and opportunities), while also demonstrating grit to steward those gifts well.

But let’s never forget that even our ability to “be gritty” is a gift of grace.

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit Of God.

In the words of Moses, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

Let this dichotomy of grace and grit humble and motivate each of us as we engage in our work today!

Exodus 36 focuses our attention on the truth: Culture making is never a solo endeavor. All of us need community to create.

In Exodus 31:6, we are told that God “appointed Oholiab…to help [Bezalel]” in the creation of the Tabernacle.

So, God, in His graciousness, gave Bezalel a partner.

And we see that the general-contractor duo of Bezalel & Oholiab received help from the broader community,

with the people of Israel bringing “freewill offerings” that were “more than enough” to “carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

Bezalel needed to rely on others to bring his creations to life.

The same is true for you and me.

In order to do the work God created us to do, we must learn to create in community.

Take this message, for example.

My name may be the one you see listed as the “Author”, but make no mistake, there is an army of others behind it.

Here My friends help me work through the ideas before they’re written.

Also, My assistant proofreads each draft.

And the team at Diadem/YouVersion creates the technology to bring this content to you. 

Not only do we not create alone, but in a way, even God created in community.

When we tell the story of Genesis, we tend to only picture God the Father speaking the world into existence.

Sometimes we forget that the Spirit was there “hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2),

and that Jesus was present and engaged in creation (John 1:2-3).

Nobody creates in isolation. All creation happens in community.

Why does this matter?

Because the embrace of community is in line with God’s design,

it breeds humility, and it can protect us from the enemy’s inevitable attempts to sabotage our creative endeavors. 

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,

Harry is isolated from his community while at the same time being hunted by his enemy, Voldemort.

Harry receives some wise counsel from his friend, Luna Lovegood, who says,

“If I were You-Know-Who [Voldemort], I’d want you to feel cut off from everyone else;

because if it’s just you alone, you’re not as much of a threat.”

You and I need each other to do the work God created us to do.

Embrace the community around you as you work to do your most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others!

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit of God.

Exodus 31:6 KJV : And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

https://bible.com/bible/1/exo.31.6.KJV

See Exodus 31:1-5 –

The context of that passage is a large chunk of Scripture in which the Lord gave Moses detailed instructions on Mount Sinai, starting with The Ten Commandments in Exodus 19-20.

Exodus 31 is the last chapter in this run, but it doesn’t end with the aforementioned scene of Bezalel being filled with God’s creative spirit.

Before the Lord adjourns His meeting with Moses at Mount Sinai, He has one last thing to say:

He reminds His people to observe His Sabbaths.

Now, keep in mind, the Lord has already issued the third command to “remember the Sabbath” in Exodus 20:8,

and He doesn’t remind Moses of any of the other commandments before He concludes this monumental meeting.

So why, after filling Bezalel with His creative spirit, does God remind Moses, Bezalel, and the Israelites to rest?

Let me propose three reasons.

First, this was the rhythm God Himself took on for His creative work.

After commissioning Bezalel and team to create like Him, God is reminding them to rest like Him because they are made in His image.

The Lord told His people to “observe my Sabbaths.” The implication is clear:

I rested from my creating and I designed you to do the same.

The second reason I think God repeats this command to rest after commissioning Bezalel to create is that He knew that culture makers are especially prone to workaholism.

Creating new things is life-giving, God-like, intoxicating work.

As we’ve seen throughout this message, creative work is “very good”—central to who God is and who we are as His image-bearers.

Thus, it can be easy to forget to rest, hence God calling special attention to this command here.

But if creative work is good, why is rest necessary?

That brings me to the third reason I think God reiterates the command to rest:

Because we need to remind ourselves that it is His power, His grace, and His Spirit that enables us to create.

Bezalel needed to be filled with the Spirit of God in order to do the work God created him to do.

The same is true for you and me. 

Believer, the Creator God lives in you, guiding you as you create good things that point to His glory.

Let that humble and empower you to engage in your work with great energy and ambition today!

Bezalel and the Creative Spirit Of God.

Also Read: You Are Not Alone. – Diademng (thediademng.org)