And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
The verse names the cutting of stones for setting, the carving of timber, and work in every kind of craftsmanship as the skilled labor required for the tabernacle as God commanded. God called Bezaleel of Judah by name and filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge and workmanship for this work, and joined with him Aholiab of Dan and other wise-hearted workers to make all that He commanded. Such practical artistic and building ability is wisdom and skill given by God through His Spirit, more than natural ability, with God Himself as designer, teacher and unseen leader of the work. Every part was to represent His perfection with exactness and excellence, making the tabernacle a pattern for every line of work done in His service. Therefore ability for the most skillful work leaves no cause for self-exaltation, and even this holy work done by His special direction did not permit working on the Sabbath.
Tabernacle Work Described
The cutting of stones to set them, the carving of timber, and working in every kind of workmanship are the skilled craftsmanship required for the tabernacle or sanctuary as God commanded. That skill to cut and set stones, carve timber, and do every kind of craftwork is among the abilities God gives for His appointed work, given as wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill through His Spirit.
God called Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah by name and filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship for this stone and wood work, including devising cunning works in gold and silver and brass. He joined with him Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and other wise-hearted workers to whom He also put wisdom in heart to make what He commanded, sharing the work with others also given wisdom for the task and enabling them to work with the heavenly intelligences. Human strength, skill, and education for erecting the tabernacle come from Him, and practical building skill is a gift of the Holy Spirit for God's work.
Moses on the mount was given instruction that the work required perfection in every detail. Moses, though learned in Egypt and taught by visions, did not know how to engrave and embroider, and Israel, held in Egyptian bondage and knowing only how to make bricks, had not learned the curious arts of working gold and silver. God Himself answered who was sufficient by appointing and filling Bezaleel, giving a lesson for all ages that God supplies the skill for the perfect work He commands.
Neither Moses nor the workmen were left to plan the form and workmanship, for God Himself devised the plan and gave Moses particular directions as to its size and form, the materials to be used, and every article of furniture in it. He presented before Moses a miniature model of the heavenly sanctuary and commanded him to make all things according to the pattern shown in the mount, which Moses wrote in a book and read to the most influential or leading men of the people. For this building God raised up men and gave them more than natural ability to perform the most ingenious work.
Different lines of work such as cutting stones and carving timber were assigned to different ones, but all worked under God's supervision and direction, with God Himself as the unseen Leader. The Lord gives men talents that enable them to carry forward special lines of work, endowing men with different degrees of capability and then placing them where they can do the work for which they are best adapted, with the trust given to each worker proportioned to his ability. Every one is allowed to do the work for which he is fitted and to do his best under the direction of Christ the master workman, faithfully performing his own appointed task without meddling with another's work.
Skill Given by God
Practical artistic and building ability for cutting stones to set them and carving timber to work in every kind of workmanship is wisdom and understanding and knowledge put in Bezaleel by the Spirit of God for the sacred erection of the tabernacle. That skill for detailed work was given for the craftsmanship required for the tabernacle, so that practical craft counts as divinely given wisdom and not merely natural ability. Men raised up for the tabernacle were qualified with more than natural ability to perform the most ingenious work in stone and wood and every kind of workmanship. God equips people with gifts suited to the work He appoints them to do. Human strength and skill and education come from Him who gave Bezaleel wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for every kind of workmanship and placed wisdom in the hearts of other skilled workers to make what He commanded. God was the workers' teacher, guiding through the Spirit in cutting and setting stones and carving timber for the tabernacle. The same Lord gives tact and skill to His people today to do His work and imparts wisdom to all who have a part in His cause. Receiving this requires depending wholly upon Him, being willing to be controlled and guided by Him, and walking and working as men and women accountable to God. The same giving is seen when He is pleased to find gifted workers to erect a meetinghouse where providence opens the way, and when He sends men with truth to people of a strange tongue and opens the minds of missionaries to learn the language quickly so natives are prepared to receive the gospel in their own tongue. God called Bezaleel by name and filled him with the Spirit of God for all manner of skilled craftsmanship for erecting the tabernacle, including cutting and setting stones and carving timber to devise cunning works in gold and silver and brass. He endows men with different degrees of capability and then places them where they can do the work for which they are best adapted, with the trust given to each worker proportioned to his ability. Different lines of work such as cutting stones and carving timber were assigned to different ones, but all worked under the supervision of God. This teaches unity in diversity, that God's work needs men of different minds and capabilities just as a garden has no two flowers alike and no two leaves alike, with each allowed to do his fitted work and do his best under Christ the master workman and great Head of the church without meddling with another man's work. The gifts were given to people willing to learn and cooperate with Him, and as they used their abilities they gained further wisdom and understanding. God also put wisdom in the hearts of other skilled workers, enabling them to work with the heavenly intelligences in carrying out His work. He chose Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and specially endowed them with skill and wisdom for construction of the wilderness tabernacle, filling them with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship including cutting of stones, carving of timber, engraving, cunning work, embroidery and weaving. He put in their hearts to teach others, so that every wise-hearted man worked in the wisdom and understanding the Lord put in him, with heavenly intelligences cooperating with the workmen God chose. Ability for the most skillful work comes from the Lord who commissioned the appointed craftsmen to carry out the work according to His plan and did not leave them to their own human wisdom. He calls men who have qualifications of character and gives them aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship. Such ability gives no reason for exaltation and leaves no ground for workers to become exalted because of skill and aptitude, so no person has cause for self-exaltation. Working men given such skill can have refinement and true Christian courtesy.
Pattern and Symbolism
The wisdom and understanding and knowledge put by the Spirit of God in Bezaleel for the sacred erection of the tabernacle included skill in cutting stones to set them and in carving timber to work in all manner of workmanship. In that symbolism everything done was to represent God's perfection. The tabernacle was to stand continually in the sight of more than a million people as an illustration of the perfection and completeness of Christ's work.
In that construction God gave a representation of His power and majesty. The work was to be a special representation of the exalted character of His service and to represent the sacredness of the human temple. This gift of wisdom and skill in practical craftsmanship, including setting stones and carving timber, was part of the divine provision that could ennoble Israel and help them prosper as representatives of God, with He Himself continuing as their teacher and obedience to His laws ennobling and elevating them.
He called men who had qualifications of character, gave them aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship for the tabernacle, and did not leave them to their own human wisdom. The skill, care, exactness, wisdom, excellence, and perfection in every detail required for building the tabernacle are a pattern for every line of work done in God's service. That exactness, skill, wisdom, and perfection apply also to everything done in His service, including mechanical work and business transactions.
God Himself chose Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and specially endowed them with skill and wisdom for construction of the wilderness tabernacle, filling them with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship including cutting of stones, carving of timber, engraving, cunning work, embroidery and weaving, and putting in their hearts to teach others, so that every wise-hearted man worked in the wisdom and understanding the Lord put in him, with heavenly intelligences cooperating with the workmen God chose. The descendants of these men in Judah and Dan inherited to a large degree the skill conferred upon their forefathers and were regarded as especially cunning in the finer arts. That inherited skill in stonework and woodwork and every kind of workmanship could be used either humbly in God's service or, when joined to covetousness, in service to heathen kings to the dishonor of its Giver. Exactness, skill, tact, and wisdom in such work were part of the service God required, and devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice remain essential to acceptable service.
Sabbath in Same Chapter
The cutting of stones for setting and carving of timber in all manner of workmanship was part of the special directions given by Christ for building the tabernacle, and that work was the Lord's work done under His own supervision, yet even it did not permit working on the Sabbath. Israel had been compelled as slaves in Egypt to work on the Sabbath and had largely lost knowledge of it, so God guarded the Sabbath in particular when giving the commandments on Mount Sinai. He did this knowing that workmen in their zeal would say that tabernacle work could be done without observing the Sabbath. He therefore commanded that the seventh day be kept holy as His memorial and perpetual sign, that the people may know that He is the Lord who sanctifies them, and this Sabbathkeeping is genuine sanctification.
Keeping the seventh day according to those directions shows that its keepers bear God's sign and are loyal subjects of His kingdom. It shows that they acknowledge Him as Creator of heaven and earth and know that He is the Lord who sanctifies them. It draws a plain public line of demarcation between him that serves God and him that serves Him not, marking God's people as those who honor Him by keeping His commandments. Holiness to the Lord is their badge, and they are cheerful and happy in the assurance that they receive His blessing, for blessing is pronounced upon those who keep holy the day He has set apart.
The chapter in which this workmanship is described leaves not a shade of doubt about the duty to keep holy the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord sanctified and blessed by God. Its words are declared to be from God and its commandments guide obedience in the Sabbath controversy. Such craftsmanship therefore stands joined to the Sabbath as a sign, supporting the call not to be ashamed of the Sabbath.
Proper observance means resting in peace with God from beginning to close of the Sabbath without taxing labor, sad thoughts, or distress upon the soul. It means honoring Him in conversation with hearts opened in a special manner and letting bright beams shine forth. It means not making the Sabbath a day of taxing labor by keeping a restaurant open and serving large numbers of meals and thereby depriving oneself and helpers of rest. Closing work on that day is to be used to proclaim the truth, to tell why the Sabbath is kept, and to give reading matter to sow the seeds of truth.
Character of Acceptable Service
The cutting of stones to set them and the carving of timber were skilled labor for building the tabernacle in the wilderness for the service of God, carried out under divine direction with God Himself as designer and teacher and educator of the workmen in every kind of workmanship. That work called for hard, sturdy toil in which the mechanic taxed muscle and sinew, and the workmen put heart and soul and strength and care into it for His honor. Such wholehearted physical labor done for His honor manifested and expressed their love to God.
The labor engaged both mind and hand, and through it the people learned to cooperate with God and with one another. God had pledged Himself to work with the builders and guided their workmanship as the unseen Leader.
The same filling with wisdom and understanding and knowledge in all manner of workmanship applies to present workers and artisans in God's institutions, including commercial and publishing work. Such work is not worldly business to be divorced from sacred work but is holiness unto the Lord. Workmen of the right spirit exert a sweet, saving influence, bring Bible principles into every department, cause questions to be asked by their work, and are able to speak a word in season.
Exactness, skill, tact, and wisdom in such practical and artistic work were part of the service God required, and devotion to God with a spirit of sacrifice remains essential to acceptable service. The wisdom, judgment, skill, ability, and capabilities used in setting stones, carving timber, and every kind of craftsmanship are gifts from God, first bestowed by Christ together with power to improve them, and appointed for His service. The chosen men felt greatly honored to have a part assigned them in the Lord's work, and love and reverence for God led them to offer faithful, unselfish service and return to Him the increase of the talents given them. Those capabilities are not to be employed for selfish advantage or selfish interest but bestowed to show forth His glory and to be exercised for the advancement of His cause in the smaller as well as the larger matters of life, praising Him for choosing them to reveal the greatness of His gift. This calls for daily surrender of self, using every capability with unselfish love, cheerfully and willingly bearing the cross of self-denial, and taking times apart to rest and commune with God to learn how to work to His greatest glory, and to the one who works thus great grace is imparted as the Lord bestows wisdom and judgment and skill to be given back to Him in willing service.
Guidance for Work Today
The same God who spoke with His people of old and ordered every detail of the tabernacle still speaks with His people today and gives wisdom to do His will. As He arranged every detail of the tabernacle in the days of Moses and of the ark in the days of Noah, so He watches the work done today and directs it as the great Master-builder by word and Spirit and providence. Buildings put up for Him now, including sanitariums and other institutions, must honor His name and must not go forward shabbily, but faithfulness and stability and fitness must appear in every part and every line. They must correspond with His providence and with their relation to the work to be done in other places. Those who build faithfully as laborers together with God in the spirit and love of God preach by their building sermons that convict and convert, as Noah by building the ark warned the world, and this calls for the constant help of Christ, entire dependence, seeking counsel, prayer, holy song, and looking to Jesus, with builders seeking His wisdom at every step.
The skill in cutting stone and setting it and carving wood and working in all manner of workmanship is a gift of God for useful service that applies to those able to do the necessary work of putting up a meetinghouse. When providence opens the way for such a house in a locality, the Lord is pleased to find such gifted workers among His own people. The same giving of wisdom and skill is seen when He sends men with truth to people of a strange tongue and opens the minds of missionaries to learn the language quickly, so that the natives are prepared to receive the gospel message in their own tongue.
The same gift of skill and understanding in all manner of cunning work given for the tabernacle is now given in combining the natural products of the earth to show how to secure a wholesome and healthful diet. When helpers in making health foods are controlled by the Holy Spirit, God gives them tact and intelligence to do solid and right work in building up the tabernacle of the body. The Lord is teaching many minds in many places and many localities to exercise ingenuity in preparing healthful foods, so that many affordable products, properly prepared and combined, become a blessing to those who cannot buy expensive specially prepared health foods. That divine guidance equips people to develop skill for themselves and to teach others, especially the poor, how to provide nourishing food.
The verse names the cutting of stones for setting, the carving of timber, and work in every kind of craftsmanship as the skilled labor required for the tabernacle as God commanded. God called Bezaleel of Judah by name and filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge and workmanship for this work, and joined with him Aholiab of Dan and other wise-hearted workers to make all that He commanded. Such practical artistic and building ability is wisdom and skill given by God through His Spirit, more than natural ability, with God Himself as designer, teacher and unseen leader of the work. Every part was to represent His perfection with exactness and excellence, making the tabernacle a pattern for every line of work done in His service. Therefore ability for the most skillful work leaves no cause for self-exaltation, and even this holy work done by His special direction did not permit working on the Sabbath.
Tabernacle Work Described
The cutting of stones to set them, the carving of timber, and working in every kind of workmanship are the skilled craftsmanship required for the tabernacle or sanctuary as God commanded. That skill to cut and set stones, carve timber, and do every kind of craftwork is among the abilities God gives for His appointed work, given as wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill through His Spirit.
God called Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah by name and filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship for this stone and wood work, including devising cunning works in gold and silver and brass. He joined with him Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and other wise-hearted workers to whom He also put wisdom in heart to make what He commanded, sharing the work with others also given wisdom for the task and enabling them to work with the heavenly intelligences. Human strength, skill, and education for erecting the tabernacle come from Him, and practical building skill is a gift of the Holy Spirit for God's work.
Moses on the mount was given instruction that the work required perfection in every detail. Moses, though learned in Egypt and taught by visions, did not know how to engrave and embroider, and Israel, held in Egyptian bondage and knowing only how to make bricks, had not learned the curious arts of working gold and silver. God Himself answered who was sufficient by appointing and filling Bezaleel, giving a lesson for all ages that God supplies the skill for the perfect work He commands.
Neither Moses nor the workmen were left to plan the form and workmanship, for God Himself devised the plan and gave Moses particular directions as to its size and form, the materials to be used, and every article of furniture in it. He presented before Moses a miniature model of the heavenly sanctuary and commanded him to make all things according to the pattern shown in the mount, which Moses wrote in a book and read to the most influential or leading men of the people. For this building God raised up men and gave them more than natural ability to perform the most ingenious work.
Different lines of work such as cutting stones and carving timber were assigned to different ones, but all worked under God's supervision and direction, with God Himself as the unseen Leader. The Lord gives men talents that enable them to carry forward special lines of work, endowing men with different degrees of capability and then placing them where they can do the work for which they are best adapted, with the trust given to each worker proportioned to his ability. Every one is allowed to do the work for which he is fitted and to do his best under the direction of Christ the master workman, faithfully performing his own appointed task without meddling with another's work.
Skill Given by God
Practical artistic and building ability for cutting stones to set them and carving timber to work in every kind of workmanship is wisdom and understanding and knowledge put in Bezaleel by the Spirit of God for the sacred erection of the tabernacle. That skill for detailed work was given for the craftsmanship required for the tabernacle, so that practical craft counts as divinely given wisdom and not merely natural ability. Men raised up for the tabernacle were qualified with more than natural ability to perform the most ingenious work in stone and wood and every kind of workmanship. God equips people with gifts suited to the work He appoints them to do.
Human strength and skill and education come from Him who gave Bezaleel wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for every kind of workmanship and placed wisdom in the hearts of other skilled workers to make what He commanded. God was the workers' teacher, guiding through the Spirit in cutting and setting stones and carving timber for the tabernacle. The same Lord gives tact and skill to His people today to do His work and imparts wisdom to all who have a part in His cause. Receiving this requires depending wholly upon Him, being willing to be controlled and guided by Him, and walking and working as men and women accountable to God. The same giving is seen when He is pleased to find gifted workers to erect a meetinghouse where providence opens the way, and when He sends men with truth to people of a strange tongue and opens the minds of missionaries to learn the language quickly so natives are prepared to receive the gospel in their own tongue.
God called Bezaleel by name and filled him with the Spirit of God for all manner of skilled craftsmanship for erecting the tabernacle, including cutting and setting stones and carving timber to devise cunning works in gold and silver and brass. He endows men with different degrees of capability and then places them where they can do the work for which they are best adapted, with the trust given to each worker proportioned to his ability. Different lines of work such as cutting stones and carving timber were assigned to different ones, but all worked under the supervision of God. This teaches unity in diversity, that God's work needs men of different minds and capabilities just as a garden has no two flowers alike and no two leaves alike, with each allowed to do his fitted work and do his best under Christ the master workman and great Head of the church without meddling with another man's work.
The gifts were given to people willing to learn and cooperate with Him, and as they used their abilities they gained further wisdom and understanding. God also put wisdom in the hearts of other skilled workers, enabling them to work with the heavenly intelligences in carrying out His work. He chose Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and specially endowed them with skill and wisdom for construction of the wilderness tabernacle, filling them with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship including cutting of stones, carving of timber, engraving, cunning work, embroidery and weaving. He put in their hearts to teach others, so that every wise-hearted man worked in the wisdom and understanding the Lord put in him, with heavenly intelligences cooperating with the workmen God chose.
Ability for the most skillful work comes from the Lord who commissioned the appointed craftsmen to carry out the work according to His plan and did not leave them to their own human wisdom. He calls men who have qualifications of character and gives them aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship. Such ability gives no reason for exaltation and leaves no ground for workers to become exalted because of skill and aptitude, so no person has cause for self-exaltation. Working men given such skill can have refinement and true Christian courtesy.
Pattern and Symbolism
The wisdom and understanding and knowledge put by the Spirit of God in Bezaleel for the sacred erection of the tabernacle included skill in cutting stones to set them and in carving timber to work in all manner of workmanship. In that symbolism everything done was to represent God's perfection. The tabernacle was to stand continually in the sight of more than a million people as an illustration of the perfection and completeness of Christ's work.
In that construction God gave a representation of His power and majesty. The work was to be a special representation of the exalted character of His service and to represent the sacredness of the human temple. This gift of wisdom and skill in practical craftsmanship, including setting stones and carving timber, was part of the divine provision that could ennoble Israel and help them prosper as representatives of God, with He Himself continuing as their teacher and obedience to His laws ennobling and elevating them.
He called men who had qualifications of character, gave them aptitude and skill in all manner of workmanship for the tabernacle, and did not leave them to their own human wisdom. The skill, care, exactness, wisdom, excellence, and perfection in every detail required for building the tabernacle are a pattern for every line of work done in God's service. That exactness, skill, wisdom, and perfection apply also to everything done in His service, including mechanical work and business transactions.
God Himself chose Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan and specially endowed them with skill and wisdom for construction of the wilderness tabernacle, filling them with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship including cutting of stones, carving of timber, engraving, cunning work, embroidery and weaving, and putting in their hearts to teach others, so that every wise-hearted man worked in the wisdom and understanding the Lord put in him, with heavenly intelligences cooperating with the workmen God chose. The descendants of these men in Judah and Dan inherited to a large degree the skill conferred upon their forefathers and were regarded as especially cunning in the finer arts. That inherited skill in stonework and woodwork and every kind of workmanship could be used either humbly in God's service or, when joined to covetousness, in service to heathen kings to the dishonor of its Giver. Exactness, skill, tact, and wisdom in such work were part of the service God required, and devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice remain essential to acceptable service.
Sabbath in Same Chapter
The cutting of stones for setting and carving of timber in all manner of workmanship was part of the special directions given by Christ for building the tabernacle, and that work was the Lord's work done under His own supervision, yet even it did not permit working on the Sabbath. Israel had been compelled as slaves in Egypt to work on the Sabbath and had largely lost knowledge of it, so God guarded the Sabbath in particular when giving the commandments on Mount Sinai. He did this knowing that workmen in their zeal would say that tabernacle work could be done without observing the Sabbath. He therefore commanded that the seventh day be kept holy as His memorial and perpetual sign, that the people may know that He is the Lord who sanctifies them, and this Sabbathkeeping is genuine sanctification.
Keeping the seventh day according to those directions shows that its keepers bear God's sign and are loyal subjects of His kingdom. It shows that they acknowledge Him as Creator of heaven and earth and know that He is the Lord who sanctifies them. It draws a plain public line of demarcation between him that serves God and him that serves Him not, marking God's people as those who honor Him by keeping His commandments. Holiness to the Lord is their badge, and they are cheerful and happy in the assurance that they receive His blessing, for blessing is pronounced upon those who keep holy the day He has set apart.
The chapter in which this workmanship is described leaves not a shade of doubt about the duty to keep holy the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord sanctified and blessed by God. Its words are declared to be from God and its commandments guide obedience in the Sabbath controversy. Such craftsmanship therefore stands joined to the Sabbath as a sign, supporting the call not to be ashamed of the Sabbath.
Proper observance means resting in peace with God from beginning to close of the Sabbath without taxing labor, sad thoughts, or distress upon the soul. It means honoring Him in conversation with hearts opened in a special manner and letting bright beams shine forth. It means not making the Sabbath a day of taxing labor by keeping a restaurant open and serving large numbers of meals and thereby depriving oneself and helpers of rest. Closing work on that day is to be used to proclaim the truth, to tell why the Sabbath is kept, and to give reading matter to sow the seeds of truth.
Character of Acceptable Service
The cutting of stones to set them and the carving of timber were skilled labor for building the tabernacle in the wilderness for the service of God, carried out under divine direction with God Himself as designer and teacher and educator of the workmen in every kind of workmanship. That work called for hard, sturdy toil in which the mechanic taxed muscle and sinew, and the workmen put heart and soul and strength and care into it for His honor. Such wholehearted physical labor done for His honor manifested and expressed their love to God.
The labor engaged both mind and hand, and through it the people learned to cooperate with God and with one another. God had pledged Himself to work with the builders and guided their workmanship as the unseen Leader.
The same filling with wisdom and understanding and knowledge in all manner of workmanship applies to present workers and artisans in God's institutions, including commercial and publishing work. Such work is not worldly business to be divorced from sacred work but is holiness unto the Lord. Workmen of the right spirit exert a sweet, saving influence, bring Bible principles into every department, cause questions to be asked by their work, and are able to speak a word in season.
Exactness, skill, tact, and wisdom in such practical and artistic work were part of the service God required, and devotion to God with a spirit of sacrifice remains essential to acceptable service. The wisdom, judgment, skill, ability, and capabilities used in setting stones, carving timber, and every kind of craftsmanship are gifts from God, first bestowed by Christ together with power to improve them, and appointed for His service. The chosen men felt greatly honored to have a part assigned them in the Lord's work, and love and reverence for God led them to offer faithful, unselfish service and return to Him the increase of the talents given them. Those capabilities are not to be employed for selfish advantage or selfish interest but bestowed to show forth His glory and to be exercised for the advancement of His cause in the smaller as well as the larger matters of life, praising Him for choosing them to reveal the greatness of His gift. This calls for daily surrender of self, using every capability with unselfish love, cheerfully and willingly bearing the cross of self-denial, and taking times apart to rest and commune with God to learn how to work to His greatest glory, and to the one who works thus great grace is imparted as the Lord bestows wisdom and judgment and skill to be given back to Him in willing service.
Guidance for Work Today
The same God who spoke with His people of old and ordered every detail of the tabernacle still speaks with His people today and gives wisdom to do His will. As He arranged every detail of the tabernacle in the days of Moses and of the ark in the days of Noah, so He watches the work done today and directs it as the great Master-builder by word and Spirit and providence. Buildings put up for Him now, including sanitariums and other institutions, must honor His name and must not go forward shabbily, but faithfulness and stability and fitness must appear in every part and every line. They must correspond with His providence and with their relation to the work to be done in other places. Those who build faithfully as laborers together with God in the spirit and love of God preach by their building sermons that convict and convert, as Noah by building the ark warned the world, and this calls for the constant help of Christ, entire dependence, seeking counsel, prayer, holy song, and looking to Jesus, with builders seeking His wisdom at every step.
The skill in cutting stone and setting it and carving wood and working in all manner of workmanship is a gift of God for useful service that applies to those able to do the necessary work of putting up a meetinghouse. When providence opens the way for such a house in a locality, the Lord is pleased to find such gifted workers among His own people. The same giving of wisdom and skill is seen when He sends men with truth to people of a strange tongue and opens the minds of missionaries to learn the language quickly, so that the natives are prepared to receive the gospel message in their own tongue.
The same gift of skill and understanding in all manner of cunning work given for the tabernacle is now given in combining the natural products of the earth to show how to secure a wholesome and healthful diet. When helpers in making health foods are controlled by the Holy Spirit, God gives them tact and intelligence to do solid and right work in building up the tabernacle of the body. The Lord is teaching many minds in many places and many localities to exercise ingenuity in preparing healthful foods, so that many affordable products, properly prepared and combined, become a blessing to those who cannot buy expensive specially prepared health foods. That divine guidance equips people to develop skill for themselves and to teach others, especially the poor, how to provide nourishing food.